| Price from | $29/mo | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Chat APIs | 8.7 (#1) | 8.4 (#4) |
| Product | Ably Chat is a chat API and SDK platform for building realtime chat applications at scale. | Emitter is a real-time publish-subscribe messaging service for connecting online devices. |
| Security | Ably states that client-to-server communication is secured by TLS by default and that optional private-key encryption uses 256-bit AES. | The maker says Emitter supports per-channel authorization policies and SSL/TLS, encrypts network traffic, and does not inspect messages. |
| Support | The Free package includes community and email support on a best-effort basis; Standard lists a one-day email support SLA. | The maker offers support contracts and directs questions to [email protected] and GitHub issues. |
| Use cases | Ably describes use cases including live streaming chat, customer service chat, and community in-app chat. | The maker describes Emitter for gaming, IoT, web applications, dashboards, visual analytics, and mobile apps. |
