PubNub vs Liveblocks
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of PubNub and Liveblocks built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
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
Choose Liveblocks if…
Building collaboration rather than transport — presence, comments, version history and pre-built components, with $30 of monthly credits on a $25 plan so the balance exceeds the fee.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- 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.
- Liveblocks: You want a plain websocket. This is collaboration infrastructure with opinions about what you are building, and the free plan advertises credits without naming the amount, so the allowance cannot be sized before signing up.
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.
PubNub 0
Liveblocks 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | PubNub | Liveblocks |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Always free | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | 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. | A monthly credit allowance, plus the realtime infrastructure, collaboration features and pre-built components. The page says "free monthly credits" without naming the amount, so the size of the allowance is not sourced from here. |
| Credit card to start | No | No |
| Entry paid plan | $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. | $25 a month billed annually for Pro, which carries $30 of monthly credits — so the plan returns more credit than it costs. Team is $500 a month with $600 of credits, the same shape at twenty times the size. |
| Pricing model | 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. | Credits, not units. A plan buys a monthly credit balance — $30 on Pro, $600 on Team — spent against whatever the product consumes, and the credit figure exceeds the plan price in both cases. Higher tiers also raise simultaneous connections and webhook event frequency rather than only the balance. |
Where they differ.
Kind of free offer
- PubNub
- Always free
- Liveblocks
- Free tier
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“Free Plan Free Forever free • No credit card required 200 MAU”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Liveblocks Pricing ↗
“Free No credit card required Free monthly credits”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
What the free plan includes
- 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.
- Liveblocks
- A monthly credit allowance, plus the realtime infrastructure, collaboration features and pre-built components. The page says "free monthly credits" without naming the amount, so the size of the allowance is not sourced from here.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“200 MAU or 1M transactions”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Liveblocks Pricing ↗
“Free monthly credits Realtime infrastructure Collaboration features Pre-built components”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- 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.
- Liveblocks
- $25 a month billed annually for Pro, which carries $30 of monthly credits — so the plan returns more credit than it costs. Team is $500 a month with $600 of credits, the same shape at twenty times the size.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“Starter Plan $98/month Pay as your grow 1,000 MAU included”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Liveblocks Pricing ↗
“$ 25 per month billed annually Everything in Free, plus: $30 monthly credits”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Pricing model
- 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.
- Liveblocks
- Credits, not units. A plan buys a monthly credit balance — $30 on Pro, $600 on Team — spent against whatever the product consumes, and the credit figure exceeds the plan price in both cases. Higher tiers also raise simultaneous connections and webhook event frequency rather than only the balance.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- PubNub Pricing ↗
“pay-as-you-grow pricing is based on one simple metric: Monthly Active Users”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Liveblocks Pricing ↗
“$600 monthly credits Extended version history Higher webhook event frequency More simultaneous connections”
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.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: PubNub or Liveblocks?
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.
Liveblocks: $25 a month billed annually for Pro, which carries $30 of monthly credits — so the plan returns more credit than it costs. Team is $500 a month with $600 of credits, the same shape at twenty times the size.
Should I choose PubNub or Liveblocks?
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.
Pick Liveblocks if Building collaboration rather than transport — presence, comments, version history and pre-built components, with $30 of monthly credits on a $25 plan so the balance exceeds the fee.