Softwr

Web Development · head to head

Bolt.new vs Soketi

Bolt.new logo

Bolt.new

Web Development

Prompt, run, edit, and deploy full-stack web apps

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Soketi logo

Soketi

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bolt.new the free plan is capped at 300K tokens a day and 1M tokens a month; 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: Bolt.new covers Full-stack app generation, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bolt.new and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Bolt.new and Soketi differ
AttributeBolt.newSoketi
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper Tools
Founded2017Unknown

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 Bolt.new

  • Full-stack app generation
  • Prompt-to-app creation
  • Real-time editing
  • Instant deployment
  • Screenshot to UI
  • Multi-framework support
  • Live preview
  • Code export

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.

Bolt.new

  • Rapid prototypingnot Soketi
  • MVP developmentnot Soketi
  • UI mockup creationnot Soketi
  • Full-stack app generationnot Soketi
  • Proof of conceptnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Bolt.new

  • The free plan is capped at 300K tokens a day and 1M tokens a month
  • Pro starts at 10M tokens a month for $25, so heavy sessions are metered rather than unlimited
  • Team seats are billed at $30 per member per month and tokens are not pooled across the team
  • Unused tokens roll over for one additional month only, so they expire after two

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

Bolt.new

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited generations
    • Basic templates
    • Public projects
  • Pro$20/month
    • Unlimited generations
    • Advanced AI models
    • Private projects

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Bolt.new if

  • You need full-stack app generation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want prompt-to-app creation.
Bolt.new 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 Bolt.new or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Bolt.new 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, Bolt.new or Soketi?
Bolt.new starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Bolt.new or Soketi run on more platforms?
Bolt.new runs on Web. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Bolt.new for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Bolt.new best used for?
Bolt.new is most often used for rapid prototyping, mvp development, ui mockup creation, full-stack app generation. Of those, rapid prototyping and mvp development are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Bolt.new do that Soketi cannot?
Bolt.new covers Full-stack app generation, Prompt-to-app creation, Real-time editing, Instant deployment. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bolt.new: Can I use Bolt for free indefinitely?

Bolt invites users to 'Try it out and start building for free', indicating a free option is available. However, the page mentions two tiers (Standard and MaxPro) and includes a '/pricing' link, suggesting paid plans exist. Specific details about free tier limits and paid pricing are not on the main page.

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.

Bolt.new: What are the differences between Standard and MaxPro tiers?

The page mentions both 'Standard' (described as 'Recommended for general development') and 'MaxPro' tiers in feature comparisons, but does not disclose specific differences, pricing, or what qualifies as 'general development' vs. other use cases.

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.

Bolt.new: Are there usage limits on the free tier?

The page does not specify what limits apply to the free tier. To obtain detailed information about free tier limits and paid plan features, you would need to visit the dedicated pricing page.

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 Bolt.new

More on Soketi

Keep looking

Other head to heads