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Ably vs Liveblocks

Reviewed byRoman K
Tagline
Ably: Realtime messaging at scale
Liveblocks: Add realtime collaboration to your product
Pricing Model
Ably: freemium
Liveblocks: freemium
Starting Price
Ably: $29/mo
Liveblocks: $0/mo
Free Plan
Ably: Yes
Liveblocks: Yes
GitHub Stars
Ably:
Liveblocks: 4.6k
npm Downloads/wk
Ably: 1.1M
Liveblocks: 260.0k
GitHub Forks
Ably:
Liveblocks: 423
Open Issues
Ably:
Liveblocks: 77
Tags
Ably: pubsub, websocket, scale, sla
Liveblocks: collaboration, presence, crdt, react

Ably vs Liveblocks: which to choose

Liveblocks has the larger community with 4.6k GitHub stars against — for Ably, which usually means more integrations, examples and third-party help when you get stuck.

Both charge from day one, but Liveblocks starts lower at $0/mo versus $29/mo for Ably.

Choose Ably if you lean toward pubsub and websocket; choose Liveblocks if collaboration and presence matters more for your stack. All figures above are pulled from live GitHub and pricing data, not vendor marketing.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ably or Liveblocks better?

It depends on your priorities. Ably has — GitHub stars and uses a freemium pricing model, while Liveblocks has 4.6k stars and uses a freemium model. Both offer a free plan so you can try each before committing.

Is Ably cheaper than Liveblocks?

Ably starts at $29/mo while Liveblocks starts at $0/mo. Ably has a free plan. Liveblocks has a free plan.

What are the main differences between Ably and Liveblocks?

Ably is tagged as pubsub, websocket, scale while Liveblocks is tagged as collaboration, presence, crdt. Ably uses a freemium pricing model. Liveblocks uses a freemium model with 4.6k GitHub stars.

Does Ably or Liveblocks have a free plan?

Yes, both Ably and Liveblocks offer a free plan.

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