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Cybersecurity · head to head

ESET NOD32 Antivirus vs Soketi

ESET NOD32 Antivirus logo

ESET NOD32 Antivirus

Cybersecurity

Essential antivirus protection

From
$39.99/year
Free plan
No
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

  • Only Soketi has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ESET NOD32 Antivirus the advertised price applies to the first term only, and renewal reverts to the official list price; 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: ESET NOD32 Antivirus covers Antivirus & Antispyware, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Soketi differ
AttributeESET NOD32 AntivirusSoketi
Starting price$39.99/yearFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsDesktopLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded1992Unknown

Identical on both: 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 ESET NOD32 Antivirus

  • Antivirus & Antispyware
  • Exploit Blocker
  • Advanced Machine Learning
  • Anti-Phishing
  • UEFI Scanner
  • Script-Based Attack Protection
  • Ransomware Shield
  • Gamer Mode

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.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus

  • Antivirus and anti malware protection for home Windows, macOS and Android devicesnot Soketi
  • Blocking phishing and ransomware on personal computersnot Soketi

Soketi

  • A Laravel application that already uses Echo and wants to stop paying a hosted realtime providernot ESET NOD32 Antivirus
  • Realtime notifications or presence indicators where data must not leave your own infrastructure for compliance reasonsnot ESET NOD32 Antivirus
  • A local or CI environment that needs a Pusher-compatible server without hitting a paid accountnot ESET NOD32 Antivirus
  • A high-connection-count application where hosted per-connection pricing has become the largest line in the infrastructure billnot ESET NOD32 Antivirus

Where each one falls short

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

ESET NOD32 Antivirus

  • The advertised price applies to the first term only, and renewal reverts to the official list price
  • Any saving shown is the difference between the introductory price and that list price rather than an ongoing discount
  • Device coverage is chosen at purchase and priced accordingly, so protecting another machine means changing the licence

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

ESET NOD32 Antivirus

$39.99/year
  • NOD32 Antivirus$39.99/year
    • 1 Device
    • Antivirus & Antispyware
    • Anti-Phishing
  • Internet Security$49.99/year
    • 1 Device
    • All NOD32 features
    • Firewall
  • Smart Security Premium$59.99/year
    • 1 Device
    • All Internet Security features
    • Password Manager

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose ESET NOD32 Antivirus if

  • You need antivirus & antispyware.
  • You work on Desktop.
  • You also want exploit blocker.
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 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 ESET NOD32 Antivirus or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. ESET NOD32 Antivirus starts at $39.99/year and Soketi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ESET NOD32 Antivirus or Soketi?
Soketi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $39.99/year for ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Free for Soketi.
Does ESET NOD32 Antivirus or Soketi run on more platforms?
ESET NOD32 Antivirus runs on Desktop. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Soketi for free?
Yes. Soketi has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ESET NOD32 Antivirus starts at $39.99/year.
What is ESET NOD32 Antivirus best used for?
ESET NOD32 Antivirus is most often used for antivirus and anti malware protection for home windows, macos and android devices, blocking phishing and ransomware on personal computers. Of those, antivirus and anti malware protection for home windows, macos and android devices and blocking phishing and ransomware on personal computers are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can ESET NOD32 Antivirus do that Soketi cannot?
ESET NOD32 Antivirus covers Antivirus & Antispyware, Exploit Blocker, Advanced Machine Learning, Anti-Phishing. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ESET NOD32 Antivirus: Does ESET offer a free trial, and what do I get access to?

ESET offers a free 30-day trial with no credit card required. The trial includes full access to all features in the tier you choose before you commit to a paid subscription.

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.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus: What subscription contract lengths are available?

ESET offers subscription terms ranging from 1 to 10 years depending on the tier. Home Security Essential and Premium plans support 1-10 years, while Ultimate requires 5-10 years. Business plans also support multi-year terms.

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.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus: Will my renewal price change after the first year?

ESET states that the advertised price is valid for the first term only. They send advance notification via email before renewal price increases occur, allowing you to decide whether to continue.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

ESET NOD32 Antivirus: How many devices can I protect on a single subscription?

You can customize the number of protected devices from 1-10 on most plans. Premium and Ultimate tiers include VPN access that varies by device count: Essential/Premium include 3-5 VPN devices, while Ultimate covers 10-25 VPN devices depending on total plan size.

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

ESET NOD32 Antivirus: Is there an extra charge to protect Android devices?

Android protection is available as an optional add-on at $5 per year per device, in addition to your main subscription cost.

Source
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