Real-time collaboration features like live cursors and presence indicators are table stakes for modern apps, but the infrastructure behind them is complex. You're looking at WebSocket connections, data synchronization, handling connection drops, and scaling to thousands of concurrent users. The right presence SDK takes all that off your plate so you can add collaborative features in days instead of months. We evaluated the top presence and cursor tracking SDKs to help you choose the best fit for your project.
TLDR:
Presence SDKs add live cursors and user tracking to apps without building real-time infrastructure
Usage of online collaboration tools has surged by 24% since 2019, with 79% of the global workforce now relying on collaboration tools as central components of daily operations
6 key criteria: Implementation complexity, feature completeness, scalability, framework support, customization options, and framework support
Velt is a complete collaboration SDK with presence, cursors, comments, and AI features
Most alternatives require custom UI development or limit you to React-only implementations
What Are Presence and Cursor Tracking SDKs for Collaborative Apps?
Presence and cursor tracking SDKs are development toolkits that add real-time collaborative features to web apps. These SDKs manage the infrastructure for showing who's online, where users are looking, and what they're doing in shared workspaces.
The presence component tracks which users are active in your app and what they're viewing or editing. The cursor tracking component shows where each user's mouse is positioned in real time. Many SDKs bundle these with related multi-player features like user avatars, follow-me mode, and activity indicators.
These collaborative editor features have become standard expectations for modern applications. Usage of online collaboration tools has surged by 24% since 2019, with 79% of the global workforce now relying on video conferencing and other collaboration tools as central components of daily operations.
These tools let product teams add collaborative features without building real-time infrastructure from scratch. The SDK handles websocket connections, data synchronization, and scalability while you focus on your core product.
How We Ranked Presence and Cursor Tracking SDKs
We evaluated each SDK across six key criteria that matter most when choosing a presence and cursor tracking solution for production apps.
Implementation complexity
How quickly can developers integrate the SDK and get features working. We looked at setup time, code requirements, and whether the SDK provides pre-built UI components or requires custom development.
Feature completeness
What's included beyond basic presence, does the SDK offer live cursors, follow-me mode, user avatars, and activity indicators? We prioritized solutions that bundle these related features together without requiring additional tools.
Scalability
Can the infrastructure handle real concurrent users without lag or sync issues. We considered proven track records with high-traffic apps and the underlying architecture's ability to maintain low latency as usage grows.
Framework support
Compatibility with popular development stacks. solutions that work across React, Vue, Angular, and vanilla JavaScript scored higher than those limited to specific frameworks.
Customization options
How much control do developers have over styling and behavior? The best SDKs let you match your app's design system while maintaining functionality.
Developer experience
We looked at documentation quality, API design, debugging tools, and support responsiveness. We favored SDKs that reduce friction and help teams ship faster.
Best Overall Presence and Cursor Tracking SDK: Velt
Velt bundles presence and cursor tracking with a full collaboration suite. The SDK includes live cursors showing real-time user positions, presence indicators displaying who's online and their current location, and follow-me mode for shadowing teammate navigation. These features work alongside comments, notifications, and video huddles.
Implementation requires minimal code. Drop React components into your app or use the JavaScript API for framework-agnostic integration. Pre-built UI components come styled out of the box with full customization options to match your design system.
The architecture maintains low-latency synchronization across thousands of concurrent users, with production deployments supporting over one million monthly active users. Self-hosting options are available for enterprises with strict security requirements. And, our cursor tracking adapts to the underlying content in the app, not just the screen size.
Liveblocks
Liveblocks is an SDK that adds presence, shared state, and collaboration widgets to web apps. The presence feature tracks who is currently online and active, with live cursors and selection indicators. The solution focuses on React-first development with low-level data sync primitives.
They offer a presence API for tracking who's online along with live cursor positioning and selection criteria. These capabilities come with real-time shared state management and can be easily implemented using pre-built React components.
The Limitations
The SDK lacks self-hosting options, which can be a concern for regulated industries with strict data residency requirements. Developers need to provide their own x,y coordinates, anchoring and positioning logic. For a detailed Liveblocks vs Velt comparison, see our in-depth analysis.
The Bottom Line
Support beyond React is limited, making it harder to integrate across diverse tech stacks.
PubNub
PubNub provides real-time messaging infrastructure for building presence features. The Presence API monitors channel subscribers, tracking when users join or leave and which channels they're subscribed to. You can query who's online across your app's channels.
The infrastructure handles WebSocket connections and message delivery at scale, with message persistence to prevent data loss during connection drops.
The Limitations
Building presence UI and cursor tracking requires custom development. PubNub provides the messaging layer, but you need to build the features yourself. There are no pre-built components for live cursors, follow-me mode, or presence indicators.
The Bottom Line
Your team handles interface design, cursor position synchronization logic, and user experience flows.
InstantDB
InstantDB provides real-time database infrastructure with presence features built on top. The SDK uses three core primitives: rooms for grouping users, presence for sharing ephemeral state, and topics for pub/sub messaging.
They offer pre-built cursor components for React that handle basic cursor tracking and typing indicator utilities to show active input states. These features are provided with real-time data synchronization across connected client sites.
The Limitations
The React-only approach limits use across other frameworks. Basic UI components require custom styling work. Features like follow-me mode, user avatars, and activity indicators aren't included.
The Bottom Line
InstantDB works well for simple React apps needing basic presence. Apps requiring collaboration features across multiple frameworks need different solutions.
Feature Comparison Table of Presence and Cursor Tracking SDKs
Feature | Velt | Liveblocks | PubNub | InstantDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Live Cursors | ✅ | ✅ | Custom | ✅ |
Follow-Me Mode | ✅ | ❌ | Custom | ❌ |
Framework Support | All Major | React-First | All | React Only |
Automatic presence and cursor tracking logic | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Self-Hosting | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
Enterprise Security | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Pre-built UI | ✅ | Limited | ❌ | Basic |
AI Features | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Why Velt is the Best Presence and Cursor Tracking SDK
Velt consolidates collaboration features into a single SDK. You get cursors, presence, comments, and notifications in one package instead of managing multiple integrations.
Real-time presence features require WebSocket connections, state synchronization, and handling edge cases like connection drops or multiple tabs. Velt handles this infrastructure work. Add a few components and you have production-ready presence tracking.
The framework-agnostic design works across different tech stacks. Whether you use React, Vue, Angular, or vanilla JavaScript, the same SDK integrates without custom development for each framework.
Security and scale matter for production apps. Velt offers self-hosting options, end-to-end encryption, and handles millions of monthly active users. AI-powered features like automated summaries extend beyond basic presence and cursor tracking.
Final thoughts on presence and cursor tracking solutions
The enterprise collaboration market is growing, driven by AI integration and real-time communication demands. Adding user-centric features such as presence and cursor tracking does not need to be a huge lift.
You don't need to build real-time infrastructure to add collaboration features to your app. A good user presence API gives you cursors, tracking, and follow-me mode without the months of development work. Find one that supports your framework and scales to your user count. You can ship collaborative features fast and get back to building what makes your product unique.
FAQ
What is the main difference between presence tracking and cursor tracking?
Presence tracking shows which users are currently active in your app and what they're viewing or editing, while cursor tracking displays the real-time position of each user's mouse pointer. Most SDKs bundle both features together since they work hand-in-hand to create collaborative experiences.
How long does it take to implement a presence SDK?
With pre-built components, you can have basic presence and cursor tracking running in a few hours. Full customization to match your design system typically takes 1-2 days, depending on your specific requirements and tech stack.
Can presence SDKs handle thousands of concurrent users?
Yes, production-grade SDKs are built to scale. The best solutions maintain low-latency synchronization across thousands of concurrent users, with some supporting over one million monthly active users in real-world deployments.
Do I need to build my own UI components for cursors and presence indicators?
It depends on the SDK. Some provide pre-built, customizable UI components that you can drop into your app immediately. Others only offer the underlying infrastructure, requiring you to build all interface elements yourself.
What frameworks do presence SDKs support?
Framework support varies between providers. Some SDKs work only with React, while others support React, Vue, Angular, and vanilla JavaScript. Framework-agnostic solutions offer the most flexibility if you have a diverse tech stack or plan to expand to other frameworks
