Pusher vs Soketi(2026)
Pusher is better for teams that need simple to integrate. Soketi is the stronger choice if free self-hosted. Pusher is freemium (from $49/month) and Soketi is open-source.
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
Affiliate disclosure: Some “Visit” links on this page are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you sign up — at no extra cost to you. It does not affect our rankings or editorial coverage. Learn more.
Pusher
Pusher provides hosted realtime APIs (WebSockets) for adding live features to web and mobile apps.
Starting at $49/month
Visit PusherSoketi
Soketi is an open source, Pusher protocol-compatible WebSocket server you can self-host for free.
Visit SoketiHow Do Pusher and Soketi Compare on Features?
| Feature | Pusher | Soketi |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | open-source |
| Starting price | $49/month | Free |
| WebSocket channels | ✓ | — |
| Presence channels | ✓ | — |
| Private channels | ✓ | — |
| Webhooks | ✓ | — |
| Client libraries | ✓ | — |
| Encrypted connections | ✓ | — |
| Pusher-compatible protocol | — | ✓ |
| Self-hosted | — | ✓ |
| Horizontal scaling | — | ✓ |
| Redis adapter | — | ✓ |
| HTTP API | — | ✓ |
| Multiple apps | — | ✓ |
Pusher Pros and Cons vs Soketi
P
Pusher
+Simple to integrate
+Battle-tested reliability
+Multiple language SDKs
+Presence feature built-in
−Expensive for high connection counts
−No self-hosted option
−Limited message history
S
Soketi
+Free self-hosted
+Pusher drop-in replacement
+Low latency
+No vendor lock-in
−Self-hosting overhead
−No hosted cloud option
−Smaller community
Should You Use Pusher or Soketi?
Choose Pusher if…
- •Simple to integrate
- •Battle-tested reliability
- •Multiple language SDKs
Choose Soketi if…
- •Free self-hosted
- •Pusher drop-in replacement
- •Low latency