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Databases · head to head

QuestDB vs Soketi

QuestDB logo

QuestDB

Databases

Fast open source time-series database for high throughput ingestion

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: QuestDB open-source edition lacks high-availability, distributed architecture, and enterprise security features; 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: QuestDB covers High Throughput Ingestion, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which QuestDB and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where QuestDB and Soketi differ
AttributeQuestDBSoketi
Pricing modelopen-sourceOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP)Linux, macOS, Windows
CategoryDatabasesDeveloper 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 QuestDB

  • High Throughput Ingestion
  • SQL Support
  • Time-series Optimization
  • SIMD Vectorization
  • Column-oriented Storage
  • Built-in Web Console
  • InfluxDB Line Protocol
  • PostgreSQL

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.

QuestDB

  • Time-series analytics ingesting up to 20M rows/second from IoT sensors or financial data feedsnot Soketi
  • Real-time dashboarding with 32ms time-to-first-row latency for minute-level analyticsnot Soketi
  • Applications requiring multi-tier storage (hot ingest, real-time SQL, cold Parquet archive)not Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

QuestDB

  • Open-source edition lacks high-availability, distributed architecture, and enterprise security features
  • Enterprise edition pricing not published; requires contacting sales for custom quote
  • Ingestion limit of 20M rows/sec platform-dependent; may not scale to extreme throughput requirements

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

QuestDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the QuestDB review.

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose QuestDB if

  • You need high throughput ingestion.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP).
  • You also want sql support.
QuestDB 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 QuestDB or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. QuestDB 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, QuestDB or Soketi?
QuestDB starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does QuestDB or Soketi run on more platforms?
QuestDB runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP). Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use QuestDB for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is QuestDB best used for?
QuestDB is most often used for time-series analytics ingesting up to 20m rows/second from iot sensors or financial data feeds, real-time dashboarding with 32ms time-to-first-row latency for minute-level analytics, applications requiring multi-tier storage (hot ingest, real-time sql, cold parquet archive). Of those, time-series analytics ingesting up to 20m rows/second from iot sensors or financial data feeds and real-time dashboarding with 32ms time-to-first-row latency for minute-level analytics are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can QuestDB do that Soketi cannot?
QuestDB covers High Throughput Ingestion, SQL Support, Time-series Optimization, SIMD Vectorization. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

QuestDB: How much does QuestDB Enterprise cost?

QuestDB does not publish specific pricing for the Enterprise tier. Customers must contact QuestDB via their enterprise contact form to receive 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.

QuestDB: Does QuestDB offer a free version?

Yes, QuestDB Open Source is completely free and recommended for evaluation, prototyping, and pilot projects. Enterprise features, high availability, security, and dedicated support require the paid Enterprise tier.

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.

QuestDB: What deployment options does QuestDB offer?

QuestDB offers open source deployment, Enterprise deployment, and Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) deployment. Pricing details for BYOC and Enterprise tiers are not published and require direct contact with sales.

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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