Is Ably or CometChat cheaper?

Ably has the lower entry price — Ably starts at $0/mo and CometChat at $0/mo.

Does Ably or CometChat support HIPAA?

HIPAA support — Ably: Yes; CometChat: Yes. Confirm current scope with the vendor.

Ably vs CometChat

A sourced, side-by-side comparison for chat api. Ably has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the public page it was captured from — the vendor's own wherever the vendor publishes the number, otherwise the named public source — with the date we captured it.

Ably has the lower entry price — Ably starts at $0/mo, CometChat at $0/mo. Free tier: Ably Yes, CometChat Yes. HIPAA: Ably Yes, CometChat Yes.

As of 2026-09-02 · figures link to their source below

Side by side

Ably

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Free)

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)Yes

SOC 2Yes

GDPRYes

Best forreal-time data pipelines

CometChat

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Build)

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)Yes

SOC 2Yes

GDPRYes

Best formarketplace chat

Sources — Ably: ably.com (verified 2026-09-02) · CometChat: cometchat.com (verified 2026-09-02)

Key features

Ably: Connection + channel-minute consumption billing model; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise; SOC2 Type 2 certified; Data residency options (EU, US, Australia)

CometChat: AI smart replies and summaries on Advanced+; HIPAA + BAA on Advanced+; SOC2 Type 2, ISO27001, GDPR certified; OpenAI-powered moderation on Enterprise

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