The most recent trend in app development has been “backend as a service.” Companies and startups have recognized the need of the average developer for support when it comes to server stacks and storage, data migration middleware managements. These services make possible things like authentication, push notifications, in-app purchases and other services that consumers take for granted.

There are a lot of new back-end services available, from the purist startups (Parse and Kinvey) to those approaching their second round venture rounds like StackMob and established services like appMobi. Which one makes developers lives the easiest? What is the most cost effective? Vote on your favorite in this week’s ReadWriteMobile poll.
In the most recent news, Parse has widened its private beta (we have invites) and Kinvey has raised $2 million in seed funding. Both are currently participating in summer incubator programs as Parse is part of the current batch of startups in Y-Combinator and Kinvey is a member of TechStars summer class of 2011.
The popular way to describe these backend as a service platforms is to call them “the Heroku of mobile.” Heroku is a provider of cloud computing that offers a Ruby platform as a service that makes it easier for developers to work with backend services.
So, what is your favorite? Which has the brightest future? Which is easiest to use? Vote in the poll and let us know your thoughts in the comments?