Ably vs Pusher Channels
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Ably and Pusher Channels 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 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.
5 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
Pusher Channels 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Ably | Pusher Channels |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| 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. | 200,000 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 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. | 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 included | 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. | 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. |
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) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“200 concurrent connections 500 messages / second 6M messages / month”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Pusher Channels Pricing ↗
“Messages per day 200k Concurrent connections 100 Level of support Standard”
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.
- 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) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“Standard Roll-out into production. $29 / month + usage”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Pusher Channels Pricing ↗
“Startup $49/month Sign up Messages per day 1 million Concurrent connections 500”
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.
- 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) →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
- Pusher Channels Pricing ↗
“Easy pricing with our pre-built limits. Take control of your spending”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
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) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“6M messages / month”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Pusher Channels Pricing ↗
“Messages per day 4 million Concurrent connections 2”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Ably Pricing ↗
“10k concurrent channels 10k concurrent connections 2.5k messages / second”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Pusher Channels Pricing ↗
“Concurrent connections 100 Level of support Standard”
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 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.