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Cybersecurity · head to head

Jamf Pro vs Soketi

Jamf Pro logo

Jamf Pro

Cybersecurity

Apple-only device management for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, licensed per device by a public US vendor.

From
On request
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: Jamf Pro it manages Apple hardware only, so any organisation with Windows or Android devices runs a second management platform and produces two sets of compliance evidence, and the two inventories disagree with each other more often than either vendor's documentation suggests.; 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: Jamf Pro covers Automated Device Enrolment, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Jamf Pro and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Jamf Pro and Soketi differ
AttributeJamf ProSoketi
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools

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 Jamf Pro

  • Automated Device Enrolment
  • Configuration profiles
  • Policies and scripts
  • Smart groups
  • Self Service
  • Patch management
  • Extension attributes
  • Same-day OS 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.

Jamf Pro

  • An Apple-heavy workforce where devices ship directly to users and must configure themselves on first boot with no IT touchnot Soketi
  • Education deployments managing shared iPads across classes with per-user app assignmentnot Soketi
  • Developer organisations where engineers have administrator rights on their own Macs and management has to be achieved by policy and script rather than lockdownnot Soketi
  • Organisations needing compliance evidence for Apple devices that a general-purpose endpoint manager cannot produce at the required depthnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Jamf Pro

  • It manages Apple hardware only, so any organisation with Windows or Android devices runs a second management platform and produces two sets of compliance evidence, and the two inventories disagree with each other more often than either vendor's documentation suggests.
  • Licensing is per device per year with different rates for computers and mobile devices, so spare and shared hardware sitting in a cupboard continues to consume licences until somebody actively removes it from inventory, which is nobody's job by default.
  • Apple's frameworks set the ceiling: if Apple does not expose a setting through MDM or declarative device management, Jamf cannot manage it either, so requests that are a single Group Policy object on Windows are answered with a scripted workaround or with nothing.
  • Zero-touch deployment depends on devices being registered in Apple Business Manager, which generally means buying through Apple or an authorised reseller, so machines bought retail or inherited through an acquisition cannot be supervised without wiping and re-enrolling them.
  • Getting value from it requires an Apple platform specialist who can write shell scripts, read configuration profiles and design smart group logic, and a generalist team without that skill uses a fraction of the product while paying the full per-device rate.

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

Jamf Pro

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Jamf Pro review.

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Jamf Pro if

  • You need automated device enrolment.
  • You also want configuration profiles.
Jamf Pro 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 Jamf Pro or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Jamf Pro starts at On request and Soketi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Jamf Pro or Soketi?
Soketi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Jamf Pro and Free for Soketi.
Does Jamf Pro or Soketi run on more platforms?
Jamf Pro runs on Web. 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. Jamf Pro starts at On request.
What is Jamf Pro best used for?
Jamf Pro is most often used for an apple-heavy workforce where devices ship directly to users and must configure themselves on first boot with no it touch, education deployments managing shared ipads across classes with per-user app assignment, developer organisations where engineers have administrator rights on their own macs and management has to be achieved by policy and script rather than lockdown, organisations needing compliance evidence for apple devices that a general-purpose endpoint manager cannot produce at the required depth. Of those, an apple-heavy workforce where devices ship directly to users and must configure themselves on first boot with no it touch and education deployments managing shared ipads across classes with per-user app assignment are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Jamf Pro do that Soketi cannot?
Jamf Pro covers Automated Device Enrolment, Configuration profiles, Policies and scripts, Smart groups. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Jamf Pro: Does Jamf Pro include endpoint security?

No. Threat prevention, endpoint telemetry and compliance monitoring are Jamf Protect, a separate product and a separate licence. Jamf Connect for identity and password sync is also separate.

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.

Jamf Pro: Can it manage Windows or Android?

No. Jamf manages Apple platforms only. A mixed estate needs a second management platform, and that is a deliberate product decision rather than a gap they intend to close.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

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

Jamf Pro: Do I need Apple Business Manager?

For zero-touch enrolment and volume app licensing, yes. You can enrol devices manually through a user-initiated flow without it, but you lose supervision, automatic enrolment and the ability to prevent a user removing management.

Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Jamf Pro: Can I host it myself?

Yes, Jamf Pro can be self-hosted, though Jamf Cloud is the default and receives new capabilities first. Self-hosting means you own the upgrade cadence, which matters because Apple's September releases set the timetable.

Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

Jamf Pro: How does it compare to Microsoft Intune?

Intune manages Apple devices adequately and is often already paid for in an existing Microsoft agreement, which is the argument against Jamf. Jamf is deeper, supports new Apple releases faster, and has the local agent for scripting. Organisations with a few hundred Macs and a strong Apple culture generally choose Jamf; those with a handful of Macs in a Windows estate generally do not.

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