[Couchbase Lite architect here, so I have skin in this game]<p>Even better, if you&#x27;re using an open protocol, you can work with _either_ a hosted back-end or one you own, and move between them pretty easily. HTTP being a good example of course.<p>The problem is that open protocols for general purpose data sync are pretty thin on the ground. Couchbase built our sync architecture on top of CouchDB&#x27;s replication protocol, which was badly documented at the time but at least open.<p>Couchbase Mobile (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;couchbase.com&#x2F;mobile" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;couchbase.com&#x2F;mobile</a>) uses this open protocol, so you can either BYO server (our own Couchbase Sync Gateway, or CouchDB) or use a hosted one like Cloudant. And you&#x27;ve got full access to the code (ours is all Apache licensed.)<p>I can&#x27;t say we&#x27;re directly compatible with Parse, or trivial to migrate to (the data models and APIs are different), and I&#x27;m obviously biased, but I do think it&#x27;s a good alternative to jump ship to.