head to head · open source
nats-server vs Soketi
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars, 1,962 forks, 472 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Soketi has 5,633 stars, 363 forks, 142 open issues and last shipped 1.5 years ago. nats-server leads on adoption by 268% (20,745 vs 5,633 stars). nats-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Soketi is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. nats-server has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Soketi 6%. nats-server was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| nats-server | Soketi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 5.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-03-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 363 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nats-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Soketi if
- You want the Soketi feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Soketi fits your workflow better
About nats-server
nats server is the Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed server at the heart of NATS, a simple, secure and performant communications system for digital systems, services and devices, aimed at teams building distributed systems, microservices, and cloud, edge or connected vehicle deployments that need messaging without running heavyweight broker infrastructure.
read the full nats-server overview →
About Soketi
Soketi is an open source, Pusher compatible WebSockets server written in TypeScript that lets developers run their own real time channels infrastructure instead of paying for a hosted Pusher plan.
read the full Soketi overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Messaging & Event Streaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Messaging & Event Streaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is nats-server or Soketi more popular?
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars and Soketi has 5,633. nats-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are nats-server and Soketi free?
Both are open source. nats-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Soketi under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nats-server and Soketi?
nats-server is written in Go and Soketi in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nats-server or Soketi?
Choose nats-server if you want the larger community (20,745 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Soketi if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.