140 Proof vs Ably vs Addepar: Which Is Right for You in 2026?
These three were grouped under a shared 'Productivity' category label, not because they compete for the same buyer — they don't. 140 Proof was a mobile…
Best for: Not a current buying option — the platform was discontinued as a standalone product after being acquired by AcuityAds in 2016 and merged into illumin.
usage-based · From Free; Standard plan from $29/month plus usage
Best for: Developers who need realtime pub/sub messaging infrastructure to power chat, live data feeds, notifications, or collaborative features at scale.
custom · From Custom pricing, contact sales; fees are typically tiered based on assets under management and user licenses
Best for: Registered investment advisors and financial institutions who need a platform to aggregate and report on client portfolio data.
At a Glance
140 Proof
Ably
Addepar
Primary category
Productivity
Productivity
Productivity
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
custom
usage-based
custom
Starting price
Not documented
Free; Standard plan from $29/month plus usage
Custom pricing, contact sales; fees are typically tiered based on assets under management and user licenses
Free plan
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Free trial
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Platforms
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Public API
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Standout Differences
Not a real three-way comparison
140 Proof, Ably, and Addepar serve completely unrelated buyers: discontinued ad tech, developer realtime infrastructure, and wealth-management software respectively. They share a category label, not a use case, so don't expect to choose between them.
140 Proof, Ably, Addepar
140 Proof is no longer an independent product
Its own description confirms it was acquired by AcuityAds in 2016 and is now folded into the illumin platform, meaning there is no standalone 140 Proof product left to evaluate or buy in 2026.
140 Proof
Usage-based infrastructure vs. AUM-tiered enterprise software
Ably prices on a usage basis, starting free with a $29/month Standard plan plus usage, a model built for developers scaling API calls. Addepar uses custom enterprise pricing typically tiered to assets under management and user licenses, reflecting how differently these two audiences buy software.
Ably, Addepar
Feature-by-Feature
Product Status
Feature
140 Proof
Ably
Addepar
Actively sold as an independent product
Unavailable
Available
Available
Realtime messaging / pub-sub APIs
Unavailable
Available
Unavailable
Portfolio and wealth data aggregation
Unavailable
Unavailable
Available
Mobile ad audience targeting
Limited
Unavailable
Unavailable
Pricing
Feature
140 Proof
Ably
Addepar
Published starting price
Unavailable
Available
Unavailable
Usage-based billing
Not documented
Available
Not documented
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
140 Proof
No individual plan breakdown documented yet.
Ably
Free — $0 no commitment
Standard — $29/month plus usage monthly
Pro — $399/month plus usage monthly
Enterprise — Custom annual contract
Addepar
Custom — Custom, contact sales annual
Pros & Cons
140 Proof
Pros
Historically notable for pioneering interest-graph based social ad targeting in the early 2010s
Backed by venture investors and acquired at a meaningful valuation, indicating real market traction at the time
Its technology and team continued to be used within its acquirer's platform rather than being shut down outright
Cons
No longer operates or is sold as an independent, standalone product
Its official domain no longer hosts current company information or a live signup flow
Modern buyers cannot evaluate or purchase 140 Proof directly, only its successor platform, illumin
Public information about the brand is largely historical, with limited current documentation
Ably
Pros
Deep reliability guarantees backed by a formally modeled network
Generous free tier suitable for prototypes and low-volume production apps
Broad SDK and protocol coverage across many languages
Purpose-built products like Chat and Spaces reduce build time for common realtime UX patterns
Enterprise support and SLAs for mission-critical use cases
Cons
Usage-based pricing can become expensive at high message or connection volume
Some advanced features and support SLAs are gated behind Pro and Enterprise plans
Pub/sub concepts add a learning curve for teams new to realtime architecture
Enterprise pricing is not published and requires a sales conversation
Addepar
Pros
Deep support for complex, multi-custodian portfolios including alternative investments
Trusted at large scale, with reporting on trillions of dollars in aggregated assets
Strong global footprint with offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East
Comprehensive analytics and client-facing reporting purpose-built for wealth management
Backed by a large, well-resourced team of roughly 1,400 employees
Cons
Pricing is not publicly disclosed, requiring a direct sales conversation for any quote
Fees generally scale up with assets under management but may not decrease proportionally if AUM falls, a common user complaint
Implementation and onboarding likely require significant time and professional services investment
Primarily designed for professional wealth managers, not suitable for individual retail investors
Use Cases
Choose 140 Proof: Not a current buying option — the platform was discontinued as a standalone product after being acquired by AcuityAds in 2016 and merged into illumin.
Choose Ably: Developers who need realtime pub/sub messaging infrastructure to power chat, live data feeds, notifications, or collaborative features at scale.
Choose Addepar: Registered investment advisors and financial institutions who need a platform to aggregate and report on client portfolio data.
140 Proof
Historical ad-tech research — Marketers and researchers studying the evolution of interest-based social ad targeting can reference 140 Proof as an early example of the approach.
Understanding illumin's origins — Buyers evaluating illumin's current advertising platform can better understand its roots by learning about the 140 Proof acquisition.
Due diligence on acquired brands — Analysts researching AcuityAds and illumin's acquisition history use 140 Proof as a case study in ad-tech consolidation.
Ably
Realtime Chat and Collaboration — Engineering teams building in-app chat, live comments, or collaborative editing features use Ably Chat and Spaces to add presence, typing indicators, and multiplayer cursors without building the underlying infrastructure.
Live Data and Trading Dashboards — Fintech and media companies stream live prices, odds, or sports scores to thousands of concurrent viewers using Ably's pub/sub channels with guaranteed message ordering.
IoT and Device Telemetry — IoT companies use Ably's MQTT support and message history to reliably collect and distribute sensor data from distributed devices, even through unstable network connections.
Addepar
Multi-custodian portfolio reporting — Consolidate client investment data from multiple custodians into a single system for performance and risk analysis.
Alternative investment analytics — Track and analyze private equity, real estate, and hedge fund holdings alongside traditional public market assets.
Client reporting and communication — Generate polished, data-driven reports that advisors can share directly with high-net-worth clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are 140 Proof, Ably, and Addepar actually alternatives to each other?
No. They were only grouped together by category label. 140 Proof was a mobile ad-targeting platform, Ably is realtime messaging infrastructure for developers, and Addepar is wealth-management software for financial advisors. None of them solve the same problem, so there's no meaningful head-to-head decision between them.
Is 140 Proof still available to buy?
No. Per its own description, 140 Proof was acquired by AcuityAds in 2016 and is now folded into the illumin advertising platform rather than operating as an independent product. Anyone looking for its former audience-targeting capabilities would need to evaluate illumin directly, not 140 Proof.
What does Ably actually do?
Ably is a realtime infrastructure platform providing pub/sub messaging APIs and SDKs so developers can build chat, live data feeds, notifications, and collaborative features that scale reliably worldwide. It's priced on a usage basis, with a free tier and a Standard plan starting at $29/month plus usage.
Who uses Addepar?
Addepar is built for registered investment advisors and financial institutions that need to aggregate and analyze portfolio data, and it's used to power reporting on trillions of dollars in assets. Pricing is custom and typically tiered based on assets under management and the number of user licenses.
If I'm looking for a general productivity tool, should I consider any of these three?
Not really, and that's the honest answer. None of the three is a general productivity tool in the typical sense: 140 Proof is defunct ad tech folded into another company's platform, Ably is developer infrastructure for realtime features, and Addepar is specialized fintech software for wealth managers. Buyers should look elsewhere depending on which specific need — none of them, or a genuine productivity suite — actually applies.