PubNub
A real-time communication platform enabling developers to add live interactive features like messaging, presence, and push notifications to applications at scal
- Also known as
- pubnub
Available worldwide
What is PubNub?
PubNub provides APIs and SDKs for building real-time interactive application features. It manages cloud infrastructure for messaging, presence tracking, and push notifications while handling compliance, security, and global scaling requirements.
PubNub pricing
Plans, per-tier features and add-ons, dated and linked to live pricing. Pricing changes often; always verify at source before you rely on it.
Free tier for development (200 MAU). Starter at $98/month (1,000 MAU). Pro uses tiered monthly active user pricing from $370/month with annual discounts available.
Free
FreeFor development and testing purposes
- mau
- 200
- data_storage_gb_days
- 1GB (7 days)
- function_calls_per_month
- 1M
- push_notifications_per_month
- 1M
- Up to 200 Monthly Active Users
- 1 million function calls per month
- 1GB data storage (7 days retention)
- 1 million push notifications per month
- No credit card required
Starter
Production-ready with user and channel management
- mau
- 1000
- 1,000 Monthly Active Users included
- 99.999% uptime SLA
- SAML SSO
- HIPAA compliance with BAA
- Bizops Workspace for user and channel management
- Advanced analytics and monitoring
- Custom integrations
- Standard support
Pro
Contact salesEnterprise-scale with tiered usage-based pricing on Monthly Active Users
- Usage-based pricing: Tier 1 (up to 10K MAU), Tier 2 (10K-50K MAU), Tier 3 (50K+ MAU)
- Enterprise features included
- 99.999% uptime SLA
- SAML SSO
- HIPAA compliance
- Mobile Push Notifications
- Access Manager with fine-grained access control
- Functions for programmable infrastructure
- Event Management for third-party integrations
- Real-time analytics and automated decisioning
- Content moderation and fraud detection capabilities
- Unlimited chat storage
- Premium support options
Add-ons
- Illuminate
Platform & deployment
Independently observed- iOS
- Web
- Android
- Cloud / SaaS
PubNub alternatives
Other realtime messaging infra we track, ranked by the same independent score.
- AblyScalable infrastructure for reliable real-time messaging and live applicationsmedium · 61%
- HiveMQAn event-driven data streaming platform that enables real-time industrial operations powered by MQTT, built to support AI-driven decision-making at scalemedium · 62%
- Pusher ChannelsA managed real-time messaging platform for web and mobile applicationsmedium · 62%
- EMQXA scalable message broker platform for connecting millions of IoT devices with real-time data streaming and AI integrationmedium · 61%
- ASP.NET Core SignalRlow · 22%
- Supabase RealtimeLow-latency client state synchronization over WebSocketslow · 13%
Compare PubNub
Side by side against other realtime messaging infra, attribute by attribute, with a source on every value.
The Vioscale score: one lens on the evidence
Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for PubNub, not the verdict.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 100 | 0.08 | 8.4 | ✓ |
| Reliability | 100 | 0.07 | 7.3 | ✓ |
| Security posture | 55 | 0.07 | 4.0 | ✓ |
| Price level | 25 | 0.05 | 1.3 | ✓ |
| Capabilities | 0 | 0.05 | 0.0 | - |
| Integrations | 0 | 0.04 | 0.0 | - |
Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.
All data & sourcesshow ↓
Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.
Market
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | PrimaryMarkets: … · AvailabilityScope: global · AvailableCountries: … · NotAvailableCountries: … | highsource · 2026-08-19 · 75% |