# Hibira vs Soketify

> Soketify and Hibira both host the Pusher protocol. Soketify costs less per connection and runs in the US and Europe; Hibira runs in Hong Kong and includes push notifications.

Source: https://hibira.io/compare/soketify
Updated: 2026-10-31

Soketify and Hibira are both hosted services that speak the Pusher Channels protocol, so pusher-js and the Pusher server libraries work with either one after a host change. The differences are price per connection, where the servers are, how limits behave and what comes alongside the channels.

## At a glance

| | Soketify | Hibira |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Protocol and SDKs | Pusher-compatible, same SDKs | Pusher-compatible, same SDKs |
| What counts as a message | A monthly message allowance; the pricing page does not say whether deliveries count | Each published message, counted per day. On paid plans broadcast deliveries are not counted |
| Free plan | 200 connections, 6 million messages a month, 3 apps | 100 connections, 200,000 messages a day, 1 app |
| Entry paid plan | $9/month: 500 connections, 50 million messages a month | $19/month: 500 connections, 1 million messages a day, broadcast deliveries not counted |
| Where it runs | US East, US West and EU Central | Hong Kong cluster (`hkg`); Tokyo (`tyo`) and Singapore (`sin`) planned |
| Going over a limit | Emails at 80% and 100%, no hard stop, a grace period to upgrade | Hard limits: new connections and messages over the limit are refused |
| Largest message | 100 KB on Free, 256 KB to 4 MB on paid plans | 4 KB on Free, 10 KB to 64 KB on paid plans |
| Yearly billing | Not offered yet | 10 times the monthly price |
| Push notifications | Not listed | Included in every plan, Beams-compatible API |

Soketify figures are from [soketify.com/pricing](https://soketify.com/pricing) and [soketify.com](https://soketify.com/), checked on 2026-10-31.

## Plans side by side

| Connections | Soketify | Hibira |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 500 | Indie, $9: 50 million messages a month | Hobby, $19: 1 million messages a day |
| 1,000 to 2,000 | Startup, $19: 2,000 connections, 150 million a month | Starter, $39: 1,000 connections, 2 million a day |
| 6,000 | Scale, $59: 400 million a month | Advanced, $169: 12 million a day |
| 10,000 | Scale-1, $149: 1 billion a month | Business, $279: 20 million a day |

Soketify costs less per connection, and its message allowances and message sizes are larger on every row. Hibira's broadcasts are counted once however many subscribers receive them; with 1 KB events each plan carries about as many broadcasts a month as it has GB of direct data, times a million (10 million on Hobby, 250 million on Business). Daily messages, peak connections and direct data per month are still capped on every Hibira plan. Price your own traffic with the [cost calculator](https://hibira.io/tools/cost-calculator) and the [pricing page](https://hibira.io/pricing).

## When Soketify is the better fit

- Your users are in North America or Europe, near Soketify's regions.
- Your bill is driven by connections or by very large message volumes.
- You send large payloads, from hundreds of kilobytes up to several megabytes.
- You would rather get an email than have traffic refused when you pass a limit.

## When Hibira is the better fit

- Your users are in Hong Kong, Taiwan, southern China, Southeast Asia or nearby, where Hong Kong is far closer than the US or Europe.
- You also send push notifications to iOS, Android and the web and want them on the same plan and bill.
- You need presence channels for live audiences: presence-large- channels hold up to 100,000 members.
- Your team works in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Vietnamese: the dashboard, docs and support are in seven languages.
- You want yearly billing, or 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](https://hibira.io/guides).

## Common questions

### Can I move between Soketify 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?

Soketify costs less per connection and lists larger monthly message allowances. Hibira runs in Asia, counts each broadcast once, includes push notifications in every plan and bills yearly at 10 times the monthly price.

### Does Soketify have servers in Asia?

Its site lists US East, US West and EU Central. Hibira runs in Hong Kong, with Tokyo and Singapore planned; measured round trips from nearby cities are on the [Asia latency page](https://hibira.io/topics/realtime-websockets-asia).