Liveblocks
Hosted sync engine and ready-made components for adding multiplayer editing, comments and notifications to apps.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Web
Is Liveblocks free?
Free plan, plus paid plans
- Starting price:
- $25 per month (Pro, billed annually)
- Free plan:
- Yes, for prototyping and testing
Checked on Liveblocks's site Nov 8, 2026
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About Liveblocks
Liveblocks is a hosted service that developers use to make their own products collaborative. Instead of running WebSocket servers and writing conflict-resolution code, a team drops in its client libraries and gets shared rooms with live cursors, presence avatars, persisted CRDT-based storage, multiplayer undo and offline support. On top of the sync layer it sells higher-level features: threaded comments, in-app notification inboxes, version history and building blocks for AI agents that edit the same document as people. It works with its own storage model or with Yjs, and has React components for common patterns such as text editors, whiteboards and spreadsheets. It suits product teams who want Figma- or Notion-style collaboration without building the backend. Pricing has a free tier for prototyping and paid plans that bundle monthly usage credits, with metered charges for collaboration minutes and stored data; self-hosting is only offered on the enterprise plan.
Best for: Product teams adding live co-editing, comments and presence to a web app without building sync.
Liveblocks pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from Liveblocks's own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, for prototyping and testing | Nov 8, 2026 | liveblocks.io |
| Starting price | $25 per month (Pro, billed annually) | Nov 8, 2026 | liveblocks.io |
Pros and cons
What works
- Covers presence, conflict-free storage, comments and notifications in one service
- Supports Yjs as well as its own storage model
- Prebuilt React components shorten the path to a working feature
- Free tier is generous enough for prototypes
Why people leave
- Usage-based charges for minutes and storage make costs harder to predict
- Self-hosting is limited to the enterprise plan
- Much of the tooling assumes a JavaScript and React front end
Liveblocks vs Pusher, Ably and Firebase
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | Liveblocks | Pusher | Ably | Firebase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Verified price | $25 per month (Pro, billed annually) | $49/month (Startup) | $29 a month for 1K MAUs, billed annually (Pro) | — |
| Free plan | Yes, for prototyping and testing | Sandbox: 200k messages/day, 100 connections | Yes, up to 500 MAUs | Yes, Spark plan |
| Open source | No | No | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
Top Liveblocks alternatives
See all 5- 1
Pusher79.8Simple hosted pub/sub channels for live updates when you don't need CRDT storage or comments.
- 2
Ably68.8Lower-level realtime messaging with strong delivery guarantees if you'd rather build your own collaboration layer.
- 3
Firebase66.2Google's realtime database and Firestore listeners give live sync plus auth and hosting.
- 4
Convex52.6Reactive backend where queries update live, covering sync and your app's database in one place.
- 5
Supabase50.0Open-source Postgres platform with Realtime channels, presence and broadcast, and it can be self-hosted.
Why people left Liveblocks
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
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Liveblocks: common questions
What is Liveblocks?
Liveblocks: Hosted sync engine and ready-made components for adding multiplayer editing, comments and notifications to apps. Best for product teams adding live co-editing, comments and presence to a web app without building sync. Available for Web.
Is Liveblocks free?
Liveblocks has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: Yes, for prototyping and testing (checked on Liveblocks's own site).
How much does Liveblocks cost?
Liveblocks is free with paid plans. Free plan: Yes, for prototyping and testing; Starting price: $25 per month (Pro, billed annually). Checked on Liveblocks's own site, November 2026.
Is Liveblocks open source?
No, Liveblocks is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Convex and Supabase.
What platforms does Liveblocks run on?
Liveblocks is available for Web.
What are the best alternatives to Liveblocks?
The highest-ranked Liveblocks alternatives right now are Pusher, Ably and Firebase. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Liveblocks vs Pusher: what's the difference?
Both Liveblocks and Pusher are free with paid plans. Verified prices: Liveblocks $25 per month (Pro, billed annually), Pusher $49/month (Startup). Both run on Web.