Chat API · pricing · Updated November 2026
PubNub pricing (2026)
PubNub's paid plans start at $98/mo (Starter) as checked on 2026-11-01, read from PubNub's own pricing page; 3 plans. Best for real-time data streaming. Every figure below links to its source and the date we captured it.
At a glance
- Entry price: $98/mo (Starter)
- Free tier: Yes
- Compliance: HIPAA Yes · SOC 2 Yes · GDPR —
- Best for: real-time data streaming; multiplayer games; IoT chat; collaborative apps
As of · every figure below links to its source
PubNub plans & pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | — | Flat monthly | 200 MAU or 1M transactions/month (whichever is hit first); 1 GB storage (7 days retention); no credit card required. | pubnub.com |
| Starter | $98 | — | Flat monthly | 1,000 MAU included; up to 6 months message storage; BizOps Workspace add-on included; overage billed proportionally by usage per MAU. | pubnub.com |
| Pro STALE · 2026-09-27 | not priced monthly | — | Custom / quote | Custom MAU packages (10,000+); unlimited storage; 99.999% uptime SLA; advanced analytics; volume discounts. Page shows illustrative examples (~$190/mo at 1K MAU up to ~$1,130/mo at 25K MAU) but final pricing is quote-based. | pubnub.com |
Last verified 2026-11-01. STALE marks a plan we have not re-checked at its source in over 30 days. 1 of 3 plans above is marked. Pricing fetched from pubnub.com/pricing (Free $0, Starter $98, Pro custom — confirmed). Compliance fetched from pubnub.com/trust/compliance: SOC2 Type II, SOC3, ISO27001, HIPAA (PHI protection) confirmed; GDPR NOT explicitly stated (page cites EU-US Data Privacy Framework) so GDPR is not recorded. BAA not stated publicly; not recorded.
Price changes
Price on record
$98/moFirst on record 2026-06-27
A new dated entry is stamped here each time the price moves — the record builds itself.
Tracked since June 2026. No change record has cleared two sources yet, so nothing is published on the wire.
Capabilities
Integrations: React, React Native, iOS, Android, JavaScript, Python, Unity, Unreal Engine, Go.
Key features: Transaction-based pricing (not per-message fees); SOC2 Type II + SOC3 + ISO27001; BizOps Workspace (presence, analytics); Broad SDK coverage (20+ languages/platforms).
Plan limits: Free: 200 MAU or 1M transactions/month; Starter: 1,000 MAU; Overage billed as proportional MAU units, not per-message.
Frequently asked questions
How much does PubNub cost?
PubNub's paid plans start at $98/mo (Starter), and it lists a $0 plan (Free); it has 3 published plans. Verified 2026-11-01.
What are cheaper alternatives to PubNub?
Cheaper chat API than PubNub (entry $98/mo) include Ably at $29/mo, Pusher Channels at $49/mo. Verified 2026-11-01.
Does PubNub support HIPAA?
Yes — PubNub states HIPAA support on its public pages. Its public pages also state SOC 2 compliance.
Does PubNub have a free plan?
Yes — PubNub publishes a free tier.
PubNub vs alternatives
Compare all chat API · True cost of chat API · SOC 2 claims in chat API · HIPAA claims in chat API · GDPR claims in chat API · Open data · MCP
Cheaper chat API alternatives
- Pusher Channels from $49/mo
- Ably from $29/mo
More chat API tools
Related categories
This standing as a plaque
PubNub currently holds a silver deskmark here — Rank 3 of 9 · Chat API. Anyone may show it. There is nothing to apply for, nothing to pay, and displaying it changes no score: the standing comes from the published algorithm, which never reads commission data. We never ask anyone to show it, and its link carries rel="nofollow".
The image is drawn from our live data, so it follows the standing rather than freezing it: if PubNub moves up or down a tier, the plaque on your own site says so at our next publish. Nothing is tracked beyond the ordinary web-server log that records any image request.