5 ms·

Fast, Simple and Open Firebase Alternative: TrailBase

70 points by trailbase-alt 1y ago

laveur 1y ago
This is pretty cool. Just needs clients for iOS and Android and it would be a rock solid replacement for a lot of large enterprises, or privacy minded companies.
- aklemm 1y ago
  How did you evaluate it so thoroughly?
- trailbase-alt 1y ago
  Privacy, data ownership and reduced reliance on public clouds were definitely motivations. A Java/Kotlin client is certainly on the short-list. We recently added one for Swift. There are also clients for Dart, TypeScript, and C# in case you're more into cross-platform app development (Flutter, React Native, and Maui/Avalonia respectively)
oulipo 1y ago
Trying the online demo but it seems that it doesn't work properly, getting a lot of errors
- trailbase-alt 1y ago
  Sorry to hear. The beauty of giving folks admin access and that's why we can't have nice things :). Excuses aside, in case you're still interested maybe try a bit later. The demo resets regularly. If you still run into issue, please don't hesitate to send a quick, low-key bug report: https://github.com/trailbaseio/trailbase/issues https://github.com/trailbaseio/trailbase/issues . Strong wording welcome
  - CoolCold 1y ago
    sounds like a nice side project for myself / something new (wth is that hype on Firebase and alternatives?) to look into on weekend like create per-user (likely with some limit of total 10 or so instance) demo env - average sysadmin like me should be able to handle it. If i'll do something, will let you know if you wish
    - barfoos 1y ago
      > wth is that hype on Firebase and alternatives? It's mostly about communicating the intend and a testament to Firebase establishing this rather broad product category, i.e. DB + dashboard + auth + files + ... You could probably also call it "a bucket of generally useful stuff", just doesn't have the same ring :). > create per-user (likely with some limit of total 10 or so instance) demo env - average sysadmin like me should be able to handle it. Totally feasible. There are also kubernetes deployment manifests in the repo. That said, I don't mind the shared instance too much. There's pros and cons. Happy to chat more. > If i'll do something, will let you know if you wish Sure thing. Thanks!
sebnun 1y ago
Nice. I assume this was inspired by Pocketbase (Golang): https://pocketbase.io/ https://pocketbase.io/
- trailbase-alt 1y ago
  Absolutely, PocketBase and Supabase. They're both awesome: https://trailbase.io/comparison/pocketbase/ https://trailbase.io/comparison/pocketbase/
maxloh 1y ago
What is the difference between this project and Supabase? Does this project have a different focus than Supabase regarding the features to be implemented? Supabase: https://supabase.com/ https://supabase.com/
- evilduck 1y ago
  Looks like they compare it: https://trailbase.io/comparison/supabase/ https://trailbase.io/comparison/supabase/
  - hahn-kev 1y ago
    Honestly they spent more time comparing supabase to pocketbase
    - trailbase-alt 1y ago
      The Supabase comparison is pretty poor and needs improvement. In many ways TrailBase and PocketBase are architecturally a lot similar. The key-difference of both compared to Supabase is that they're a single executable, easy to self-host, less resource hungry and in many cases faster (for better or worse due to their simpler architecture). In case you're interested: https://trailbase.io/reference/benchmarks/ https://trailbase.io/reference/benchmarks/
songtianlun1 1y ago
good! i will try it in my next project.
- trailbase-alt 1y ago
  Appreciated. If you run into any issues, please don't hesitate to file a quick report. Strong wording welcome :)
skrebbel 1y ago
I'm irked how "Firebase alternative" has come to mean "hosted database with an API layer". I mean, the key pitch of Firebase has always been that it's a realtime database. With both Supabase and Trailbase this seems a bit of a bonus aspect, kinda sorta half supported for a few things here and there. In Firebase meanwhile, as well as its successor Firestore, everything can be monitored in realtime. This is its key feature and all design choices derive from that. Notably all its weird limitations of the schema possibilities and query options derive from the goal to make a simple database that's 100% realtime-observable. It's just super weird to me to see something presented as a "Firebase alternative" without a single realtime data sync example on the homepage. Trailbase has one deep, deep down the docs and nothing is explained about the "subscribe" limitations. That's not a Firebase alternative, it's just a hosted database. That's like calling a Chromebook an "iPhone alternative" because it lets you access WhatsApp and Twitter just like an iPhone would. ps. I haven't followed Supabase a lot so maybe they got on top of this since, but it was pretty disappointing to me back when they launched to much fanfare. Like the only realtime thing they had was a counter or something like that.
- creativenolo 1y ago
  There is little mention of realtime on the Firebase landing page https://firebase.google.com https://firebase.google.com We likely agree that firebase is superb. But your criticism of using ‘alternative’ is unjust both in terms of the breadth of firebase, and why a competitor might target someone about to choose Firebase.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - trailbase-alt 1y ago
    I think it's fair criticism and certainly an area where TrailBase can improve (it's still young). FWIW, I used to avoid the "Firebase" comparison and be more descriptive with a long list of features. That confused a lot of folks. Firebase-like seemed to get the rough product-ballpark across more effectively. If I had to guess, I'd say Supabase probably arrived at a similar conclusion. Either way, they are all rather broad products and many users only use subsets. Thanks for speaking up, appreciated.

70 points by trailbase-alt 1y ago

This is pretty cool. Just needs clients for iOS and Android and it would be a rock solid replacement for a lot of large enterprises, or privacy minded companies.

aklemm 1y ago
How did you evaluate it so thoroughly?
trailbase-alt 1y ago
Privacy, data ownership and reduced reliance on public clouds were definitely motivations. A Java/Kotlin client is certainly on the short-list. We recently added one for Swift. There are also clients for Dart, TypeScript, and C# in case you're more into cross-platform app development (Flutter, React Native, and Maui/Avalonia respectively)

oulipo 1y ago

Trying the online demo but it seems that it doesn't work properly, getting a lot of errors

trailbase-alt 1y ago
Sorry to hear. The beauty of giving folks admin access and that's why we can't have nice things :). Excuses aside, in case you're still interested maybe try a bit later. The demo resets regularly. If you still run into issue, please don't hesitate to send a quick, low-key bug report: https://github.com/trailbaseio/trailbase/issues https://github.com/trailbaseio/trailbase/issues . Strong wording welcome
- CoolCold 1y ago
  sounds like a nice side project for myself / something new (wth is that hype on Firebase and alternatives?) to look into on weekend like create per-user (likely with some limit of total 10 or so instance) demo env - average sysadmin like me should be able to handle it. If i'll do something, will let you know if you wish
  - barfoos 1y ago
    > wth is that hype on Firebase and alternatives? It's mostly about communicating the intend and a testament to Firebase establishing this rather broad product category, i.e. DB + dashboard + auth + files + ... You could probably also call it "a bucket of generally useful stuff", just doesn't have the same ring :). > create per-user (likely with some limit of total 10 or so instance) demo env - average sysadmin like me should be able to handle it. Totally feasible. There are also kubernetes deployment manifests in the repo. That said, I don't mind the shared instance too much. There's pros and cons. Happy to chat more. > If i'll do something, will let you know if you wish Sure thing. Thanks!

sebnun 1y ago

Nice. I assume this was inspired by Pocketbase (Golang): https://pocketbase.io/ https://pocketbase.io/

trailbase-alt 1y ago
Absolutely, PocketBase and Supabase. They're both awesome: https://trailbase.io/comparison/pocketbase/ https://trailbase.io/comparison/pocketbase/

maxloh 1y ago

What is the difference between this project and Supabase? Does this project have a different focus than Supabase regarding the features to be implemented? Supabase: https://supabase.com/ https://supabase.com/

evilduck 1y ago
Looks like they compare it: https://trailbase.io/comparison/supabase/ https://trailbase.io/comparison/supabase/
- hahn-kev 1y ago
  Honestly they spent more time comparing supabase to pocketbase
  - trailbase-alt 1y ago
    The Supabase comparison is pretty poor and needs improvement. In many ways TrailBase and PocketBase are architecturally a lot similar. The key-difference of both compared to Supabase is that they're a single executable, easy to self-host, less resource hungry and in many cases faster (for better or worse due to their simpler architecture). In case you're interested: https://trailbase.io/reference/benchmarks/ https://trailbase.io/reference/benchmarks/

songtianlun1 1y ago

good! i will try it in my next project.

trailbase-alt 1y ago
Appreciated. If you run into any issues, please don't hesitate to file a quick report. Strong wording welcome :)

skrebbel 1y ago

I'm irked how "Firebase alternative" has come to mean "hosted database with an API layer". I mean, the key pitch of Firebase has always been that it's a realtime database. With both Supabase and Trailbase this seems a bit of a bonus aspect, kinda sorta half supported for a few things here and there. In Firebase meanwhile, as well as its successor Firestore, everything can be monitored in realtime. This is its key feature and all design choices derive from that. Notably all its weird limitations of the schema possibilities and query options derive from the goal to make a simple database that's 100% realtime-observable. It's just super weird to me to see something presented as a "Firebase alternative" without a single realtime data sync example on the homepage. Trailbase has one deep, deep down the docs and nothing is explained about the "subscribe" limitations. That's not a Firebase alternative, it's just a hosted database. That's like calling a Chromebook an "iPhone alternative" because it lets you access WhatsApp and Twitter just like an iPhone would. ps. I haven't followed Supabase a lot so maybe they got on top of this since, but it was pretty disappointing to me back when they launched to much fanfare. Like the only realtime thing they had was a counter or something like that.

creativenolo 1y ago
There is little mention of realtime on the Firebase landing page https://firebase.google.com https://firebase.google.com We likely agree that firebase is superb. But your criticism of using ‘alternative’ is unjust both in terms of the breadth of firebase, and why a competitor might target someone about to choose Firebase.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- trailbase-alt 1y ago
  I think it's fair criticism and certainly an area where TrailBase can improve (it's still young). FWIW, I used to avoid the "Firebase" comparison and be more descriptive with a long list of features. That confused a lot of folks. Firebase-like seemed to get the rough product-ballpark across more effectively. If I had to guess, I'd say Supabase probably arrived at a similar conclusion. Either way, they are all rather broad products and many users only use subsets. Thanks for speaking up, appreciated.