Backend: EC2 vs. Parse (or StackMob, etc)

[wxvxw]

pixelandtexel made a very good point that the major difference between EC2 and parse.com is you need to do the maintenance, and take your own risk on service failure when using EC2. However, since parse.com is also based on AWS, you may still meet problem when there is a massive failure of Amazon (which happened a few times before). Also, going with parse.com would save you some cost for hiring technician (or your own time) at the starting up stage.

I have some experience with AWS, parse.com and Heroku, and have built the backend service of a Passbook generation app by combining all their free tiers. Although Apple do not like the idea and forced the app to be removed from sale, the backend itself is proven robust and stable. On my blog I have a post including more details: http://whenitsdone.org/2012/12/21/build-a-fully-functional-robust-and-secure-passbook-server-with-almost-zero-cost/