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Technology · head to head

Okta vs Soketi

Okta logo

Okta

Technology

The identity platform for builders

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

  • Each has a real cost: Okta requires $1,500 annual minimum contract; 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: Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Okta and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Okta and Soketi differ
AttributeOktaSoketi
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, SaaSLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded2009Unknown

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 Okta

  • Single sign-on (SSO)
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Lifecycle management
  • Universal directory
  • API access management
  • B2B integration
  • Passwordless authentication
  • Adaptive MFA

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.

Okta

  • Employee SSOnot Soketi
  • Customer identitynot Soketi
  • B2B integrationnot Soketi
  • Zero Trust securitynot Soketi
  • Compliancenot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Okta

  • Requires $1,500 annual minimum contract
  • Admin-only MFA can be vulnerable to push notification fatigue attacks
  • Implementation requires significant services and integration fees in year one

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

Okta

Free
  • Starter Suite$6/user/month
    • SSO
    • MFA
    • Universal Directory
  • Core Essentials Suite$14/user/month
    • Adaptive MFA
    • Privileged Access
    • Lifecycle Management
  • Essentials Suite$17/user/month
    • Same as Core Essentials
    • Most popular
  • Professional Suite$undefined/custom
    • Device Access
    • Identity Security Posture
    • Threat Protection

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Okta if

  • You need single sign-on (sso).
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, SaaS.
  • You also want multi-factor authentication.
Okta 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 Okta or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Okta 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, Okta or Soketi?
Okta starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Okta or Soketi run on more platforms?
Okta runs on Web, SaaS. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Okta for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Okta best used for?
Okta is most often used for employee sso, customer identity, b2b integration, zero trust security. Of those, employee sso and customer identity are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Okta do that Soketi cannot?
Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Multi-factor authentication, Lifecycle management, Universal directory. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Okta: What is the minimum contract for Okta Workforce Identity?

Okta requires a $1,500 annual minimum contract for Workforce Identity plans. Pricing starts at $6 per user per month (Starter) and ranges to $17 per user per month (Essentials), billed annually.

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.

Okta: Does Okta offer a free trial?

Yes, Okta provides a 30-day free trial so customers can explore all product capabilities before committing to a paid plan.

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.

Okta: How many pre-built integrations does Okta support?

Okta offers over 7,000 pre-built integrations with popular enterprise applications including Salesforce, Slack, Workday, Box, Confluence, and Zendesk.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Okta: What security features does Okta provide for admins?

Okta provides multi-factor authentication, adaptive MFA, single logout, and identity threat detection and response. However, only 94% of Okta customers have MFA enabled for administrators.

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

Okta: Can Okta integrate with on-premises directories?

Yes, Okta's Universal Directory and lifecycle management support cloud and on-premises identity sources, including Active Directory and LDAP.

Source
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