Hibira vs Socketo
Socketo and Hibira both host the Pusher protocol and count a broadcast once. Socketo costs less per connection; Hibira includes more broadcasts, push notifications and presence channels for up to 100,000 members.
Socketo and Hibira are both hosted services that speak the Pusher Channels protocol, so pusher-js, Laravel Echo and the Pusher server libraries work with either one after a host change. Both count a broadcast once, however many subscribers receive it. The differences are price per connection, how many broadcasts each plan includes, presence channel size and what comes alongside the channels.
At a glance
| Socketo | Hibira | |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol and SDKs | Pusher-compatible, same SDKs | Pusher-compatible, same SDKs |
| What counts as a message | Each broadcast, counted per month; overage at $1 per extra million | Each published message, counted per day. On paid plans broadcast deliveries are not counted |
| Free plan | None on the hosted service; the server is open source (GPLv3) to run yourself | 100 connections, 200,000 messages a day, 1 app |
| Entry paid plan | $9/month plus $6 a month for each region: 1,000 connections, 2 million broadcasts a month | $19/month: 500 connections, 1 million messages a day, broadcast deliveries not counted |
| Where it runs | Cloudflare Workers | Hong Kong cluster (hkg); Tokyo (tyo) and Singapore (sin) planned |
| Presence channel members | Up to 100 | 100, or up to 100,000 on presence-large- channels |
| Push notifications | Not listed | Included in every plan, Beams-compatible API |
Socketo figures are from socketo.dev and its migration guide, checked on 2026-10-31.
Plans side by side
| Connections | Socketo (plus $6 a month for each region) | Hibira |
|---|---|---|
| 500 to 1,000 | Tier 1, $9: 1,000 connections, 2 million broadcasts a month | Hobby, $19: 500 connections, 1 million messages a day; Starter, $39: 1,000 connections, 2 million a day |
| 3,000 | Tier 2, $20: 12 million broadcasts a month | Pro, $89: 6 million messages a day |
| 5,000 to 6,000 | Tier 3, $36: 5,000 connections, 30 million broadcasts a month | Advanced, $169: 6,000 connections, 12 million messages a day |
Socketo costs less for the same number of connections. Hibira's plans include more broadcasts: with 1 KB events, about 10 million a month on Hobby, 40 million on Starter, 80 million on Pro and 150 million on Advanced, set by each plan's direct data per month. On Socketo, broadcasts past the plan cost $1 a million, so 40 million broadcasts a month at 1,000 connections come to $9 + $6 + $38 = $53, against $39 on Hibira Starter. Daily messages, peak connections and direct data per month are still capped on every Hibira plan. Price your own traffic with the cost calculator and the pricing page.
When Socketo is the better fit
- Your bill is driven by connections rather than messages: many people online, few events each.
- You want to run the same server yourself later, on your own Cloudflare account.
- Your users are spread around the world and you want each one to connect to a nearby edge location.
- You would rather pay for extra broadcasts than have traffic refused when you pass a limit.
When Hibira is the better fit
- You broadcast a lot: each plan includes several times as many broadcasts as the Socketo tier with the same connections, with no overage charges.
- You need presence channels with more than 100 members, such as live audiences or game lobbies: presence-large- channels hold up to 100,000.
- You also send push notifications to iOS, Android and the web and want them on the same plan and bill.
- Your users are in Hong Kong, Taiwan, southern China and nearby, and your team works in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Vietnamese: the dashboard, docs and support are in seven languages.
- You want a free plan to start on, and hard limits so traffic never grows past the plan you chose.
Switching between them is configuration: point your Pusher libraries at the other host. See the integration guides.
Common questions
Can I move between Socketo and Hibira?
Yes. Both speak the Pusher protocol, so moving is a change of host, key and secret. Your channels, events and auth endpoints stay the same.
Which one is cheaper?
Socketo costs less per connection. Hibira includes more broadcasts in each plan and does not charge for overage, so it comes out ahead when you broadcast tens of millions of events a month on few connections. Every Hibira plan also includes push notifications.
How large can a presence channel be?
Socketo's documentation lists up to 100 members per presence channel. Hibira keeps the same 100 for presence- channels and offers presence-large- channels for up to 100,000 members; see the large presence guide.
Socketo is a trademark of its owner.