Firebase Alternative: Codehooks for Webhooks & Automations

Q: Is Codehooks a full Firebase replacement?

No — Codehooks excels at **webhooks, APIs, and automation**, not mobile app development. Keep Firebase for mobile SDKs, offline sync, and Firebase Auth if you need them. Use Codehooks for webhook handling, backend APIs, scheduled jobs, and integrations where Firebase requires complex Cloud Functions setup.

Q: Can I use Firebase Auth with Codehooks?

Yes! Codehooks supports **JWKS-based authentication**, so you can verify Firebase Auth JWTs. Keep Firebase for user authentication and use Codehooks for your backend APIs and webhooks.

Q: Can Codehooks handle Firebase Realtime Database use cases?

Codehooks offers **Server-Sent Events (SSE)** for real-time data streaming, which works well for dashboards, notifications, and live updates. For complex real-time sync (like Firebase Realtime Database's offline-first mobile sync), Firebase remains the better choice.

Why Developers Look for Firebase Alternatives

Firebase vs Codehooks comparison

Firebase is a powerful platform, but it's not optimized for every use case. Many developers search for Firebase alternatives when they need:

Webhook-first architecture — Firebase requires Cloud Functions setup for webhooks
Predictable pricing — Firebase's pay-per-invocation model creates unpredictable bills
Faster deployment — Firebase deployments can take 1-2 minutes
Simpler architecture — Firebase requires combining multiple services (Functions + Firestore + Auth)

Codehooks: Built for Webhooks & Automations

Codehooks is specifically designed for webhook handling, API development, and automation workflows — areas where Firebase requires significant setup.

Key Differences

Feature	Firebase	Codehooks
Deployment Time	1-2 minutes	~5 seconds
Webhook Handling	Requires Cloud Functions setup	Built-in, production-ready templates
Pricing Model	Pay-per-invocation + egress + storage	Flat-rate with unlimited compute
Database	Firestore (document) or Realtime DB	NoSQL + Key-Value store built-in
Queue/Workers	Requires Pub/Sub or Cloud Tasks	Built-in queue and worker system
Cron Jobs	Requires Cloud Scheduler	Built-in with simple syntax
Cold Starts	Common on free tier	No cold starts

Pricing Comparison: Firebase vs Codehooks

Firebase Pricing (Pay-as-you-go)

Firebase's pricing can be unpredictable due to multiple billing dimensions:

Cloud Functions: $0.40 per million invocations + compute time + memory
Firestore: $0.18 per 100K reads, $0.18 per 100K writes, $0.02 per 100K deletes
Bandwidth: $0.12 per GB after 10GB free
Storage: $0.026 per GB/month

Example scenario: A webhook handler processing 100K events/month with database writes could cost $50-200+ depending on compute time and data volume.

Codehooks Pricing (Flat-rate)

Plan	Price	API Calls	Database	Compute
Development	Free	60/min	150 MB	Included
Pro	$19/mo	3,600/min	15 GB	Unlimited
Team	$39/mo	6,000/min	25 GB	Unlimited

Same scenario: 100K webhook events/month = $19/mo flat on Pro plan. No surprises.

When to Choose Codehooks Over Firebase

Choose Codehooks When You Need:

Webhook & Integration Projects

Stripe payment webhooks
Shopify order processing
GitHub CI/CD webhooks
Slack/Discord bot backends
Third-party API integrations

Automation & Background Jobs

Scheduled tasks and cron jobs
Queue-based processing
Data synchronization workflows
Event-driven pipelines

Rapid Development

Deploy in seconds, not minutes
Pre-built templates for common integrations
CLI-first workflow for developers
AI-agent friendly (MCP support)

Predictable Costs

Flat monthly pricing
No per-invocation charges
No egress fees on compute
No surprise bills at scale

Keep Using Firebase When You Need:

Firebase Authentication with deep mobile SDK integration
Firestore's offline sync for mobile apps
Firebase Hosting for static sites with CDN
Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics integration
Google Cloud ecosystem integration

Code Comparison: Stripe Webhook Handler

Firebase Implementation

// Firebase Cloud Functions
const functions = require('firebase-functions');
const admin = require('firebase-admin');
const stripe = require('stripe')(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY);

admin.initializeApp();

exports.stripeWebhook = functions.https.onRequest(async (req, res) => {
  const sig = req.headers['stripe-signature'];
  let event;

  try {
    event = stripe.webhooks.constructEvent(
      req.rawBody,
      sig,
      process.env.STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET
    );
  } catch (err) {
    return res.status(400).send(`Webhook Error: ${err.message}`);
  }

  if (event.type === 'payment_intent.succeeded') {
    const paymentIntent = event.data.object;
    await admin.firestore().collection('payments').add({
      stripeId: paymentIntent.id,
      amount: paymentIntent.amount,
      status: 'succeeded',
      createdAt: admin.firestore.FieldValue.serverTimestamp()
    });
  }

  res.json({ received: true });
});

Deployment: firebase deploy --only functions (1-2 minutes)

Codehooks Implementation

// Codehooks
import { app, Datastore } from 'codehooks-js';
import Stripe from 'stripe';

const stripe = new Stripe(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY);

app.post('/stripe-webhook', async (req, res) => {
  const sig = req.headers['stripe-signature'];

  const event = stripe.webhooks.constructEvent(
    req.rawBody,
    sig,
    process.env.STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET
  );

  if (event.type === 'payment_intent.succeeded') {
    const conn = await Datastore.open();
    await conn.insertOne('payments', {
      stripeId: event.data.object.id,
      amount: event.data.object.amount,
      status: 'succeeded',
      createdAt: new Date().toISOString()
    });
  }

  res.json({ received: true });
});

export default app.init();

Deployment: coho deploy (~5 seconds)

Or use the template: coho create --template stripe-webhook-handler && coho deploy

Migration from Firebase to Codehooks

Step 1: Export Your Data

# Export Firestore collection to JSON
firebase firestore:export ./backup

Step 2: Create Codehooks Project

npm install -g codehooks
coho create myproject
cd myproject

Step 3: Import Data

coho import --collection payments --file ./payments.json

Step 4: Migrate Cloud Functions

Convert your Firebase Cloud Functions to Codehooks route handlers. The API is similar:

Firebase	Codehooks
`functions.https.onRequest`	`app.post('/path', handler)`
`admin.firestore().collection()`	`Datastore.open()` then `conn.insertOne()`
`functions.pubsub.schedule()`	`app.job('cron', handler)`
Cloud Tasks	`app.queue('name', handler)`

Step 5: Deploy

coho deploy

Your webhook endpoint is live at https://yourproject-xxxx.api.codehooks.io/stripe-webhook

Firebase Alternative FAQ

Common questions about switching from Firebase to Codehooks

Is Codehooks a full Firebase replacement?

No — Codehooks excels at webhooks, APIs, and automation, not mobile app development. Keep Firebase for mobile SDKs, offline sync, and Firebase Auth if you need them. Use Codehooks for webhook handling, backend APIs, scheduled jobs, and integrations where Firebase requires complex Cloud Functions setup.

How much can I save switching from Firebase?

It depends on your usage pattern. A webhook handler processing 500K events/month on Firebase could cost $100-400+ (invocations + compute + database writes). The same workload on Codehooks Pro is $19/month flat. The more event-driven your workload, the more you save.

Can I use Firebase Auth with Codehooks?

Yes! Codehooks supports JWKS-based authentication, so you can verify Firebase Auth JWTs. Keep Firebase for user authentication and use Codehooks for your backend APIs and webhooks.

How do cold starts compare?

Firebase Cloud Functions on the free tier have noticeable cold starts (1-5 seconds). Codehooks has no cold starts — your endpoints respond immediately. This matters for webhook reliability where timeouts can cause retries.

Is Codehooks serverless like Firebase?

Yes. Codehooks is fully serverless — no servers to manage, automatic scaling, pay only for what you use. The difference is pricing model: Firebase charges per-invocation, Codehooks charges flat monthly with unlimited compute on paid plans.

Can Codehooks handle Firebase Realtime Database use cases?

Codehooks offers Server-Sent Events (SSE) for real-time data streaming, which works well for dashboards, notifications, and live updates. For complex real-time sync (like Firebase Realtime Database's offline-first mobile sync), Firebase remains the better choice.

What about Firebase Hosting?

Codehooks is a backend platform, not a static hosting solution. Keep Firebase Hosting (or use Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages) for your frontend, and use Codehooks for your backend APIs, webhooks, and automation.

Conclusion

Choose Codehooks over Firebase when:

You're building webhook handlers and integrations
You need predictable, flat-rate pricing
Fast deployment (seconds vs minutes) matters
You want built-in queues, workers, and cron jobs
You prefer CLI-first development

Keep Firebase when:

You're building mobile apps with offline sync
You need Firebase Auth's mobile SDKs
You're deep in the Google Cloud ecosystem
You need Firebase Analytics/Crashlytics

Many teams use both: Firebase for mobile/auth, Codehooks for webhooks and backend automation.

Ready to try Codehooks? Deploy your first webhook handler in under a minute:
npm install -g codehooks
coho create --template stripe-webhook-handler
coho deploy

Why Developers Look for Firebase Alternatives​

Codehooks: Built for Webhooks & Automations​

Key Differences​

Pricing Comparison: Firebase vs Codehooks​

Firebase Pricing (Pay-as-you-go)​

Codehooks Pricing (Flat-rate)​

When to Choose Codehooks Over Firebase​

Choose Codehooks When You Need:​

Keep Using Firebase When You Need:​

Code Comparison: Stripe Webhook Handler​

Firebase Implementation​

Codehooks Implementation​

Migration from Firebase to Codehooks​

Step 1: Export Your Data​

Step 2: Create Codehooks Project​

Step 3: Import Data​

Step 4: Migrate Cloud Functions​

Step 5: Deploy​