Mobile Backend as a Service Roundup and the Future of Web APIs

I’m continuing my research into the future of web APis, and after watching leading Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) provider Kinvey start building APIs into their platform, I think MBaaS providers show a lot of potential for providing developers with quick access to API resources.

To help me monitor the MBaaS market I spent some time rounding up as many of the providers as I could, and so far I’ve found 24 of them:

 

API O Mat - Create a back-end for your application in minutes.
Apigee UserGrid - Apigee Usergrid is a free and open source mobile data platform for developers building apps that need social networking, user and data management, notifications and geolocation.
Appcelerator - Appcelerator Titanium is the leading cross platform mobile development solution for native, hybrid and mobile web applications
Applicasa - Applicasa's easy to use interface allows you to easily create a backend for your apps without any knowledge of server side languages.
Buddy Platform - Buddy is the first truly cross-platform mobile "backend as a service". Any connected device, any operating system
CloudMine - A backend-as-a-service platform for mobile and web developers to rapidly build, and quickly scale their apps.
CloudyRec - Scalable server-side backend for iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, Windows 8, Unity3D and Flash.
CocoaFish - Cocoafish is backend mobile application development made quick and easy. We’re a platform service that lets developers build top network features into mobile apps without writing any server code.
Feed Henry - FeedHenry provides a cloud Mobile Application Platform that simplifies the development, integration, deployment and management of secure mobile apps for business.
Flurry - Flurry AppCloud empowers developers to build better apps faster by seamlessly handling cloud storage, user account management, push notifications, built on the same massive, rock-solid platform.
GeoLoqi - Geoloqi. Geoloqi is a powerful platform for real-time location, messaging, and analytics.
iKnode - iKnode will help you create robust .Net backend applications with ease, whether you are writing applications for your smartphone or the web.
Kii - Kii Cloud eliminates the need for custom backend solutions for your mobile app. If you've managed to please your users, keep perfecting your app and we will see to it that you can maximize your CPM and fill rates and earn the revenue that you deserve.
Kinvey - Kinvey (pronounced Kin-vey, like convey) is the first Backend as a Service that makes it ridiculously easy for developers to setup and operate a cloud backend for their mobile, tablet and web apps.
mobDB - Ready to use backend, Push Notification and Analytics for your mobile app.
Parse - Parse is a complete technology stack to power your mobile app's backend.
Proxomo - Proxomo provides a RESTful API that cross integrates a variety of context services designed to simplify the development of context-aware applications, including location, collaboration (both e-mail and SMS) and social networking.
QuickBlox - Quickblox's ready-to-go modules add new functionality, reduce development time & cost, add scalability, and quicken time to market.
ScottyApp - ScottyApp.com is a new approach to solving the backend development problem of mobile applications.
Sencha.io - Sencha.io is a complete cloud platform for building mobile web apps. With services like Data, Login, Messages and Deployment, Sencha.io makes it easy to create shared experiences in the cloud.
Spire.io - spire.io is a platform that provides a scalable backend so you can concentrate on developing your product.
Stackmob - StackMob’s mobile platform helps developers create a mobile business by letting them easily build, deploy and grow full-featured applications from the very first version.
Urban Airship - Urban Airship powers Push Notifications, In-App Purchase, and Subscriptions for mobile applications across major mobile platforms.
YorAPI - Create Back-End Infrastructure, Services & API's with all the features of apps like Foursquare.

This number of providers really shows a fast growing market of back-end tools to help developers rapidly build mobile applications. Most of these service providers focus on common use cases like data storage, push notifications and social integration. As these platforms mature it makes sense that will need to start offering more specialized resources.

While developers can go straight to API service providers on their own, since MBaaS providers are in the business of simplifying development for mobile application builders, it makes a lot of sense for them to start bundling common resources available via social, photo, productivity APIs and location data APIs.