Appwrite does more than Google Firebase can do and Appwrite is open source. That means you can run Appwrite on your server without any usage restrictions. Appwrite is a self-hosted backend as a service packaged as a set of micro-services which can run inside a container. It helps to avoid writing backend code and provides you with a better starting point for your project and a better developer experience. Appwrite can be used for Web, Flutter, Android, Microcontrollers etc.
Supabase is a similar tool but Appwrite is probably more focused on providing easier RESTful API development. However, Supabase has libraries for Arduino/ESP32. These platforms are popular to build clones, quick solutions etc but they can be used for serious purposes such as you can use them to authenticate the users of your premium WordPress plugin.
Appwrite supports storing data, making queries, and managing access control to data. It is easy to upload files and media and download and access them using Appwrite APIs. It solves the issue of security with the built-in end-to-end security for backend API. It is highly scalable.
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These are good to build simple applications faster.
Steps to Install Appwrite on Ubuntu Server
A server with 2GB RAM is sufficient for testing things. Update and upgrade:
1 | sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade |
Install Docker and Docker compose plugin:
1 2 3 4 5 | sudo apt-get install docker.io sudo apt install docker-compose-plugin sudo systemctl start docker sudo systemctl enable docker docker -v |
The below command creates a new Appwrite directory and this directory will become the base for the Appwrite instance on your server:
1 | sudo docker run -it --rm --volume /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock --volume "$(pwd)"/appwrite:/usr/src/code/appwrite:rw --entrypoint="install" appwrite/appwrite:1.3.7 |
You’ll get the present version number here (we have used appwrite:1.3.7 since that is the latest version at the time of writing this guide) :
1 | https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/releases |
Once the Appwrite container is running, you can access the Appwrite dashboard by opening a web browser and navigating to http://your-server-ip-address. This will take you to the Appwrite setup wizard.
Appwrite allows anyone to create a new user account, from the .env file. You should disable this feature:
1 | _APP_CONSOLE_WHITELIST_ROOT=disabled |
For the rest settings, it depends on your need and there is good documentation:
1 2 | https://appwrite.io/docs/self-hosting https://appwrite.io/docs/configuration |
