# Firebase Cloud Messaging 8 Hacker News commenters recommended Firebase Cloud Messaging and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Developers recommend it as a free way to reach all platforms with push notifications, though setup takes some work. Critics note it is centralised and can store notification content. ## Why people recommend it - Reliable across platforms (3 comments): "APNS and Google's version works perfectly fine for us" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48303336)) "its a bit of hassle but it reaches all platforms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49301210)) "Both FCM and UnifiedPush do work reliably." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50057275)) ## What people warn about - Centralised; locks you into Google (3 comments): "That's just what Google/Apple want you to believe so you depend on their proprietary lock in services." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46957981)) "It's fair to critique Google for convincing devs that fcm is the only option" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48304143)) "You will probably end up rebuilding something as centralised as FCM." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48926409)) - Setup takes some effort (2 comments): "which does require some setup, but it's not too bad" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49300600)) "its a bit of hassle but it reaches all platforms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49301210)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [ntfy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ntfy.md): 41 recommend - [Pushover](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pushover.md): 13 recommend - [Apprise](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apprise.md): 5 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://firebase.google.com/products/cloud-messaging) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Firebase Cloud Messaging", https://hackerapproved.com/p/firebase-cloud-messaging/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).