# Pusher Channels vs Liveblocks

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/pusher-vs-liveblocks/

Every value below is read from Pusher Channels's and Liveblocks's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Pusher Channels | Liveblocks |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | 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. | 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. |
| Entry paid plan | $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. | $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 | 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. | 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

### What the free plan includes

- 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. ([source](https://pusher.com/channels/pricing/))
- 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. ([source](https://liveblocks.io/pricing))

### Entry paid plan

- 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. ([source](https://pusher.com/channels/pricing/))
- 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. ([source](https://liveblocks.io/pricing))

### Pricing model

- 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. ([source](https://pusher.com/channels/pricing/))
- 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. ([source](https://liveblocks.io/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

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.

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.

Consider something else: 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.

Consider something else: 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.

## Documented by only one

- Credit card to start: Liveblocks: No
- Events included: 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.
- Concurrency: 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.
- Support on entry paid plan: Pusher 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.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Pusher Channels or Liveblocks?**

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.
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 Pusher Channels or Liveblocks?**

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.
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.