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Cloud · head to head

Puppet vs Soketi

Puppet logo

Puppet

Cloud

Infrastructure automation for enterprises

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: Puppet no pricing published for commercial tiers; requires contacting sales; 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: Puppet covers Manifests, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Puppet and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Puppet and Soketi differ
AttributePuppetSoketi
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools
Founded2005Unknown

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 Puppet

  • Manifests
  • Modules
  • Classes
  • Variables
  • Facts
  • Puppet Master
  • Hiera
  • Facter

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.

Puppet

  • Infrastructure automationnot Soketi
  • Configuration managementnot Soketi
  • DevOps at scalenot Soketi
  • Enterprise infrastructurenot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Puppet

  • No pricing published for commercial tiers; requires contacting sales
  • Enterprise and Advanced tiers require custom quote
  • Free tier limited to 25 nodes maximum

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

Puppet

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Up to 25 nodes
  • Core Commercial$null/custom
    • 25+ nodes
    • Vendor-backed SLAs
    • Training with Certified Engineers
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Web GUI
    • RBAC
    • Multi-environment support
  • Advanced$null/custom
    • AI-powered features
    • Advanced patching
    • Vulnerability remediation

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Puppet if

  • You need manifests.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want modules.
Puppet 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 Puppet or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Puppet 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, Puppet or Soketi?
Puppet starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Puppet or Soketi run on more platforms?
Puppet runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Puppet for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Puppet best used for?
Puppet is most often used for infrastructure automation, configuration management, devops at scale, enterprise infrastructure. Of those, infrastructure automation and configuration management are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Puppet do that Soketi cannot?
Puppet covers Manifests, Modules, Classes, Variables. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Puppet: How much does Puppet cost?

Puppet's Developer tier is free for up to 25 nodes. Commercial, Enterprise, and Advanced tiers require contacting their sales team for a custom quote.

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.

Puppet: Is there a free version of Puppet?

Yes, Puppet's Developer tier is free forever for up to 25 nodes of infrastructure.

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.

Puppet: What does the Enterprise tier include?

Puppet's Enterprise tier includes web GUI, RBAC, and multi-environment support for organizations managing infrastructure at scale, with pricing available upon request.

Source
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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