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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Platform as a Service
  4. Realtime Backend API
  5. PubNub vs ably

PubNub vs ably

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

PubNub
PubNub
Stacks249
Followers458
Votes238
Ably
Ably
Stacks63
Followers98
Votes96
GitHub Stars351
Forks63

PubNub vs ably: What are the differences?

Introduction: In this Markdown code snippet, we will outline the key differences between PubNub and Ably, two popular real-time messaging platforms.

  1. Pricing Models: PubNub follows a "pay-as-you-go" model, where users are charged based on the number of messages sent/received. In contrast, Ably offers a tiered pricing structure with different plans based on usage and features.

  2. Protocol Support: PubNub primarily supports its proprietary PubNub Protocol for real-time communication, while Ably is built on open standards such as MQTT, WebSockets, and SSE, making it more adaptable and interoperable.

  3. Availability of SDKs: PubNub provides SDKs for a wide range of programming languages and platforms, including JavaScript, Python, iOS, and Android. Ably, on the other hand, has SDKs for fewer languages but emphasizes comprehensive documentation and support for developers.

  4. Message Durability: PubNub ensures message delivery through its Storage & Playback feature, allowing users to retrieve missed messages. Ably also offers message persistence through its History API but with some limitations based on the plan.

In Summary, the key differences between PubNub and Ably lie in their pricing models, protocol support, availability of SDKs, and message durability features.

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CLI (Node.js)
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Manual

Detailed Comparison

PubNub
PubNub
Ably
Ably

PubNub makes it easy for you to add real-time capabilities to your apps, without worrying about the infrastructure. Build apps that allow your users to engage in real-time across mobile, browser, desktop and server.

Ably offers WebSockets, stream resume, history, presence, and managed third-party integrations to make it simple to build, extend, and deliver digital realtime experiences at scale.

PubNub SDKs support over 50 of the most popular environments, including: iOS, Android, JavaScript, .NET, Java, Ruby, Python, PHP and many more.;Data Push - Establish and maintain persistent socket connections to any device (mobile, browser, desktop and server) and push data to global audiences in less than ¼ of a second;Presence - Automatically detect when users enter or leave your app and whether machines are online;Storage and Playback- Store your real-time data streams for future access, “playback” or re-publish;Mobile - Easily manage the complexity of real-time apps on mobile devices;Analytics - Simulate an audience of millions. See a live view of audience size, engagement and geography;Security - Protect your real-time data with easy to use enterprise-grade security
Pub/Sub Channels API: built-in user presence, message history, token auth, guaranteed message ordering, stream continuity; Protocol Adapters API: stream data over open protocols like WebSockets, MQTT, SSE, and more; Reactor API: link your other systems to Ably so you can use your existing compute to queue and consume high volumes of realtime messages in bulk, transform or filter messages by executing functions on them, or pass messages on to other systems for onward processing; A unified API to provide native push notifications using APNS and GCM; Data Stream Network: Ably's cloud network of 16+ datacenters and 175+ PoPs.
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
351
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
63
Stacks
249
Stacks
63
Followers
458
Followers
98
Votes
238
Votes
96
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 36
    Massively scalable & easy to use
  • 25
    Easy setup
  • 20
    Reliable
  • 19
    Great support
  • 14
    Flexible to integrate to custom applications
Cons
  • 1
    Costly
Pros
  • 10
    WebSockets
  • 9
    Highly reliable
  • 8
    Massive scalability
  • 8
    Great technical support
  • 8
    SSE
Integrations
No integrations available
PHP
PHP
Java
Java
Objective-C
Objective-C
React Native
React Native
Swift
Swift
Unity
Unity
Ruby
Ruby
Node.js
Node.js
JavaScript
JavaScript
.NET
.NET

What are some alternatives to PubNub, Ably?

Firebase

Firebase

Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications. Simply add the Firebase library to your application to gain access to a shared data structure; any changes you make to that data are automatically synchronized with the Firebase cloud and with other clients within milliseconds.

Socket.IO

Socket.IO

It enables real-time bidirectional event-based communication. It works on every platform, browser or device, focusing equally on reliability and speed.

Pusher

Pusher

Pusher is the category leader in delightful APIs for app developers building communication and collaboration features.

SignalR

SignalR

SignalR allows bi-directional communication between server and client. Servers can now push content to connected clients instantly as it becomes available. SignalR supports Web Sockets, and falls back to other compatible techniques for older browsers. SignalR includes APIs for connection management (for instance, connect and disconnect events), grouping connections, and authorization.

Syncano

Syncano

Syncano is a backend platform to build powerful real-time apps more efficiently. Integrate with any API, minimize boilerplate code and control your data - all from one place.

NATS

NATS

Unlike traditional enterprise messaging systems, NATS has an always-on dial tone that does whatever it takes to remain available. This forms a great base for building modern, reliable, and scalable cloud and distributed systems.

SocketCluster

SocketCluster

SocketCluster is a fast, highly scalable HTTP + realtime server engine which lets you build multi-process realtime servers that make use of all CPU cores on a machine/instance. It removes the limitations of having to run your Node.js server as a single thread and makes your backend resilient by automatically recovering from worker crashes and aggregating errors into a central log.

deepstream.io

deepstream.io

Scalable Server for Realtime Web Apps with JSON structures that can be read, manipulated and listened to, messages that can be sent to one or more subscribers, and request response workflows, between two clients or servers.

8base

8base

A cloud service designed to power enterprise-grade web and mobile applications that require support for large numbers of users, complex data and transactional requirements, comprehensive role-based security and a modern look-and-feel.

Supabase

Supabase

Supabase is currently in early-Alpha .It is an open-source Firebase alternative. It adds realtime and RESTful APIs to your PostgreSQL database without a single line of code.

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