Confluent vs. Ably Realtime

Today’s customers expect every digital experience to be immediate, connected, and personalized. That takes more than data at rest - it takes trusted data in motion. Confluent is the complete Data Streaming Platform for keeping data in motion from the moment business change occurs through processing, governance, and serving. Built by the original creators of Apache Kafka®, Confluent connects applications, services, and systems; processes streams in real time with Apache Flink®; and serves trusted, always-current data wherever it is needed across cloud, hybrid, and self-managed environments.

Ably helps 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.