Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ably VS Elevar

Compare Ably VS Elevar and see what are their differences

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Ably logo Ably

The realtime platform that just works. We power more WebSocket connections than any other pub/sub platform, serving over 2 billion devices monthly.

Elevar logo Elevar

Deploy a data layer, connect to 40+ marketing channels, ensure all of your conversions are tracked, and enable server side tagging for Shopify.
  • Ably Ably homepage
    Ably homepage //
    2024-08-05

We help teams deliver resilient AI UX and high-performance live experiences that stay fast and in sync worldwide. We provide the global realtime layer for AI agents, chat, notifications, live dashboards, and collaboration - engineered to handle peak demand without self-managed infrastructure.

Teams like HubSpot and Intercom use Ably to avoid the cost and complexity of building and operating realtime systems, while still getting predictable performance at serious scale, handling 2T+ API operations per month. Ablyโ€™s Pub/Sub, Chat, and AI Transport products are unified by design, with developer-friendly APIs and SDKs that integrate across your stack.

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Ably

Website
ably.com
$ Details
freemium
Release Date
2016 January
Startup details
Country
United Kingdom
Founder(s)
Matthew O'Riordan, Dr. Paddy Byers
Employees
50 - 99

Ably features and specs

  • Scalability
    Ably is designed to handle a massive number of concurrent connections and messages, making it scalable for both small and large applications.
  • Real-time Messaging
    Ably provides robust real-time messaging capabilities with low latency, supporting use-cases like live chat, gaming, and real-time data streaming.
  • Global Presence
    Ably has a globally distributed network, ensuring low latency and high availability for users around the world.
  • Advanced Features
    It offers advanced features such as message history, presence, and push notifications, which can enhance the functionality of real-time applications.
  • Security
    Ably includes built-in security features such as TLS encryption, token-based authentication, and private channels to ensure secure communication.
  • Extensive Documentation
    The service provides extensive and well-organized documentation, making it easier for developers to integrate and utilize its features.
  • SDKs and Libraries
    Ably offers a wide range of SDKs and libraries for different programming languages and platforms, easing the development process.
  • Reliable Delivery
    It ensures reliable message delivery with features like message queuing and message de-duplication.

Possible disadvantages of Ably

  • Complexity
    Due to its wide range of advanced features, the initial learning curve can be steep for new users.
  • Cost
    For large-scale applications or extensive use of advanced features, the costs can add up, making it potentially expensive.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Relying heavily on Ablyโ€™s platform-specific features may result in vendor lock-in, making it challenging to switch to other services in the future.
  • Dependence on Internet Connection
    As a cloud-based service, Ablyโ€™s performance is highly dependent on the quality and reliability of the internet connection.
  • Third-party Integration
    While Ably offers various integration options, integrating certain third-party services may require additional custom development or may not be as seamless.

Elevar features and specs

  • Enhanced Server-Side Tracking
    Elevar specializes in server-side tracking for Shopify stores, enabling more accurate data collection by bypassing browser-based limitations like ad blockers and iOS privacy restrictions, leading to better attribution and marketing insights.
  • Easy Shopify Integration
    Elevar is purpose-built for Shopify and Shopify Plus, offering a streamlined setup process with pre-built integrations for major marketing platforms like Google Analytics 4, Facebook/Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, and more without heavy developer involvement.
  • Improved Data Accuracy
    By implementing a data layer and server-side tagging, Elevar significantly improves the accuracy of conversion tracking and marketing analytics, helping merchants make better-informed decisions about ad spend and marketing strategy.
  • Pre-Built Data Layer
    Elevar provides a robust, pre-built data layer for Shopify stores that standardizes ecommerce event tracking across the customer journey, from product views to purchases, saving significant development time and reducing implementation errors.
  • Consent Management Support
    Elevar includes built-in consent management and compliance features that help Shopify merchants adhere to privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, ensuring tracking is handled in a privacy-compliant manner.

Possible disadvantages of Elevar

  • Cost Can Add Up
    Elevar operates on a subscription pricing model that can become expensive, especially for smaller Shopify merchants or those with high order volumes. The ongoing monthly cost may be difficult to justify for stores with limited marketing budgets.
  • Shopify-Only Focus
    Elevar is exclusively designed for Shopify and Shopify Plus stores, making it unsuitable for merchants using other ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, or BigCommerce who need similar tracking solutions.
  • Learning Curve
    While easier than fully custom implementations, Elevar still has a learning curve, especially for merchants unfamiliar with concepts like data layers, server-side tracking, GTM containers, and marketing pixel configurations.
  • Dependency on Third-Party Platform
    Relying on Elevar introduces a dependency on a third-party tool for critical tracking infrastructure. If Elevar experiences downtime, bugs, or changes its pricing or features, it can directly impact a store's marketing data and attribution.
  • Limited Customization for Complex Setups
    While Elevar handles standard ecommerce tracking well, merchants with highly customized Shopify stores or complex tracking requirements may find the platform's templated approach limiting and may still need developer support for edge cases.

Analysis of Ably

Overall verdict

  • Ably is a reliable and efficient real-time messaging platform, well-suited for applications requiring high performance and scalability. It is generally well-regarded within the developer community for its ease of use and robust feature set.

Why this product is good

  • Features
    Ably provides a comprehensive suite of features such as pub/sub messaging, presence, and history.
  • Security
    It implements robust security practices including TLS encryption, token-based authentication, and private channels.
  • Integration
    Supports numerous protocols and provides SDKs for various programming languages, making it easy to integrate with different systems.
  • Reliability
    Ably offers high availability and low latency, ensuring messages are delivered in real-time.
  • Scalability
    The platform can handle millions of active connections and is designed for horizontal scaling.

Recommended for

  • developers building real-time applications like chat apps, dashboards, or multiplayer games
  • businesses in need of a scalable solution for live updates and notifications
  • teams looking for a platform with strong security and compliance credentials
  • organizations requiring integration with existing development workflows and tools

Analysis of Elevar

Overall verdict

  • Elevar is a strong, purpose-built solution for ecommerce brands that need accurate server-side tracking and conversion data, particularly those on Shopify. Its focus on data integrity, first-party tracking, and marketing attribution makes it a reliable choice for businesses that depend on precise analytics to optimize ad spend.

Why this product is good

  • Specializes in server-side tracking and Google Tag Manager setups tailored for ecommerce, improving data accuracy amid cookie restrictions and iOS privacy changes
  • Deep integration with Shopify and popular marketing platforms like Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, and Klaviyo
  • Helps recover lost conversion data and improve attribution, which can directly enhance ad performance and ROAS
  • Offers conversion data integrity monitoring and alerts to catch tracking issues quickly
  • Well-regarded in the DTC and Shopify community with solid documentation and support

Recommended for

  • Shopify and ecommerce brands running paid advertising campaigns
  • DTC businesses needing accurate first-party and server-side conversion tracking
  • Marketing teams and agencies focused on improving attribution and ROAS
  • Merchants affected by cookie deprecation and iOS privacy changes who need reliable data
  • Growing online stores that want to scale ad spend with confidence in their analytics

Ably videos

How to build a collaborative environment around your product

More videos:

  • Demo - How to build an avatar stack with Ably Spaces
  • Demo - Ably 101: Serverless WebSockets at scale

Elevar videos

No Elevar videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ably and Elevar)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
eCommerce
0 0%
100% 100
Realtime Backend / API
100 100%
0% 0
Marketing Analytics
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ably seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 26 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Ably mentions (26)

  • AWS us-east-1 outage: How Ablyโ€™s multi-region architecture held up
    During this weekโ€™s AWS us-east-1 outage, Ably maintained full service continuity with no customer impact. This was our multi-region architecture working exactly as designed; error rates were negligibly low and unchanged throughout. Any additional round trip latency was limited to 12ms, which is below the typical variance in any client-to-endpoint connection, and well below our 40โ€“50ms global median; this is... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Real-Time Sync Alternatives: Vaultrice vs. localStorage, DIY, Firebase, Pusher
    Services like Pusher and Ably are experts in real-time messaging. They provide robust APIs for pub/sub channels, allowing you to broadcast events to clients reliably. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • CometChat Alternatives โ€“ Comparing the Top 10 Competitors
    Ably is a real-time infrastructure platform that focuses on delivering low-latency, reliable messaging across global distributed systems. It's designed for developers building event-driven applications, including chat, but also supports broader use cases like live dashboards, GPS tracking, and collaborative tools. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Real-Time Authorization in a Chat Application with Permit.io and WebSockets
    For our web socket-based application, weโ€™ll be using Next.js and Ably, a service that allows us to easily integrate and manage real-time capabilities in our apps powered by web socket. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Curiosity: Using Ably.io Realtime Messaging as a Lightweight Database
    Ably offers various solutions for developers, with their most popular being realtime messaging based on the pub/sub model. When you publish a message to a channel, all devices connected to that channel receive it instantly. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

Elevar mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Elevar yet. Tracking of Elevar recommendations started around May 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ably and Elevar, you can also consider the following products

Pusher - Pusher is a hosted API for quickly, easily and securely adding scalable realtime functionality via WebSockets to web and mobile apps.

Analyzify - Google tag manager and analytics app for your Shopify store

Socket.io - Realtime application framework (Node.JS server)

Triple Whale - Triple Whale helps ecommerce brands make better decisions with better data.

PubNub - PubNub is a real-time messaging system for web and mobile apps that can handle API for all platforms and push messages to any device anywhere in the world in a fraction of a second without having to worry about proxies, firewalls or mobile drop-offs.

Stape.io - The easiest way to server-side tracking. Everything from server Google Tag Manager and Meta`s CAPIG hosting to custom solutions.