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Technology · head to head

Shortcut vs Soketi

Shortcut logo

Shortcut

Technology

Project management for software teams

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Soketi logo

Soketi

Developer Tools

Self-hosted, Pusher-compatible WebSockets server with a stalled maintenance record

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Shortcut limited reporting compared to Jira; 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: Shortcut covers Stories & epics, Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Shortcut and Soketi actually diverge.

Attributes where Shortcut and Soketi differ
AttributeShortcutSoketi
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, macOS, Windows, LinuxLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper 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 Shortcut

  • Stories & epics
  • Iterations (sprints)
  • Kanban boards
  • Roadmaps
  • Reporting
  • Docs
  • API & webhooks
  • Mobile apps

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.

Shortcut

  • Sprint planningnot Soketi
  • Bug trackingnot Soketi
  • Feature developmentnot Soketi
  • Product roadmappingnot Soketi
  • Team collaborationnot Soketi

Soketi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Shortcut

  • Limited reporting compared to Jira
  • Designed specifically for software teams, not general project management
  • Can experience slow loading times with very large projects

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

Shortcut

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Kanban boards
    • Sprints
    • Roadmaps
  • Team$8.5/user/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Advanced reports
    • WIP limits
  • Business$12/user/month
    • Unlimited workspaces
    • OKRs
    • Advanced custom fields
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Volume discounts
    • SSO/SCIM
    • Premier support

Soketi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Shortcut if

  • You need stories & epics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want iterations (sprints).
Shortcut 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 Shortcut or Soketi better?
Neither clearly leads. Shortcut 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, Shortcut or Soketi?
Shortcut starts at Free and Soketi at Free.
Does Shortcut or Soketi run on more platforms?
Shortcut runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux. Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Shortcut for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Shortcut best used for?
Shortcut is most often used for sprint planning, bug tracking, feature development, product roadmapping. Of those, sprint planning and bug tracking are not what Soketi is typically brought in for.
What can Shortcut do that Soketi cannot?
Shortcut covers Stories & epics, Iterations (sprints), Kanban boards, Roadmaps. Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Shortcut: Does Shortcut have a free plan?

Yes, Shortcut offers a free plan for up to 10 users with core features like kanban boards, roadmaps, sprints, and reports. Paid plans start at $8.50 per user per month.

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.

Shortcut: Does Shortcut integrate with GitHub?

Yes, Shortcut has native GitHub integration that automatically syncs pull requests and commits to stories, and includes GitLab and Bitbucket support as well.

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.

Shortcut: Can I use Shortcut for non-technical projects?

Shortcut is built for software teams, though you can customize workflows for other use cases. Linear and Asana may be better suited for non-technical project management.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Shortcut: Does Shortcut support SSO and SCIM?

Yes, SSO and SCIM support are available on the Enterprise plan, allowing centralized identity management for large organizations.

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

Shortcut: What's the difference between Shortcut and Jira?

Shortcut is lighter and faster with less setup required, while Jira offers deeper customization and enterprise features. Shortcut works better for modern software teams wanting simplicity; Jira suits enterprises needing extensive configuration.

Source
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