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Faye vs Pusher vs Socket.IO: What are the differences?
Introduction: Here are the key differences between Faye, Pusher, and Socket.IO.
Real-time Messaging Protocol Support: Faye and Pusher support the Bayeux Protocol while Socket.IO uses WebSocket protocol. Bayeux Protocol includes additional features like channels, wildcards, and message batching which WebSocket does not provide.
Implementation Complexity: Faye is an open-source library that you can self-host on your server, providing more control but requiring more maintenance. Pusher is a hosted service, so you don't have to worry about the infrastructure setup. Socket.IO is a library that can work with various real-time transport protocols, making it versatile but potentially more complex to implement.
Scalability: Pusher provides a managed infrastructure that can easily scale to accommodate high volumes of concurrent connections. Faye, being self-hosted, may require more effort to scale effectively. Socket.IO can scale well but may require more manual configuration and optimization.
Pricing Model: Pusher has a tiered pricing model based on concurrent connections and features, which can be cost-effective for small to medium-sized projects. Faye and Socket.IO are open-source, which may be more budget-friendly for larger projects or those with specific privacy or control requirements.
Data Transport Reliability: Pusher provides built-in data synchronization and retry mechanisms to ensure reliable message delivery. Faye and Socket.IO may require additional configuration or implementation of these features in your application code.
Community and Support: Faye and Socket.IO have active open-source communities for support and contributions. Pusher offers dedicated support but at a higher cost, making it suitable for projects that require premium support services.
In Summary, the key differences between Faye, Pusher, and Socket.IO lie in their protocol support, implementation complexity, scalability, pricing model, data transport reliability, and community support.
I am building an IoT application that will utilize connected air quality sensors to provide real-time indoor air quality in offices. I want to be able to share this data with a few different databases, etc.
Wondering if anyone has any advice on which real-time streaming API would be best for this sort of application, or even how I should think about it?
For IoT, we support MQTT along with websockets and SSE. The pattern you're suggesting that involves harvesting data from devices and soaking into a database is easy to achieve with one of the Ably integrations (Serverless functions/webhook) . Here are some tutorials to do things like this: https://ably.com/tutorials/reactor-event-zapier#step2-mqtt-ably
We use Pusher at www.justlearn.com. It works fine. When you reach more users, Pusher gets expensive. We use Pusher for live chat between users. Their software is easy to use. We have had issues with auth on Pusher.
We are starting to work on a web-based platform aiming to connect artists (clients) and professional freelancers (service providers). In-app, timeline-based, real-time communication between users (& storing it), file transfers, and push notifications are essential core features. We are considering using Node.js, ExpressJS, React, MongoDB stack with Socket.IO & Apollo, or maybe using Real-Time Database and functionalities of Firebase.
I would recommend looking hard into Firebase for this project, especially if you do not have dedicated full-stack or backend members on your team.
The real time database, as you mentioned, is a great option, but I would also look into Firestore. Similar to RTDB, it adds more functions and some cool methods as well. Also, another great thing about Firebase is you have easy access to storage and dead simple auth as well.
Node.js Express MongoDB Socket.IO and Apollo are great technologies as well, and may be the better option if you do not wish to cede as much control to third parties in your application.
Overall, I say if you wish to focus more time developing your React application instead of other parts of your stack, Firebase is a great way to do that.
Hello Noam 👋,
I suggest taking a look at Ably, it has all the realtime features you need and the platform is designed to guarantee critical functionality at scale.
Here is an in depth comparison between Ably and Firebase
Hey Noam,
I would recommend you to take a look into 8base. It has features you've requested, also relation database and GraphQL API which will help you to develop rapidly.
Thanks, Ilya
Pros of Faye
- Simple6
- Open source5
- Node.js5
- Real-time2
- Scalable2
- Ruby (EventMachine)2
- BAYEUX Protocol (not proprietary)2
Pros of Pusher
- An easy way to give customers realtime features55
- Websockets40
- Simple34
- Easy to get started with27
- Free plan25
- Heroku Add-on12
- Easy and fast to configure and to understand11
- JSON9
- Happy6
- Azure Add-on6
- Support5
- Push notification4
Pros of Socket.IO
- Real-time219
- Node.js143
- Event-based communication141
- Open source102
- WebSockets102
- Binary streaming26
- No internet dependency21
- Large community10
- Push notification6
- Ease of access and setup5
- Test1
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Cons of Faye
Cons of Pusher
- Costly11
Cons of Socket.IO
- Bad documentation12
- Githubs that complement it are mostly deprecated4
- Doesn't work on React Native3
- Small community2
- Websocket Errors2
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