AppsOnAir vs Firebase App Distribution vs AppForShare for test builds

Firebase App Distribution and AppsOnAir are two of the names that come up most when a team looks for a way to send test builds outside TestFlight and Google Play. They come from different places. Firebase App Distribution is a free part of Google's Firebase console, built for teams that already use Firebase. AppsOnAir (by Logicwind) is a paid mobile DevOps suite where build sharing sits next to CodePush, deep links, push notifications and in-app SDKs. AppForShare, the tool we make, does test builds only. This guide puts the three side by side on the questions that decide the choice day to day: what testers must do, how iPhones get into builds, how feedback comes back, how CI uploads work, and what it all costs.

Sources and dates. Firebase facts come from the Firebase App Distribution documentation and Firebase pricing, read on November 2, 2026. AppsOnAir facts come from their pricing page, OTA Distribution page, OTA documentation and FAQ, and CLI page, read on November 3, 2026. Read our own parts knowing we make AppForShare.

The short version

	Firebase App Distribution	AppsOnAir	AppForShare
Price for build sharing	No cost	Free plan; Pro $59.97 a month with 5 members	Free plan; Pro $12 a month; Team $39 a month with 5 seats
Largest build	2048 MiB	Free 300 MB, Pro 1 GB, Pro Plus 2 GB	Guest 50 MB, Free 150 MB, Pro 2 GB, Team 4 GB
How long builds stay installable	150 days	Links up to 30 days on Free, 90 days on paid plans	Guest 3 days, Free 7 days, Pro and Team while subscribed
Setup before the first upload	A Firebase project with the app registered	An account, a workspace and an app	None for a guest upload; an account for more
Tester sign in	Google account to accept, install and send feedback	Feedback only from their mobile app, as a workspace member	None to install or send feedback
Android App Bundles	Yes, through a link to the app in Google Play	Not listed; the FAQ names .apk and .ipa	Yes, turned into one universal APK, no Play link
Other products in the price	Rest of Firebase (Crashlytics and more)	CodePush, deep links, push, force update, feedback SDK	None; test builds only

What testers have to do

Firebase App Distribution

You add testers by email or in groups, or post an invite link where they add themselves. To accept, a tester signs in with a Google account, and that account is used to install, get alerts and send feedback. Invitations expire after 30 days if not accepted. On Android, testers use the Firebase App Tester app; on iPhone they install a Firebase profile and open builds from a web clip on the home screen. A project holds 500 testers and a group 200, raised for free on request. For a team on Google Workspace, this is smooth. For a client on Microsoft 365, a sign in is one more thing to explain. See Firebase App Distribution without a Google account.

AppsOnAir

Builds are shared through share links with a QR code, each with its own expiry and, on paid plans, a password. Testers are unlimited on every plan. AppsOnAir also has a native tester app in the App Store and on Google Play: it installs builds, shows build details, reads the UDID and sends push and email notices for new builds. As listed in their docs on November 3, 2026, build feedback can only be created in that app by a signed in workspace member with the Tester role or above.

AppForShare

Testers open the link or scan the QR code on the phone and install. No account, no tester app. The install page is in 7 languages and warns before the tap when, for example, the iPhone's iOS version is too old or the profile has ended (install help). On Team you can invite testers to private projects, use join links where testers confirm by an emailed link with no Google sign in, and give them a home screen web app with push for new builds. That tester app is not a store app; Firebase's Android app and AppsOnAir's apps in both stores are.

Getting iPhones into the build

All three are bound by the same Apple rule: outside TestFlight, an iOS build installs only if it is signed Ad Hoc, Development or Enterprise, and for Ad Hoc and Development the iPhone's UDID must be in the provisioning profile. No tool removes that step. They differ in how much of it they carry.

• Firebase collects UDIDs while iOS testers onboard and lets you export them as a file for Apple. You add the devices in the Apple Developer portal and build again. Common problems are in iPhone UDID problems in Firebase.
• AppsOnAir shows the provisioned UDIDs on the install page, has a "Provisioning Devices" check in the dashboard, and offers a Get UDID web page and UDID reading in its mobile app. Registering the device and rebuilding are up to you.
• AppForShare has a free UDID finder; a tester can tap Remember this device, and every iOS install page then says whether that iPhone is in the build before the tap. On Pro, an iOS onboarding link collects devices, and with an App Store Connect connection you register saved UDIDs on your Apple account and remake the ad hoc profile in one click. On Team, hands free device setup does the registration and profile remake for devices that come through the onboarding link. You still build again; AppForShare does not re-sign builds. See iOS device registration.

Firebase's UDID file can be imported into AppForShare on every plan with an account.

Feedback from testers

• Firebase: in-app feedback is an Android only SDK in beta. Testers trigger it from a notification or a custom trigger such as a shake, a screenshot is taken automatically, and they sign in with Google. Sending feedback to Slack or Jira means writing Cloud Functions on the Blaze plan.
• AppsOnAir: feedback with text, one image and one video is written in their mobile app. For feedback from inside your own app, AppRemark is an SDK in beta for iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native: shake, automatic screenshot, drawing.
• AppForShare: testers send a bug or idea with up to 5 screenshots and drawing from the install page, on iOS and Android, on every account plan, without signing in (tester feedback). From inside a test build, the in-app feedback link is a web address your app opens from a debug menu or a shake; the card has shake samples for Swift, Kotlin, React Native and Flutter. Screen recordings are Pro and Team. There is no SDK, so there is no automatic screenshot: the tester attaches one. Reports can go to Linear or Jira in one click on Pro and Team.

If you want an automatic screenshot of the current screen, you need an SDK: Firebase on Android, or AppRemark. If you want feedback from people who will not install a tester app or sign in, a web form is the simpler path. More in in-app feedback without an SDK.

CI uploads

• Firebase has the most mature tooling: the Firebase CLI, fastlane, a Gradle plugin for Android and a REST API, all with service account or token login. Firebase also has its own MCP server for AI coding tools.
• AppsOnAir has one CLI on npm, @appsonair/appsonair-cli, version 1.0.1 when we read it. Login opens a browser; for CI their FAQ mentions environment based token configuration without naming the variable. appsonair init ota saves output folders and upload sends iOS and Android in one command. No public upload API for builds, and no GitHub Action or fastlane plugin, as read on November 3, 2026. Their CLI page says the CLI is free for every workspace for a limited period.
• AppForShare on Pro and Team: a token based CLI, a GitHub Action, a fastlane plugin, a Diawi compatible upload API, a CI API and an MCP server. Like AppsOnAir's, our CLI can remember the folders: npx appforshare init writes appforshare.config.json, and npx appforshare upload with no file sends the newest iOS and Android builds in one run (CLI 1.11.0).

One difference worth noting: on AppForShare, CI uploads need Pro or Team, while Firebase's tools cost nothing and AppsOnAir's CLI is included on Free for now.

Android App Bundles

Firebase distributes .aab files through Google Play's internal app sharing, so the Firebase app must be linked to the same app in Play Console, and the app must have been published on a Play track. Testers get device specific APKs, the closest thing to what Play delivers. AppsOnAir lists .apk and .ipa only. AppForShare turns an uploaded .aab into one universal APK on Free and up, with no Play link, signed with the workspace's test key or, on Pro and Team, your own upload key. A test key build cannot update the Play version of the app, so testers uninstall that first. See installing an .aab on Android.

Notifications and links

Firebase emails testers on new releases and has an optional SDK for in-app alerts. AppsOnAir sends push and email from its mobile app, and lists Google Chat and a generic webhook. AppForShare Pro and Team post to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Google Chat and signed webhooks, and Team emails invited testers. For links, AppForShare adds things the other two do not list: channels with one stable link that always opens the newest build, link controls (pause, stop date, install cap), several links per build (Pro up to 3 extra, Team up to 20) and retiring a broken build so its page sends testers to the newest one. AppsOnAir also offers several links per build, each with its own expiry and password.

Where each one is ahead

Firebase App Distribution

• No cost, 2 GB files, builds installable for 150 days.
• Crashlytics data per build, an AI App Testing agent for Android in preview, and the deepest CI tooling.
• Device specific APKs from an .aab, for apps already on Play.

AppsOnAir

• A generous free tier for one app: 300 MB, links up to 30 days, downloads listed as unlimited.
• Native tester apps in both stores.
• CodePush, deep links, push and store force updates from the same vendor.

AppForShare

• Testers need no account, no app and no sign in to install or send feedback.
• Passwords on Free, links that stay live while you subscribe, channels and link controls.
• iPhone device registration and profile remake from the dashboard (Pro), hands free on Team.
• Agency tools: a client portal with sign-offs on Pro and Team, and a white label install page on Team.

Which to pick

• Your app already lives in Firebase and testers are on Google accounts: Firebase App Distribution. It costs nothing and fits.
• You need CodePush, deep links or push and want one vendor: AppsOnAir, and use its build sharing as part of that.
• Your testers are clients or outside people, or you ship many small apps: an install link service such as AppForShare, where the person opening the link needs nothing else.

Mixing is common: Firebase or TestFlight for the internal group, a link for the client. For more detail see AppForShare vs Firebase App Distribution, AppForShare vs AppsOnAir, AppsOnAir pricing and Firebase App Distribution limits.