5 ms·

Appwrite: A New Open-Source Back End Server for Mobile and Web Developers

93 points by eldad_fux 7y ago

tmikaeld 7y ago
Reminds me a lot of Directus, another headless (PHP) REST API back-end that has an admin UI included. Except for e2e encryption - which is a very nice touch - how is appwrite different?
- tvphan 7y ago
  Directus looks like a headless CMS (similar to Contentful). This is more AWS AppSync or Google Firebase.
  - eldad_fux 7y ago
    100%
mstade 7y ago
Looks real slick! I started playing around with Base (no affiliation, found it via HN a couple of weeks ago) and it's nice to have something easy to integrate with for common stuff like user management etc., but the offline dev story there is lacking. Nice to see Appwrite provides a containerized solution for that, should make distributed dev (and testing!) a lot easier. I'm gonna set aside some time today to play with this, thanks for sharing! License looks good too: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/LICENSE https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/LICENSE
homeproject_123 7y ago
Any information on the team size or future funding ? Watching an independent project take off is inspiring. But back-end infra structure really needs longevity. (yes, it is OSS and thats great, but not sufficient)
- ngcc_hk 7y ago
  Agreed. Hard to change later.
- eldad_fux 7y ago
  The project is currently only driven by the community, we have yet to raise any funding.
lucasverra 7y ago
Hey there, congrats on launch Why should i use Appwrite instead of FB aquired now OSS https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server, or even its managed version at https://www.back4app.com/ https://www.back4app.com/ (sponsors of the OSS)?
thepinkelefant 7y ago
What are the backends for storage and database and how easy would it be to change or scale ? A quick search didn’t lead to any architecture information or tech stack details
- tyingq 7y ago
  Looks like MySQL only: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/app/db/SQL/all.sql https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/app/db/SQL/... And it uses the PHP Utopia MVC framework.
- demarq 7y ago
  I think most people who want to use this should have scale at the bottom of their priority list. I look at this as more a tool to cut time to market. Getting your product to actual users is the most important thing when your'e starting out.
  - eldad_fux 7y ago
    demarq, I agree with you in 100% and would only add that Appwrite was designed for scale. But as you mentioned, Appwrite out-of-the-box setup should be more than enough for any product at the start of its way.
vekker 7y ago
Hi, I just discovered this yesterday and wanted to say thank you! It's exactly what I was looking for. I'd like to concur with the other commenters here: it would be great to have some more information about the architectural choices (especially the database... and how to backup or connect this with other data sources?), as well as who's behind the project & its roadmap.
- eldad_fux 7y ago
  Hi Vekker, In a nutshell, I can say that Appwrite was designed for scale. It uses common MariaDB and Redis containers as storage engines and should support basic clustering out of the box, no hidden magic. Same goes for backups. All you need is to backup the MariaDB databases and the Appwrite storage folder, just like you would with any basic app architecture. We took great length to have the most simple setup possible. I do plan to release some tutorials covering our architecture and design decision. In the meantime, you can check our stack on StackShare (https://stackshare.io/appwrite/appwrite https://stackshare.io/appwrite/appwrite) and learn more about how we generate docs and SDKs (https://medium.com/@eldadfux/how-we-integrated-our-docs-and-sdks-as-first-class-citizens-of-our-coding-process-8e343def0e9 https://medium.com/@eldadfux/how-we-integrated-our-docs-and-...).

93 points by eldad_fux 7y ago

Reminds me a lot of Directus, another headless (PHP) REST API back-end that has an admin UI included. Except for e2e encryption - which is a very nice touch - how is appwrite different?

tvphan 7y ago
Directus looks like a headless CMS (similar to Contentful). This is more AWS AppSync or Google Firebase.
- eldad_fux 7y ago
  100%

mstade 7y ago

Looks real slick! I started playing around with Base (no affiliation, found it via HN a couple of weeks ago) and it's nice to have something easy to integrate with for common stuff like user management etc., but the offline dev story there is lacking. Nice to see Appwrite provides a containerized solution for that, should make distributed dev (and testing!) a lot easier. I'm gonna set aside some time today to play with this, thanks for sharing! License looks good too: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/LICENSE https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/LICENSE

homeproject_123 7y ago

Any information on the team size or future funding ? Watching an independent project take off is inspiring. But back-end infra structure really needs longevity. (yes, it is OSS and thats great, but not sufficient)

ngcc_hk 7y ago
Agreed. Hard to change later.
eldad_fux 7y ago
The project is currently only driven by the community, we have yet to raise any funding.

lucasverra 7y ago

Hey there, congrats on launch Why should i use Appwrite instead of FB aquired now OSS https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server, or even its managed version at https://www.back4app.com/ https://www.back4app.com/ (sponsors of the OSS)?

thepinkelefant 7y ago

What are the backends for storage and database and how easy would it be to change or scale ? A quick search didn’t lead to any architecture information or tech stack details

tyingq 7y ago
Looks like MySQL only: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/app/db/SQL/all.sql https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/app/db/SQL/... And it uses the PHP Utopia MVC framework.
demarq 7y ago
I think most people who want to use this should have scale at the bottom of their priority list. I look at this as more a tool to cut time to market. Getting your product to actual users is the most important thing when your'e starting out.
- eldad_fux 7y ago
  demarq, I agree with you in 100% and would only add that Appwrite was designed for scale. But as you mentioned, Appwrite out-of-the-box setup should be more than enough for any product at the start of its way.

vekker 7y ago

Hi, I just discovered this yesterday and wanted to say thank you! It's exactly what I was looking for. I'd like to concur with the other commenters here: it would be great to have some more information about the architectural choices (especially the database... and how to backup or connect this with other data sources?), as well as who's behind the project & its roadmap.

eldad_fux 7y ago
Hi Vekker, In a nutshell, I can say that Appwrite was designed for scale. It uses common MariaDB and Redis containers as storage engines and should support basic clustering out of the box, no hidden magic. Same goes for backups. All you need is to backup the MariaDB databases and the Appwrite storage folder, just like you would with any basic app architecture. We took great length to have the most simple setup possible. I do plan to release some tutorials covering our architecture and design decision. In the meantime, you can check our stack on StackShare (https://stackshare.io/appwrite/appwrite https://stackshare.io/appwrite/appwrite) and learn more about how we generate docs and SDKs (https://medium.com/@eldadfux/how-we-integrated-our-docs-and-sdks-as-first-class-citizens-of-our-coding-process-8e343def0e9 https://medium.com/@eldadfux/how-we-integrated-our-docs-and-...).