head to head · open source
Soketi vs ess-helm
Soketi has 5,634 GitHub stars, 363 forks, 142 open issues and last shipped 1.6 years ago. ess-helm has 957 stars, 145 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Soketi leads on adoption by 489% (5,634 vs 957 stars). Soketi is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; ess-helm is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Soketi has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ess-helm 15%. ess-helm 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.
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Side by side
| Soketi | ess-helm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.6K | ★ 957 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2025-03-03 | 2026-09-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 363 | ⑂ 145 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Soketi if
- You weight community size — 5.6K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ess-helm if
- You want the ess-helm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ess-helm fits your workflow better
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 →
About ess-helm
ess helm is the official Element Matrix stack packaged as Helm charts — Element Server Suite Community Edition (ESS Community) — and it is aimed at non commercial community operators who want a solid Matrix deployment on Kubernetes without deep Kubernetes knowledge.
read the full ess-helm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Soketi or ess-helm more popular?
Soketi has 5,634 GitHub stars and ess-helm has 957. Soketi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Soketi and ess-helm free?
Both are open source. Soketi is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ess-helm under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Soketi and ess-helm?
Soketi is written in TypeScript and ess-helm in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Soketi or ess-helm?
Choose Soketi if you want the larger community (5,634 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ess-helm if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.