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Preact vs Soketi

Preact logo

Preact

Web Development

3kB alternative to React with the same modern API

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: Preact compatibility through preact/compat is good but not total, and some React libraries break in ways that are hard to diagnose; 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: Preact covers 3kB runtime, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Preact and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Preact and Soketi differ
AttributePreactSoketi
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), 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 Preact

  • 3kB runtime
  • preact/compat
  • Same modern API
  • Fast rendering

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.

Preact

  • Embedded widgets that load inside someone else’s page and must stay smallnot Soketi
  • Marketing and content sites where JavaScript payload affects Core Web Vitalsnot Soketi
  • Applications targeting low-bandwidth or low-powered devicesnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Preact

  • Compatibility through preact/compat is good but not total, and some React libraries break in ways that are hard to diagnose
  • Behavioural differences from React exist in edge cases, particularly around event handling
  • A much smaller community, so unusual problems have fewer existing answers than React

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

Preact

Free
  • PreactFree
    • Full library
    • Commercial use permitted
    • No usage limits

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Preact if

  • You need 3kb runtime.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want preact/compat.
Preact 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 Preact or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Preact 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, Preact or Soketi?
Preact starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Preact or Soketi run on more platforms?
Preact runs on Web. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Preact for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Preact best used for?
Preact is most often used for embedded widgets that load inside someone else’s page and must stay small, marketing and content sites where javascript payload affects core web vitals, applications targeting low-bandwidth or low-powered devices. Of those, embedded widgets that load inside someone else’s page and must stay small and marketing and content sites where javascript payload affects core web vitals are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Preact do that Soketi cannot?
Preact covers 3kB runtime, preact/compat, Same modern API, Fast rendering. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Preact: Is Preact free?

Yes, open source under the MIT licence.

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.

Preact: Can I use React libraries with Preact?

Most, through the preact/compat layer. Compatibility is good but not complete, so libraries relying on React internals can break.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

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

Preact: Why choose Preact over React?

Bundle size, almost always. If payload is not a binding constraint, React’s ecosystem is usually the better trade.

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.

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