Our take
Pick Ably if app teams who will stay on Free $0 (200 connections, 500 msg/s, 6M messages/month) while they ship a first React pub/sub page, then buy Standard at $29/month + usage when they need 10k channels / 10k connections / 2.5k msg/s — or Pro at $399/month + usage for 50k / 50k / 10k. Pick Liveblocks if product teams who will stay on Free $0 (3,000 collab minutes, 200 comments, Liveblocks watermark, no card)
realtime pub/sub desk
realtime collab kit for people and agents
Best for
Ably Messages you start at $0
Liveblocks Rooms you start at $0 (hard caps) or Pro at $30
Free plan
Ably $0 · proof of concept. 200 concurrent connections. 500 messages / second. 6M messages / month. Build with any Ably product. Community & email support (best effort). No commitment
Liveblocks $0 · no card. Hard caps: 3,000 collab minutes, 200 comments, 3M storage updates, 1 GB realtime data, 512 MB files, 200 custom notification events. 10 projects. 3 seats. 10 connections/room. 24-hour version history. Liveblocks branding required. Feature pauses at the cap
Lowest paid
Ably Usage $2.50
Liveblocks Pro $30/mo yearly
Next step up
Ably Standard $29/mo
Liveblocks
Coding agent
Ably AI Transport
Liveblocks Sync
Watch out
Ably $29 / $399 is a floor, not the bill
Liveblocks Free pauses at each meter cap
Last checked
Ably 2026-10-22 · ably.com/pricing
Liveblocks 2026-10-22 · liveblocks.io/pricing
app teams who will stay on Free $0 (200 connections, 500 msg/s, 6M messages/month) while they ship a first React pub/sub page, then buy Standard at $29/month + usage when they need 10k channels / 10k connections / 2.5k msg/s — or Pro at $399/month + usage for 50k / 50k / 10k.
Read the Ably pageproduct teams who will stay on Free $0 (3,000 collab minutes, 200 comments, Liveblocks watermark, no card) while they drop Comments on a canvas, then buy Pro at $30/month ($30 credits, branding off) when they ship.
Read the Liveblocks page