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Cloud · head to head

CapRover vs Soketi

CapRover logo

CapRover

Cloud

Free self-hosted platform built on Docker Swarm with a dashboard and automatic certificates

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: CapRover since June 2026 one pseudonymous account wrote 97 of roughly 100 commits and the next human contributor wrote one, so there is no identifiable person or company to contract with, escalate to or hold responsible.; 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: CapRover covers One-click applications, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CapRover and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where CapRover and Soketi differ
AttributeCapRoverSoketi
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hostedLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), 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 CapRover

  • One-click applications
  • Automatic certificates
  • Web dashboard
  • Multiple deploy paths
  • Docker Swarm clustering
  • Custom nginx configuration

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.

CapRover

  • Running a personal server or homelab with several applications behind automatic certificatesnot Soketi
  • A two person team that wants a dashboard rather than a terminal for deployments on one boxnot Soketi
  • Standing up one-click databases and internal tools without writing Compose filesnot Soketi
  • Hosting client demos cheaply where downtime is inconvenient rather than expensivenot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

CapRover

  • Since June 2026 one pseudonymous account wrote 97 of roughly 100 commits and the next human contributor wrote one, so there is no identifiable person or company to contract with, escalate to or hold responsible.
  • Donations over the last twelve months totalled 285 US dollars and there is no commercial tier, so no paid support exists at any price and no maintenance commitment is funded.
  • The LICENSE file is Apache 2.0 with a superseding appendix that bans redistributing a paid version and refers to paid features that do not yet exist, and GitHub cannot classify it, so the terms already anticipate a commercial change of direction.
  • Releases arrive in bursts with an eleven month gap between September 2023 and August 2024 and two further gaps of about six months since, so there is no basis for assuming a security fix will land promptly.
  • The backup feature is documented as experimental, covers only the CapRover configuration directory and explicitly excludes persistent volumes and container images, so every database has to be dumped separately with its container stopped.

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

CapRover

Free
  • CapRoverFree
    • No paid tier and no hosted offering
    • Unlimited applications, servers and users
    • Community support through Slack and GitHub

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose CapRover if

  • You need one-click applications.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hosted.
  • You also want automatic certificates.
CapRover 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 CapRover or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. CapRover 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, CapRover or Soketi?
CapRover starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does CapRover or Soketi run on more platforms?
CapRover runs on Web, Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hosted. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use CapRover for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is CapRover best used for?
CapRover is most often used for running a personal server or homelab with several applications behind automatic certificates, a two person team that wants a dashboard rather than a terminal for deployments on one box, standing up one-click databases and internal tools without writing compose files, hosting client demos cheaply where downtime is inconvenient rather than expensive. Of those, running a personal server or homelab with several applications behind automatic certificates and a two person team that wants a dashboard rather than a terminal for deployments on one box are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can CapRover do that Soketi cannot?
CapRover covers One-click applications, Automatic certificates, Web dashboard, Multiple deploy paths. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CapRover: Does CapRover cost anything?

No. There is no paid tier and no hosted version. The only income is donations, which came to 285 US dollars over the last twelve months.

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.

CapRover: Is the licence really Apache 2.0?

Not quite. The LICENSE file is Apache 2.0 plus an appendix that supersedes it in case of conflict, forbidding modification of paid features and redistribution of a paid version. GitHub does not recognise the result as a standard licence.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

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

CapRover: Does the backup feature protect my databases?

No. It backs up the CapRover configuration directory only and explicitly excludes persistent directories and container images. You have to dump each database yourself with the container stopped.

Soketi: What does it cost?

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

CapRover: Can I move off Docker Swarm later?

Not without rebuilding. CapRover is architecturally tied to Swarm, so outgrowing it means migrating applications to a different platform rather than switching a scheduler.

Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

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