ParseSwiftOG vs. Other Parse SDKs

[cbaker6]

Below is a growing list of feature comparisons of Parse-Swift^OG (netreconlab) against some of the other popular Parse SDKs from parse-community. Note that Parse-SDK-Android, Parse-SDK-dotNET, and parse-php-sdk are not compared, but they both have similar/less features than Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX which is in the comparison tables. Parse-Swift^OG also has significant improvements over parse-community/Parse-Swift as there has been ~25K+ code additions and ~30K+ code deletions between the two.

Even if the compared SDK's manage to reach feature parity in the future, they will still lag behind ParseSwift ergonomically because they were all built based on the same Parse architecture from the original open-source days (2015), which IMO is clunky for a modern SDK. The exception is Parse-SDK-Flutter which was built by an indie developer (phillwigins), but I would argue ParseSwift has much better ergonomics, more features, and significantly higher codecov (ParseSwift^OG vs Parse-SDK-Flutter) and testing both vertically and horizontally.

Key
✅ Supported
⚠️ Partially Supported or Buggy
🛑 Not Supported
N/A Not Applicable
Unknown

General

	Parse-SwiftOG	Parse-Swift	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX	Parse-SDK-Flutter	Parse-SDK-JS	Notes
Maintainer	netreconlab	parse-community	parse-community	parse-community	parse-community
All Releases	Github	Github	Github	Github	Github
First Release	2021	2021	2015	2019	2015
Known Issues	Github	Github	Github	Github	Github
API Documentation	DocC	DocC	Jazzy	Unknown	Unknown
Runnable Examples	Swift Playgrounds	Swift Playgrounds	🛑	🛑	🛑
Extended Documentation	Tutorial	Tutorial	Guide	Guide	Guide
Language	Swift	Swift	Objective-C, Swift	Dart	Javascript
Supported OS's	iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, Linux, Windows, Android	iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, Linux, Windows, Android	iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS	iOS, Android	Unknown
Dependencies	None	None	⚠️ Bolts, Bolts-Swift, Starscream, OCMock	Many	Many	Bolts hasn't had any meaningful updates since 2019
Swift Package Manager	✅	✅	✅	N/A	N/A
Other Dependency Manager Support	Cocoapods	Cocoapods, Carthage	🛑	pub	npm, yarn	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX removed support for Cocoapods and Carthage
Programming Paradigm	POP, Value Types	POP, Value Types	OOP, Reference Types	OOP, Reference Types	OOP, Reference Types	Watch WWDC videos: Value types, and POP video 1 and video 2
Thread Safe	All ParseObjects and related types are Sendable	⚠️ (Inherently thread safe due to design, but the compiler will give warnings due to not conforming to Sendable)	⚠️	⚠️	⚠️	Watch WWDC video: Explore structured concurrency in Swift
Minimum Parse Server Required	2.6.4	2.6.4	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	It is recommended to always use the newest server available as older versions may not support the latest client SDK features
Minimum Parse LiveQuery Server Required	4.0.0	4.0.0	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	It is recommended to always use the newest server available as older versions may not support the latest client SDK features
API	REST	REST	REST	REST	REST	Parse REST API docs
JSON Encoder/Decoder	Custom (Codable)	Custom (Codable)	Custom (NSCoding, Dictionary)	Custom (Dictionary)	Custom (Dictionary)	Codable uses the native Swift encoders/decoders. Dictionary uses custom parsing and can be buggy and slower
Code Coverage	92%	90%	⚠️72%*	41%	100%	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX codecov is configured incorrectly so the actual value is less than the number shown
Lines of code	15,000+	16,267	17,200+	3,278	6,100	Approximate (not counting dependency code)
# of tests	1,567	1,500	864	130	1050	Approximate
SwiftUI	✅	✅	⚠️	🛑	N/A	Parse-Swift works with SwiftUI out-of-the-box and is equipped with models and view-models. The others require devs to write additional code for models and view-models
Combine	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	N/A
Concurrency (Async/Await, actors)	✅	⚠️	🛑	🛑	N/A
Use to Write Server-side Cloud-Code	✅ (ParseServerSwift)	⚠️ (needs additional server-side support)	🛑	🛑	✅ (Native)
Call Cloud-Code Functions from Client	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Parse-Swift cloud-code function results can update SwiftUI views out-of-the-box. The others require devs to write additional code
Call Cloud-Code Jobs from Client	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Caching	✅ (Native)	✅ (Native)	✅ (Custom)	Unknown	Unknown
Keychain w/ Access Group	✅	✅	⚠️ (Buggy)	Unknown	N/A	Parse-Swift's Keychain can synchronize with users devices via iCloud, the others require devs to write additional code
Local Storage	⚠️ (Primitive)	⚠️ (Primitive)	⚠️ (Buggy)	✅	✅	See discussion about local storage
Supports Server DB transactions	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑
Certificate Pinning	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑
Custom ObjectId's	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	✅
Idempotency	✅	✅	✅	🛑	✅
Custom File Uploading	✅	✅	✅	Unknown	✅	Allows storing directly to file buckets (such as S3) and skip forwarding files to parse-servers then to storage bucket
POST for Login/Signup	✅	✅	🛑	✅	✅	Login credentials for POST are in the body instead of URL
Allows POST for Query	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑	When enabled, queries are always in the body and never cached
Check Server Health	✅	✅	🛑	✅	✅
Check Server Info	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑	🛑	Can retrieve server version and enabled/disabled functionality
Post Analytics to Server	✅	✅	✅	🛑	✅

Parse Types

	Parse-SwiftOG	Parse-Swift	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX	Parse-SDK-Flutter	Parse-SDK-JS	Notes
ACL	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Array	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Boolean	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Bytes	✅	✅	✅	✅	🛑
Date	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
File	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Geopoint	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Object	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Pointer	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Polygon	✅	✅	✅	🛑	✅
Relation	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
String	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Authentication

	Parse-SwiftOG	Parse-Swift	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX	Parse-SDK-Flutter	Parse-SDK-JS	Notes
Auto Login	✅	🛑	✅	🛑	✅	Users don't have to create accounts
Custom	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Allows devs to manually construct authData using key/values
Anonymous	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Apple	✅	✅	⚠️ (Buggy)	✅	🛑
Facebook	✅	✅	🛑	✅	🛑	*Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX removed in version 3.0.0
Github	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑
Google	✅	✅	🛑	✅	🛑
Instagram	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑
LDAP	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑
LinkedIn	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑
Spotify	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑
Twitter	✅	⚠️ (Buggy)	🛑	🛑	🛑	*Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX removed in version 3.0.0

Query

	Parse-SwiftOG	Parse-Swift	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX	Parse-SDK-Flutter	Parse-SDK-JS	Notes
Aggregate	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Count	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Distinct	✅	✅	🛑	✅	✅
Exclude	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Explain	✅	✅	✅	🛑	✅
Fields	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	✅	Only for LiveQuery
Find	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Find All	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	✅
First	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Hint	✅	✅	✅	🛑	✅
Include	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Include All	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Select	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Watch	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑	✅	Only for LiveQuery
Sort by Text Score	✅	✅	🛑	✅	✅

Query Constraints

	Parse-SwiftOG	Parse-Swift	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX	Parse-SDK-Flutter	Parse-SDK-JS	Notes
And	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Or	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Nor	✅	✅	🛑	✅	✅
Equal (Different from ==)	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑	Combinable with other constraints. Doesn't work with LiveQuery Server < 6.3.0
==	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Not combinable with other contraints. Works with all versions of LiveQuery Server
!=	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
<	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
<=	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
>	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
>=	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Contained In	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Not Contained In	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Contains All	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Contained By	✅	✅	✅	🛑	✅
Exists	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	A key is not equal to undefined
Does Not Exist	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	A key is equal to undefined
Is Null	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑	A key is equal to null or undefined
Is Not Null	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	🛑	A key is not equal to null or undefined
Matches Key in Query	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Does Not Match Key in Query	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Related	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Matches Text	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Matches Regex	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Contains String	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Has Prefix	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Has Suffix	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Relative Time	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	✅
Near	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Within Radians (Sorted)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Within Radians (Unsorted)	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	✅
Within Miles (Sorted)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Within Miles (Unsorted)	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	✅
Within Kilometers (Sorted)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Within Kilometers (Unsorted)	✅	✅	🛑	🛑	✅
Within Geo Box	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Within Polygon	✅	⚠️ (Buggy)	⚠️ (Buggy)	🛑	⚠️ (Buggy)
Within Polygon (GeoPoints)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Polygon Contains	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Atomic Operations

	Parse-SwiftOG	Parse-Swift	Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX	Parse-SDK-Flutter	Parse-SDK-JS	Notes
Increment	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Delete	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Add	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Add Unique	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Remove	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Add Relation	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Remove Relation	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Batch	✅	🛑	⚠️ (Buggy)	🛑	✅