Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Norton 360 vs Soketi

Norton 360 logo

Norton 360

Cybersecurity

Powerful protection against evolving threats

From
$36/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: Norton 360 device limit of 3 devices on Standard plan; higher tiers needed for family with multiple devices; 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: Norton 360 covers Real-time threat protection, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Norton 360 and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Norton 360 and Soketi differ
AttributeNorton 360Soketi
Starting price$36/yearFree
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Android, iOSLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded1982Unknown

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 Norton 360

  • Real-time threat protection
  • Ransomware protection
  • Firewall
  • Password Manager
  • Secure VPN
  • Cloud backup
  • Dark Web Monitoring
  • Parental Controls

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.

Norton 360

  • Antivirusnot Soketi
  • Internet Securitynot Soketi
  • Identity Protectionnot Soketi

Soketi

  • A Laravel application that already uses Echo and wants to stop paying a hosted realtime providernot Norton 360
  • Realtime notifications or presence indicators where data must not leave your own infrastructure for compliance reasonsnot Norton 360
  • A local or CI environment that needs a Pusher-compatible server without hitting a paid accountnot Norton 360
  • A high-connection-count application where hosted per-connection pricing has become the largest line in the infrastructure billnot Norton 360

Where each one falls short

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

Norton 360

  • Device limit of 3 devices on Standard plan; higher tiers needed for family with multiple devices
  • Parental controls unavailable on Standard plan, requiring purchase of separate Norton Family app
  • No HIPAA compliance or BAA support for regulated industries
  • Exploit Prevention works only on Windows devices, not available for macOS
  • Limited account recovery options if master password is forgotten

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

Norton 360

$36/year
  • Norton 360 Standard$36/year
    • Antivirus and malware protection
    • VPN
    • Dark web monitoring
  • Norton 360 Deluxe$49.99/year
    • All Standard features
    • 50 GB cloud backup
    • Parental controls
  • Norton 360 Premium$54.99/year
    • All Deluxe features
    • 250 GB cloud backup
    • LifeLock identity theft protection

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Norton 360 if

  • You need real-time threat protection.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS.
  • You also want ransomware protection.
Norton 360 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 Norton 360 or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Norton 360 starts at $36/year and Soketi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Norton 360 or Soketi?
Soketi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $36/year for Norton 360 and Free for Soketi.
Does Norton 360 or Soketi run on more platforms?
Norton 360 runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS. 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. Norton 360 starts at $36/year.
What is Norton 360 best used for?
Norton 360 is most often used for antivirus, internet security, identity protection. Of those, antivirus and internet security are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Norton 360 do that Soketi cannot?
Norton 360 covers Real-time threat protection, Ransomware protection, Firewall, Password Manager. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Norton 360: What operating systems does Norton 360 Standard support?

Windows 7 SP1 through Windows 11, macOS 10.13 and later, Android 10.0 or later, and current plus two previous iOS versions. Not all features are available on all platforms.

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.

Norton 360: How much cloud backup storage is included in Norton 360 Standard?

2 GB of cloud backup storage is included with Norton 360 Standard. Higher tiers offer 50 GB (Deluxe) and 250 GB (Premium).

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.

Norton 360: Does Norton 360 include a VPN?

Yes. All Norton 360 plans include a VPN for secure browsing. The VPN is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Norton 360: Is Norton 360 HIPAA compliant?

No. Norton 360 does not offer HIPAA compliance or Business Associate Agreements (BAA), making it unsuitable for healthcare organizations handling protected health information (PHI).

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

Norton 360: What is the renewal price after the first year?

First year pricing is discounted. Standard renews at 94.99 USD per year, Deluxe at 119.99 USD per year. This represents a 140% increase over Deluxe's first-year rate of 49.99 USD.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Norton 360

More on Soketi

Keep looking

Other head to heads