title: Should I use GAE + Lift for my Scala based webapp?
body: <p>Such questions have been asked before - but all of the answers are outdated now.</p>
  
  <p>I am looking forward to work on a Scala based webapp. I understand this question can be split into two, but I am posting them as one because they rely on same context, there being a dependency on the hosting platform and frameworks used.</p>
  
  <p>I have read multiple (awesome) debates on Play! and Lift, but cannot find a good comparison between Play! 2.1 and Lift. How do I decide which one is better for my scenario (a social network website) ?</p>
  
  <p>Similarly, this <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/liftweb/JLNvFX-OptI" rel="nofollow">discussion</a> has some very good arguments as to which platform to use for if I go with Lift, but it's from 2010 and seems outdated. The recommended provider (stax.net) is dead (or I guess it's merged with cloudbees.com). I am personally inclined towards GAE, as they are quick to start with, but unsure if the issues still prevail :</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Support for actors (I am not sure if Akka helps us solve this problem)</li>
  <li>Requests for a given session being served by different JVMs without notice to running app</li>
  <li>Quoting David Pollak (lead author of Lift) :</li>
  </ol>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>GAE is slow and non-scalable, despite Google's claims (everyone I've
    spoken with that have tried to scale GAE apps have failed and gone
    elsewhere). GAE locks you into a tremendously suboptimal storage
    mechanism. GAE is free, but so is Stax and there are many inexpensive
    options including SliceHost.  Next up, you've got Amazon EC2 and
    RackSpace. So, I haven't found a good reason for anyone to use GAE. 
    And if there's no good reason to use GAE, devoting a pile of resources
    to code around the GAE JVM incompatibilities (e.g., no new threads)
    seems like a waste.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Another issue if I go with GAE is <strong>lack of Play! 2.1 support</strong>. I still don't see a module for that. Another issue is <strong>difficulty to migrate</strong> to other databases (although I hear migrating to MongoDB should be relatively easier) in the future. Worst case would be to move out of GAE and use AppScale.</p>