About

PubNub is a real-time application platform that provides publish/subscribe messaging, message persistence, presence, file sharing, mobile push notifications, App Context, and serverless Functions. It exposes APIs and SDKs for JavaScript, Java, Kotlin, Swift, Python, Go, Rust, PHP, C#, Unity, Unreal, and other clients so developers can add chat, live updates, and device interactivity across web, mobile, and IoT applications.

The free plan includes up to 200 MAU, 1 GB of data storage for 7 days, up to 1 million transactions per month, and 5 test Serverless Functions with a 7-day runtime. It is aimed at development and testing, with no credit card required, and it can be upgraded to paid plans for higher MAU limits, longer retention, and production-scale usage.

  • 200 MAU free allowance
  • 1M transactions monthly
  • 1 GB storage for 7 days
  • 5 test serverless functions
  • 7-day function runtime
  • 99.999% SLA on paid plans
  • Unlimited channels and devices

Free Tier Value

75
FTV score
Est. value$98 / month
Credit cardNot required
Feature parity78%

This free tier is a capped but genuinely usable monthly allowance: 200 MAU, 1M transactions, limited storage, a few test functions, and push notifications, all with no credit card required. The cheapest paid plan is Starter at $98/month for 1,000 MAU, so the free tier is roughly 20% of that plan’s user capacity and a meaningful slice of the overall package, putting its practical value at about $98/month.

What's included in the free tier

  • Up to 200 MAU included.
  • Up to 1M transactions monthly.
  • 1GB data storage for 7 days.
  • 5 test Serverless Functions with 7-day runtime.
  • 1M push notifications per month.
  • No credit card required.

Paid plans

Starter

$98 / mo
MAU
1,000
data storage
up to 6 months
serverless functions
30
  • 1,000 MAU included
  • Up to 6 months data storage
  • 30 Serverless Functions
  • Insights into users, channels and messages
  • BizOps Workspace add-on included
  • Standard support

Pro

Contact sales
Custom
MAU
custom
data storage
unlimited
uptime SLA
99.999%
  • Custom MAU packages
  • Unlimited data storage
  • Advanced analytics & monitoring
  • 99.999% uptime SLA
  • Custom integrations
  • Enterprise features included

Pricing extracted from PubNub's pricing page. Always verify current pricing before committing.