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APIs · head to head

Asyncapi vs Soketi

Asyncapi logo

Asyncapi

APIs

Specification and tools for defining asynchronous APIs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Soketi logo

Soketi

Developer Tools

Self-hosted, Pusher-compatible WebSockets server with a stalled maintenance record

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Asyncapi complex to implement and debug asynchronous operations due to their non-linear and concurrent nature; Soketi maintenance has effectively stalled: the maintainer has said time is severely limited, releases are infrequent, and the community has been discussing whether the project is abandoned, which means security fixes may not arrive.
  • They diverge on capability: Asyncapi covers API Specification, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Asyncapi and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Asyncapi and Soketi differ
AttributeAsyncapiSoketi
Pricing modelopen-sourceOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, CLI, IDE ExtensionsLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryAPIsDeveloper Tools
Founded2019Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Asyncapi

  • API Specification
  • Code generation
  • Documentation
  • Multiple messaging protocols
  • Code generators
  • Specification support
  • Tools support
  • CLI support

Only in Soketi

  • Pusher protocol compatibility
  • Presence and private channels
  • Horizontal scaling
  • App management backends
  • Webhooks
  • Prometheus metrics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Asyncapi

  • API Developmentnot Soketi
  • API Gatewaynot Soketi
  • API Testingnot Soketi
  • API Documentationnot Soketi
  • Microservicesnot Soketi

Soketi

  • A Laravel application that already uses Echo and wants to stop paying a hosted realtime providernot Asyncapi
  • Realtime notifications or presence indicators where data must not leave your own infrastructure for compliance reasonsnot Asyncapi
  • A local or CI environment that needs a Pusher-compatible server without hitting a paid accountnot Asyncapi
  • A high-connection-count application where hosted per-connection pricing has become the largest line in the infrastructure billnot Asyncapi

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Asyncapi

  • Complex to implement and debug asynchronous operations due to their non-linear and concurrent nature
  • Keeping AsyncAPI documents up to date is challenging as systems evolve
  • Tracing and debugging asynchronous operations is more difficult than synchronous request-response patterns

Soketi

  • Maintenance has effectively stalled: the maintainer has said time is severely limited, releases are infrequent, and the community has been discussing whether the project is abandoned, which means security fixes may not arrive.
  • Dependency drift on Node and uWebSockets.js will eventually force you to fork or migrate, and that cost is unbudgeted at the point you adopt it.
  • There is no commercial support to buy, so a production incident at three in the morning is entirely your problem with no escalation path.
  • Scaling beyond a single node needs Redis and careful configuration, and getting presence channels correct across nodes is a genuine source of subtle bugs.
  • It implements the Pusher protocol rather than tracking it, so any protocol feature Pusher adds later will not appear, and the compatibility guarantee slowly decays.

Pricing, plan by plan

Asyncapi

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • AsyncAPI specification
    • Tools
    • Community support

Soketi

Free
  • SoketiFree
    • MIT licensed
    • Unlimited connections subject to your own hardware
    • No vendor billing

Which should you pick?

Choose Asyncapi if

  • You need api specification.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI, IDE Extensions.
  • You also want code generation.
Asyncapi review

Choose Soketi if

  • You need pusher protocol compatibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want presence and private channels.
Soketi review

Questions people ask

Is Asyncapi or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Asyncapi starts at Free and Soketi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Asyncapi or Soketi?
Asyncapi starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Asyncapi or Soketi run on more platforms?
Asyncapi runs on Web, CLI, IDE Extensions. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Asyncapi for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Asyncapi best used for?
Asyncapi is most often used for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation. Of those, api development and api gateway are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Asyncapi do that Soketi cannot?
Asyncapi covers API Specification, Code generation, Documentation, Multiple messaging protocols. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Asyncapi: What is AsyncAPI used for?

AsyncAPI is an open-source specification for defining and documenting asynchronous APIs, message-driven systems, and event-driven architectures. It serves the same purpose for async APIs as OpenAPI does for REST APIs, providing standardized documentation, code generation, and tooling.

Source
Soketi: Is Soketi still maintained?

Barely. The maintainer has stated that available time is very limited and releases have been sparse; treat it as community-maintained.

Asyncapi: Is AsyncAPI free to use?

Yes, AsyncAPI is completely free and open-source. It is hosted by the Linux Foundation and supported by community contributions and sponsorships from companies like Postman, IBM, IQVIA Technology, and Solace.

Source
Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

No. Pusher client SDKs and Laravel Echo work by changing the host, port and credentials.

Asyncapi: What protocols and technologies does AsyncAPI support?

AsyncAPI supports multiple protocols and technologies including Kafka, RabbitMQ, MQTT, Socket.IO, AWS EventBridge, and others. It provides language support for JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, Go, C#/.NET, Kotlin, and PHP.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

Nothing in licence fees. It is MIT licensed; you pay for the server it runs on.

Asyncapi: Does AsyncAPI have IDE support?

Yes, AsyncAPI has IDE extensions available for VSCode and IntelliJ, along with CLI utilities and GitHub Actions integration for developers.

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

Laravel Reverb for Laravel applications, and Sockudo, a Rust reimplementation, for others.

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