The Bottom Line
Ably is like cooking a complex dish from scratch - you source and pay for each ingredient separately, and figure out the recipe. PubNub is like getting a premium meal kit - all the ingredients are included with clear instructions. If you want enterprise-grade reliability without the complexity and billing surprises, PubNub is the cleaner choice.
Want the details? Keep reading...
PubNub | Ably | Why this matters | |
| PubNub vs Ably | |||
| Key Differentiators | |||
Global Scale Sleep well knowing your platform can handle Black Friday traffic because it's already proven at scale | PUBNUB ✅ 3T+ msgs/month, 25.5M concurrent record | COMPETITOR ✅ Unproven scale metrics | |
LiveOps Toolkit Run A/B tests and campaigns without bothering developers every time marketing wants to try something new | PUBNUB ✅ Yes (PubNub Illuminate) | COMPETITOR ❌ Not available | |
Real-time Analytics Actually see what's happening in your app instead of flying blind when things go wrong | PUBNUB ✅ Yes (PubNub Insights) | COMPETITOR 🔶 Basic stats only | |
Pricing Model Know what you'll pay before you get the bill - no surprise charges for connections or channel usage | PUBNUB ✅ Transparent per-MAU pricing | COMPETITOR ❌ Complex billing structure | |
Channel Groups Handle massive topic lists without killing your app's performance or connection stability | PUBNUB ✅ Yes (up to 20K per socket) | COMPETITOR 🔶 Limited support | |
Presence Scaling Build "who's online" features that actually work at scale without mysterious limits | PUBNUB ✅ 1M+ per channel | COMPETITOR 🔶 Limited (not documented) | |
Edge Compute Skip the complexity of setting up and managing separate cloud functions - just write your logic and deploy | PUBNUB ✅ Built-in (PubNub Functions) | COMPETITOR ✅ Requires external services (AWS Lambda, etc.) | |
AI Integration Accelerates AI development with plug-and-play compatibility | PUBNUB ✅ Native AI Support (MCP Server available for seamless AI app development) | COMPETITOR ❌ Not available | |
Pricing & Transparency
Pricing Model
PubNub: Simple, transparent per-MAU or transaction-based pricing
Ably: Complex multi-component billing: Messages: $2.50/million, Channels: $1.00/million minutes, Connections: $1.00/million minutes (with volume discounts)
Free Tier
PubNub: Generous free tier with clear limits - develop a proof of concept with some functionality limits, test your code with up to 200 MAUs for no cost
Ably: 200 concurrent channels, 200 connections, 6M messages/month
Billing Transparency
PubNub: No billing for connection count or topic graph scale
Ably: Connection-based billing model with multiple SKUs
See PubNub in Action
See PubNub's edge compute, real-time analytics, and LiveOps toolkit in action - all built-in without external dependencies.
Detailed Feature Comparison
PubNub | Ably | Why this matters | |
| PubNub vs Ably | |||
| Basic Pub/Sub Features | |||
Message Delivery Ensures reliable message transmission | PUBNUB At-least-once delivery with message history and replay capabilities | COMPETITOR At-least-once delivery only, no message replay/history by default | |
Ordering Guarantees Messages arrive in correct sequence | PUBNUB In-order delivery per channel to prevent state corruption | COMPETITOR No strict ordering guarantees | |
Channel Management Organize and filter message topics | PUBNUB Wildcard channels with fan-in capabilities for all subtopics | COMPETITOR Limited wildcard support for channel names, but not grouping | |
File Sharing Transfer multimedia content | PUBNUB Native support for images, audio, video, and files | COMPETITOR Limited binary data support via base64 encoding | |
| Advanced Pub/Sub Features | |||
Channel Groups Messages arrive in correct sequence | PUBNUB Up to 20K channels per socket connection, reducing reconnection churn | COMPETITOR No channel grouping; individual channel subscriptions only | |
Server-side Filtering Reduces client-side processing load | PUBNUB Built-in subscribe filters to reduce bandwidth and CPU usage | COMPETITOR No server-side filtering; client-side message processing only | |
Encryption Protects data during transmission | PUBNUB Partial encryption support (secure payload, clear metadata) | COMPETITOR All-or-nothing encryption approach | |
Streaming Integrations Connects with data processing systems | PUBNUB Built-in integrations with Kafka, Kinesis, Pulsar, SQS, REST APIs | COMPETITOR Limited to webhooks, no direct streaming platform integrations | |
| Edge Compute & Event-Driven Architecture | |||
Edge Functions Execute code closer to users | PUBNUB Built-in PubNub Functions for in-stream logic without external services | COMPETITOR Requires external services like AWS Lambda | |
Function Types Run different business logic on messages | PUBNUB Comprehensive event handling (Before/After Publish, Before Subscribe) | COMPETITOR Limited to webhooks only, no in-stream triggers | |
| Analytics & LiveOps | |||
Operational Dashboards Monitor system performance live | PUBNUB PubNub Insights provides traffic, user, and channel visibility | COMPETITOR Basic statistics only, no advanced dashboards | |
Live Decisioning Compare feature performance | PUBNUB PubNub Illuminate enables A/B tests and campaigns without developer involvement | COMPETITOR No LiveOps tools available | |
| Operations & Scaling | |||
Uptime & SLA Guarantees service availability | PUBNUB 99.999% uptime with published Root Cause Analyses (RCAs) | COMPETITOR 99.999% SLA claimed, but RCAs not publicly available | |
Global Infrastructure Reduces latency worldwide | PUBNUB 70+ Points of Presence with patented replication technology | COMPETITOR 25+ global data centers, fewer PoPs than PubNub | |
Proven Scale Adapts to growing demand | PUBNUB 3T+ messages/month, 25.5M concurrent connection record | COMPETITOR Claims high throughput but no public benchmarks available | |
| Technical Specifications | |||
Developer Experience Makes it easy to start small, experiment and scale | PUBNUB Developer-friendly across all team sizes | COMPETITOR Good for enterprise teams, but less accessible for indie developers | |
Documentation Easy to enable development teams and AI systems | PUBNUB Clear, unified documentation with practical examples | COMPETITOR Comprehensive but can be overwhelming due to product matrix complexity | |
Compliance Secure messaging, especially for regulated industries | PUBNUB Transparent compliance documentation and certifications | COMPETITOR GDPR, SOC2, HIPAA mentioned but details not always public | |
Why Upgrade from Ably to PubNub?
Ably's enterprise focus and complex product matrix can be a barrier for smaller teams and indie developers. PubNub offers a unified, developer-friendly platform with transparent pricing, built-in edge compute, and proven global scale. For teams seeking simplicity, reliability, and advanced features without the complexity, PubNub is the superior choice.
Ably's complexity and lack of transparency create an opportunity for developers needing a unified, easy-to-use real-time platform.
Migration Benefits
Simplified Platform
Unified solution for all real-time use cases
Transparent Pricing
Predictable costs without hidden fees
Built-in Capabilities
Edge compute and LiveOps tools included
Proven Scale
Battle-tested global infrastructure
Migration Ease
Moderate difficulty - Ably's APIs are similar to PubNub's, but migration may require mapping channel and presence logic to PubNub's more flexible architecture.
Get Started Now
If you want to test out PubNub you can start building now for free. Alternatively, reach out to our sales team for a quick demo of the platform.
Get Started Now
If you want to test out PubNub you can start building now for free. Alternatively, reach out to our sales team for a quick demo of the platform.
