Ably bills across 5 metered dimensions. The table below lists the current per-unit rates, verified June 14, 2026. What you actually pay depends on your usage volume, which is the number a scan computes for your specific app.
| Metered dimension | Price |
|---|---|
| Messages | $0.0025 / 1k messages |
| Connection minutes | $0.001 / 1k connection-minutes |
| Channel minutes | $0.001 / 1k channel-minutes |
| Data transfer | $0.25 / GiB |
| Realtime messages (Standard overage) | $0.05 / 1k messages |
Pay-per-minute model. Free plan includes 6M messages/mo and 200 concurrent connections. Standard $29/mo, Pro $399/mo, Enterprise custom. Usage billed on top of package: $2.50/M messages, $1.00/M connection-mins, $1.00/M channel-mins, $0.25/GiB data transfer. Volume discounts available.
Source: ably.com · Catalog 2026-06-14.2. Confirm the live rate before you commit.
The rates above are per unit. Your bill is those rates times how hard your code leans on Ably, plus everything around it. PrePrice scans your project, finds where you call Ably, and computes your real cost per user and what to charge.
Find your real cost — freeAbly is billed per metered unit of usage. See the table above for each dimension and its rate, and the official pricing page for plan minimums and included allowances.
The per-unit rate is only one of the four numbers that set your bill. The others are how much your app uses Ably, how often, and across how many users. Long prompts, retries, multi-step agents, and uncached repeated context all multiply the rate. PrePrice models that usage from your code so the number is real, not a guess.
From Ably's official pricing page (ably.com), verified June 14, 2026 and re-checked on a schedule. Pricing changes often, so confirm the live rate before you commit.
See the full AI Cost Index or estimate your monthly bill.