Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to unsock: shim to automatically change AF_INET sockets to AF_UNIX, etc.

unsock is an LD_PRELOAD-able Linux library that converts AF_INET socket connections to AF_UNIX, AF_VSOCK, AF_TIPC, etc, helping reduce the dependency on TCP/UDP/IP for local communication. It even handles the painful "CONNECT" proxy dance on Firecracker AF_UNIX/AF_VSOCK multiplexing sockets for you.

unsock is an LD_PRELOAD library for Linux that automatically converts AF_INET socket connections to alternative socket types like AF_UNIX, AF_VSOCK, and AF_TIPC. It helps applications reduce reliance on TCP/UDP/IP for… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. unsock: shim to automatically change AF_INET sockets to AF_UNIX, etc. launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1AU
   A Unixy approach to WebSockets▲421

   websocketd is a single binary that wraps a command-line program and serves it over a WebSocket. Your program reads lines from stdin and writes lines to stdout.

   2015 · websocketd.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   ip2unix – Turn IP sockets into Unix domain sockets▲94

   Turn IP sockets into Unix domain sockets. Contribute to nixcloud/ip2unix development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   A WireGuard Powered Remote Shell▲170

   Time to announce Noisy Sockets Shell, the first in a series of WireGuard powered applications I'm working on. Noisy Sockets Shell is an SSH replacement that uses WireGuard for authentication and encryption, and WebSockets for communication. CLI and browser client available.

   2024 · 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
   Hydrogen, a multithread non-blocking Linux server framework in Rust▲154

   Multithreaded, non-blocking Linux server framework in Rust - nathansizemore/hydrogen

   2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Ht – HTTPie Clone in Rust▲251

   Friendly and fast tool for sending HTTP requests. Contribute to ducaale/xh development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   A little web server in C▲178

   A little web server written in C for Linux. Supports: CGI, Reverse Proxy. Single threaded using I/O multiplexing (select).

   2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Pushpin – A new way to build realtime HTTP and WebSocket services▲114

   Reverse proxy for realtime APIs.

   2015 · pushpin.org · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Bunkerized-Nginx – Nginx Docker image secure by default▲221

   🛡️ Open-source and cloud-native Web Application Firewall (WAF) - bunkerity/bunkerweb

   2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Zero Copy Network lib for golang▲19

    Zero-copy sockets for Linux in Golang. Contribute to newtools/zsocket development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Local-First Linux MicroVMs for macOS▲213

    Shuru is a lightweight sandbox that spins up Linux VMs on macOS using Apple's Virtualization.framework. Boots in about a second on Apple Silicon, and everything is ephemeral by default. There's a checkpoint system for when you do want to persist state, and sandboxes run without network access unless you explicitly allow it. Single Rust binary, no dependencies. Built it for sandboxing AI agent code execution, but it works well for anything where you need a disposable Linux environment.

    Feb 2026 · shuru.run · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Onetun – Access your WireGuard network from anywhere▲92

    User space WireGuard port-forward in Rust. Contribute to aramperes/onetun development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    SMTP Tunnel – A SOCKS5 proxy disguised as email traffic to bypass DPI▲140

    A fast SOCKS5 proxy that tunnels your traffic through what looks like normal SMTP email, bypassing Deep Packet Inspection firewalls. How it works: - Client runs a local SOCKS5 proxy (127.0.0.1:1080) - Traffic is sent to server disguised as SMTP (EHLO, STARTTLS, AUTH) - DPI sees legitimate email session, not a VPN/proxy Features: - One-liner install on any Linux VPS - Multi-user with per-user secrets and IP whitelists - Auto-generated client packages (just double-click to run) - Auto-reconnect on connection loss - Works with any app that supports SOCKS5 Tech: Python/asyncio, TLS…

    Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Mush▲142

    Combine Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and 5G for max download speed

    Apr 2026 · mushdownloader.netlify.app · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Wipes – pipe stdin to your browser over websockets▲31

    Pipe text to a WebSocket server. Contribute to apg/wipes development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    go-nbd – A Pure Go NBD Server and Client▲113

    Hey HN! I just released go-nbd, a lightweight Go library for effortlessly creating NBD servers and clients. Its a neat tool for creating custom Linux block devices with arbitrary backends, such as a file, byte slice or what I'm planning to use it for, a tape drive. While there are a few partially abandoned projects like this out there already, this library tries to be as maintainable as possible by only implementing the most recent handshake revision and baseline functionality for both the client and the server, while still having enough support to be useful. I'd love to get your feedback :)

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    A proactive way of securing your Linux server▲143

    A rest application to update firewalld rules on a linux server - GitHub - prashantgupta24/firewalld-rest: A rest application to update firewalld rules on a linux server

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Pxy – A Go server that proxies websocket livestreams to RTMP servers▲133

    🎥 Proxy livestreams from websockets to external RTMP endpoints. - chuabingquan/pxy

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Manage web sockets from AWS Lambda using Fanout▲56

    FaaS GRIP library for Python. Contribute to fanout/python-faas-grip development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Lacakgrak – Simple inbound/outbound packet sniffer▲22

    Simple inbound/outbound packet sniffer. Contribute to altilunium/lacakgrak development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Tunshell – Remote shell into ephemeral environments behind NAT/firewall▲70

    Remote shell into ephemeral environments 🐚 🦀. Contribute to TimeToogo/tunshell development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Mosh Mallet: Single packet UDP port knocking for Mosh without SSH▲22

    Single packet authorization UDP port knocking for Mosh without SSH.

    2021 · gitlab.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    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 →

24. 24
    Python can make 3M+ WebSocket keys per second▲83

    :zap: Optimizing Python code by implementing a C++ extension - szabolcsdombi/optimization-demo

    2023 · 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 →