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Cloud · head to head

Pulumi vs Soketi

Pulumi logo

Pulumi

Cloud

Modern infrastructure as code using programming languages

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: Pulumi the free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update; 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: Pulumi covers Multi-language support, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pulumi and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Pulumi and Soketi differ
AttributePulumiSoketi
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools
Founded2017Unknown

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 Pulumi

  • Multi-language support
  • Multi-cloud
  • State management
  • Secrets management
  • RBAC
  • Stacks
  • Automation API
  • Policy as Code

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.

Pulumi

  • Infrastructure as codenot Soketi
  • Cloud resource provisioningnot Soketi
  • DevOps automationnot Soketi
  • Multi-cloud managementnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Pulumi

  • The free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update
  • The Team plan is $40 per month base including 40 credits, and caps the organisation at 10 users
  • SAML/SSO, RBAC, audit logs and drift detection require the Enterprise plan at $400 per month base
  • The per-resource rate rises from $0.1825 per resource per month on Team to $0.365 on Enterprise, so upgrading raises the unit price as well as the base fee
  • Managed secrets are billed separately at $0.50 per secret per month on Team and $0.75 on Enterprise
  • Self-hosting, SCIM user sync, audit log export and 24x7 support are only in Business Critical, which is custom priced with no published rate
  • Team includes up to 500 resources and Enterprise up to 2,000, with everything beyond billed on demand as credits

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

Pulumi

Free
  • IndividualFree
    • 1 user
    • Unlimited projects/stacks
    • 500 workflow minutes monthly
  • Team$40/month
    • Up to 10 users
    • Secure collaboration
    • CI/CD integration
  • Enterprise$400/month
    • Unlimited users
    • SAML/SSO
    • RBAC
  • Business Critical$null/custom
    • Self-hosting
    • Advanced compliance
    • SCIM integration

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Pulumi if

  • You need multi-language support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want multi-cloud.
Pulumi 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 Pulumi or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Pulumi 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, Pulumi or Soketi?
Pulumi starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Pulumi or Soketi run on more platforms?
Pulumi runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Pulumi for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Pulumi best used for?
Pulumi is most often used for infrastructure as code, cloud resource provisioning, devops automation, multi-cloud management. Of those, infrastructure as code and cloud resource provisioning are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Pulumi do that Soketi cannot?
Pulumi covers Multi-language support, Multi-cloud, State management, Secrets management. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Pulumi: How much does Pulumi cost?

Pulumi offers a free Individual tier forever, Team plan at $40/month with 40 credits, and Enterprise at $400/month with 400 credits. Credit usage varies by resource type and workflow needs.

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.

Pulumi: What is included in the Pulumi free tier?

The free Individual tier includes 1 user, unlimited projects/stacks, 500 workflow minutes monthly, and 5 million Neo tokens free.

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.

Pulumi: How are Pulumi credits charged?

1 Pulumi Credit equals $1 USD. Credits are drawn from a shared pool. IaC resources cost $0.1825/month per resource on Team and $0.365 on Enterprise; ESC secrets cost $0.50-$0.75/month; workflow minutes cost $0.01 each.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Pulumi: Does Pulumi offer volume discounts?

Yes, the Enterprise tier ($400/month) includes volume discounts and is designed for approximately 2,000 IaC resources.

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

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