Cybersecurity · head to head
Microsoft Defender vs Soketi
Microsoft Defender
Cybersecurity
Always-on protection for you and your family's data and devices
- From
- $12/month
- Free plan
- No
Soketi
Developer Tools
Self-hosted, Pusher-compatible WebSockets server with a stalled maintenance record
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Only Soketi has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Microsoft Defender defender Suite requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing; 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.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Defender and Soketi actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Defender | Soketi |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $12/month | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | Open source, no licence fee |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| Category | Cybersecurity | Developer 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 Microsoft Defender
Nothing recorded that Soketi does not also cover.
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.
Microsoft Defender
- Endpoint security and threat protectionnot Soketi
- Identity and access securitynot Soketi
- Email threat protectionnot Soketi
- SaaS application security monitoringnot Soketi
Soketi
- A Laravel application that already uses Echo and wants to stop paying a hosted realtime providernot Microsoft Defender
- Realtime notifications or presence indicators where data must not leave your own infrastructure for compliance reasonsnot Microsoft Defender
- A local or CI environment that needs a Pusher-compatible server without hitting a paid accountnot Microsoft Defender
- A high-connection-count application where hosted per-connection pricing has become the largest line in the infrastructure billnot Microsoft Defender
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Microsoft Defender
- Defender Suite requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing
- Some Defender products use pay-as-you-go pricing with variable costs
- Prices vary based on Microsoft agreements, requiring sales contact for custom quotes
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
Microsoft Defender
$12/month- Microsoft Defender Suite$12/month
- Endpoint protection
- Identity threat detection
- Email security
- Microsoft 365 E5 with Defender$60/month
- Includes Defender Suite
- Microsoft Teams included
- Comprehensive security and compliance
- Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on$2/month
- Vulnerability scanning and management
- One-month free trial available
- Annual commitment required
Soketi
Free- SoketiFree
- MIT licensed
- Unlimited connections subject to your own hardware
- No vendor billing
Which should you pick?
Choose Microsoft Defender if
Nothing in the data separates Microsoft Defender from Soketi on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Defender or Soketi better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Defender starts at $12/month and Soketi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Defender or Soketi?
- Soketi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12/month for Microsoft Defender and Free for Soketi.
- Does Microsoft Defender or Soketi run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Defender 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. Microsoft Defender starts at $12/month.
- What is Microsoft Defender best used for?
- Microsoft Defender is most often used for endpoint security and threat protection, identity and access security, email threat protection, saas application security monitoring. Of those, endpoint security and threat protection and identity and access security are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Defender do that Soketi cannot?
- Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Microsoft Defender: How much does Microsoft Defender Suite cost?
Microsoft Defender Suite costs $12/user/month (paid yearly), but requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing. It includes endpoint protection, identity threat detection, email security, and SaaS application monitoring.
SourceSoketi: 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.
Microsoft Defender: What add-ons are available for Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on costs $2/user/month with annual commitment and includes a one-month free trial. Additional pay-as-you-go products include External Attack Surface Management, Cloud Security Posture Management, and Sentinel.
SourceSoketi: Do I need to change my client code?
No. Pusher client SDKs and Laravel Echo work by changing the host, port and credentials.
Microsoft Defender: Is Defender included in Microsoft 365 E5?
Yes, Microsoft Defender Suite is included in Microsoft 365 E5 at $60/user/month (paid yearly with Teams). Prices may vary based on Microsoft agreements, requiring contact with Sales for customized quotes.
SourceSoketi: 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.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Defender
Other head to heads
- Microsoft Defender vs Bitdefender Total Security
- Microsoft Defender vs Norton 360
- Microsoft Defender vs 1Password
- Microsoft Defender vs LastPass
- Microsoft Defender vs McAfee Total Protection
- Microsoft Defender vs Proofpoint
- Microsoft Defender vs CrowdStrike Falcon
- Microsoft Defender vs Avast One
- Microsoft Defender vs ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- Microsoft Defender vs Cybereason Defense Platform
- Microsoft Defender vs Fortinet FortiGate
- Microsoft Defender vs VMware Carbon Black
- Microsoft Defender vs Wireshark
- Microsoft Defender vs WorkOS
- Microsoft Defender vs Zscaler Internet Access
- Microsoft Defender vs Milestone XProtect
- Microsoft Defender vs Osano
- Microsoft Defender vs Bitdefender VPN
- Microsoft Defender vs PartyKit
- Microsoft Defender vs Penpot
- Microsoft Defender vs Atlantis
- Microsoft Defender vs Coder
- Microsoft Defender vs Backstage
- Microsoft Defender vs Xlinesoft
- Microsoft Defender vs Bazel
- Microsoft Defender vs Eclipse IDE
- Microsoft Defender vs Pants Build
- Microsoft Defender vs Ansible
- Microsoft Defender vs Helix
- Microsoft Defender vs Jitsu
- Microsoft Defender vs Avo
- Microsoft Defender vs Azure DevOps
- Microsoft Defender vs Bitbucket
- Microsoft Defender vs Claude Code
- Microsoft Defender vs Cloud Native Buildpacks
- Soketi vs Bitdefender Total Security
- Soketi vs Norton 360
- Soketi vs 1Password
- Soketi vs LastPass
- Soketi vs McAfee Total Protection
- Soketi vs Proofpoint
- Soketi vs CrowdStrike Falcon
- Soketi vs Avast One
- Soketi vs ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- Soketi vs Cybereason Defense Platform
- Soketi vs Fortinet FortiGate
- Soketi vs VMware Carbon Black
- Soketi vs Wireshark
- Soketi vs WorkOS
- Soketi vs Zscaler Internet Access
- Soketi vs Milestone XProtect
- Soketi vs Osano
- Soketi vs Bitdefender VPN
- Soketi vs PartyKit
- Soketi vs Penpot
- Soketi vs Atlantis
- Soketi vs Coder
- Soketi vs Backstage
- Soketi vs Xlinesoft
- Soketi vs Bazel
- Soketi vs Eclipse IDE
- Soketi vs Pants Build
- Soketi vs Ansible
- Soketi vs Helix
- Soketi vs Jitsu
- Soketi vs Avo
- Soketi vs Azure DevOps
- Soketi vs Bitbucket
- Soketi vs Claude Code
- Soketi vs Cloud Native Buildpacks