Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Blacksmith vs Soketi

Blacksmith logo

Blacksmith

Developer Tools

2x faster GitHub Actions with 60% cost savings

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: Blacksmith per-minute pricing model requires estimating usage to predict costs; 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: Blacksmith covers Bare metal runners, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Blacksmith and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Blacksmith and Soketi differ
AttributeBlacksmithSoketi
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsGitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOSLinux, macOS, Windows

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

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 Blacksmith

  • Bare metal runners
  • Multiple OS support
  • ARM support
  • Docker layer caching
  • Sticky disks
  • GitHub Actions observability
  • Free tier
  • Static IPs

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.

Blacksmith

  • Replacing GitHub Actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructurenot Soketi
  • Accelerating CI build times for organizations with heavy CI loadnot Soketi
  • Reducing cloud spend on GitHub Actions by 60% or morenot Soketi
  • Supporting ARM architecture builds without GitHub runnersnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Blacksmith

  • Per-minute pricing model requires estimating usage to predict costs
  • macOS M4 pricing ($0.08/min) is significantly higher than GitHub Actions
  • Docker layer caching and sticky disks are paid add-ons at $0.50/GB/mo
  • Static IP add-on costs $100/IP/mo

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

Blacksmith

Free
  • Ubuntu x64$0.004/minute
    • 3,000 free minutes per month
    • 2x faster hardware
    • 4x faster cache downloads
  • Ubuntu ARM$0.0025/minute
    • 3,000 free minutes per month
    • 2x faster hardware
    • 4x faster cache downloads
  • Windows x64$0.008/minute
    • 3,000 free minutes per month
    • 2x faster hardware
    • 4x faster cache downloads
  • macOS M4$0.08/minute
    • 3,000 free minutes per month
    • 2x faster hardware
    • 4x faster cache downloads

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Blacksmith if

  • You need bare metal runners.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want multiple os support.
Blacksmith 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 Blacksmith or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Blacksmith 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, Blacksmith or Soketi?
Blacksmith starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Blacksmith or Soketi run on more platforms?
Blacksmith runs on GitHub Actions, Linux, Windows, macOS. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Blacksmith for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Blacksmith best used for?
Blacksmith is most often used for replacing github actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructure, accelerating ci build times for organizations with heavy ci load, reducing cloud spend on github actions by 60% or more, supporting arm architecture builds without github runners. Of those, replacing github actions runners with faster, cheaper infrastructure and accelerating ci build times for organizations with heavy ci load are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Blacksmith do that Soketi cannot?
Blacksmith covers Bare metal runners, Multiple OS support, ARM support, Docker layer caching. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Blacksmith: How much do Blacksmith runners cost compared to GitHub Actions?

Blacksmith offers 60-75% cost savings depending on OS. Ubuntu x64 costs $0.004/min vs GitHub at $0.012/min. All plans include 3,000 free minutes monthly.

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.

Blacksmith: Can I use Docker layer caching with Blacksmith?

Yes, Docker layer caching is available as an add-on at $0.50/GB/mo. Managed Docker layer persistence is included with the base service.

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.

Blacksmith: What is the SLA for Enterprise plans?

Enterprise Blacksmith plans include a 99.9% SLA guarantee along with 24/7 priority support, dedicated Slack channels, white-glove onboarding, and CI optimization support.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

Share

Related pages

More on Blacksmith

More on Soketi

Keep looking

Other head to heads