--- source_url: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pricing/quotas title: PubNub plan comparison updated_at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z --- # PubNub plan comparison ## Documentation index To discover more PubNub resources: 1. Fetch [PubNub's llms.txt](https://www.pubnub.com/llms-full.txt) for a list of available pages in Markdown format. 2. Identify relevant URLs from that index. 3. Fetch the target pages. Do not assume a path exists, always check the index first. This reference compares what the PubNub Free, Starter, and Pro plans include. It lists only what changes with your plan. For the soft and hard limits each API enforces on every plan, see [API limits](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/architecture/limits.md). ## Features by plan Every plan includes [Pub/Sub](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pub-sub/overview.md), [Presence](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/presence/overview.md), [Message Persistence](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/data-storage/message-history/overview.md), [App Context](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/data-storage/metadata/overview.md), [Files](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/data-storage/files/overview.md), [Mobile Push Notifications](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/mobile-push-notifications/overview.md), [Functions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/message-processing/serverless/overview.md), [Access Manager](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/security/access-control/overview.md), and [encryption](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/security/encryption/overview.md). Every plan also allows unlimited channels, devices, and concurrent users. These features depend on your plan: | Feature | Free | Starter | Pro | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Production keysets. See [Keysets](#keysets). | No | Yes | Yes | | Secret key rotation without downtime | No. Free accounts rotate the secret key with downtime. | Yes | Yes | | [Audit Log](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/security/audit-log.md) | Preview of recent events | Yes | Yes | | [Channel Monitor](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/message-processing/moderation/overview.md#channel-monitor) | No | Yes | Yes | | [Auto Moderation](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/message-processing/moderation/overview.md#auto-moderation) (Beta) | No | Yes | Yes | | [Events & Actions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/overview.md). See [Events & Actions](#events--actions). | Trial | Yes | Yes | | [PubNub Insights](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/analytics/usage-dashboards/overview.md) | Trial | Yes | Yes | | [Illuminate](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/analytics/decisions/overview.md) | Trial | Yes | Yes | | [Custom domain](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/security/encryption/request-custom-domain.md) | No | No | Yes | | SAML single sign-on (SSO) for the Admin Portal | No | No | Yes | | Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for HIPAA compliance | No | No | Yes | | Uptime service level agreement (SLA) of up to 99.999% | No | No | Yes | The PubNub Audit Log shows the full event history on the Starter and Pro plans. On the Free plan, the PubNub Audit Log shows a preview of the 5 most recent events. ## Keysets PubNub keyset limits by account tier: | Account tier | Soft limit | Hard limit | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | 3 keysets | 3 keysets | | Starter | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Pro | Unlimited | Unlimited | A Free tier account that reaches the hard limit must delete an existing keyset before it can create another. Creating a Production keyset requires at least the Starter plan. Testing keysets are rate-limited and aren't suitable for live traffic. See [Set up your account](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/architecture/authentication/set-up-your-account.md#create-a-keyset) to create one. ## Monthly Active Users A free PubNub account covers up to 200 monthly active users (MAUs) or 1 million transactions at no cost, whichever limit you reach first. The PubNub Starter plan includes 1,000 monthly active users (MAUs). You can buy more MAUs month to month. The Pro plan sets your MAU package, usage allowance, and rate in your contract. See [Pricing overview](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pricing/overview.md#the-mau-model) for how MAU billing works, and for the pricing calculator. ## Message retention PubNub Message Persistence limits: | Setting | Limit | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Data retention | Message Persistence retention is 1 or 7 days on the Free plan, 30 days, 3 months, or 6 months on Starter, and 1 year or Unlimited on Pro. | Free tier keysets are capped at 7 days. Set the retention period per keyset in the [Admin Portal](https://admin.pubnub.com/). | | Messages per history call | A single history call returns up to 100 messages for one channel, or up to 25 messages per channel across as many as 500 channels. | Page backward with the timetokens each response returns. | | Channels per message-count call | A single `messageCounts` call covers up to 100 channels. | Applies to the call that returns unread message counts for multiple channels in one request. | Testing keysets default to 7-day retention. Free plan accounts can only create Testing keysets, so this is also the effective retention ceiling for the Free plan. ## Channel groups A [channel group](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/architecture/core-concepts.md#channel) lets a client subscribe to many channels as one unit. Each PubNub keyset supports up to 10 channel groups. Each group holds up to 1,000 channels by default. Paid plans can raise the cap to 2,000 channels per group. [Contact support](mailto:support@pubnub.com) to raise the channel-group cap on a paid plan. ## Functions On Free and Starter plans, a PubNub Function typically handles 15 requests per second (RPS). Starter plan Functions can scale up to 10 times that within 20 seconds. Free plan Functions do not scale beyond their baseline RPS. If load exceeds the RPS limit, Functions may time out or run longer. A PubNub Function package revision can deploy to up to 10 keysets on the Free plan and up to 500 keysets on a paid plan. [Contact sales](https://www.pubnub.com/company/contact-sales/) for higher throughput. See [API limits](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless-sdk/api-limits.md) for the full model. ## Events & Actions PubNub Events & Actions limits by tier: | Item | Free | Intro | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 | Tier 6 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Events ingested per month | 10K | 2M | 4M | 25M | 66M | 200M | 500M | Unlimited | | Listeners | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Actions per listener | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Your keyset's tier is set by your PubNub plan. For the dollar cost of each tier above Free, see [Pricing by feature](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pricing/pricing-by-feature.md#events--actions). ## Next steps * [Pricing overview](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pricing/overview.md). The MAU model, plan comparison, and when transaction-based pricing fits better. * [Pricing by feature](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pricing/pricing-by-feature.md). The cost of each transaction type, storage, file transfer, and Events & Actions tier. * [API limits](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/architecture/limits.md). The soft and hard limits every API enforces, independent of plan. * [Full pricing details](https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/). PubNub's plan comparison and signup page. Last updated at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z