Pricing FAQ
21 questions on this page
Short answers to common questions about PubNub pricing, billing, and usage.
How much does PubNub cost?
PubNub has a Free plan for apps that aren't in production, and two paid plans, Starter and Pro, billed on monthly active users (MAUs). For apps that don't fit the MAU model, PubNub also offers transaction-based pricing. PubNub places no limit on the number of channels a keyset or a client uses. For how the plans work, see PubNub pricing. For current prices, see the pricing page.
Can I use PubNub for free?
Yes, for testing and development. A free PubNub account covers up to 200 monthly active users (MAUs) or 1 million transactions at no cost, whichever limit you reach first. Creating a Production keyset requires at least the Starter plan. Testing keysets are rate-limited and aren't suitable for live traffic.
When your app goes to production, upgrade to a paid plan. Some features aren't on the Free plan or are available only as a trial. See Features by plan.
When do I need to upgrade to the Starter plan?
Upgrade to the Starter plan when your app goes to production, or when your account reaches a Free plan limit. A free PubNub account covers up to 200 monthly active users (MAUs) or 1 million transactions at no cost, whichever limit you reach first. Creating a Production keyset requires at least the Starter plan. Testing keysets are rate-limited and aren't suitable for live traffic.
When do I need the Pro plan?
Consider the Pro plan when:
- Your audience grows beyond what the Starter plan covers.
- Your app has usage spikes, such as live events.
- You want volume discounts.
PubNub offers a 99.999% uptime SLA, which allows about 5 minutes of downtime per year. For what each plan includes, see Features by plan. To discuss the Pro plan, contact Sales.
Does PubNub provide a premium SLA?
PubNub offers a 99.999% uptime SLA, which allows about 5 minutes of downtime per year. Every plan includes this uptime commitment. To discuss the SLA, contact Sales.
What are monthly active users?
A monthly active user (MAU) is a unique User ID that connects to your keyset at least once in a calendar month. A User ID that reconnects many times, or several devices that share one User ID, still count as one MAU. Pass a User ID every time a client connects, and keep it the same for the lifetime of the user, for example by storing it on the device or in your database. Otherwise the same user gets counted more than once. See The MAU model.
Do you count concurrent users?
No. PubNub bills primarily on monthly active users (MAUs), the count of unique User IDs that connect to your keyset at least once in a calendar month. Some apps don't fit that model, for example many User IDs that each connect briefly. For those, PubNub offers transaction-based pricing, billed per API request. See When transaction-based pricing fits better.
What are transactions and how are they measured?
A transaction is one API request to the PubNub network. PubNub splits a request whose payload exceeds 2,048 bytes into 2,048-byte (2 KiB) parts and bills each part as its own transaction. Most transactions are replicated or edge transactions. Message Actions, signals, and Function executions have their own transaction types. See Transactions.
How do I estimate the transactions for my use case?
Start from the examples in Transactions, which show how common activity counts toward transactions. For which API calls fall into each type, see Transaction classification. To build a pricing model for your use case, contact Sales.
What happens if usage exceeds my plan's limit?
If you exceed the Free plan limits, PubNub emails you to ask you to upgrade to the Starter plan or reduce your usage. The PubNub Starter plan includes 1,000 monthly active users (MAUs). You can buy more MAUs by credit card, month to month, or get volume discounts on the Pro plan. For details, see the pricing page or contact PubNub Support.
Can I create billing or usage alerts?
Yes, on the Starter and Pro plans. A billing alert notifies you when usage or cost passes a threshold you set.
In the Admin Portal, you can create, edit, snooze, and resolve alerts, and see each alert's trigger history.
Alerts appear in these places:
- Banners on the home page and the Plans and billing page.
- A badge in the account menu.
- The Billing alerts page.
You can also get notifications by email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams. Turn them on in the alert settings.
Why do I see grant calls in my usage after I disabled Access Manager?
Because disabling Access Manager doesn't stop your server from calling the grant API. Disabling it stops PubNub from checking permissions on requests.
The grant API is a server-side call that uses the secret key, and it keeps working while Access Manager is disabled. That way, you can issue tokens before you enable Access Manager, and clients don't get 403 Forbidden errors after you enable it.
To stop grant calls, remove them from your server code. See Access Manager, which controls client access to channels with tokens.
How do I stop a keyset from generating transactions?
Disable the keyset in the Admin Portal, and remove its keys from your code. A disabled keyset rejects publish and subscribe requests with an error, but error responses still count toward usage and billing.
Can I delete an app or keyset?
Yes, in the Admin Portal, open the app or the keyset, and disable it. A Free account can have up to 10 active keysets. Disabled keysets do not count toward the limit. See Keysets.
Do I need new keys when I upgrade my plan?
No. A Free account can only create Testing keysets. Creating a Production keyset requires at least the Starter plan. Testing keysets are rate-limited and aren't suitable for live traffic. After you upgrade to at least the Starter plan, you can edit an existing Testing keyset in the Admin Portal and change it to a Production keyset. Create a separate keyset for each environment, such as development, test, and production. See Protecting your keys.
How do I downgrade to the Free plan?
On the Starter plan, you downgrade yourself in the Admin Portal:
- Open the account menu and select Plans and billing.
- Choose the Free plan.
The downgrade takes effect on the first day of the next month. If you're on the Pro plan, contact Sales or Support.
How can I view my invoices?
In the Admin Portal of a paid account:
- Open the account menu and select Organization settings.
- Open Invoices and costs.
- Select an invoice number to open it.
You can download each invoice as a PDF, and each one shows whether it's paid.
How do I add or change my credit card?
In the Admin Portal, open the account menu and select Plans and billing. Add a payment method or edit the one on file, then enter your billing details.
What payment methods does PubNub accept?
PubNub accepts:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- Discover
- Wire transfer
- ACH payment
Do you charge sales tax or VAT?
No. PubNub doesn't charge sales tax, whether you pay by credit card or another method. Your government might charge a percentage when you send a wire transfer to another country, such as the USA. You're responsible for any taxes your government imposes.
Can I export usage data?
Yes. In the Admin Portal, open Usage & Monitoring and download the usage breakdown as a CSV or XLSX file.
Data is available up to the previous day, so you can't download today's usage. You can go back 3 months on the Free plan and 1 year on paid plans.