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APIs · head to head

Ably vs Akoya

Ably logo

Ably

APIs

Realtime data delivery platform for pub/sub messaging at scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Akoya logo

Akoya

APIs

Bank-owned, token-based open finance network that replaces screen scraping for US financial data

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Ably has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Ably standard and Pro plans layer usage-based charges for messages, connection minutes, and data transfer on top of the base subscription, adding cost complexity.; Akoya coverage reaches several thousand institutions but does not match aggregators that can still scrape, so applications needing the long tail of small credit unions will run a second data provider alongside it.
  • They diverge on capability: Ably covers Pub/sub messaging, Akoya covers FDX standard APIs.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ably and Akoya actually diverge.

Attributes where Ably and Akoya differ
AttributeAblyAkoya
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, ios, android, apiWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Ably

  • Pub/sub messaging
  • Presence
  • Message persistence
  • Multi-protocol support
  • Encryption
  • Datadog integration

Only in Akoya

  • FDX standard APIs
  • Token-based access
  • Investment data
  • Accounts, balances and transactions
  • Statements and tax forms
  • Customer identity
  • Consumer permission management
  • Single integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Ably

  • Building realtime chat or collaborative appsnot Akoya
  • Delivering live data feeds like stock prices or sports scoresnot Akoya
  • Broadcasting notifications to many concurrent clientsnot Akoya
  • Running mission-critical realtime infrastructure with high uptime SLAsnot Akoya

Akoya

  • A wealth management platform that needs Fidelity brokerage holdings and tax lots, which cannot be scraped since Fidelity closed that route in October 2023not Ably
  • A tax preparation product retrieving tax forms and cost basis directly from the institution rather than asking users to upload PDFsnot Ably
  • A lender that needs a permissioning trail defensible under CFPB section 1033 rather than a credential-sharing arrangementnot Ably
  • A bank that wants to meet data sharing obligations through one network connection instead of building and policing its own developer interfacenot Ably

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Ably

  • Standard and Pro plans layer usage-based charges for messages, connection minutes, and data transfer on top of the base subscription, adding cost complexity.
  • The jump from Standard ($29/month) to Pro ($399/month) is steep for teams needing more than 10k connections but not full Pro capacity.
  • 24/7 mission-critical support and 99.999% uptime SLAs are reserved for the custom-priced Enterprise tier.

Akoya

  • Coverage reaches several thousand institutions but does not match aggregators that can still scrape, so applications needing the long tail of small credit unions will run a second data provider alongside it.
  • The network is owned by large banks, so roadmap and coverage priorities reflect owner interests rather than those of the fintechs consuming the data, and a recipient has no leverage over which institutions are added next.
  • Data availability is decided institution by institution, meaning a bank may expose balances but not transactions or investments, and recipients must verify field-level coverage per institution rather than assume the FDX model is fully populated.
  • Pricing is unpublished and usage based, which makes it difficult to compare against aggregator pricing during a build-versus-buy decision and forces a sales cycle before you can model cost.
  • The token model requires the institution to have implemented its side, so newly onboarded institutions arrive on the institution timetable, not yours, and a launch dependent on a specific bank can slip badly.

Pricing, plan by plan

Ably

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 200 concurrent connections
    • 500 messages/second
    • 6M messages/month
  • Standard$29/month
    • 10k concurrent channels
    • 10k concurrent connections
    • 2.5k messages/second
  • Pro$399/month
    • 50k concurrent channels
    • 50k concurrent connections
    • 10k messages/second

Akoya

On request
  • Akoya Data Access$undefined/year
    • Usage-based pricing quoted by data product and call volume
    • Separate commercial terms for data recipients and for financial institutions joining the network
    • No published rate card

Which should you pick?

Choose Ably if

  • You need pub/sub messaging.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, ios, android, api.
  • You also want presence.
Ably review

Choose Akoya if

  • You need fdx standard apis.
  • You also want token-based access.
Akoya review

Questions people ask

Is Ably or Akoya better?
Neither clearly leads. Ably starts at Free and Akoya at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ably or Akoya?
Ably has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Ably and On request for Akoya.
Does Ably or Akoya run on more platforms?
Ably runs on web, ios, android, api. Akoya runs on Web.
Can I use Ably for free?
Yes. Ably has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akoya starts at On request.
What is Ably best used for?
Ably is most often used for building realtime chat or collaborative apps, delivering live data feeds like stock prices or sports scores, broadcasting notifications to many concurrent clients, running mission-critical realtime infrastructure with high uptime slas. Of those, building realtime chat or collaborative apps and delivering live data feeds like stock prices or sports scores are not what Akoya is typically brought in for.
What can Ably do that Akoya cannot?
Ably covers Pub/sub messaging, Presence, Message persistence, Multi-protocol support. Akoya covers FDX standard APIs, Token-based access, Investment data, Accounts, balances and transactions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ably: What does Ably cost?

Ably offers a free plan with 200 concurrent connections, a Standard plan at $29/month plus usage, a Pro plan at $399/month plus usage, and custom Enterprise pricing with unlimited channels and connections.

Source
Akoya: Who owns Akoya?

A group of large US banks. It was spun out of Fidelity, which is why Fidelity data access runs through it.

Ably: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Yes, the free plan includes 200 concurrent connections, 500 messages per second, and 6 million messages per month with community and best-effort email support.

Source
Akoya: Is Akoya screen scraping?

No. It uses FDX standard APIs with OpenID Connect tokens, so credentials are never shared with or stored by the data recipient.

Ably: How is usage metered?

Beyond plan limits, Ably charges usage-based rates of $2.50 per million messages, $1.00 per million connection minutes, $1.00 per million channel minutes, and $0.25 per GiB of data transfer, with volume discounts available.

Source
Akoya: Can we use Akoya alone instead of an aggregator?

Usually not. Its investment and large-institution coverage is excellent, but the long tail of smaller institutions is thinner, so most teams run both.

Akoya: Does it help with CFPB section 1033?

It is designed around it, providing tokenised permissioned access and consumer revocation rather than credential sharing.

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