# Realtime or Pipelines? How to choose the right tool

DevFeed: [Realtime or Pipelines? How to choose the right tool](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/realtime-or-pipelines-how-to-choose-the-right-tool-537.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://supabase.com/blog/realtime-or-pipelines-how-to-choose-the-right-tool>)

Author: Eduardo Gurgel; Riccardo Busetti

Published: 2026-05-05T07:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Supabase Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/supabase-blog.md>)

Topics: [Supabase](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/supabase.md>), [PostgreSQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/postgresql.md>), [Replication](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/replication.md>), [WebSocket](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/websocket.md>)

Tags: [postgres](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/postgres.md>), [postgresql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/postgresql.md>), [real-time](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/real-time.md>), [replication](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/replication.md>), [rest](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rest.md>), [ui](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ui.md>)

## AI overview

This article compares Supabase Realtime and Supabase Pipelines, explaining that both use logical replication to read Postgres changes but serve different purposes. Realtime delivers live updates and communication features to application clients, while Pipelines moves data to analytical destinations.

## Source excerpt

Both Realtime and Pipelines read changes from your Postgres database using logical replication. But they solve very different problems. Here is how to pick the right one.