Softwr

Networking · head to head

OpenVPN vs Soketi

OpenVPN logo

OpenVPN

Networking

Open source VPN protocol with a commercial Access Server product priced per simultaneous connection

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: OpenVPN open source OpenVPN, while free, requires real technical skill to configure, secure and maintain without the Access Server admin layer; 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: OpenVPN covers Open source core, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpenVPN and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where OpenVPN and Soketi differ
AttributeOpenVPNSoketi
Pricing modelOpen source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connectionOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidLinux, 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 OpenVPN

  • Open source core
  • Access Server admin UI
  • Per-connection licensing
  • Free tier
  • Cross-platform clients

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.

OpenVPN

  • A technical team wanting a fully free, self-configured VPN server using the open source protocol without any vendor relationshipnot Soketi
  • A small business wanting a supported, easier-to-administer VPN server, willing to pay per concurrent connection rather than per employeenot Soketi
  • An organisation with more staff than typical concurrent VPN usage, since Access Server bills only active simultaneous connections, not total accountsnot Soketi
  • An IoT or large-scale deployment needing custom Enterprise pricing above 2,000 connectionsnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

OpenVPN

  • Open source OpenVPN, while free, requires real technical skill to configure, secure and maintain without the Access Server admin layer
  • Per-connection billing on Access Server means usage spikes, such as an all-hands remote day, can push simultaneous connections over a licensed limit and block new connections until usage drops or the plan is upgraded
  • OpenVPN's traditional hub-and-spoke architecture routes traffic through a central server, unlike mesh VPN tools like Tailscale or NetBird that establish direct peer-to-peer connections where possible, which can add latency
  • Client configuration and certificate management for the open source version is more manual and error-prone than newer VPN tools with zero-config onboarding
  • Access Server pricing above the Growth tier reverts to custom Enterprise quoting, so very large deployments lose the pricing transparency of the lower tiers
  • The protocol's throughput is generally lower than newer kernel-integrated protocols like WireGuard under equivalent conditions, which matters for high-bandwidth use cases

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

OpenVPN

Free
  • Access Server FreeFree
    • Up to 2 simultaneous connections
    • All features included
  • Access Server Growth$7/month
    • Per simultaneous connection beyond the free tier
    • Annual billing
  • Access Server Enterprise/IoT$undefined/month
    • Custom pricing for 2,000+ connections

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose OpenVPN if

  • You need open source core.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
  • You also want access server admin ui.
OpenVPN 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 OpenVPN or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenVPN 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, OpenVPN or Soketi?
OpenVPN starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does OpenVPN or Soketi run on more platforms?
OpenVPN runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use OpenVPN for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is OpenVPN best used for?
OpenVPN is most often used for a technical team wanting a fully free, self-configured vpn server using the open source protocol without any vendor relationship, a small business wanting a supported, easier-to-administer vpn server, willing to pay per concurrent connection rather than per employee, an organisation with more staff than typical concurrent vpn usage, since access server bills only active simultaneous connections, not total accounts, an iot or large-scale deployment needing custom enterprise pricing above 2,000 connections. Of those, a technical team wanting a fully free, self-configured vpn server using the open source protocol without any vendor relationship and a small business wanting a supported, easier-to-administer vpn server, willing to pay per concurrent connection rather than per employee are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can OpenVPN do that Soketi cannot?
OpenVPN covers Open source core, Access Server admin UI, Per-connection licensing, Free tier. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpenVPN: Is OpenVPN free?

The open source protocol and software are free under the GPL; Access Server, the commercial packaged product, charges per simultaneous connection beyond a free 2-connection tier.

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.

OpenVPN: What counts as a connection for billing purposes?

A simultaneously active connected device, not a registered user account or total device count; unlimited accounts and devices can be created but only the licensed number can be connected at once.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

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

OpenVPN: How does OpenVPN compare with WireGuard-based tools like Tailscale?

OpenVPN uses a traditional hub-and-spoke VPN architecture rather than the mesh, peer-to-peer approach used by newer tools like Tailscale or NetBird.

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 OpenVPN

More on Soketi

Keep looking

Other head to heads