Hibira vs PubNub
PubNub prices by monthly active users and uses its own SDKs; Hibira prices by connections and messages and keeps the Pusher protocol.
PubNub is a realtime messaging platform with its own SDKs and APIs, priced by monthly active users (MAU). Hibira speaks the Pusher protocol and is priced by concurrent connections and published messages.
At a glance
| PubNub | Hibira | |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol and SDKs | PubNub SDKs | Pusher protocol: pusher-js, Laravel Echo and every Pusher SDK |
| Pricing model | Monthly active users | Concurrent connections and published messages |
| Free plan | 200 MAU | 100 connections, 200,000 messages a day |
| Entry paid plan | $98/month for 1,000 MAU | $35/month: 1,000 connections, 2 million messages a day |
| Extras | Storage, functions, push | Webhooks, cache channels, push notifications (Beams-compatible) |
| Regions | Global network | Hong Kong cluster today; Tokyo and Singapore planned |
PubNub figures are from pubnub.com/pricing, checked on 2026-10-24.
Which pricing model suits you
MAU pricing counts every person who connects in a month, however briefly. A site with many short visits, such as a live score page or a public auction, can have tens of thousands of monthly users but only a few hundred online at once. Connection pricing charges for the peak at one moment instead. Apps with a small, very active user base can come out the other way.
When PubNub is the better fit
- You want message storage, serverless functions and other building blocks from one vendor.
- You need servers on several continents.
- Your monthly user count is small and stable compared with how much each user sends.
When Hibira is the better fit
- You use, or want to use, the Pusher protocol and its many libraries, including Laravel Broadcasting.
- Your monthly visitors far outnumber the people online at the same time.
- Your users are in East and Southeast Asia.
Moving from PubNub means changing client and server code to the Pusher libraries; the integration guides show each language.
PubNub is a trademark of its owner.