Ably vs PubNub
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Ably and PubNub built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Ably if…
Workloads where the ceiling has to move without a plan change: 50,000 concurrent connections at $399, three meters that scale with what you actually send, and volume rates falling to $0.50 per million messages.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose PubNub if…
Products with heavy users rather than many of them. Billing is per monthly active user with unlimited channels on every plan, so a small audience sending constantly costs the same as a small audience sending rarely.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Ably: You need to know the bill in advance. Three meters run at once — messages, channel-minutes and connection-minutes — and an idle connection still accrues connection-minutes, so time connected costs money whether or not anything is sent.
- PubNub: You have many short-lived users. MAU billing inverts every message-metered competitor here: a product with a large, lightly-engaged audience pays for all of them, and at $98 the entry price is twice the next highest.
4 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Ably 0
PubNub 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Ably | PubNub |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Always free |
| What the free plan includes | 200 concurrent connections, 500 messages a second and 6 million messages a month, with community and best-effort email support. No commitment, and no time limit stated. | 200 monthly active users or 1 million transactions, whichever comes first, plus 1 GB of data storage retained for 7 days. Described as suitable for testing and prototypes. |
| Entry paid plan | $29 a month for Standard, and the "+ usage" matters: the package fee buys capacity ceilings and every message, channel-minute and connection-minute is billed on top of it. | $98 a month for the Starter plan, which includes 1,000 monthly active users. The highest entry price of the four, and the only one where the entry unit is people rather than messages or connections. |
| Pricing model | Three meters at once on top of a package fee: $2.50 per million messages, $1.00 per million channel-minutes and $1.00 per million connection-minutes, each falling to $0.50 or $0.20 with volume. A per-MAU model is offered as an alternative. A connection that sits idle still accrues connection-minutes, so time connected is billable whether or not anything is sent. | Per monthly active user, and PubNub presents that as the point rather than as a detail: one metric, unlimited channels on every plan, and core features included rather than tiered. A product with many short-lived users costs more here than one with few users sending constantly — the reverse of every message-metered competitor. |
Where they differ.
Kind of free offer
- Ably
- Free tier
- PubNub
- Always free
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“Free Build a proof of concept. $0 Start for free Capacity”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“Free Plan Free Forever free • No credit card required 200 MAU”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
What the free plan includes
- Ably
- 200 concurrent connections, 500 messages a second and 6 million messages a month, with community and best-effort email support. No commitment, and no time limit stated.
- PubNub
- 200 monthly active users or 1 million transactions, whichever comes first, plus 1 GB of data storage retained for 7 days. Described as suitable for testing and prototypes.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“200 concurrent connections 500 messages / second 6M messages / month”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“200 MAU or 1M transactions”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- Ably
- $29 a month for Standard, and the "+ usage" matters: the package fee buys capacity ceilings and every message, channel-minute and connection-minute is billed on top of it.
- PubNub
- $98 a month for the Starter plan, which includes 1,000 monthly active users. The highest entry price of the four, and the only one where the entry unit is people rather than messages or connections.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“Standard Roll-out into production. $29 / month + usage”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“Starter Plan $98/month Pay as your grow 1,000 MAU included”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Ably
- Three meters at once on top of a package fee: $2.50 per million messages, $1.00 per million channel-minutes and $1.00 per million connection-minutes, each falling to $0.50 or $0.20 with volume. A per-MAU model is offered as an alternative. A connection that sits idle still accrues connection-minutes, so time connected is billable whether or not anything is sent.
- PubNub
- Per monthly active user, and PubNub presents that as the point rather than as a detail: one metric, unlimited channels on every plan, and core features included rather than tiered. A product with many short-lived users costs more here than one with few users sending constantly — the reverse of every message-metered competitor.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“Messages $2.50 / million As low as $0.50/M with volume discount Channels $1.00 / million mins”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“pay-as-you-grow pricing is based on one simple metric: Monthly Active Users”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Ably or PubNub?
Ably: $29 a month for Standard, and the "+ usage" matters: the package fee buys capacity ceilings and every message, channel-minute and connection-minute is billed on top of it.
PubNub: $98 a month for the Starter plan, which includes 1,000 monthly active users. The highest entry price of the four, and the only one where the entry unit is people rather than messages or connections.
Should I choose Ably or PubNub?
Pick Ably if Workloads where the ceiling has to move without a plan change: 50,000 concurrent connections at $399, three meters that scale with what you actually send, and volume rates falling to $0.50 per million messages.
Pick PubNub if Products with heavy users rather than many of them. Billing is per monthly active user with unlimited channels on every plan, so a small audience sending constantly costs the same as a small audience sending rarely.