Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PubNub VS brainCloud

Compare PubNub VS brainCloud and see what are their differences

PubNub logo 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.

brainCloud logo brainCloud

brainCloud is a ready-made, cloud-based back-end in a box for the development of games, apps and...
  • PubNub Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-05
  • brainCloud Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-03

PubNub features and specs

  • Real-time Messaging
    PubNub provides real-time messaging capabilities, allowing for efficient, low-latency communication between clients and servers. This is ideal for applications that require instant data updates, such as chat apps, live dashboards, and multiplayer games.
  • Global Infrastructure
    The service operates on a global network of data centers, ensuring that messages are delivered quickly and reliably across different geographic locations. This reduces latency and enhances the performance and user experience of apps that serve a global user base.
  • Scalability
    PubNub can handle millions of messages and connections simultaneously, making it highly scalable for applications with substantial user bases or high traffic requirements.
  • Security
    PubNub offers a range of security features including TLS encryption, token-based authentication, and access management to ensure that data is securely transmitted and received.
  • Extensive SDKs
    The platform provides extensive SDKs (Software Development Kits) for a wide variety of programming languages and platforms, making it easier for developers to integrate PubNub into their applications.
  • Feature-rich
    Besides messaging, PubNub offers additional features like presence, storage and playback, message history, and mobile push notifications, which add significant value to developers.
  • Reliability
    With multiple layers of failover and redundancy, PubNub is designed to deliver high availability and uptime, which is critical for mission-critical applications.

Possible disadvantages of PubNub

  • Cost
    PubNub can be expensive for large scale applications or startups with limited budgets. The pricing model is based on usage, making it difficult to predict costs for applications that experience rapid growth or variable traffic.
  • Complexity
    The platform offers a rich set of features, which can make it complex for new developers to fully understand and implement. The learning curve can be steep, particularly for those who are unfamiliar with real-time messaging systems.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Relying heavily on PubNub's infrastructure and APIs means that migrating to another service can be challenging and time-consuming. This can create a dependency that might be problematic if you ever need to switch providers.
  • Latency Variability
    While PubNub generally offers low-latency performance, there can be variability in latency due to network conditions or other factors, which might affect time-sensitive applications.
  • Limited Customization
    Although PubNub offers many features, there can be limitations in terms of customizing certain functionalities or integrating with specific business requirements that are not directly supported by the platform.
  • Documentation
    While PubNub provides comprehensive documentation, some users report that it can be inconsistent or lacking in certain areas, making it difficult to troubleshoot specific issues or fully utilize advanced features without additional support.
  • Dependency on Internet
    As a cloud-based service, PubNub relies on a stable internet connection. Applications that need to function in environments with unreliable or no internet connectivity may face challenges using this service.

brainCloud features and specs

  • Comprehensive Backend Services
    brainCloud offers a wide range of backend services including data storage, API integration, and cloud code scripting, which can significantly reduce development time and effort for game and application developers.
  • Scalability
    The platform is built to scale, handling a large number of users and requests efficiently. This makes it suitable for both small indie projects and large-scale applications with millions of users.
  • User Management
    It provides robust user management capabilities, including authentication and user profile management, making it easier to handle user accounts and data securely.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    brainCloud supports multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and web, enabling developers to create cross-platform applications with ease.
  • Rich Analytics
    Offers detailed analytics and reporting tools to track user engagement, retention, and other key performance indicators, helping developers to optimize their applications.

Possible disadvantages of brainCloud

  • Complexity for Beginners
    The wide range of features and capabilities can be overwhelming for beginners or small teams without dedicated backend developers, requiring a learning curve to effectively leverage all its services.
  • Cost
    While it offers a free tier, the pricing can become significant as the application scales, especially for indie developers or startups with limited budgets.
  • Dependency on Third-Party Service
    Relying on a third-party service can introduce risks related to data privacy, service outages, and changes in terms of service, which can impact the application's reliability and compliance.
  • Customization Limitations
    Though powerful, some developers might find limitations in customizing certain aspects of the backend to precisely fit their unique application requirements.

PubNub videos

Realtime Bike Tracking App with MediaTek and PubNub

More videos:

  • Review - Streaming Realtime Analytics with Keen IO and PubNub
  • Review - PubNub IOT House Training Video

brainCloud videos

Discover Braincloud Learning

More videos:

  • Review - Braincloud - Thai teachers' testimonials

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PubNub and brainCloud)
Developer Tools
88 88%
12% 12
Realtime Backend / API
71 71%
29% 29
Mobile Push Messaging
100 100%
0% 0
App Development
76 76%
24% 24

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PubNub and brainCloud

PubNub Reviews

2023 Firebase Alternatives: Top 10 Open-Source & Free
PubNub is another new but advanced Firebase alternative in our list. It handles 3 trillion monthly calls with 99.999% uptime and accesses 800 million devices over the globe. The renowned customers of PubNub are Kustomer, vFairs and Swiggy.
SignalR Alternatives
Pubnub is considered one of the good alternatives to SignalR because it comes to the rescue when secured data streams get exchanged over the network with API that helps in connecting with the applications to the real-time one.
Source: www.educba.com
Firebase Alternatives – Top 10 Competitors
Pubnub IoT Device Control Real-time updates Storage & Playback Stream Controller Push Notifications Analytics Access Management
Top 10 Alternatives To Firebase
PubNub is popular for its versatile streaming abilities. You can create promising web and mobile apps with PubNub.
Source: www.redbytes.in

brainCloud Reviews

We have no reviews of brainCloud yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PubNub seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time 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.

PubNub mentions (1)

  • gRPC test-and-try with Akka Serverless and Evans
    I first learned about gRPC about five years go. Since that moment in time when an engineer at PubNub introduced me to the framework, I have let the idea of gRPC simmer more in the background, especially since I was already rather steeped in REST, Open API, Swagger, and other sundries seen in the broader API space (miss you, Mashery. There seemed to be plenty of great tooling, documentation and technologies... - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago

brainCloud mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of brainCloud yet. Tracking of brainCloud recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PubNub and brainCloud, you can also consider the following products

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

MongoDB Stitch - The serverless platform from MongoDB

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

AWS Amplify - JavaScript library for app development using cloud services

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

Parse - Build applications faster with object and file storage, user authentication, push notifications, dashboard and more out of the box.