# PubNub vs Supabase Realtime

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** PubNub

| Attribute | PubNub | Supabase Realtime |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 80.7 (61% (medium)) | 62.2 (32% (low)) |
| content.faq | `[{"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}]` | `[{"answer":"A server that monitors PostgreSQL databases for data changes and broadcasts updates instantly to connected clients. It polls PostgreSQL's replication logs, converts modifications to JSON, and delivers them to authorized subscribers via WebSocket. It is indexed under Realtime Messaging Infra.","source":"https://supabase.com/blog/pricing","question":"What is Supabase Realtime?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Supabase Realtime offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $25 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://supabase.com/blog/pricing","question":"Is Supabase Realtime free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Supabase Realtime. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://supabase.com/blog/storage-500gb-uploads-cheaper-egress-pricing","question":"What platforms does Supabase Realtime support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Supabase Realtime can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://supabase.com/blog/pricing","question":"Can Supabase Realtime be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, ISO 27001 and HIPAA for Supabase Realtime. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Supabase Realtime not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://supabase.com/blog/pricing","question":"What security certifications does Supabase Realtime have?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Supabase Realtime is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://supabase.com/blog/pricing","question":"Where is Supabase Realtime available?","confidence":0.5}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | A server that monitors PostgreSQL databases for data changes and broadcasts updates instantly to connected clients. It polls PostgreSQL's replication logs, converts modifications to JSON, and delivers them to authorized subscribers via WebSocket. |
| features.capabilities | `{"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}` | `{"presence":true,"deployment":"cloud-hosted","self_hostable":true}` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"ios":true,"android":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"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"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free tier for hobby projects and experiments","features":["Unlimited API requests","50,000 monthly active users","500 MB database size","5 GB cached egress","1 GB file storage","Community support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"file_storage":"1 GB","cached_egress":"5 GB","database_size":"500 MB","monthly_active_users":"50,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$25/month for first project; $10/month for additional projects","features":["Everything in Free Plan","100,000 monthly active users (then $0.00325 per MAU)","8 GB disk size per project (then $0.125 per GB)","250 GB egress (then $0.09 per GB)","250 GB cached egress (then $0.03 per GB)","100 GB file storage (then $0.0213 per GB)","Email support","Daily backups (7-day retention)","7-day log retention"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Most Popular","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"egress":"250 GB","file_storage":"100 GB","cached_egress":"250 GB","database_size":"8 GB","monthly_active_users":"100,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Team","summary":"$599/month","features":["Everything in Pro Plan","SOC2 & ISO 27001 compliance","Project-scoped and read-only access","HIPAA available as paid add-on","SSO for Supabase Dashboard","Priority email support with SLAs","Daily backups (14-day retention)","28-day log retention"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":599,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Custom","features":["Designated support manager","Uptime SLAs","AWS PrivateLink support","24/7/365 premium enterprise support","Private Slack channel","Custom security questionnaires"],"contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"Log Drains","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":60,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"events"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.2,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"gb"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.09,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Custom Domain","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Point in Time Recovery"},{"name":"Branching","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"branch-hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01344,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Pipelines","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"pipeline-hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.053,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Replication (ongoing)","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"gb"},"kind":"metered","amount":3,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Replication (initial sync)","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"gb"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.6,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier available. Pro from $25/month for first project. Team $599/month. Usage-based add-ons for storage, bandwidth, compute, and additional features.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://supabase.com/blog/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-09T16:16:22.966Z","startingPrice":{"amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | high | mid |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":98,"currency":"USD"}` | `{"amount":25,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.999 | - |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"ISO 27001","status":"active"},{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","status":"active"},{"name":"SOC 3","status":"active"}]` | `[{"name":"SOC 2","status":"active"},{"name":"ISO 27001","status":"active"}]` |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |

## Capabilities (Realtime Messaging Infra)

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

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:18:51.708Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*