Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Namespace vs Soketi

Namespace logo

Namespace

Developer Tools

The dev platform for the next 100 billion commits

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: Namespace developer plan is pay-as-you-go only; minimum usage unclear; 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: Namespace covers Devboxes, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Namespace and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Namespace and Soketi differ
AttributeNamespaceSoketi
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsCloud, Mac, Windows, LinuxLinux, macOS, Windows

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer Tools).

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 Namespace

  • Devboxes
  • GitHub Actions runners
  • Docker builds
  • Cross-invocation caching
  • NVMe storage
  • High-speed networking
  • Multiple OS support
  • Bazel and Turborepo 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.

Namespace

  • Providing AI coding agents with cloud-based development environmentsnot Soketi
  • Accelerating CI builds with faster GitHub Actions runnersnot Soketi
  • Distributing builds across teams with managed infrastructurenot Soketi
  • Scaling development velocity for monorepo organizationsnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Namespace

  • Developer plan is pay-as-you-go only; minimum usage unclear
  • Team plan $100/mo is competitive but usage limits may be tight
  • Devbox pricing separate at $0.004/minute could add up quickly
  • Enterprise plan requires custom sales conversation

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

Namespace

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Pay-as-you-go
    • On-demand compute
    • Docker builds
  • Team$100/month
    • 100,000 unit minutes
    • 1,000 Docker builds
    • Everything in Developer
  • Business$250/month
    • 250,000 unit minutes
    • 2,500 Docker builds
    • Everything in Team
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom compute/Docker build limits
    • Audit log export
    • Enterprise SSO

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Namespace if

  • You need devboxes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Mac, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want github actions runners.
Namespace 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 Namespace or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Namespace 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, Namespace or Soketi?
Namespace starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Namespace or Soketi run on more platforms?
Namespace runs on Cloud, Mac, Windows, Linux. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Namespace for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Namespace best used for?
Namespace is most often used for providing ai coding agents with cloud-based development environments, accelerating ci builds with faster github actions runners, distributing builds across teams with managed infrastructure, scaling development velocity for monorepo organizations. Of those, providing ai coding agents with cloud-based development environments and accelerating ci builds with faster github actions runners are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Namespace do that Soketi cannot?
Namespace covers Devboxes, GitHub Actions runners, Docker builds, Cross-invocation caching. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Namespace: How is compute usage metered on the Developer plan?

Developer plan uses pay-as-you-go billing. Devboxes bill at $0.004 per minute. Storage and caching services have separate usage-based fees. A 30-day free trial is available to test usage patterns.

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.

Namespace: What is the difference between Team and Business plans?

Team ($100/mo) includes 100,000 unit minutes and 1,000 Docker builds with email support. Business ($250/mo) includes 250,000 unit minutes, 2,500 Docker builds, and high concurrency with a dedicated Slack channel.

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.

Namespace: Can Namespace support AI coding agents?

Yes, Namespace Devboxes are specifically designed as feature-rich development environments for AI coding agents, with full tooling and performance optimization.

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 Namespace

More on Soketi

Keep looking

Other head to heads