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Software · head to head

Liveblocks vs Ably

Liveblocks logo

Liveblocks

Software

Realtime collaboration infrastructure for building multiplayer features

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ably logo

Ably

Software

Realtime data delivery platform for pub/sub messaging at scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Liveblocks on the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Ably covers Pub/sub messaging.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Liveblocks and Ably actually diverge.

Attributes where Liveblocks and Ably differ
AttributeLiveblocksAbly
Platformsweb, apiweb, ios, android, api

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Liveblocks

  • Realtime presence and cursors
  • Comments
  • Version history
  • Custom notifications
  • SSO and SOC 2
  • Management API

Only in Ably

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

What people use each for

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

Liveblocks

  • Adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editornot Ably
  • Building threaded comments on documents or designsnot Ably
  • Sending realtime notifications tied to collaborative actionsnot Ably
  • Restoring previous versions of collaborative contentnot Ably

Ably

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

Where each one falls short

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

Liveblocks

  • On the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
  • The jump from Pro ($30/month) to Team (starting at $600/month) is steep for teams that outgrow Pro but don't need full Team scale.
  • Multi-region hosting and SCIM provisioning are Enterprise-only and require custom pricing.

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.

Pricing, plan by plan

Liveblocks

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 10 projects
    • 3 dashboard seats
    • 10 simultaneous connections per room
  • Pro$30/month
    • $30 monthly credits
    • Removes Liveblocks branding
    • 3 dashboard seats
  • Team$600/month
    • SSO and SOC 2
    • 10 dashboard seats
    • 50 connections/room

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Liveblocks if

  • You need realtime presence and cursors.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want comments.
Liveblocks review

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

Questions people ask

Is Liveblocks or Ably better?
Neither clearly leads. Liveblocks starts at Free and Ably at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Liveblocks or Ably?
Liveblocks starts at Free and Ably at Free.
Does Liveblocks or Ably run on more platforms?
Liveblocks runs on web, api. Ably runs on web, ios, android, api.
Can I use Liveblocks for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Liveblocks best used for?
Liveblocks is most often used for adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editor, building threaded comments on documents or designs, sending realtime notifications tied to collaborative actions, restoring previous versions of collaborative content. Of those, adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editor and building threaded comments on documents or designs are not what Ably is typically brought in for.
What can Liveblocks do that Ably cannot?
Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Comments, Version history, Custom notifications. Ably covers Pub/sub messaging, Presence, Message persistence, Multi-protocol support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Liveblocks: What does Liveblocks cost?

Liveblocks offers a Free plan with hard usage caps, a Pro plan at $30/month ($25/month billed annually) including $30 in monthly credits, a Team plan from $600/month, and custom Enterprise pricing.

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

Yes, the Free plan includes 10 projects, 3 dashboard seats, 10 simultaneous connections per room, 3,000 collaboration minutes, 200 comments, and 1GB of realtime data storage, with features pausing once a cap is hit.

Source
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
Liveblocks: How is usage metered?

Paid plans include monthly credits covering collaboration minutes, comments, and storage; usage beyond the credit is billed at metered rates such as $0.002 per collaboration minute and $0.01 per comment, with credits resetting each billing cycle without rollover.

Source
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
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