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 | ABLY: ✅ 2T+ API calls per month | |
LiveOps Toolkit Run A/B tests and campaigns without bothering developers every time marketing wants to try something new | PUBNUB: ✅ Yes (PubNub Illuminate) | ABLY: ❌ 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) | ABLY: ✅ Yes (Ably Dashboard) | |
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 | ABLY: ❌ MAU, or Per-Minute pricing | |
Channel Groups Handle massive topic lists without killing your app's performance or connection stability | PUBNUB: ✅ Yes (up to 20K per socket) | ABLY: ❌ | |
Presence Scaling Build "who's online" features that actually work at scale without mysterious limits | PUBNUB: ✅ Unlimited subscribers per channel | ABLY: 🔶 Up to 20k per channel | |
Edge Compute Skip the complexity of setting up and managing separate cloud functions - just write your logic and deploy | PUBNUB: ✅ Built-in (PubNub Functions) | ABLY: ✅ 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) | ABLY: 🔶 In Beta | |
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 | ABLY: Exactly once delivery with message history and replay | |
Ordering Guarantees Messages arrive in correct sequence | PUBNUB: In-order delivery per channel to prevent state corruption | ABLY: Ordering, exactly once and message delivery guarantees | |
Channel Management Organize and filter message topics | PUBNUB: Wildcard channels with fan-in capabilities for all subtopics | ABLY: Limited wildcard support for channel names, but not grouping | |
File Sharing Transfer multimedia content | PUBNUB: Native support for images, audio, video, and files | ABLY: 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 | ABLY: 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 | ABLY: No server-side filtering; client-side message processing only | |
Encryption Protects data during transmission | PUBNUB: Partial encryption support (secure payload, clear metadata) | ABLY: All-or-nothing encryption approach | |
Streaming Integrations Connects with data processing systems | PUBNUB: Built-in integrations with Kafka, Kinesis, Pulsar, SQS, REST APIs | ABLY: 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 | ABLY: Requires external services like AWS Lambda | |
Function Types Run different business logic on messages | PUBNUB: Comprehensive event handling (Before/After Publish, Before Subscribe) | ABLY: 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 | ABLY: Basic statistics only, no advanced dashboards | |
Live Decisioning Compare feature performance | PUBNUB: PubNub Illuminate enables A/B tests and campaigns without developer involvement | ABLY: No LiveOps tools available | |
| Operations & Scaling | |||
Uptime & SLA Guarantees service availability | PUBNUB: 99.999% uptime with published Root Cause Analyses (RCAs) | ABLY: 99.999% SLA claimed, but RCAs not publicly available | |
Global Infrastructure Reduces latency worldwide | PUBNUB: 11 Points of Presence with patented replication technology | ABLY: 11 regional global data centers | |
Proven Scale Adapts to growing demand | PUBNUB: 3T+ messages/month, 25.5M concurrent connection record | ABLY: 2T API calls/month | |
| Technical Specifications | |||
Developer Experience Makes it easy to start small, experiment and scale | PUBNUB: Developer-friendly across all team sizes | ABLY: Good for enterprise teams, but less accessible for indie developers | |
Documentation Easy to enable development teams and AI systems | PUBNUB: Clear, human and LLM unified documentation with practical examples | ABLY: Comprehensive with examples | |
Compliance Secure messaging, especially for regulated industries | PUBNUB: Transparent compliance documentation and certifications | ABLY: 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.
