Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AWS Lambda VS Cloud Firestore

Compare AWS Lambda VS Cloud Firestore and see what are their differences

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AWS Lambda logo AWS Lambda

Automatic, event-driven compute service

Cloud Firestore logo Cloud Firestore

Use our flexible, scalable NoSQL cloud database to store and sync data for client- and server-side development.
  • AWS Lambda Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-29
  • Cloud Firestore Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-07

AWS Lambda features and specs

  • Scalability
    AWS Lambda automatically scales your application by running your code in response to each trigger. This means no manual intervention is required to handle varying levels of traffic.
  • Cost-effectiveness
    You only pay for the compute time you consume. Billing is metered in increments of 100 milliseconds and you are not charged when your code is not running.
  • Reduced Operations Overhead
    AWS Lambda abstracts the infrastructure management layer, so there is no need to manage or provision servers. This allows you to focus more on writing code for your applications.
  • Flexibility
    Supports multiple programming languages such as Python, Node.js, Ruby, Java, Go, and .NET, which allows you to use the language you are most comfortable with.
  • Integration with Other AWS Services
    Seamlessly integrates with many other AWS services such as S3, DynamoDB, RDS, SNS, and more, making it versatile and highly functional.
  • Automatic Scaling and Load Balancing
    Handles thousands of concurrent requests without managing the scaling yourself, making it suitable for applications requiring high availability and reliability.

Possible disadvantages of AWS Lambda

  • Cold Start Latency
    The first request to a Lambda function after it has been idle for a certain period can take longer to execute. This is referred to as a 'cold start' and can impact performance.
  • Resource Limits
    Lambda has defined limits, such as a maximum execution timeout of 15 minutes, memory allocation ranging from 128 MB to 10,240 MB, and temporary storage up to 512 MB.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Using AWS Lambda ties you into the AWS ecosystem, making it difficult to migrate to another cloud provider or an on-premises solution without significant modifications to your application.
  • Complexity of Debugging
    Debugging and monitoring distributed, serverless applications can be more complex compared to traditional applications due to the lack of direct access to the underlying infrastructure.
  • Cold Start Issues with VPC
    When Lambda functions are configured to access resources within a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), the cold start latency can be exacerbated due to additional VPC networking overhead.
  • Limited Execution Control
    AWS Lambda is designed for stateless, short-running tasks and may not be suitable for long-running processes or tasks requiring complex orchestration.

Cloud Firestore features and specs

  • Real-time Updates
    Cloud Firestore offers real-time data synchronization, which ensures that any changes to the database are immediately reflected across all connected clients.
  • Scalability
    Firestore can handle massive amounts of data and traffic, scaling automatically as your app grows without requiring manual intervention.
  • Ease of Use
    Firestore provides a simple and intuitive API, which is easy to use for developers, especially those already familiar with Firebase services.
  • Offline Support
    Cloud Firestore allows your application to remain functional and retain data even when offline, synchronizing changes when the connection is restored.
  • Security
    Firestore uses Firebase Authentication and security rules to protect data, which is crucial for ensuring that your data is safe and that only authorized users can access it.
  • Flexible Data Model
    It allows you to store data in a flexible, hierarchical structure which can adapt to various use cases and data requirements.

Possible disadvantages of Cloud Firestore

  • Pricing Complexity
    Firestore uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model based on operations and data storage, which can become expensive and complex to manage as application usage scales.
  • Query Limitations
    While Firestore supports a range of queries, there are limitations compared to SQL-based databases, such as the lack of JOIN operations and complex queries.
  • Data Hierarchy Constraints
    Though it offers flexibility, the JSON-like data structure may require a rethink of data architecture, especially for complex relational data models.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Using Cloud Firestore ties your application to Google's ecosystem, which can make it challenging to migrate to another platform or database in the future.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers new to NoSQL or real-time databases might encounter a learning curve, as Firestore’s data modeling and querying concepts differ from traditional relational databases.

Analysis of AWS Lambda

Overall verdict

  • AWS Lambda is a strong choice for developers looking for scalable, event-driven applications with minimal management overhead. It is particularly beneficial for applications that experience intermittent traffic or unpredictable workloads.

Why this product is good

  • AWS Lambda is a popular serverless computing service because it allows users to run code without provisioning or managing servers. It automatically scales applications by running code in response to triggers such as HTTP requests, changes in data, or system events. This can significantly reduce operational overhead and costs, as you only pay for the compute time you consume.

Recommended for

  • Developers building microservices or serverless applications.
  • Companies looking to reduce infrastructure management.
  • Startups wanting to quickly deploy applications with limited operational costs.
  • Organizations needing to integrate with other AWS services for a comprehensive solution.
  • Projects with unpredictable or variable workloads that require automatic scaling.

AWS Lambda videos

AWS Lambda Vs EC2 | Serverless Vs EC2 | EC2 Alternatives

More videos:

  • Tutorial - AWS Lambda Tutorial | AWS Tutorial for Beginners | Intro to AWS Lambda | AWS Training | Edureka
  • Tutorial - AWS Lambda | What is AWS Lambda | AWS Lambda Tutorial for Beginners | Intellipaat

Cloud Firestore videos

What is a NoSQL Database? How is Cloud Firestore structured? | Get to know Cloud Firestore #1

More videos:

  • Review - Cloud Firestore Data Modeling (Google I/O'19)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AWS Lambda and Cloud Firestore)
Cloud Computing
100 100%
0% 0
NoSQL Databases
0 0%
100% 100
Cloud Hosting
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
72 72%
28% 28

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare AWS Lambda and Cloud Firestore

AWS Lambda Reviews

Top 7 Firebase Alternatives for App Development in 2024
AWS Lambda is suitable for applications with varying workloads and those already using the AWS ecosystem.
Source: signoz.io

Cloud Firestore Reviews

We have no reviews of Cloud Firestore yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AWS Lambda should be more popular than Cloud Firestore. It has been mentiond 277 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

AWS Lambda mentions (277)

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Cloud Firestore mentions (46)

  • How to write clean, typed Firestore code
    Ever since I started using Firestore more than 7 years ago, I have been wanting to find a better way to type my code and reduce boilerplate. In this article I will describe my journey, and how I finally found a way to write clean, strongly-typed code with abstractions that are easy to use and adopt in any Typescript project. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Unlocking the Power of JSON Patch
    Weird, you work at Mozilla and haven't heard of JSON in DBs. A few resources to get you started: https://www.mongodb.com/ https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/datatype-json.html https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Are Sync Engines The Future of Web Applications?
    If you've been following trends in the web-dev world, you'd know that sync engines have been a centrepiece in several of them, namely: progressive web apps, offline-first apps, and the lately trending term: local-first software. You might have even looked into some of the databases that offer a built-in sync engine such as PouchDb or online services that do the same (e.g., Firestore). I have too, but my general... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • 5 Best Instant Messaging APIs
    Firebase is an app development platform backed by Google that famously replaces the need for a backend. It accomplishes this by providing developers with a variety of services, including authentication, push notifications, and a database called Cloud Firestore that can be adapted to store and broadcast chat messages in realtime. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How do you handle different user roles?
    Within the Firebase system, I use Firestore. To minimize queries of multiple collections ( keep server costs down ) I keep users in one collection. Within each user object I have a "roles" property that is a sub-object referencing the different roles available:. Source: over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing AWS Lambda and Cloud Firestore, you can also consider the following products

Amazon S3 - Amazon S3 is an object storage where users can store data from their business on a safe, cloud-based platform. Amazon S3 operates in 54 availability zones within 18 graphic regions and 1 local region.

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

Amazon API Gateway - Create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

Google App Engine - A powerful platform to build web and mobile apps that scale automatically.

Firebase Authentication - Application and Data, Application Utilities, and User Management and Authentication