AnyCable vs Soketi
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
AnyCable
Real-time WebSocket server for in-app messaging
VS
Soketi
Self-hostable WebSocket server compatible with Pusher
| Feature | AnyCable | Soketi |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 21 · At risk |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,381 | ★ 5,635 |
| First released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Pusher, Ably | Pusher |
What are AnyCable and Soketi?
AnyCable
AnyCable is a real-time messaging server that delivers events to web and mobile clients over WebSockets and is a high-performance drop-in for Rails Action Cable. It scales pub/sub to many connections.
- WebSocket pub/sub
- Drop-in for Rails Action Cable
- Scales to many connections
- gRPC backend protocol
Soketi
Soketi is a fast, open-source WebSocket server that implements the Pusher protocol, making it a drop-in self-hosted replacement for Pusher Channels. It is built for low latency and simple deployment.
- Pusher protocol compatible
- Low latency
- Simple deployment
- Horizontal scaling
AnyCable vs Soketi: key differences
AnyCable is written in Go, while Soketi is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for AnyCable versus AGPL-3.0 for Soketi. Soketi is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for AnyCable. AnyCable is the more established project (first released 2016), while Soketi arrived in 2021. Soketi has the considerably larger community, at 5,635 GitHub stars versus 2,381.
Why pick each one
Choose AnyCable if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Choose Soketi if…
- Drop-in Pusher replacement
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Protocol-only, no UI
- Smaller ecosystem
Frequently asked questions
Is AnyCable or Soketi better?
Soketi is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider AnyCable if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are AnyCable and Soketi free and open-source?
Yes. AnyCable is licensed under MIT and Soketi under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AnyCable and Soketi with Docker?
AnyCable: yes. Soketi: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, AnyCable or Soketi?
Soketi has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for AnyCable. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.