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Cybersecurity · head to head

ProtonVPN vs Soketi

ProtonVPN logo

ProtonVPN

Cybersecurity

High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy

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: ProtonVPN free plan limited to one device at a time; 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: ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ProtonVPN and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where ProtonVPN and Soketi differ
AttributeProtonVPNSoketi
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded2014Unknown

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 ProtonVPN

  • No-logs policy
  • Secure Core
  • Kill Switch
  • DNS leak protection
  • Tor over VPN
  • Split tunneling
  • NetShield ad-blocker
  • VPN Accelerator

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.

ProtonVPN

  • Privacy-focused browsing without subscription costnot Soketi
  • Multi-device protection with Plus plan supporting 10 devicesnot Soketi
  • Integrated access to Proton email and cloud services via Unlimited plannot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

ProtonVPN

  • Free plan limited to one device at a time
  • Free plan restricted to 10 countries with random selection
  • Pricing amounts not clearly published; shown as variable

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

ProtonVPN

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ProtonVPN review.

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose ProtonVPN if

  • You need no-logs policy.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want secure core.
ProtonVPN 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 ProtonVPN or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. ProtonVPN 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, ProtonVPN or Soketi?
ProtonVPN starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does ProtonVPN or Soketi run on more platforms?
ProtonVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use ProtonVPN for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is ProtonVPN best used for?
ProtonVPN is most often used for privacy-focused browsing without subscription cost, multi-device protection with plus plan supporting 10 devices, integrated access to proton email and cloud services via unlimited plan. Of those, privacy-focused browsing without subscription cost and multi-device protection with plus plan supporting 10 devices are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can ProtonVPN do that Soketi cannot?
ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Secure Core, Kill Switch, DNS leak protection. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

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

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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