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Developer Tools · head to head

Soketi vs Spot AI

Soketi logo

Soketi

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Spot AI logo

Spot AI

Cybersecurity

Cloud video intelligence that runs on your existing cameras through an on-site recorder

From
$99/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Soketi has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Spot AI at roughly $99 per camera per month the all-in rate is high against a perpetual VMS licence: 200 cameras is around $240,000 a year, recurring, where an on-premise system would be largely a one-time cost.
  • They diverge on capability: Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Spot AI covers Camera agnostic.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Soketi and Spot AI actually diverge.

Attributes where Soketi and Spot AI differ
AttributeSoketiSpot AI
Starting priceFree$99/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer camera per month, all inclusive
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WindowsWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

Identical on both: 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 Spot AI

  • Camera agnostic
  • Intelligent Video Recorder
  • AI video search
  • Operational analytics
  • Cloud management
  • Alerting and clip sharing
  • All-in per-camera pricing

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 Spot AI
  • Realtime notifications or presence indicators where data must not leave your own infrastructure for compliance reasonsnot Spot AI
  • A local or CI environment that needs a Pusher-compatible server without hitting a paid accountnot Spot AI
  • A high-connection-count application where hosted per-connection pricing has become the largest line in the infrastructure billnot Spot AI

Spot AI

  • A manufacturer with hundreds of existing cameras that wants cloud search without replacing any of themnot Soketi
  • A logistics operator investigating dock door delays and trailer dwell time from footagenot Soketi
  • A retail chain reviewing incidents across dozens of stores without a VPN into each sitenot Soketi
  • A safety team detecting forklift near-misses and missing personal protective equipment automaticallynot 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.

Spot AI

  • At roughly $99 per camera per month the all-in rate is high against a perpetual VMS licence: 200 cameras is around $240,000 a year, recurring, where an on-premise system would be largely a one-time cost.
  • Reusing existing cameras saves capital but caps quality; AI analytics on a fifteen-year-old analogue camera produces correspondingly poor results and no software fixes the optics.
  • Per-camera monthly billing scales linearly with camera count, so adding coverage is always expensive and there is no volume point where marginal cameras become cheap.
  • The on-site IVR is a single point of failure per location, so an appliance fault takes that site's recording and cloud access with it until it is replaced.
  • It is a subscription with no perpetual option, so an organisation that stops paying loses the platform entirely and is left with cameras and no management system.

Pricing, plan by plan

Soketi

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

Spot AI

$99/month
  • Spot AI$99/month
    • Reference rate of roughly $99 per camera per month
    • Includes the on-site IVR appliance, cloud software, AI and support
    • Monthly, annual and multi-year terms available

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 Spot AI if

  • You need camera agnostic.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want intelligent video recorder.
Spot AI review

Questions people ask

Is Soketi or Spot AI better?
Neither clearly leads. Soketi starts at Free and Spot AI at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Soketi or Spot AI?
Soketi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Soketi and $99/month for Spot AI.
Does Soketi or Spot AI run on more platforms?
Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. Spot AI runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Soketi for free?
Yes. Soketi has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Spot AI starts at $99/month.
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 Spot AI is typically brought in for.
What can Soketi do that Spot AI cannot?
Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends. Spot AI covers Camera agnostic, Intelligent Video Recorder, AI video search, Operational analytics.

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.

Spot AI: Do I have to buy new cameras?

No. That is the main point of the product: the IVR appliance connects to existing IP and analogue cameras.

Soketi: Do I need to change my client code?

No. Pusher client SDKs and Laravel Echo work by changing the host, port and credentials.

Spot AI: What does it cost?

The reference rate that recurs across pricing breakdowns and Spot AI materials is roughly $99 per camera per month, bundling the appliance, cloud software, AI and support.

Soketi: What does it cost?

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

Spot AI: Is there a perpetual licence option?

No. It is subscription only, and the platform stops working when the subscription does.

Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

Spot AI: Will AI analytics work on my old analogue cameras?

They will run, but detection quality follows image quality. Old low resolution cameras produce poor analytics results.

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