I must admit this makes me confused -- do RethinkDB and Firebase integrate in some non-obvious way? Both appear to be JSON databases with real-time change feeds so it would seem they'd be competitors if anything... Any chance you can clarify the relationship? Thanks.

Slava @ Rethink here.

The relationship between RethinkDB and Firebase is based on conceptual/philosophical agreement about where the world is going (realtime json sync), and that developer tools should be delightful. That's how we know each other, and decided to co-host the event. There is no software integration or anything.

I don't think the companies are really competitors -- Firebase is a service, Rethink is a product, Firebase has much more hands off ops and smaller query language, etc. So the use cases where you'd pick one or the other tend to be quite different.

We just want to give demos about building realtime apps, and get to know people who care about the subject!

Thanks, that makes sense. The point about service vs product is well taken, though I find myself wishing somebody supported both modalities: a service to get a prototype up and running quickly, with the option of moving to a self-hosted setup later if needed for scaling or security reasons.

We'd like that too, but it's easier said than done. A good, robust service is like a whole other company! We're looking at options, but there is still a dramatic philosophical difference between a product first company and a service first company.