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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Platform as a Service
  4. Realtime Backend API
  5. Google Cloud Pub/Sub vs PubNub

Google Cloud Pub/Sub vs PubNub

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

PubNub
PubNub
Stacks249
Followers458
Votes238
Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Stacks550
Followers428
Votes13

Google Cloud Pub/Sub vs PubNub: What are the differences?

Introduction:

In this article, we will explore the key differences between Google Cloud Pub/Sub and PubNub, two popular messaging platforms. It is important to understand these differences in order to make an informed choice when selecting a messaging solution for your application.

  1. Scalability and Performance: Google Cloud Pub/Sub is designed as a highly scalable and reliable messaging service. It can handle massive amounts of data without compromising performance. On the other hand, PubNub is also designed for scalability but has limitations in terms of the maximum number of messages per second it can handle.

  2. Global Coverage: Google Cloud Pub/Sub has a global infrastructure that allows messages to be published and received from any location worldwide. This ensures low latency and high availability. In contrast, PubNub has multiple data centers globally but may not have the same level of global coverage as Google Cloud Pub/Sub.

  3. Integration with Other Google Cloud Services: Google Cloud Pub/Sub seamlessly integrates with other Google Cloud services, such as Cloud Functions, Dataflow, and BigQuery. This makes it easy to build complex workflows and data processing pipelines. PubNub, although it provides integration options, may not have the same level of compatibility with Google Cloud services.

  4. Security and Compliance: Google Cloud Pub/Sub offers advanced security features, including fine-grained access control, encryption at rest and in transit, and compliance certifications such as ISO, SOC, and HIPAA. PubNub also provides security features but may not have the same level of compliance certifications or granular access control as Google Cloud Pub/Sub.

  5. Message Retention and At-Least-Once Delivery: Google Cloud Pub/Sub retains messages for up to seven days by default, ensuring message durability and allowing late subscribers to receive missed messages. It also guarantees at-least-once delivery, meaning every message will be received by subscribers at least once. PubNub also provides message retention and delivery guarantees, but the specific retention period and delivery guarantees may vary.

  6. Pricing Model: Google Cloud Pub/Sub offers a pricing model based on data volume, number of operations, and network egress. This allows for cost optimization based on usage patterns. PubNub, on the other hand, uses a different pricing model based on the number of daily active devices and the amount of data transferred. The pricing models may differ in terms of cost predictability and scalability.

In summary, Google Cloud Pub/Sub and PubNub differ in terms of scalability, global coverage, integration with other services, security and compliance features, message retention and delivery guarantees, and pricing model. Understanding these differences will help you choose the messaging platform that best suits your application's requirements.

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Advice on PubNub, Google Cloud Pub/Sub

tauschjl
tauschjl

Apr 22, 2021

Needs advice

I am building an IoT application that will utilize connected air quality sensors to provide real-time indoor air quality in offices. I want to be able to share this data with a few different databases, etc.

Wondering if anyone has any advice on which real-time streaming API would be best for this sort of application, or even how I should think about it?

38.1k views38.1k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

PubNub
PubNub
Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Google Cloud Pub/Sub

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.

Cloud Pub/Sub is a fully-managed real-time messaging service that allows you to send and receive messages between independent applications. You can leverage Cloud Pub/Sub’s flexibility to decouple systems and components hosted on Google Cloud Platform or elsewhere on the Internet.

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
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Statistics
Stacks
249
Stacks
550
Followers
458
Followers
428
Votes
238
Votes
13
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
  • 9
    Easy to set-up and start with
  • 2
    A great choice for microservice architecture
  • 2
    Efficient and practical for complex systems
Cons
  • 2
    Need integration with stackdriver for monitoring
Integrations
No integrations available
Google Cloud Functions
Google Cloud Functions
Cloud Functions for Firebase
Cloud Functions for Firebase

What are some alternatives to PubNub, Google Cloud Pub/Sub?

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.

Ably

Ably

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.

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.

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