DBMS > Firebase Realtime Database vs. ObjectBox vs. Realm

System Properties Comparison Firebase Realtime Database vs. ObjectBox vs. Realm

Please select another system to include it in the comparison.

Editorial information provided by DB-Engines

Name

Description

Cloud-hosted realtime document store. iOS, Android, and JavaScript clients share one Realtime Database instance and automatically receive updates with the newest data.

Lightweight, fast on-device database for IoT, Mobile and Embedded devices, persisting and synchronising objects and vectors

A DBMS built for use on mobile devices that’s a fast, easy to use alternative to SQLite and Core Data

Primary database model

Document store

Object oriented DBMS
Vector DBMS

Document store

Secondary database models

Time Series DBMS

DB-Engines Ranking measures the popularity of database management systems
Trend Chart

Score	13.15
Rank	#39	Overall
	#6	Document stores

Score	1.09
Rank	#173	Overall
	#7	Object oriented DBMS
	#13	Vector DBMS

Score	6.76
Rank	#51	Overall
	#9	Document stores

Website

firebase.google.com/products/realtime-database

github.com/objectbox
objectbox.io

realm.io

Technical documentation

firebase.google.com/docs/database

docs.objectbox.io

realm.io/docs

Developer

Google

acquired by Google 2014

ObjectBox Limited

Realm, acquired by MongoDB in May 2019

Initial release

2012

2017

2014

Current release

4.0 (May 2024)

License

Commercial or Open Source

commercial

Bindings are released under Apache 2.0

Apache License 2.0

Open Source

Cloud-based only

Only available as a cloud service

yes

DBaaS offerings (sponsored links)

Database as a Service

Providers of DBaaS offerings, please contact us to be listed.

Implementation language

C and C++

Server operating systems

hosted

Android
Any POSIX system
Docker
iOS
Linux
macOS
QNX
Windows

Android
Backend: server-less
iOS
Windows

Data scheme

schema-free

yes

Typing

predefined data types such as float or date

yes

yes, plus "flex" map-like types

yes

XML support

Some form of processing data in XML format, e.g. support for XML data structures, and/or support for XPath, XQuery or XSLT.

Secondary indexes

yes

SQL

Support of SQL

APIs and other access methods

Android
iOS
JavaScript API
RESTful HTTP API

Proprietary native API

Supported programming languages

Java
JavaScript
Objective-C

C
C++
Dart (Flutter)
Go
Java
Kotlin
Python
Swift

.Net
Java

with Android only
Objective-C
React Native
Swift

Server-side scripts

Stored procedures

limited functionality with using 'rules'

runs within the applications so server-side scripts are unnecessary

Triggers

Callbacks are triggered when data changes

yes

Change Listeners

Partitioning methods

Methods for storing different data on different nodes

none

Replication methods

Methods for redundantly storing data on multiple nodes

Data sync between devices allowing occasional connected databases to work completely offline

none

MapReduce

Offers an API for user-defined Map/Reduce methods

Consistency concepts

Methods to ensure consistency in a distributed system

Eventual Consistency

if the client is offline
Immediate Consistency

if the client is online

Immediate Consistency

Foreign keys

Referential integrity

yes

Transaction concepts

Support to ensure data integrity after non-atomic manipulations of data

yes

ACID

Concurrency

Support for concurrent manipulation of data

yes

Durability

Support for making data persistent

yes

In-memory capabilities

Is there an option to define some or all structures to be held in-memory only.

yes

In-Memory realm

User concepts

Access control

yes, based on authentication and database rules

yes

More information provided by the system vendor

News

Why Edge AI is crucial for retail and POS systems in 2025
19 February 2025

Data Sync Alternatives: Offline vs. Online Solutions
5 February 2025

Top Small Language Models (SLMs) and how local vector databases add power
20 January 2025

Why do we need Edge Computing for a sustainable future?
30 November 2024

IoT, Edge Computing, and Digitalization in Healthcare
22 November 2024

We invite representatives of system vendors to contact us for updating and extending the system information,
and for displaying vendor-provided information such as key customers, competitive advantages and market metrics.

Related products and services

We invite representatives of vendors of related products to contact us for presenting information about their offerings here.

More resources

DB-Engines blog posts

Cloud-based DBMS's popularity grows at high rates
12 December 2019, Paul Andlinger

show all

MySQL, PostgreSQL and Redis are the winners of the March ranking
2 March 2016, Paul Andlinger

show all

Recent citations in the news

Supabase reels in $200M for its open-source relational database
22 April 2025, SiliconANGLE

Supabase vs. Firebase: Which BaaS is Best for Your App?
14 August 2024, Netguru

Instant harkens back to a pre-Google Firebase
2 October 2024, TechCrunch

Inside FireScam : An Information Stealer with Spyware Capabilities
30 December 2024, cyfirma

Control Hardware Using Generative Voice AI
14 April 2025, Hackster.io

provided by Google News

Realm vs ObjectBox - Write Transactions Comparison
30 January 2023, Netguru

Figure presents UML 2.0 Use case diagram, which visualizes Test application functionality.
15 September 2018, ResearchGate

Top 22 Android Libraries for 2025 Every Developer Needs
29 November 2024, Netguru

provided by Google News

Cloud Firestore vs Realm Platform
21 December 2022, Netguru

Danish CEO explains Silicon Valley learning curve for European entrepreneurs
6 October 2016, The Business Journals

Is Swift the Future of Server-side Development?
12 September 2017, solutionsreview.com

Java Synthetic Methods — What are these ?
27 February 2021, DataDrivenInvestor

Kotlin Programming Language Will Surpass Java On Android Next Year
15 October 2017, Fossbytes

provided by Google News

Share this page