Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. A simple embedded websocket server in C++ launched in 2015; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1DA
   DriftDB – an open source WebSocket backend for real-time apps▲367

   Hey HN! I’ve written a bunch of WebSocket servers over the years to do simple things like state synchronization, WebRTC signaling, and notifying a client when a backend job was run. I realized that if I had a simple way to create a private, temporary, mini-redis that the client could talk to directly, it would save a lot of time. So we created DriftDB. In addition to the open source server that you can run yourself, we also provide https://jamsocket.live where you can use an instance we host on Cloudflare’s edge (~13ms round trip latency from my home in NY). You may have seen my…

   2023 · driftdb.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   My embeddable C/C++ webserver▲84

   2011 · github.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   WebSocket-first development▲120

   An demo app for lattice-core. Contribute to jasonl99/card_game development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   SocketCluster.io – flexible open-source real-time server with pub/sub▲217

   Scalable open source pub/sub SDK with support for RPC, JWT authentication and Kubernetes — optimized for async/await

   2016 · socketcluster.io · its alternatives →

5. 5
   WebsocketD▲82

   WebSockets are easy now

   2015 · websocketd.com · its alternatives →

6. 62F
   2M fully loaded concurrent WebSockets▲158

   oatpp benchmark for 2 Million fully-loaded concurrent websocket connections.

   2019 · oatpp.io · its alternatives →

7. 7SP
   Sound playground implemented in C++ Crow WebSocket▲5

   2016 · sound.ipknlab.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   AOO – C++ library for real-time audio streaming and messaging▲107

   AOO is a lightweight and flexible peer-to-peer audio streaming and messaging solution. It allows to send audio and messages in real-time and on demand between network endpoints - not only in local networks, but also over the public internet! The C/C++ library can be easily embedded in host applications or plugins. It even runs on embedded devices, such as the ESP32. In addition, the project contains a Pure Data external and a SuperCollider extension. The following article provides a high level introduction and demonstrates some use cases:…

   2024 · aoo.iem.sh · its alternatives →

9. 9
   BinaryRPC – Lightweight WebSocket-based RPC framework in modern C++▲78

   Hi HN, I’m a recent CS graduate. During the past few months I wrote BinaryRPC, an open-source RPC framework in modern C++20 focused on low-latency, binary WebSocket messaging. Why I built it * Wanted first-class session support, pluggable QoS levels and a simple middleware chain (global, specific, multi handler) without extra JSON/XML parsing. * Easy developer experience A quick feature list * Binary WebSocket frames – minimal overhead * Built-in session layer (login / reconnect / heartbeat) * QoS1 / QoS2 with automatic ACK & retry * Plugin system – rooms, msgpack, etc.…

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Standalone Implementation of WebRTC DataChannels in C++17▲13

    C/C++ WebRTC network library featuring Data Channels, Media Transport, and WebSockets - paullouisageneau/libdatachannel

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Wsta – a CLI for working with WebSockets written in Rust▲85

    A CLI development tool for WebSocket APIs. Contribute to eliihen/wsta development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    bawkterm: an open-source SSH/sFTP client▲66

    A desktop client for SSH, SFTP, Docker over SSH

    22d ago · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13AP
    A pure C websocket server to find cycles in the English dictionary▲5

    2016 · lexicon-loop.now.sh · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Open source hyper-live chatroom using WebSockets, Node.js, and Vue.js▲22

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15WW
    Wasienv – WebAssembly WASI Development Toolchain for C/C++▲8

    2019 · medium.com · its alternatives →

16. 16AD
    A Decentralized Chat Using JavaScript and Rust (WebAssembly)▲6

    2019 · perlin-network.github.io · its alternatives →

17. 17SW
    Serverless WebSocket chat▲8

    2016 · blog.fanout.io · its alternatives →

18. 18AR
    AirDrum - Rock out over websockets▲5

    2013 · airdrum.co · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Rust 1.0▲6

    A high-level, safe and concurrent alternative to C++

    2015 · rust-lang.org · its alternatives →

20. 20GA
    Golang and raspberry-pi and websocket = awesome▲12

    2015 · labs.yulrizka.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    C++ library for embedded and IoT projects (ESP32)▲8

    Hi everyone. I've recently released control-components, a C++ library I've been using for most of my embedded projects. It is written in C++17 (with some features from C++20) and uses STL and FreeRTOS under the hood. It contains a lot of building blocks that is commonly used in embedded and IoT projects: finite state machines (FSM), various counters, synchronisation primitives, system loops, sensors, schedulers, HTTP, WiFi, Web GUI, and much more. It also provides GitHub CI workflows for build automation (ccache, various checks). In general, it's a good starting point for an ESP32 project.…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

22. 22PA
    Porting a C++ Multiplayer Game to the Web with Cheerp, WebRTC, Firebase▲8

    2019 · medium.com · its alternatives →

23. 23ME
    Mhttp – Embeddable C# HTTP server library▲5

    2016 · mhttp.net · its alternatives →

24. 24
    The Open-source notification infrastructure for developers▲8

    The open-source communication infrastructure for agents and products - novuhq/novu

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →