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APIs · head to head

Pusher vs Volt

Pusher logo

Pusher

APIs

Realtime messaging API for building live features into apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Volt logo

Volt

APIs

Account-to-account pay by bank across Europe, the UK, Brazil and Australia

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Pusher has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Pusher the free Sandbox plan is capped at 100 concurrent connections, which is quickly outgrown by production apps.; Volt account-to-account payments carry no chargeback mechanism, so consumers lose scheme dispute protection and merchants lose a familiar framework for handling claims.
  • They diverge on capability: Pusher covers Pub/sub channels, Volt covers Pay by bank.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pusher and Volt actually diverge.

Attributes where Pusher and Volt differ
AttributePusherVolt
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, ios, android, apiWeb, REST API

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 Pusher

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

Only in Volt

  • Pay by bank
  • Circuit Breaker
  • Virtual IBANs
  • Payouts and refunds
  • Verify
  • Stablecoin checkout

What people use each for

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

Pusher

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

Volt

  • A travel seller with high average order values paying percentage card fees it wants to replace with flat transfer feesnot Pusher
  • An iGaming operator needing fast deposits and payouts where card acceptance is restrictednot Pusher
  • A merchant with heavy card fraud that wants strongly authenticated irreversible paymentsnot Pusher
  • A marketplace verifying seller bank accounts before paying outnot Pusher

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Volt

  • Account-to-account payments carry no chargeback mechanism, so consumers lose scheme dispute protection and merchants lose a familiar framework for handling claims.
  • Refunds are outbound payments rather than reversals, which changes treasury handling and means a refund can fail for reasons a card refund never would.
  • Conversion is lower than a stored card because the shopper must complete a bank authentication journey, and drop-off varies significantly by bank.
  • Core pay by bank pricing is per transaction but refunds, payouts, virtual IBANs, Verify and fraud tooling are billed separately, so the real cost is a stack of line items.
  • Bank API availability and quality vary across markets, and an outage at a major bank removes a slice of your checkout with no fallback unless you keep cards live.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Volt

On request
  • Volt pay by bank$undefined/year
    • Per successful transaction fee, quoted by volume and market
    • Separate charges for refunds, payouts, virtual IBANs and Verify
    • Circuit Breaker fraud tooling priced as an add-on

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Volt if

  • You need pay by bank.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want circuit breaker.
Volt review

Questions people ask

Is Pusher or Volt better?
Neither clearly leads. Pusher starts at Free and Volt at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Pusher or Volt?
Pusher has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Pusher and On request for Volt.
Does Pusher or Volt run on more platforms?
Pusher runs on web, ios, android, api. Volt runs on Web, REST API.
Can I use Pusher for free?
Yes. Pusher has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Volt starts at On request.
What is Pusher best used for?
Pusher is most often used for adding live chat to a web or mobile app, showing realtime presence of online users, pushing live notifications or dashboard updates, building collaborative features without managing websocket servers. Of those, adding live chat to a web or mobile app and showing realtime presence of online users are not what Volt is typically brought in for.
What can Pusher do that Volt cannot?
Pusher covers Pub/sub channels, Presence channels, Client libraries, Webhooks. Volt covers Pay by bank, Circuit Breaker, Virtual IBANs, Payouts and refunds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Volt: Are there chargebacks?

No. Bank transfers are irrevocable, so disputes are handled commercially between merchant and customer, not through a card scheme.

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
Volt: How do refunds work?

As a separate outbound payment initiated by the merchant, which Volt charges for separately from the inbound transaction.

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
Volt: Which markets are covered?

Europe and the UK, plus Brazil and Australia, on a single API integration.

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