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Developer Tools · head to head

Soketi vs TanStack Start

Soketi logo

Soketi

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
TanStack Start logo

TanStack Start

Web Development

Full-stack React framework with type-safe server functions and TanStack Router

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.; TanStack Start still in Release Candidate status, not yet production stable
  • They diverge on capability: Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, TanStack Start covers Full-document SSR with streaming.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Soketi and TanStack Start actually diverge.

Attributes where Soketi and TanStack Start differ
AttributeSoketiTanStack Start
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 TanStack Start

  • Full-document SSR with streaming
  • Type-safe server functions
  • TanStack Router integration
  • Middleware system
  • Server routes and API endpoints
  • Experimental RSC support
  • Vite and Rsbuild support

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

TanStack Start

  • Building type-safe full-stack React applicationsnot Soketi
  • Projects requiring type safety across client and server boundariesnot Soketi
  • Applications leveraging advanced routing patterns and nested layoutsnot Soketi
  • Deployments across multiple platforms with consistent codebasenot 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.

TanStack Start

  • Still in Release Candidate status, not yet production stable
  • Smaller community compared to Next.js with less third-party support
  • Documentation not as comprehensive as more established frameworks
  • Less mature ecosystem for edge deployment compared to specialized frameworks

Pricing, plan by plan

Soketi

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

TanStack Start

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the TanStack Start 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 TanStack Start if

  • You need full-document ssr with streaming.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want type-safe server functions.
TanStack Start review

Questions people ask

Is Soketi or TanStack Start better?
Neither clearly leads. Soketi starts at Free and TanStack Start at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Soketi or TanStack Start?
Soketi starts at Free and TanStack Start at Free.
Does Soketi or TanStack Start run on more platforms?
Soketi runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. TanStack Start 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 TanStack Start is typically brought in for.
What can Soketi do that TanStack Start cannot?
Soketi covers Pusher protocol compatibility, Presence and private channels, Horizontal scaling, App management backends. TanStack Start covers Full-document SSR with streaming, Type-safe server functions, TanStack Router integration, Middleware system.

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.

TanStack Start: Is TanStack Start production-ready?

TanStack Start is currently in Release Candidate status. While functional and used in production by some teams, it has not yet reached stable v1.

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.

TanStack Start: How do type-safe server functions work in TanStack Start?

Server functions are automatically typed on the client side, enabling IDE autocomplete and type checking when calling server functions from client code.

Source
Soketi: What does it cost?

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

TanStack Start: What deployment platforms are supported by TanStack Start?

TanStack Start supports Cloudflare Workers, Node.js, Netlify, Railway, and other platforms through custom adapter configuration.

Source
Soketi: What are people moving to?

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

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