Facts read November 7, 2026
Ably vs Supabase Realtime
Supabase Realtime is Cuely's default realtime pick when your description doesn't favor either one: live updates from the same vendor as your database, with no extra bill on the free plan. Pick Ably if you care most about high volume.
Side by side
| Fact | Ably | Supabase Realtime |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hosted pub/sub messaging with presence, priced by monthly active users. | Broadcast, presence and database change streams, part of a Supabase project. |
| Free plan | Free: up to 500 monthly active users. | Free plan: 200 concurrent peak connections and 2 million messages per month. |
| Paid from | Pro: from $29/month (1,000 MAU), billed annually. | Supabase Pro: from $25/month. |
| At 1,000 users | $29/month | $0/month |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
| Best for | Live notifications and chat; Apps with many messages per user | Apps already on Supabase; Live updates from database changes; Chat and presence |
| Watch out | The free plan stops at 500 monthly active users; Pro is billed annually. | Shared state and conflict handling for collaborative editing are yours to build. |
Where they differ
The published scores, from −3 to +3, that decide which one Cuely picks for each need.
| Need | Ably | Supabase Realtime |
|---|---|---|
| fewer vendors | 0 No particular strength here. | +3 Comes with the Supabase database and auth. |
| prefers open source or self-hosting | 0 No particular strength here. | +2 Open source and self-hostable with the rest of Supabase. |
| high volume | +1 Billing by users, not messages, suits chatty apps. | 0 No particular strength here. |
Sources: Ably pricing (read November 7, 2026), Supabase Realtime pricing (read November 7, 2026). No vendor pays for placement.