Ably vs Liveblocks

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.

What people use each for

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

Where each one falls short

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

Pricing, plan by plan

Which should you pick?

Questions people ask

Is Ably or Liveblocks better?

Neither clearly leads. Ably starts at Free and Liveblocks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Ably or Liveblocks?

Ably starts at Free and Liveblocks at Free.

Does Ably or Liveblocks run on more platforms?

Ably runs on web, ios, android, api. Liveblocks runs on web, api.

Can I use Ably for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

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 Liveblocks is typically brought in for.

What can Ably do that Liveblocks cannot?

Ably covers Pub/sub messaging, Presence, Message persistence, Multi-protocol support. Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Comments, Version history, Custom notifications.