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Databases · head to head

Presto vs Soketi

Presto logo

Presto

Databases

The Meta-lineage distributed SQL query engine, distinct from the Trino fork

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: Presto the original creators and most of the active contributor base left for Trino in 2020, so Presto has the smaller community, fewer connectors and slower feature delivery of the two branches.; 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: Presto covers Federated querying, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Presto and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Presto and Soketi differ
AttributePrestoSoketi
PlatformsLinux, Docker, KubernetesLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryDatabasesDeveloper 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 Presto

  • Federated querying
  • In-memory execution
  • Open table format support
  • Presto C++ workers
  • ANSI SQL
  • Pluggable connectors

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.

Presto

  • An existing PrestoDB estate that needs continued upgrades rather than a migration to Trinonot Soketi
  • A team buying IBM watsonx.data, where Presto is the underlying query enginenot Soketi
  • Joining a Hive or Iceberg lake to an operational PostgreSQL database in one query without an ETL stepnot Soketi
  • Very large scale interactive SQL where the Meta-tested branch is a specific requirementnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Presto

  • The original creators and most of the active contributor base left for Trino in 2020, so Presto has the smaller community, fewer connectors and slower feature delivery of the two branches.
  • Documentation, tutorials and Stack Overflow answers for the two projects are frequently mixed up, and a solution written for Trino often does not apply, which costs real debugging time.
  • It is a query engine with no storage of its own, so query performance is dictated by your file layout, partitioning and statistics, and a badly organised lake makes Presto look slow.
  • Memory-bound execution means a single large join can fail the whole query rather than spilling gracefully, and tuning cluster memory settings is a persistent operational chore.
  • Commercial support has consolidated into IBM since the Ahana acquisition, so the independent vendor market that once existed around Presto is largely gone.

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

Presto

Free
  • PrestoFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • Presto Foundation governance under the Linux Foundation
    • No node or query limits

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Presto if

  • You need federated querying.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want in-memory execution.
Presto 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 Presto or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Presto 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, Presto or Soketi?
Presto starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Presto or Soketi run on more platforms?
Presto runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Presto for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Presto best used for?
Presto is most often used for an existing prestodb estate that needs continued upgrades rather than a migration to trino, a team buying ibm watsonx.data, where presto is the underlying query engine, joining a hive or iceberg lake to an operational postgresql database in one query without an etl step, very large scale interactive sql where the meta-tested branch is a specific requirement. Of those, an existing prestodb estate that needs continued upgrades rather than a migration to trino and a team buying ibm watsonx.data, where presto is the underlying query engine are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Presto do that Soketi cannot?
Presto covers Federated querying, In-memory execution, Open table format support, Presto C++ workers. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Presto: Is this Presto or Trino?

This is PrestoDB, the branch that stayed at Facebook and moved to the Linux Foundation. Trino is the 2020 fork by the original creators.

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.

Presto: Which should I choose for a new project?

Trino, in most cases. It has the larger community, more connectors and more commercial options.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

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

Presto: Who maintains Presto now?

Principally Meta, Uber and IBM, which acquired the Presto vendor Ahana in 2023.

Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Presto: Is it still actively released?

Yes, releases continue on a regular cadence under the Presto Foundation.

Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

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