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Developer Tools · head to head

Soketi vs SolidStart

Soketi logo

Soketi

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
SolidStart logo

SolidStart

Web Development

Full-stack meta-framework for SolidJS with fine-grained reactivity

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; SolidStart smaller ecosystem compared to Next.js or Remix due to relative newness
  • They diverge on capability: Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, SolidStart covers Fine-grained reactivity.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Soketi and SolidStart actually diverge.

Attributes where Soketi and SolidStart differ
AttributeSoketiSolidStart
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeopen-source
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WindowsWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsWeb Development

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 Soketi

  • Pusher protocol compatibility
  • Presence and private channels
  • Horizontal scaling
  • App management backends
  • Webhooks
  • Prometheus metrics

Only in SolidStart

  • Fine-grained reactivity
  • Server actions
  • Single-flight mutations
  • Request deduplication
  • Multi-router support
  • Automatic API generation
  • Vite integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Soketi

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

SolidStart

  • Building lightweight full-stack applications with minimal runtime overheadnot Soketi
  • Projects requiring fine-grained reactivity and automatic dependency trackingnot Soketi
  • Applications targeting multiple deployment platforms with single codebasenot Soketi
  • Teams prioritizing performance and small bundle sizesnot Soketi

Where each one falls short

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

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.

SolidStart

  • Smaller ecosystem compared to Next.js or Remix due to relative newness
  • SolidJS less familiar to developers with React experience
  • Community documentation not as extensive as larger frameworks
  • Limited third-party UI component libraries compared to React ecosystem

Pricing, plan by plan

Soketi

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

SolidStart

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the SolidStart review.

Which should you pick?

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

Choose SolidStart if

  • You need fine-grained reactivity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want server actions.
SolidStart review

Questions people ask

Is Soketi or SolidStart better?
Neither clearly leads. Soketi starts at Free and SolidStart at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Soketi or SolidStart?
Soketi starts at Free and SolidStart at Free.
Does Soketi or SolidStart run on more platforms?
Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. SolidStart runs on Web.
Can I use Soketi for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Soketi best used for?
Soketi is most often used for a laravel application that already uses echo and wants to stop paying a hosted realtime provider, realtime notifications or presence indicators where data must not leave your own infrastructure for compliance reasons, a local or ci environment that needs a pusher-compatible server without hitting a paid account, a high-connection-count application where hosted per-connection pricing has become the largest line in the infrastructure bill. Of those, a laravel application that already uses echo and wants to stop paying a hosted realtime provider and realtime notifications or presence indicators where data must not leave your own infrastructure for compliance reasons are not what SolidStart is typically brought in for.
What can Soketi do that SolidStart cannot?
Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends. SolidStart covers Fine-grained reactivity, Server actions, Single-flight mutations, Request deduplication.

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.

SolidStart: What is SolidJS and how does it differ from React?

SolidJS uses fine-grained reactivity and automatic dependency tracking instead of React's virtual DOM, resulting in smaller bundles and better performance.

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.

SolidStart: How many deployment platforms does SolidStart support?

SolidStart supports over 20 deployment platforms including Cloudflare, Netlify, Vercel, Deno, AWS, and Azure through Vite plugins.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

SolidStart: Can I use TanStack Router with SolidStart?

Yes, SolidStart supports using either the official Solid Router or TanStack Router depending on project requirements.

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

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