vioscaleAI
Comparison

EMQX vs PubNub

On the evidence we track, PubNub leads this comparison with a composite score of 81/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

EMQX full profile →PubNub full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
EMQX65
★PubNub81
Score
vioscaleAI score
EMQX65 / 100medium · 74%
PubNub81 / 100medium · 61%
Pricing
Free tier
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Model
Price level
EMQXhigh
PubNubhigh
Starting price
EMQX$234
PubNub$98
Transparent
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Integrations
Count
EMQX50
PubNub–
Security
Certifications
Disclosure policy
EMQX✓
PubNub–
Gdpr
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Hipaa
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Iso27001
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Soc2
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Trust center
Reliability
Sla pct
EMQX99.99
PubNub99.999
Status page
EMQX–
PubNub✓
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
EMQX6 items
PubNub5 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for realtime messaging infra. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Presence
EMQX-
PubNub✓
Message history replay
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Delivery guarantee
EMQXExactly once
PubNub-
Global edge network
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Scaling model
EMQXNative cluster
PubNub-
Offline reconnect catchup
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Push notification bridge
EMQX-
PubNub✓
Auth model
EMQX-
PubNubToken/JWT
Self hostable
EMQX✓
PubNub-
Mqtt support
EMQX✓
PubNub-
Deployment
EMQX-
PubNubCloud hosted
Pricing model
EMQXConnections metered
PubNubMAU metered

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

EMQX

EMQX is an MQTT-based message broker designed to connect and manage millions of IoT devices in real time. It supports multiple deployment models (cloud-hosted, self-managed, and bring-your-own-cloud), comprehensive protocol support beyond MQTT, and integrations with 50+ external systems for data routing and processing.

Independently observed

PubNub

Leader

PubNub provides a cloud-based pub/sub messaging service with integrated presence tracking, message playback, access control, and serverless functions running on a global network with 11 points of presence. The platform consolidates multiple communication services into a single SDK and billing model, with options for regional data residency.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

EMQX

from $234/moHybridFree tier14-day trial

From free tier to $234/month managed, or custom enterprise pricing

  • ServerlessFree
    • Up to 1000 connections
    • TLS/SSL encryption
    • Basic monitoring & alerts
    • 8/5 support
  • Dedicated Flex$234/month with included traffic allowance
    • Dedicated isolated cluster
    • VPC peering & private link
    • 40+ integrations
    • 99.99% uptime SLA
    • 24/7 premium support
  • BYOCContact sales
    • Deployed in your VPC
    • Custom data plane & control plane
    • Managed upgrades and observability
    • Compliance tailored to your needs
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Deploy anywhere (on-prem, edge, cloud)
    • Custom plugins & extensions
    • Professional services
    • Priority feature requests
as of verify ↗

PubNub

Leader
from $98/moUsage-basedFree tier

Free tier with up to 200 MAU. Starter at $98/month for 1,000 MAU. Pro with tiered usage-based pricing starting around $370/month for 5,000 MAU.

  • FreeFree
    • Presence tracking
    • Chat
    • Push notifications
    • Message history
    • Access control
    • +1 more
  • Starter$98/mo
    • User management
    • Insights
    • 6-month chat history
    • Advanced analytics
    • 99.999% SLA
    • +2 more
  • ProContact sales
    • Unlimited chat storage
    • Custom allowances
    • Volume discounts
    • Premium support options
    • All Starter features
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
EMQX✓
PubNub✗
iOS
EMQX✗
PubNub✓
Android
EMQX✗
PubNub✓
CLI
EMQX✓
PubNub✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
EMQX✓
PubNub✓
Self-hosted
EMQX✓
PubNub✗
On-premise
EMQX✓
PubNub✗
Hybrid
EMQX✓
PubNub✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

EMQX

26 total
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Oracle Cloud
  • AWS
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Google Gemini
  • ClickHouse
  • Snowflake
  • Kafka
  • Pulsar
  • RabbitMQ
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • MongoDB
  • InfluxDB
  • TDengine
  • TimescaleDB
  • BigQuery
  • S3
  • Azure Blob
  • Confluent Cloud
  • Webhook
  • Amazon S3
  • +2 more
Independently observed

PubNub

Leader

Not documented yet.

Still deciding?

EMQX or PubNub: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.