# HiveMQ vs PubNub

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** PubNub

| Attribute | HiveMQ | PubNub |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 55.2 (75% (high)) | 80.7 (61% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A fully-managed or self-hosted MQTT platform that streams industrial data in real time with guaranteed reliability and resilience, serving as the backbone for AI-driven operations and autonomous decision-making in manufacturing, logistics, and industrial settings. It is indexed under Realtime Messaging Infra.","source":"https://www.hivemq.com/pricing/","question":"What is HiveMQ?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"HiveMQ is a paid product; published pricing starts at $299 per month. It is sold across 3 plans (Launch, Run and Enterprise). There is no free tier. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.hivemq.com/pricing/","question":"How much does HiveMQ cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"HiveMQ supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.hivemq.com/pricing/fully-managed/","question":"What platforms does HiveMQ support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. HiveMQ can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.hivemq.com/pricing/fully-managed/","question":"Can HiveMQ be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for HiveMQ, including Kafka, Amazon Kinesis, AWS CloudWatch, Prometheus and Graphite. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.hivemq.com/pricing/fully-managed/","question":"What does HiveMQ integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for HiveMQ. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as HiveMQ not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.hivemq.com/blog/achieving-real-time-accurate-billing-and-compliance-for-ai-era-data-centers/","question":"What security certifications does HiveMQ have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"HiveMQ is available worldwide. Its primary markets are the United States and the EU.","source":"https://www.hivemq.com/pricing/","question":"Where is HiveMQ available?","confidence":0.5}]` | `[{"answer":"Offers messaging infrastructure for application developers to add chat, presence tracking, and real-time collaboration features. Includes built-in message persistence, push notification delivery, access controls, and runs on a globally distributed network. It is indexed under Realtime Messaging Infra.","source":"https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/","question":"What is PubNub?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PubNub offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $98 per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/","question":"Is PubNub free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PubNub supports iOS and Android. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/","question":"What platforms does PubNub support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for PubNub, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/","question":"Can PubNub be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for PubNub. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as PubNub not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/","question":"What security certifications does PubNub have?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | HiveMQ is a messaging platform purpose-built around MQTT to transport data from industrial equipment and IoT devices to business applications across hybrid environments. It supports managed cloud, self-hosted, and on-premise deployments with strong security, scalability, and governance features for mission-critical operations. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"auth_model":"mTLS","deployment":"hybrid","mqtt_support":true,"pricing_model":"connections-metered","self_hostable":true,"delivery_guarantee":"at-least-once","message_history_replay":true}` | `{"presence":true,"auth_model":"token/JWT","deployment":"cloud-hosted","pricing_model":"MAU-metered","global_edge_network":true,"message_history_replay":true,"push_notification_bridge":true,"offline_reconnect_catchup":true}` |
| integrations.count | 5 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Kafka"},{"name":"Amazon Kinesis"},{"name":"AWS CloudWatch"},{"name":"Prometheus"},{"name":"Graphite"},{"name":"Apache Kafka","native":true,"category":"messaging","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Microsoft Azure","native":true,"category":"cloud","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Kubernetes","native":true},{"name":"OpenShift","native":true}]` | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US","EU"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"ios":true,"android":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Lab","summary":"Free, 100 msgs/sec, 1 broker","features":["TLS encryption","Authentication & authorization","Free MQTT connectivity"],"description":"Free tier for learning and experimentation","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"throughput":"100 msgs/sec","broker_deployments":"1"}},{"free":false,"name":"Production","summary":"$299/month","features":["TLS encryption","RBAC","99.95% Uptime SLA","Broker REST API"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":299,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Self-managed production MQTT connectivity","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"throughput":"1,000 msgs/sec","data_volume":"10 GB/month"}},{"free":true,"name":"Cloud Serverless","summary":"Free managed cloud tier","features":["TLS encryption","Authentication","Authorization"],"description":"Free fully-managed cloud MQTT for learning and early experimentation","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{}},{"free":false,"name":"Cloud Starter","summary":"Usage-based pricing","features":["TLS encryption","Authentication","Authorization","99.95% Uptime SLA","Broker REST API"],"commitment":"monthly","description":"Usage-based managed MQTT platform scaling with runtime and message volume","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{}},{"free":false,"name":"Cloud Enterprise","summary":"Custom capacity-based pricing","features":["Full RBAC","Client certificate authentication","OAuth/JWT","Audit logging","Client event history","Broker REST API","Up to 99.99% Uptime SLA"],"description":"Fully-managed platform for business-critical systems requiring customization","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{}},{"free":false,"name":"Self-Managed Enterprise","summary":"Custom capacity-based pricing","features":["On-premise deployment","Up to 99.99% Uptime SLA","Full RBAC","Client certificate authentication","OAuth/JWT","Audit logging","Client event history","Broker REST API"],"description":"Enterprise plan for complex, large-scale on-premise or hybrid deployments","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Overage messaging","components":[{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"messages"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.8,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tiers available. Production from $299/month. Usage-based and capacity-based options for larger deployments.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.hivemq.com/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-28T13:45:33.382Z","startingPrice":{"amount":299,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","features":["Presence tracking","Chat","Push notifications","Message history","Access control","File sharing"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Development and testing tier with basic features","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"MAU":"200","storage":"1GB for 7 days","function_calls":"1M/month","push_notifications":"1M/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Starter","features":["User management","Insights","6-month chat history","Advanced analytics","99.999% SLA","Custom integrations","Standard support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":98,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Production tier for live applications with core features and 6-month message history","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"MAU":"1000","chat_storage":"6 months"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","features":["Unlimited chat storage","Custom allowances","Volume discounts","Premium support options","All Starter features"],"components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"MAU","amount":0.04,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Enterprise tier with usage-based pricing. Tier 1 (up to 10K MAU): $130 base + $0.04/MAU capped at $550. Tier 2 (10K-50K): $500 base + $0.035/additional MAU. Tier 3 (50K+): custom pricing with volume discounts.","contactSales":true}],"summary":"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.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-05T21:13:29.281Z","startingPrice":{"amount":98,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | high | high |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":299,"currency":"USD"}` | `{"amount":98,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.95 | 99.999 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","level":"Type II","status":"active","auditor":"Insight Assurance LLC","evidenceUrl":"https://www.hivemq.com/news/hivemq-earns-soc-2-type-2-compliance/"},{"name":"ISO/IEC 27001:2013","status":"active"}]` | `[{"name":"ISO 27001","status":"active"},{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","status":"active"},{"name":"SOC 3","status":"active"}]` |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://www.hivemq.com/solutions/technology/hivemq-security/ | - |

## Capabilities (Realtime Messaging Infra)

| Capability | HiveMQ | PubNub |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Presence | - | ✓ |
| Message history replay | ✓ | ✓ |
| Delivery guarantee | At least once | - |
| Global edge network | - | ✓ |
| Scaling model | - | - |
| Offline reconnect catchup | - | ✓ |
| Push notification bridge | - | ✓ |
| Auth model | MTLS | Token/JWT |
| Self hostable | ✓ | - |
| Mqtt support | ✓ | - |
| Deployment | Hybrid | Cloud hosted |
| Pricing model | Connections metered | MAU metered |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:54:13.420Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*