---
title: Parse Server lacks depth, DreamFactory digs much deeper
description: We've created comparison tables for Parse Server and DreamFactory. Continue reading to see how they stack up againt eachother!
image: https://blog.dreamfactory.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/parse.png
---

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#### [Healthcare HIPAA-grade APIs across EHR, claims, and labs.](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/healthcare)

#### [Financial Services Portfolios, partners, and portals on one layer.](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/financial-services)

#### [Government Modernize mainframes without re-platforming.](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/government)

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 Industries

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[Blog](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/)

[FREE 30 Minute Demo](https://www.dreamfactory.com/demo)

[AI Data Gateway](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/overview)

[Overview Why DreamFactory exists](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/overview) [Data Gov, Comp, Security Policy enforcement at the API layer](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/ai-data-governance) [Standard API Layer One contract for every backend](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/standard-api-layer) [API Gateway Functionality Routing, auth, rate limits, observability](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/api-gateway-functionality) [Deployment & Integration Self-hosted, cloud, hybrid](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/on-premise-deployment-and-integration) [Developer Productivity Auto-generated, never hand-coded](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/ai-development-accelerated) [AI App Architectures Patterns for RAG, agents, MCP](https://www.dreamfactory.com/ai-data-gateway/enterprise-ai-architectures)

AI Data Models

[AIOpenAI](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/openai) [GGoogle Gemini](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/google-gemini) [CAnthropic Claude](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/anthropic-claude-landing) [LMeta Llama](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/meta-llama) [MMistral AI](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/mistral) [CoCohere](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/cohere)

Services and support

[Quickstart Service Packages Expert-led Quickstarts to production](https://www.dreamfactory.com/services-and-support/quickstart-services-packages)

AI Data Models

[Generate & Manage REST APIs From any database, in seconds](https://www.dreamfactory.com/api-management/generate-rest-apis) [Features Security, scripting, self-hosted & more](https://www.dreamfactory.com/api-management/features) [API Generation The complete guide to auto-generated APIs](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/a-complete-guide-to-api-generation) [API Management Concepts, tools, and best practises](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/what-is-api-management-a-brief-overview-of-api-management-concepts-and-tools?_gl=1*jl0njh*_gcl_au*MjQzMjgwMTc3LjE3ODIzMjI3MzY)

AI Use Cases

[AI Data Access Secure, governed reads for your LLMs](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/ai-data-access) [MCP Server Drop-in Model Context Protocol](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/mcp-server) [Legacy Modernization Wrap mainframes with REST](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/legacy-modernization) [Data Governance Audit every call, enforce every policy](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/data-governance)

[Customer Case Studies](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies)

[Energy Modernization](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/energy-snowflake-modernization) [Government Modernization](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/government-mainframe-oracle-modernization) [Government Business Intelligence](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/government-sql-server-bi-analyst-queries) [Manufacturing Modernization](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/steel-manufacturing-sap-erp-modernization) [Financial Services Investor Portal](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/financial-services-sql-server-investor-portal) [Non-Profit Partner Data Sharing](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/non-profit-sql-server-partner-data-sharing) [Professional Services Exec Dashboards](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/professional-services-erp-dashboards) [Education HR and External Data Sharing](https://www.dreamfactory.com/case-studies/education-student-hr-sql-server-mysql-external-data-sharing)

Industries

#### [Healthcare HIPAA-grade APIs across EHR, claims, and labs.](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/healthcare)

#### [Financial Services Portfolios, partners, and portals on one layer.](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/financial-services)

#### [Government Modernize mainframes without re-platforming.](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/government)

#### [Manufacturing SAP, MES, and shop-floor data, governed.](https://www.dreamfactory.com/use-cases/manufacturing)

SQL Database

[SQL SQL Server](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/sql-server) [OR Oracle](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/oracle) [PG PostgreSQL](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/postgresql) [My MySQL](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/mysql)

NoSQL & Docs

[Dy DynamoDB](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/dynamodb) [Do DocumentDB](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/azure-documentdb) [Mo MongoDB](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/mongodb) [Cb CouchDB](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/couch-db)

Cloud Warehouses

[S3 S3](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/amazon-s3) [Ab Azureblob](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/azure-blob) [FS FTP/SFTP](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/ftp-sftp) [LS Local Storage](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/local-storage)

C & SaaS

[Sf Salesforce](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/salesforce) [API REST / SOAP](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors/soap-to-rest)

[See all 30+ connectors](https://www.dreamfactory.com/connectors)

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# Parse Server lacks depth, DreamFactory digs much deeper

 by Terence Bennett

![calendar icon](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/dreamfactory/images/calendar-icon.svg) July 6, 2018

Table of contents

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

- [A Complete Guide to API Generation](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/a-complete-guide-to-api-generation)
- [10 Best API Management Tools](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/what-is-api-management-a-brief-overview-of-api-management-concepts-and-tools)
- [Creating a Microsoft SQL Server API in Less Than 5 minutes with DreamFactory](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/creating-a-microsoft-sql-server-api-in-less-than-5-minutes-with-dreamfactory)
- [Hasura vs. DreamFactory: A Comprehensive Comparison](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/hasura-vs-dreamfactory)
- [Build A Snowflake REST API in Less Than 5 Minutes](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/generate-a-snowflake-rest-api-in-less-than-5-minutes)

![parse.png](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/parse.png?width=1200&height=675&name=parse.png "parse.png")

Parse had some initial success among native game designers. If you were writing an iOS or Android app and you weren't quite sure how to code OAuth or Push Notifications, then Parse was an easy fix for the problem. They also provided help with User Management and a place to store the information on your High Scores Screen.

Unfortunately this audience didn't have much money, and Parse didn't have the features that an enterprise customer would need, and so Facebook decided to shut the company down and "open source" what was left. Better late than never I suppose, DreamFactory was Apache License from day one. At any rate, I've had a few people ask me about the differences between Parse Server and DreamFactory, so we whipped up these comparison tables.

| Features | Parse Server | DreamFactory |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Active Directory Support |   | ✓ |
| Email Templates |   | ✓ |
| Call External Services | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web Based Admin Console |   | ✓ |
| System Services |   | ✓ |
| CORS Support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Role Based Access Control | ✓ | ✓ |
| Application Migration |   | ✓ |
| Interactive Documentation |   | ✓ |
| Application Hosting |   | ✓ |
| Multiple Applications |   | ✓ |
| Push Notification Support |   | ✓ |
| Server Side Scripting |   | ✓ |
| Building Custom Services |   | ✓ |
| SOAP and REST Translation |   | ✓ |
| XML Support |   | ✓ |
| Combining Multiple Databases |   | ✓ |
| User Management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Geopoint Support | ✓ |   |
| SDK / Sample Apps | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open Registration | ✓ | ✓ |
| API Management \* |   | ✓ |
| API Analytics \* |   | ✓ |
| Multi-tennant Hosting \* |   | ✓ |

\*DreamFactory Enterprise

| Data Sources | Parse Server | DreamFactory |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SQL Support |  |  |
| MariaDB |   | ✓ |
| MySQL |   | ✓ |
| SQL Server |   | ✓ |
| PostgreSQL |   | ✓ |
| Oracle |   | ✓ |
| DB2 |   | ✓ |
| NoSQL Support |  |  |
| Salesforce |   | ✓ |
| CouchDB |   | ✓ |
| Azure Tables |   | ✓ |
| Cloudant |   | ✓ |
| MongoDB | ✓ | ✓ |
| DynamoDB |   | ✓ |
| File Storage Support |  |  |
| Local Storage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Amazon S3 |   | ✓ |
| OpenStack Object Store |   | ✓ |
| Rackspace Cloud Files |   | ✓ |
| OAuth Support |  |  |
| Facebook | ✓ | ✓ |
| GitHub |   | ✓ |
| Google |   |  ✓ |
| Twitter |   | ✓ |
| Email Support |  |  |
| Amazon SES |   | ✓ |
| SendGrid | ✓ |   |
| Local Email |   | ✓ |
| Mailgun | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mandrill | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMTP |   | ✓ |

There are some big differences hidden by single lines in the tables above. The new Parse Server doesn't have a web based administration console. This will make it very hard to configure. There is no interactive documentation, but I guess that is OK because they don't have that many services, either. They only support one backend data source, with zero support for SQL, which we consider to be the primary enterprise use case. They don't have support for server side scripting or custom services, another major gap.

So taken all together, you can see why Facebook gave up on this. The SaaS model didn't work for enterprise customers, and the product was falling farther behind every year. You would be better off starting from scratch. Or, better yet, install the world's best REST API Platform today and spend your time building a real application on an enterprise-ready stack.

TAGS: [Parse Server,](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/tag/parse-server) [Social Links Menu](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/tag/social-links-menu)

![Terence Bennett](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/hs-fs/hubfs/1624046620145.jpg?width=100&height=100&name=1624046620145.jpg)

Terence Bennett

Terence Bennett, CEO of DreamFactory, has a wealth of experience in government IT systems and Google Cloud. His impressive background includes being a former U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer and a former member of Google's Red Team. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as COO at DreamFactory Software.

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