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APIs · head to head

PubNub vs Skyflow

PubNub logo

PubNub

APIs

Realtime communication platform for chat, IoT, and live data apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Skyflow logo

Skyflow

APIs

Data privacy vault that holds sensitive records outside your own systems

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only PubNub has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: PubNub free plan storage history is limited to 7 days, which is short for apps needing longer message retention.; Skyflow reported contracts near 195,000 US dollars a year with a platform fee before usage put this out of reach of early stage companies, which are precisely the ones whose architecture is still cheap to change.
  • They diverge on capability: PubNub covers Pub/sub messaging, Skyflow covers Tokenised storage.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PubNub and Skyflow actually diverge.

Attributes where PubNub and Skyflow differ
AttributePubNubSkyflow
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, ios, android, apiAPI, Web, Self-hosted

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 PubNub

  • Pub/sub messaging
  • Presence tracking
  • Message persistence
  • Serverless Functions
  • File sharing
  • Encryption and access controls

Only in Skyflow

  • Tokenised storage
  • Polymorphic encryption
  • Field level access policies
  • Data residency
  • Secure functions
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Detokenisation gateway
  • Audit trail

What people use each for

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

PubNub

  • Building realtime chat applicationsnot Skyflow
  • Streaming live IoT sensor datanot Skyflow
  • Adding presence indicators to collaborative appsnot Skyflow
  • Running edge logic with serverless Functions on realtime eventsnot Skyflow

Skyflow

  • A fintech that wants card and bank account data out of its own infrastructure so its application servers leave PCI DSS assessment scopenot PubNub
  • A company entering India or the EU with data localisation obligations that would otherwise require standing up regional databases and operationsnot PubNub
  • A health technology business that needs protected health information isolated from the analytics stack while still supporting aggregate reportingnot PubNub
  • An engineering team that wants support agents to see masked identifiers and payment services to see real ones, enforced centrally rather than in every servicenot PubNub

Where each one falls short

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

PubNub

  • Free plan storage history is limited to 7 days, which is short for apps needing longer message retention.
  • MAU-based pricing means costs scale directly with user growth, which can be less predictable than flat message-based pricing.
  • Pro-tier custom pricing above 50,000 MAU requires contacting sales rather than self-serve checkout.

Skyflow

  • Reported contracts near 195,000 US dollars a year with a platform fee before usage put this out of reach of early stage companies, which are precisely the ones whose architecture is still cheap to change.
  • Every read of a protected field becomes a network call to a third party, so latency and an external availability dependency enter paths that were previously local database reads, and outage planning has to account for a vendor you do not control.
  • Analytics and joins on vaulted data are constrained; work that was a simple SQL join now happens through secure functions or on tokens, and data teams routinely discover this after the engineering team has committed.
  • Unwinding the vault later is a rewrite rather than a migration because tokens are threaded through every service, so the switching cost climbs steadily and the negotiating position at renewal weakens with each release.
  • Scope reduction is an architectural claim your own assessor must accept, so the audit saving is real only if the implementation genuinely keeps sensitive values off your systems, and partial implementations that leave a cache or a log line in place deliver the cost without the benefit.

Pricing, plan by plan

PubNub

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 200 MAU or 1M transactions
    • 1GB data storage (7 days)
    • 5 test Serverless Functions
  • Starter$98/month
    • 1,000 MAU included
    • User management
    • Insights
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • Custom MAU packages
    • Volume discounts
    • Enterprise-scale configurations

Skyflow

On request
  • Skyflow Data Privacy Vault$undefined/year
    • Platform fee plus usage by data subject count
    • Priced additionally per data residency region
    • PCI Level 1, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 and HIPAA coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose PubNub if

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

Choose Skyflow if

  • You need tokenised storage.
  • You work on API, Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want polymorphic encryption.
Skyflow review

Questions people ask

Is PubNub or Skyflow better?
Neither clearly leads. PubNub starts at Free and Skyflow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, PubNub or Skyflow?
PubNub has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for PubNub and On request for Skyflow.
Does PubNub or Skyflow run on more platforms?
PubNub runs on web, ios, android, api. Skyflow runs on API, Web, Self-hosted.
Can I use PubNub for free?
Yes. PubNub has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Skyflow starts at On request.
What is PubNub best used for?
PubNub is most often used for building realtime chat applications, streaming live iot sensor data, adding presence indicators to collaborative apps, running edge logic with serverless functions on realtime events. Of those, building realtime chat applications and streaming live iot sensor data are not what Skyflow is typically brought in for.
What can PubNub do that Skyflow cannot?
PubNub covers Pub/sub messaging, Presence tracking, Message persistence, Serverless Functions. Skyflow covers Tokenised storage, Polymorphic encryption, Field level access policies, Data residency.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

PubNub: What does PubNub cost?

PubNub offers a free plan for up to 200 MAU or 1 million transactions, a Starter plan at $98/month for 1,000 MAU, and custom Pro pricing for larger volumes, e.g. around $550/month for 10,000 MAU.

Source
Skyflow: Does Skyflow really take my systems out of PCI scope?

It can, if card data never touches your infrastructure and the detokenisation happens at the boundary. Your QSA has to agree the design, so validate the architecture with your assessor before signing.

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

Yes, the free plan supports up to 200 monthly active users or 1 million transactions, includes 1GB of data storage retained for 7 days, and requires no credit card.

Source
Skyflow: What does it cost?

Nothing is published. Reported annual contracts sit around 195,000 US dollars, built from a platform fee plus usage by data subject count and additional charges per data residency region.

PubNub: How is usage metered?

PubNub bills primarily by Monthly Active Users, defined as a unique user who connects at least once in a billing cycle; messages are bundled into MAU pricing with no separate per-message fees, and overage is billed proportionally.

Source
Skyflow: How does it help with data localisation?

Records can be pinned to a specified region, so an Indian or EU residency requirement is met by the vault rather than by you running regional databases and operations teams.

Skyflow: Can I still run analytics on vaulted data?

Partly. Aggregates and comparisons are supported through polymorphic encryption and secure functions, but arbitrary joins against other datasets are harder than they were, and this is the most common late surprise.

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