Firebase Vs MirrorFly: Which Is Best For Building Chat Apps?

Alexander S Published On February 26th, 2025 Product News & Updates

Choosing between Firebase and MirrorFly? Great picks! Let’s help you rule out which one is the best for your chat app. 

These two platforms often come up when developers are looking to build messaging apps. Interestingly, these platforms take quite different approaches, although they serve the similar purpose – implementing real-time chat. 

Firebase Chat, technically, is not a standalone product. It delivers a combination of services: real-time database (Firestore) + cloud functions, Firebase authentication, and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to build chat features into apps. 

Whereas, MirrorFly Chat is a standalone solution that comes with a powerful messaging API & SDK for building thousands of communication capabilities into web and mobile apps. 

In this article, we’ll help you figure out which of these chat solutions fits your needs better. We’ll compare everything from the technology, features, and implementation so you can make an informed decision.

TECHNOLOGY STACK: FIREBASE VS MIRRORFLY

First, it would be a wise idea to break down both the technologies to understand how they actually work. This section will discuss 6 different criteria of both technologies: client-side SDK, server-side logic, database, authentication, push notifications, and infrastructure. 

Let’s first start with Firebase:

Firebase Chat Technology 

Google launched Firebase with the idea of introducing a product that can manage both infrastructure and backend services together. Fortunately, Firebase turned out to be a suite of tools and services that can handle data storage, user authentication, real-time updates, and more. Here’s what the technology behind this developer-friendly solution looks like.

• Client-side SDK

As a comprehensive package, Firebase gains its attention among developers with its flexible client-side SDKs along with admin SDKs for server-side languages. The latter is used by several companies for sending administrative messages, managing user accounts, and carrying out data validation. 

Platform	Technology	Use Case
Web	JavaScript	Web-based chat app
Mobile
iOS	Swift & Objective-C	Native iOS chat app
Android	Java & Kotlin	Native Android app
	Flutter	Cross-platform apps
	React Native	Cross-platform apps  (JavaScript & React)
	Unity	Gaming + Chat apps
Admin	Node.js	Server-side logic
	Java
	Python
	Go
	C#

• Server-side Logic (Backend)

• Firebase Cloud Functions: Whenever there are changes in the database or when an authentication occurs in the Firebase services, it triggers a serverless backend logic in the Node.js runtime environment.
• Firebase Admin SDK: This SDK gives you the privilege to interact from your own cloud or on-premise server with any of the Firebase services. 

• Database

• Firebase Real-time Database: If you are building a simple chat app and want to sync your data across clients, you can use this NoSQL, JSON-based real-time database. 
• Firestore: This NoSQL, document-based DB is considered better than any real-time DB due to its clean structure and query richness, making it a perfect fit for giant, complex chat apps that lean on advanced data models. 

• Authentication

• Firebase Authentication: You know the name—Firebase Authentication combines multiple authentication mechanisms via email, phone, and social.

• Push Notifications

• Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM): Want to send out push notifications on your chat apps? FCM does it—places the message on the device’s notification pane. 

• Infrastructure

Google Cloud Platform (GCP): No doubt, Firebase is built on Google Cloud Platform, expanding itself to be Google’s mobile app development platform. Plus, the perks include sharing Google Cloud’s products, such as Firestore, Functions, and Storage. 

That’s the basic tech details of Firebase. Let’s quickly walk through the technology MirrorFly is built upon. 

MirrorFly Chat Technology

CONTUS TECH, the parent company of MirrorFly, has been a pioneer in digital transformation for over a decade. The company identified a gap in API customisation and design restrictions when it comes to building messaging apps. To bridge this, the CPaaS giant ventured into building a fully customizable, self-hosted communication solution.

Here’s the technology the company used to build MirrorFly as the favourite API for global developers. 

• Client-side SDK

While MirrorFly overlaps with similar technologies as Firebase, it goes a little further with its platform APIs. 

Platform	Technology	Use Case
Web	JavaScript	Web-based chat app
Mobile
iOS	Swift & Objective-C	Native iOS chat app
Android	Java & Kotlin	Native Android app
	Flutter	Cross-platform apps
	React Native	Cross-platform apps  (JavaScript & React)
	React	Gaming + Chat apps
	Angular	Web apps
	VueJS	Web apps

MirrorFly’s platform APIs stand out from the crowded API market by establishing a structured approach to building user controls like creating rooms, call log retrieval, and user blocking. Plus, Admin APIs take care of user creation/deletion, moderation, group controls, migration, and export. 

• Server-side Technologies

💡Quick Fact
In most cases, MirrorFly abstracts the backend technology from the user, as they give the leverage to host their platform on any server infrastructure.

However, if a user chooses to develop their platform on MirrorFly’s multi-tenant cloud server, they’ll come across the following technologies mentioned below.

• Programming Languages: Java, Node.js (for backend logic & real-time servers)
• Real-time communication protocols: WebSockets & MQTT for bidirectional communication 
• Database: NoSQL databases like Cassandra or MongoDB or any evenly optimised relational databases.
• Load Balancers & CDNs: These are reasons why MirrorFly achieves a 99.999% uptime and <100 ms latency every time. 

• Authentication

MirrorFly is customisable, and so are its security features. While it offers its own authentication mechanism, the chat solution also allows you to integrate any authentication system of your choice, including Firebase. 

• Push Notifications

MirrorFly uses FCM for Android and APNS for iOS to deliver real-time alerts on messaging apps. 

• Infrastructure

MirrorFly typically operates on cloud infrastructure like AWS, GCP, or Azure. The best part is MirrorFly manages the entire infrastructure if you are with their cloud solution. Some users may also prefer to go with a self-managed solution for their enterprises, and MirrorFly lets them do so if that’s their business preference. 

ARCHITECTURE: FIREBASE VS MIRRORFLY

Up next, we will break down the design structure of both these technologies to understand how they operate in a real-time communication environment. 

Firebase Chat Architecture

Firebase services are decentralised and serverless to a certain degree, and when you consider all of their underlying functions, this is how a simple flow of their architecture will look like.  

Since it uses a NoSQL document-based structure, the app data is clearly sorted into collections. Meanwhile, to ensure continuous connectivity, Firebase uses WebSocket connections that take care of automatic reconnection, state synchronisation, and multiplexing. 

Most developers find Firebase as a go-to choice for chat app development as its message delivery is push-based, ensuring ordering, offline synchronisation, and presence detection. 

Based on how its built, the key characteristics of Firebase include

• Client-centric + Direct Database Interaction

As per the serverless logic, ‘Direct’ here means that the client and the Firebase database can interact with each other without any intermediate server.

• Serverless Backend + Cloud Functions

You might ask—if there is no server, which component in the architecture will handle the database, security, and complex logic during the interactions? Firebase Cloud Functions take care of them, running your code whenever an event like authentication or database changes occurs. 

• Global Network

Firebase is available across the world and is pretty much popular for its low latency. Clearly, it is backed by Google’s global network infrastructure, making it a primary choice for businesses looking to build chat systems at a larger scale. 

• Scalability & Auto-scaling

Just as the network supports widespread use of Firebase, the performance remains stable and auto-scales the databases, functions, and infrastructure with rising demands. 

MirrorFly Chat Architecture

MirrorFly features a custom chat schema optimised for all kinds of chat operations, with a highly centralised and managed message storage and threading support. It uses XMPP for connection management, including custom presence, advanced state handling, and connection pools. 

Unlike Firebase, message delivery relies on a queue-based system with priority handling, offline storage, and advanced delivery receipts.

This is a simplified version of how MirrorFly’s underlying architecture looks like:

• Client-server model

MirrorFly uses this fundamental architectural pattern to drive communication across your messaging app. It simplifies the entire process by handling all the chat logic, acting as an interface between client devices and the server. No wonder; it simplifies the development process for you.

• Dedicated Chat Servers

Unlike any general-purpose servers, MirrorFly uses a dedicated chat server with curated infrastructure that can handle any scale of messages at the lowest latency. It handles everything from message routing and chat delivery to presence status and media sharing flawlessly. 

• Backend APIs & SDKs

Your app will need tools to interact with MirrorFly’s backend infrastructure. The platform offers APIs and SDKs that are specifically designed to work along with the scaling mechanism while taking care of the scaling mechanisms. 

• Managed Infrastructure

You need not worry about maintaining and managing your servers—especially when you have a huge user base. MirrorFly handles the infrastructure, maintenance, and updates, all while making sure that the users have a customised chat experience. 

• On-premise Hosting

When users need more control over their app and infrastructure, MirrorFly offers them an on-premise solution that helps enterprises meet their unique security and compliance needs without any hassle. 

FULL-ON COMPARISON: FIREBASE CHAT VS MIRRORFLY CHAT

Feature Category	Firebase Chat (Built with Firebase)	MirrorFly Chat (Dedicated Chat Solution)
Core Focus	Broad BaaS platform; chat is one possible feature.	Specialises in chat API and SDK along with video calling, voice, SIP/VoIP, activity feeds, and live streaming.
Ease of Setup & Integration	Relatively easy to get started, especially if already using Firebase. Steeper learning curve for complex chat features.	Designed for very easy chat integration within 20 mins. A custom solution for full app development takes only a few hours.
Feature Richness (Chat Specific)	Can build robust chat features but might require more manual coding and configuration for advanced features.	Rich set of pre-built chat features (e.g., topic-based chat, unlimited file sharing, typing indicators, media sharing, voice/video calls, moderation tools).
Customization & Flexibility	High flexibility to customise chat features and integrate with other Firebase services. Can build exactly what you need.	100% customisation for chat UI and features—no limits to personalisation and white-labeling.
Scalability	Excellent scalability due to Google Cloud infrastructure. Auto-scaling for databases and functions.	Can scale upto millions of conversations while maintaining latency less than 100 ms
Real-time Performance	Realtime Database excels at real-time sync. Firestore also offers good real-time capabilities.	Optimised for real-time chat performance with a record-breaking avg. response time of 3 ms. Likely leverages efficient protocols and infrastructure.
Cost	Pricing is usage-based (database reads/writes, function invocations, etc.). Can be cost-effective for smaller projects or when usage is predictable. Costs can escalate with high usage.	Based on deployment, the pricing is custom for self-hosting users and tiered pricing for SaaS users (Starts at $0.06/ month)
Maintenance & Operations	Firebase manages the underlying infrastructure. Less operational burden for developers.	Provider manages the entire chat infrastructure. Minimal operational burden for developers regarding chat.
Documentation & Support	Large Firebase community and extensive Google documentation.	Dedicated support from the chat provider. Clean documentation & expert support for integration.
Control over Data & Infrastructure	Less control over the underlying infrastructure as it’s a managed service. Data is stored within Google Cloud.	Offers full control over data. Neither the provider nor any third party can have access to user information, making it a highly secure choice.
Use Cases	Projects already using Firebase, MVPs, applications needing a broad BaaS, projects with predictable usage, and simple to moderately complex chat needs.	Projects primarily focused on chat, apps requiring feature-rich and customisable chat experiences, enterprise-grade chat solutions, and projects needing rapid chat feature development.

When To Choose Firebase Chat Vs MirrorFly Chat

Choose Firebase Chat If:

• You are already heavily invested in the Firebase/Google ecosystem.
• You need a comprehensive BaaS platform beyond just chat.
• Your chat requirements are relatively simple to moderately complex.
• You want fine-grained control over your entire backend and data model.
• You are comfortable building and customising chat features using Firebase services.
• Cost is a major concern, and you anticipate moderate and predictable usage.
• You are building an MVP or a project where rapid prototyping is key, and chat is one feature among many.

Choose MirrorFly Chat If:

• Your app depends on end-to-end customization
• You need full data control to secure your user information. 
• Your app needs 1000s of feature-rich chat capabilities
• You need to implement chat quickly within hours and easily with minimal development effort.
• You require advanced chat features like voice/video calls, activity feeds, live streaming, SIP/VoIP calls, unlimited file sharing, moderation tools, and enterprise-grade capabilities.
• You prefer a managed chat solution where the provider handles infrastructure and scaling.
• You want dedicated support and expertise in chat and hire a team for the entire setup. 
• Custom pricing based on project requirements is preferred.
• You are building a dedicated communication app or an app where chat is a core component and needs to be exceptional.
• You are planning to implement custom security features

CHOOSING BETWEEN FIREBASE CHAT VS MIRRORFLY CHAT: A CONCLUSION

Ultimately, choosing between Firebase and MirrorFly depends on how exactly you want your messaging app to be.

Firebase Chat is great if you’re building a bigger app and want flexible tools to create your own chat features. It’s powerful but may need more work to set up advanced options.

MirrorFly Chat is a ready-made, 100% customisable chat solution that’s easy to add to your app, packed with 1000+ features, and perfect if fast development within hours and a strong chat experience are your top priorities.

Think about your budget, team, and future plans to pick the best option for smooth, real-time communication.

If you think you need to talk to experts who can guide you on this more, feel free to fill out this form and you’ll get a callback within the next 24 hrs. 

---

Further Reading

• Build A WebRTC Video Calling App With Janus Server
• Top 7 Picks Of WebRTC Alternatives For 2025
• How to Build a React Native Video Calling App in 2025?
• How To Build A WebRTC Video Chat App With JavaScript?
• Flutter WebRTC – Build Video Calling App with MirrorFly SDK