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Ably vs Pusher Channels

SEPT 2026 audit

A comparison of Ably and Pusher Channels built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 11 criteria comparedSources last checked

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 Pusher Channels if…

A bill that cannot surprise you. Fixed tiers with pre-built ceilings and no usage metering at all, so $49 buys a million messages a day and 500 connections and that is the whole invoice.

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.
  • Pusher Channels: Traffic is spiky. The ceilings are daily rather than monthly, so one busy day can hit a limit a monthly allowance would have absorbed — and exceeding a plan rate-limits you rather than billing you.

Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Ably alternatives · Pusher Channels alternatives

5 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.

Visit Ably documentationVisit Pusher Channels documentation

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionAblyPusher Channels
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
Kind of free offerFree tierFree tier
What the free plan includes200 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.200,000 messages a day and 100 concurrent connections on the Sandbox plan, with standard support. A daily message ceiling rather than a monthly one, which is the harder limit to plan around.
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.
$49 a month for Startup, which buys 1 million messages a day and 500 concurrent connections. Nothing is metered on top — the plan is the ceiling and the whole bill.
Pricing modelThree 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.Fixed plan tiers with pre-built ceilings and no usage metering at all — $49, $99, $299, $499, $699, $899 and $1,199 a month, each raising the daily message count and the concurrent connection count together. The page sells this as spending control, and the trade is explicit: you are rate-limited rather than invoiced when you exceed a plan.
Observability
Events included6 million messages a month on the free package, with a 500-per-second rate ceiling alongside it. Paid packages raise the rate ceiling — 2,500 a second on Standard, 10,000 on Pro — and bill message volume as usage rather than including it.200,000 messages a day free, rising to 1 million at $49, 4 million at $99, 10 million at $299 and 20 million at $499. Counted per day rather than per month, so a single busy day can hit a ceiling a monthly figure would have absorbed.
Queues
Concurrency
200 concurrent connections on Free, 10,000 on Standard at $29 and 50,000 on Pro at $399, alongside matching concurrent-channel ceilings of 10,000 and 50,000.
100 concurrent connections free, 500 at $49, 2,000 at $99, 5,000 at $299 and 10,000 at $499. The ceiling moves only when the plan does.

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

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.
Pusher Channels
200,000 messages a day and 100 concurrent connections on the Sandbox plan, with standard support. A daily message ceiling rather than a monthly one, which is the harder limit to plan around.
Sources (2) →

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.
Pusher Channels
$49 a month for Startup, which buys 1 million messages a day and 500 concurrent connections. Nothing is metered on top — the plan is the ceiling and the whole bill.
Sources (2) →

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.
Pusher Channels
Fixed plan tiers with pre-built ceilings and no usage metering at all — $49, $99, $299, $499, $699, $899 and $1,199 a month, each raising the daily message count and the concurrent connection count together. The page sells this as spending control, and the trade is explicit: you are rate-limited rather than invoiced when you exceed a plan.
Sources (2) →

Events included

Ably
6 million messages a month on the free package, with a 500-per-second rate ceiling alongside it. Paid packages raise the rate ceiling — 2,500 a second on Standard, 10,000 on Pro — and bill message volume as usage rather than including it.
Pusher Channels
200,000 messages a day free, rising to 1 million at $49, 4 million at $99, 10 million at $299 and 20 million at $499. Counted per day rather than per month, so a single busy day can hit a ceiling a monthly figure would have absorbed.
Sources (2) →

Concurrency

Ably

200 concurrent connections on Free, 10,000 on Standard at $29 and 50,000 on Pro at $399, alongside matching concurrent-channel ceilings of 10,000 and 50,000.

Pusher Channels

100 concurrent connections free, 500 at $49, 2,000 at $99, 5,000 at $299 and 10,000 at $499. The ceiling moves only when the plan does.

Sources (2) →

When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.

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03.

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 — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.

Support on entry paid planPusher Channels: Standard support up to the $99 Pro plan and Premium support from $299 Business upward. Support level is a plan attribute here rather than an add-on.
SOC 2Ably: Ably regularly completes audits of our product, infrastructure, and policies to the satisfaction of the SOC 2 Type 2 standard.Pusher Channels: not stated on its own page when read on 2026-09-21 — corrections welcome · every such claim about Pusher Channels.
ISO 27001Pusher Channels: Our security program, management system, controls and the implementation of those are audited at least twice per year by an independent and qualified third party, evidenced by the valid ISO27001:2013 certificate.Ably: not stated on its own page when read on 2026-09-21 — corrections welcome · every such claim about Ably.
HIPAAAbly: HIPAA BAA Compliance for your healthcare solution.Pusher Channels: not stated on its own page when read on 2026-09-21 — corrections welcome · every such claim about Pusher Channels.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Ably or Pusher Channels?

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.

Pusher Channels: $49 a month for Startup, which buys 1 million messages a day and 500 concurrent connections. Nothing is metered on top — the plan is the ceiling and the whole bill.

Should I choose Ably or Pusher Channels?

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 Pusher Channels if A bill that cannot surprise you. Fixed tiers with pre-built ceilings and no usage metering at all, so $49 buys a million messages a day and 500 connections and that is the whole invoice.

Provider pages

AblyRealtime messaging metered on three axes at once — messages, channel-minutes and connection-minutes — on top of a package fee.Pusher ChannelsHosted websockets sold as fixed plan tiers with pre-built ceilings rather than a usage meter.

Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.