Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Socket.io VS PocketBase.io

Compare Socket.io VS PocketBase.io and see what are their differences

Socket.io logo Socket.io

Realtime application framework (Node.JS server)

PocketBase.io logo PocketBase.io

Open Source backend with realtime database, authentication, file storage and admin dashboard, all compiled in 1 portable executable.
  • Socket.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • PocketBase.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-07

PocketBase is a Go backend (framework and app) that includes:

  • embedded database with realtime subscriptions
  • backed-in files and users management
  • convenient Admin dashboard UI
  • simple REST-ish API

And all of this compiles in a single portable executable.

PocketBase.io

$ Details
free
Platforms
Web Linux Mac OSX Windows
Release Date
2022 July

Socket.io features and specs

  • Real-time Communication
    Socket.io provides real-time bidirectional event-based communication, which is essential for applications requiring instant data exchange, such as chat applications, live notifications, and multiplayer games.
  • Cross-browser Compatibility
    Socket.io abstracts the differences between various web socket implementations across different browsers, ensuring consistent performance and compatibility.
  • Fallback Support
    If WebSocket support is unavailable, Socket.io seamlessly falls back to other communication protocols such as long-polling, ensuring reliable connections.
  • Event-driven Architecture
    Socket.io uses an event-driven approach, which simplifies the handling of complex real-time interactions through named events that can be easily managed and debugged.
  • Scalability Options
    Socket.io can be effectively integrated with scaling solutions like Redis, which allows horizontal scaling and ensures that messages are correctly distributed among multiple server instances.
  • Easy to Use
    Socket.io offers a straightforward API, making it easier for developers to implement real-time communication without deep knowledge of the underlying protocols.
  • Built-in Room and Namespace Support
    With built-in support for rooms and namespaces, Socket.io allows more organized and efficient handling of events and connections within distinct channels or groups.

Possible disadvantages of Socket.io

  • Overhead
    Due to the abstraction layer that Socket.io provides, there is additional overhead compared to using raw WebSockets, which might affect performance in high-demand scenarios.
  • Complexity
    Although Socket.io simplifies many aspects of real-time communication, handling its scalability, especially in large applications, can become complex and might require additional infrastructure setup.
  • Version Compatibility
    Different versions of the Socket.io client and server may sometimes face compatibility issues, leading to potential communication problems if not all parts of the application are upgraded simultaneously.
  • Increased Latency
    In scenarios where Socket.io falls back to long-polling or other techniques, the latency is inherently higher compared to a direct WebSocket connection.
  • Dependency on Additional Libraries
    Socket.io relies on additional libraries and dependencies for its functionality. These dependencies can sometimes introduce vulnerabilities or require updates that may affect server stability.
  • Inadequate for Simple Use Cases
    For projects with simple real-time requirements, the added features and abstractions of Socket.io might be overkill, leading to unnecessary complexity.

PocketBase.io features and specs

  • Realtime database
  • Authentication via email/password
  • Authentuication via OAuth2
  • Files management
  • Admin dashboard

Analysis of Socket.io

Overall verdict

  • Socket.io is generally considered a good choice for developers who need to implement real-time communication features, thanks to its ease of use, reliability, and extensive documentation.

Why this product is good

  • Socket.io is a popular library for enabling real-time, bi-directional communication between web clients and servers. It abstracts the complexities of WebSockets and provides a simple API that seamlessly falls back to other communication methods when WebSockets are not supported. This makes it reliable for building real-time applications.

Recommended for

  • Real-time chat applications
  • Live notifications
  • Collaborative tools
  • Online gaming where real-time interaction is critical
  • Dashboards or monitoring systems that require live updates

Socket.io videos

Review And Demonstration - Socket.io - Antiumadam

More videos:

  • Review - Modern Day CMS - Part #3 - Code Review: The Backend - NodeJS, Socket.io and Passport Authentication.
  • Review - 🎆| Adding new features to isitnewyearsday.com | Node.js, Express, Socket.io and Vue.js

PocketBase.io videos

No PocketBase.io videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Socket.io and PocketBase.io)
Developer Tools
70 70%
30% 30
Mobile Push Messaging
100 100%
0% 0
Realtime Backend / API
43 43%
57% 57
App Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Socket.io and PocketBase.io

Socket.io Reviews

Top 10 Best Node. Js Frameworks to Improve Web Development
It is a web-socket composition that is accessed by different languages of programming. Socket.io in NodeJS allows creating web socket applications such as score tickers, chatbots, dashboard APIs, including others. Moreover, it has significant benefits over the general Node.js frameworks.
Top Node.js Frameworks To Use In 2021
Socket.io is a Javascript framework used to construct real-time apps and facilitate two-way communication between the client-side and servers. It uses functional reactive programming. You can construct applications with WebSocket development requirements with this library framework. For instance, messaging apps like Whatsapp continuously run to update live and refresh...
Top 14 Node.JS Frameworks: Which Will Rule in 2020?
In Node.js, Socket.io allows building web socket apps such as dashboard APIs, score tickets, chatbots, and others. It has great benefits over the regular Node.JS web app frameworks.

PocketBase.io Reviews

We have no reviews of PocketBase.io yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Socket.io should be more popular than PocketBase.io. It has been mentiond 734 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Socket.io mentions (734)

  • Mastering WebSockets with Socket.IO: A Comprehensive Guide
    In line 32 we have the socket.io editaData event which handles data editing in the server. When the user clicks edit in the client, the server searches for the data using the findIndex method. If it exists it updates the data in the crudData array then it broadcasts the edited data to the client. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Tools for Building a Modern JavaScript Booking Application
    Tools like Socket.IO and WebSockets significantly simplify the implementation of real-time communication between client and server. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Custom Angular and Karma Test Extension for VS Code
    To capture the test execution status, I wrote a custom karma reporter(a good resource) with which I was able to emit the test execution status back to the vscode extension. I am using socket.io to do this communication. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Stop sharing your screen, start sharing your website
    Building such experiences is already possible, using libraries such as socket.io and React Together. This blog post explains how to easily add real-time collaboration to an existing React app, using React Together. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • SSE, WebSockets, or Polling? Build a Real-Time Stock App with React and Hono
    Complexity: WebSockets require you to handle connection lifecycle events, such as errors and reconnections. While the code example I provided could suffice for simple use cases, more complex use cases might arise, like automatic reconnection and queueing messages sent by the client when the connection wasn't open. For that, you can either extend this code or use an external library like react-use-websocket for a... - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
View more

PocketBase.io mentions (95)

  • Fast, Simple and Open Firebase Alternative: TrailBase
    Nice, something similar built with Golang: https://pocketbase.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 days ago
  • PocketBase: Backend Made Simple
    If you're a solo developer or part of a small team, let me introduce you to one of the best-kept secrets in backend development: PocketBase. - Source: dev.to / 14 days ago
  • PocketBase + React Native
    I have a bit of an obsession with finding the fastest way to launch apps. My goal is to be able to create fully functional MVP's and proofs of concept in less than a day. That means being able to spin up a backend and then implement a frontend as efficiently as possible. For the backend, PocketBase has been my favorite lately. On the frontend I am still trying to find a winner. I like Quasar (VueJS + Capacitor)... - Source: dev.to / 19 days ago
  • Manifest: A 1-file micro-back end
    Are you aware of pocketbase? https://pocketbase.io/ I think it could work for your usecase, even though its generally focused on being a backend. I have had a very nice experience. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Goravel: A Go framework inspired by Laravel
    For quick prototyping I really like https://pocketbase.io/ I am actually using this for a production site that gets 1 million requests per day. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Socket.io and PocketBase.io, you can also consider the following products

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

Supabase - An open source Firebase alternative

Pusher - Pusher is a hosted API for quickly, easily and securely adding scalable realtime functionality via WebSockets to web and mobile apps.

Histats - Start tracking your visitors in 1 minute!

AppWrite - Appwrite provides web and mobile developers with a set of easy-to-use and integrate REST APIs to manage their core backend needs.

StatCounter - StatCounter is a simple but powerful real-time web analytics service that helps you track, analyse and understand your visitors so you can make good decisions to become more successful online.