You need WebSocket infrastructure for your multiplayer app, but here's what matters: some providers just handle message delivery, while others give you everything you need to ship collaboration features. We're breaking down the top WebSocket infrastructure providers so you can see which one saves you the most development time. Spoiler? The differences are bigger than you'd think.
TLDR:
WebSocket infrastructure provides persistent connections for real-time multiplayer apps
Infrastructure-only providers require months of custom UI development for collaboration features
Development time drops from quarters to weeks with complete collaboration solutions
Velt combines WebSocket infrastructure with 25+ pre-built components like comments and huddles
What is WebSocket Infrastructure for Multiplayer Applications?
WebSocket infrastructure provides the real-time communication backbone that powers multiplayer applications and collaborative experiences. Unlike traditional HTTP requests that require constant polling for updates, WebSockets establish persistent, bidirectional connections between clients and servers for instant data transmission in features like live editing, real-time gaming, and collaborative workflows. WebSocket infrastructure establishes a persistent connection so data flows immediately in both directions. This matters when building apps where multiple users need to see each other's actions as they happen.
For developers, WebSocket infrastructure handles the complex networking layer: connection stability, message routing, scaling across servers, and reconnection logic when users lose connectivity. Without it, you'd need to build and maintain these systems yourself.
How We Ranked WebSocket Infrastructure Providers
Our evaluation focuses on the technical and business requirements for multiplayer applications. We assessed each provider based on real-time performance and latency capabilities, scalability to handle millions of concurrent connections, developer experience including SDK quality and documentation, security features and compliance standards, and pricing transparency with cost-effectiveness.
The WebSocket protocol specification forms the foundation for real-time communication, but implementation quality varies across providers. Some offer bare-bones infrastructure requiring extensive custom development, while others provide complete collaboration toolkits with pre-built UI components.
We prioritized providers that balance powerful infrastructure with practical developer tools, looking at not simply connection speed and uptime, but also how quickly you can ship features to production.
Liveblocks
Liveblocks provides collaboration infrastructure for building real-time applications, focusing on data synchronization, user presence tracking, and storage that scales to millions of users.
Key Features
The infrastructure includes real-time data synchronization, user presence tracking, WebSocket connectivity at scale, document storage with version history, and integration support for React and JavaScript frameworks.
The Limitations
The limitation surfaces when you need complete collaboration tools. Teams often need additional features like live huddles, video recording, AI transcription, contextual commenting, and notification systems. Base plan constraints can limit you to around 100K comments and 8GB of storage, which becomes a constraint as your application grows.
The Bottom Line
Liveblocks works well for teams needing basic real-time synchronization infrastructure who plan to build custom UI components. If you don't require advanced collaboration features like video recording or AI-powered assistance, the foundational infrastructure can support your build.
Pusher
Pusher Channels is a hosted WebSockets solution for building real-time interactive apps through pub/sub messaging and event-driven communication.
Key Features
Pusher provides integration with 40+ SDKs and over 200 tutorials for implementation guidance. The infrastructure includes real-time presence indicators, live cursor tracking, cross-app support for web and mobile, and built-in message queuing with connection management.
The Limitations
Pusher provides only the messaging infrastructure layer without pre-built collaboration UI components. Teams must invest development time building comment boxes, notification systems, and user interfaces that other solutions include out of the box.
The Bottom Line
The service works for developers who need low-level WebSocket infrastructure for custom-built multiplayer experiences and have resources to develop their own UI components from scratch.
Ably
Ably is a pub/sub service that powers WebSocket connections for over a billion devices monthly. The service guarantees message delivery using redundant infrastructure and failover mechanisms.
Key Features
The infrastructure includes highly available WebSockets that scale globally with low latency, authentication and authorization mechanisms for channel access control, message queuing and presence information capabilities, and SDKs for various programming languages and environments.
The Limitations
Like other infrastructure-only providers, Ably focuses on message delivery without providing the collaboration-specific features that multiplayer applications require. Teams must build features like contextual commenting, co-editing interfaces, and notification systems from scratch.
The Bottom Line
Ably works for large-scale applications that weight raw WebSocket performance highest and have dedicated engineering teams to build complete collaboration experiences using low-level messaging primitives.
PubNub
PubNub is a real-time communication service that provides cloud-based infrastructure and APIs to send and receive messages between devices, apps, or services across a global data stream network. The service delivers messages in under 100 milliseconds worldwide with a 99.999% uptime SLA.
Key Features
The infrastructure includes a global edge network with points of presence in key regions for minimized latency, publish/subscribe messaging with automatic scaling, mobile push notifications, online presence detection, and access management with granular read and write controls.
The Limitations
PubNub excels at message routing but provides minimal collaboration-specific functionality. Teams must develop their own user interfaces, commenting systems, co-editing features, and notification management.
The Bottom Line
PubNub works for applications requiring proven global message delivery infrastructure with strong performance guarantees that don't need collaboration UI components or advanced features like AI-powered content analysis.
Feature Comparison Table of WebSocket Infrastructure Providers
The table below compares core capabilities across leading WebSocket infrastructure providers, showing the difference between complete collaboration solutions and infrastructure-only services.
Feature | Velt | Liveblocks | Pusher | Ably | PubNub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ready-to-Use UI Components | ✅ 25+ components | ❌ Infrastructure only | ❌ Infrastructure only | ❌ Infrastructure only | ❌ Infrastructure only |
Contextual Commenting | ✅ Built-in | ❌ Custom development | ❌ Custom development | ❌ Custom development | ❌ Custom development |
AI-Powered Features | ✅ Transcription, summaries | ❌ Not available | ❌ Not available | ❌ Not available | ❌ Not available |
Voice/Video Huddles | ✅ Integrated | ❌ Custom development | ❌ Custom development | ❌ Custom development | ❌ Custom development |
Enterprise Security | ✅ SOC 2, self-hosting | ✅ Basic security | ✅ Basic security | ✅ Enterprise features | ✅ Enterprise features |
99.999% Uptime SLA | ✅ Available | ❌ Lower guarantees | ✅ Available | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
Development Time | Days | Weeks to months | Weeks to months | Weeks to months | Weeks to months |
Infrastructure-only providers deliver the messaging layer but require you to build every collaboration feature yourself. Complete solutions include both the real-time infrastructure and collaboration UI, reducing development time from months to days.
Best Overall WebSocket Infrastructure: Velt
WebSocket infrastructure handles message delivery, but building polished collaboration experiences requires a lot more work. Teams typically spend months designing comment interfaces, implementing presence indicators, building notification systems, and managing edge cases.
Velt provides collaboration infrastructure that includes both WebSocket connectivity and pre-built UI components. The SDK includes contextual commenting, live presence indicators, real-time co-editing, and voice/video huddles. AI features include automatic transcription of voice comments, content summarization, and contextual assistance without requiring separate AI service integrations. Webhooks allow you to automate workflows based on collaboration events.
The service offers SOC 2 Type II compliance, self-hosting options, and granular access controls. The infrastructure supports millions of concurrent users with 99.999% uptime commitments and global edge distribution.
FAQ
What's the main difference between infrastructure-only providers and complete collaboration solutions?
Infrastructure-only providers like Pusher and Ably deliver the WebSocket messaging layer but require you to build all UI components and collaboration features yourself. Complete solutions like Velt include pre-built commenting systems, presence indicators, and notification interfaces, reducing development time from months to weeks.
How long does it typically take to implement WebSocket infrastructure for multiplayer features?
With infrastructure-only providers, expect weeks to months of development time building custom UI and collaboration logic. Complete collaboration platforms can be integrated in days since they include ready-made components for commenting, presence, and real-time editing.
When should I choose a low-level WebSocket provider over a full collaboration platform?
Choose low-level providers when you need custom multiplayer experiences that don't fit standard collaboration patterns and have dedicated engineering resources. If you need common features like commenting, co-editing, or video huddles, a complete platform saves a lot of development effort.
Can WebSocket infrastructure handle millions of concurrent users?
Yes, enterprise-grade providers support millions of concurrent connections with proper scaling infrastructure. Look for providers offering 99.999% uptime SLAs and global edge distribution to maintain performance as your user base grows.
What security features should I look for in WebSocket infrastructure?
Priority security features include SOC 2 Type II compliance, granular access controls for channel permissions, self-hosting options for data sovereignty, and encryption for data in transit. Enterprise applications may also require HIPAA compliance and on-premises deployment capabilities.
Final thoughts on real-time infrastructure for multiplayer experiences
Choosing scalable WebSocket infrastructure is important, but it's only part of what you need for collaborative apps. Teams often underestimate the work required to build commenting systems, presence indicators, and notification management on top of raw messaging. Velt provides the complete stack so you can go from concept to production in days instead of quarters. You get to ship features that improve engagement without building every component yourself.
