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Networking · head to head

NetBird vs Soketi

NetBird logo

NetBird

Networking

Open source WireGuard mesh VPN with identity based access policies and a hosted control plane

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: NetBird self hosting requires an identity provider, and the bundled option adds a second unfamiliar service to operate, so the free path costs more administrative time than the docker compose file 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: NetBird covers WireGuard data plane, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which NetBird and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where NetBird and Soketi differ
AttributeNetBirdSoketi
Pricing modelPer user per monthOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, DockerLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryNetworkingDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), 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 NetBird

  • WireGuard data plane
  • NAT traversal with relay fallback
  • Identity based access control
  • Network routes
  • Posture checks
  • Full self hosting

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.

NetBird

  • Replacing a VPN concentrator that backhauls all traffic through one officenot Soketi
  • Giving contractors access to two specific services rather than to a subnetnot Soketi
  • Connecting workloads across several clouds without peering VPCs or managing route tablesnot Soketi
  • Meeting a requirement that the network control plane must run inside your own infrastructurenot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

NetBird

  • Self hosting requires an identity provider, and the bundled option adds a second unfamiliar service to operate, so the free path costs more administrative time than the docker compose file suggests.
  • Peers that cannot connect directly fall back to relays, and on a self hosted deployment that relay bandwidth is your cost and your bottleneck rather than an included service.
  • If the self hosted management server is down, existing tunnels keep working but no new peer can join and no policy change takes effect, which makes it a component that needs its own availability plan.
  • Some capabilities aimed at larger organisations sit in the paid cloud tiers, so a self hosted deployment does not have exactly the same feature set as the hosted one.
  • The project moves quickly and configuration and deployment layouts have changed between versions, so self hosted upgrades need reading release notes rather than pulling a new image.

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

NetBird

Free
  • Self hostedFree
    • Full functionality under an open source licence
    • No peer or user limit
    • You operate management, signal and relay
  • Cloud FreeFree
    • Hosted management and relays
    • Small user and peer allowance
    • Identity provider integration
  • Cloud Team$undefined/month
    • Per user per month billing
    • Managed global relay footprint
    • Posture checks and activity events

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose NetBird if

  • You need wireguard data plane.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Docker.
  • You also want nat traversal with relay fallback.
NetBird 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 NetBird or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. NetBird 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, NetBird or Soketi?
NetBird starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does NetBird or Soketi run on more platforms?
NetBird runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Docker. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use NetBird for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is NetBird best used for?
NetBird is most often used for replacing a vpn concentrator that backhauls all traffic through one office, giving contractors access to two specific services rather than to a subnet, connecting workloads across several clouds without peering vpcs or managing route tables, meeting a requirement that the network control plane must run inside your own infrastructure. Of those, replacing a vpn concentrator that backhauls all traffic through one office and giving contractors access to two specific services rather than to a subnet are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can NetBird do that Soketi cannot?
NetBird covers WireGuard data plane, NAT traversal with relay fallback, Identity based access control, Network routes. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

NetBird: Is the self hosted version crippled?

No. The management, signal and relay components are all open source and the network works without any NetBird operated service.

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.

NetBird: How does it differ from Tailscale?

Similar model and similar clients, but Tailscale keeps its coordination server proprietary. NetBird publishes its whole control plane, which is the reason most self hosters choose it.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

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

NetBird: Do I need to open firewall ports?

No inbound ports are required. Peers make outbound connections to the signal service and to each other.

Soketi: What does it cost?

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

NetBird: What happens to traffic if NetBird the company disappears?

On a self hosted deployment, nothing, since you run every component. On the cloud service you would need to stand up your own control plane and re-enrol peers.

Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

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