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mobile2024
Authentication Systems: DIY vs Managed
Built the same auth flow twice to understand the tradeoffs
The Problem
Wanted to understand the real difference between building your own backend versus using managed services. What do you gain? What do you lose?
The Solution
Built identical Flutter apps with login/signup flows—one using a Spring Boot backend I wrote from scratch, one using Supabase. Both handle JWTs, secure storage, password validation, and all the security stuff that matters. Same features, different approaches.
What I Learned
Spring Boot version: Complete control, but you handle everything—token refresh, password hashing, email verification, session management. Supabase version: Fast to ship, but you're tied to their ecosystem. Trade-off: time-to-market vs flexibility. Answer depends on your constraints.
Key Achievements
- 1Implemented secure token storage on mobile
- 2Built password validation and error handling
- 3Compared development speed and maintenance burden
- 4Learned when to build vs when to buy
- 5Documented the actual tradeoffs between approaches
Tech Stack
FlutterSpring BootSupabaseJWTPostgreSQL