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APIs · head to head

Apigee vs Pusher

Apigee logo

Apigee

APIs

API management platform for designing, securing, and scaling APIs

From
$500/monthly
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pusher logo

Pusher

APIs

Realtime messaging API for building live features into apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Pusher has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Apigee the free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days; Pusher the free Sandbox plan is capped at 100 concurrent connections, which is quickly outgrown by production apps.
  • They diverge on capability: Apigee covers API Gateway, Pusher covers Pub/sub channels.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apigee and Pusher actually diverge.

Attributes where Apigee and Pusher differ
AttributeApigeePusher
Starting price$500/monthlyFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsCloud, Hybrid, On-premisesweb, ios, android, api
Founded2006Unknown

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 Apigee

  • API Gateway
  • API Analytics
  • Developer Portal
  • Google Cloud services
  • Azure
  • AWS
  • Okta
  • Cloud support

Only in Pusher

  • Pub/sub channels
  • Presence channels
  • Client libraries
  • Webhooks
  • 24/7 monitoring
  • Priority support

What people use each for

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

Apigee

  • Publishing, securing and versioning APIs for an enterprise API programnot Pusher
  • Monetizing APIs and running a developer portalnot Pusher
  • Analyzing API traffic and defending APIs against bots and abusenot Pusher

Pusher

  • Adding live chat to a web or mobile appnot Apigee
  • Showing realtime presence of online usersnot Apigee
  • Pushing live notifications or dashboard updatesnot Apigee
  • Building collaborative features without managing WebSocket serversnot Apigee

Where each one falls short

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

Apigee

  • The free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days
  • Pay-as-you-go has no SLA available at all
  • Pay-as-you-go bills environments separately from API calls, with a Base environment costing $365 per month per region
  • The Base environment is capped at 50 QPS with an SLA of up to 99%
  • Standard API Proxy calls are billed at $20 per 1M calls up to 50M, and Extensible API Proxy calls at $100 per 1M calls up to 50M
  • API Analytics is a paid add-on at $20 per 1M API calls and cannot be bought on a Base environment
  • Advanced API Security is a paid add-on at $350 per 1M API calls and cannot be bought on a Base environment
  • Monetization is unavailable on pay-as-you-go and requires a subscription tier
  • Additional API proxy deployments beyond those included cost $0.04 per hour per region on a Comprehensive environment
  • Subscription tiers Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus are quote only with no published price
  • Google Cloud networking charges for IP addresses, data transfer out and forwarding rules are billed on top of Apigee usage

Pusher

  • The free Sandbox plan is capped at 100 concurrent connections, which is quickly outgrown by production apps.
  • Pricing jumps sharply between tiers (e.g. $49 to $99 to $299), leaving few options for teams with moderate but growing usage.
  • Priority support with faster response times costs an additional $3,000/month on top of plan pricing.

Pricing, plan by plan

Apigee

$500/monthly
  • Starter$500/monthly
    • API gateway
    • Analytics
    • Developer portal
  • Professional$2500/monthly
    • Advanced security
    • Traffic management
    • Monetization
  • Enterprise$undefined/monthly
    • Custom deployment
    • SLA
    • Dedicated support

Pusher

Free
  • SandboxFree
    • 200k messages/day
    • 100 concurrent connections
    • Standard support
  • Startup$49/month
    • 1M messages/day
    • 500 concurrent connections
  • Pro$99/month
    • 4M messages/day
    • 2,000 concurrent connections
  • Business$299/month
    • 10M messages/day
    • 5,000 concurrent connections
    • Premium support

Which should you pick?

Choose Apigee if

  • You need api gateway.
  • You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises.
  • You also want api analytics.
Apigee review

Choose Pusher if

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

Questions people ask

Is Apigee or Pusher better?
Neither clearly leads. Apigee starts at $500/monthly and Pusher at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apigee or Pusher?
Pusher has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $500/monthly for Apigee and Free for Pusher.
Does Apigee or Pusher run on more platforms?
Apigee runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises. Pusher runs on web, ios, android, api.
Can I use Pusher for free?
Yes. Pusher has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Apigee starts at $500/monthly.
What is Apigee best used for?
Apigee is most often used for publishing, securing and versioning apis for an enterprise api program, monetizing apis and running a developer portal, analyzing api traffic and defending apis against bots and abuse. Of those, publishing, securing and versioning apis for an enterprise api program and monetizing apis and running a developer portal are not what Pusher is typically brought in for.
What can Apigee do that Pusher cannot?
Apigee covers API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal, Google Cloud services. Pusher covers Pub/sub channels, Presence channels, Client libraries, Webhooks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Apigee: Does Apigee offer a free tier?

Yes, Apigee offers an always-free tier with access to 20+ products for common API management use cases, and a separate free trial providing $300 in credit for proof-of-concept projects.

Source
Pusher: What does Pusher cost?

Pusher Channels offers a free Sandbox plan (200k messages/day, 100 connections) and paid plans starting at $49/month for Startup, scaling up through Pro, Business, and several higher tiers up to $1,199/month, plus custom Enterprise pricing.

Source
Apigee: What is Apigee's pricing model?

Apigee uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model where customers pay based on API calls and usage, with a new pay-as-you-go model designed to optimize costs.

Source
Pusher: Can I change or cancel my plan?

Yes, customers can log into the dashboard and adjust their plan at any time, including upgrading, downgrading, or cancelling.

Source
Apigee: Is there a commitment required to start with Apigee?

No. The free trial provides $300 in credit with no automatic charges or commitment required, allowing customers to evaluate the platform risk-free.

Source
Pusher: How is usage metered?

Usage is measured by concurrent connections and messages per day; a message counts both the publish and each delivery, so publishing one message to 50 subscribers counts as 51 messages.

Source
Apigee: Are there usage limits I should know about?

Apigee documentation includes a limits page covering usage constraints, though specific limits are not detailed in the pricing section.

Source
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