Top WebSocket Libraries for Node.js in 2022

In this post, we'll discuss eight Node.js WebSocket libraries you should consider in 2022.

• SockJS
• ws
• Socket.IO
• Faye WebSocket
• SocketCluster
• Sockette
• Feathers

To start using any of these libraries, you need to have npm and Node.js installed on your local machine. Before we get started, let's cover some important background on WebSockets.

How do WebSockets work?

Traditionally, clients and servers communicate by following a request/response cycle. However, WebSockets allow you to communicate between client and server in a non-standard way.

WebSockets provide an open connection between server and client, allowing simple, instant two-way communication between server and client without polling the server. WebSockets are especially useful for building real-time applications such as real-time messaging, live streaming, push notifications, tracking, financial and sports updates, and more.

Now that we know how WebSockets work, let's take a look at some Node.js libraries you can use to make developing with WebSockets easier.

SockJS

SockJS is a JavaScript library that provides communication between client and server in a manner similar to the native WebSockets API. SockJS functions as a server counterpart in the form of sockjs-node , and SockJS-client , a JavaScript client library.

At the time of writing, with over 7000 stars on GitHub and nearly 7 million weekly downloads on npm, SockJS is arguably one of the best WebSocket libraries for Node.js. SockJS follows the rules of the HTML5 WebSocket API and provides WebSocket-like objects.

ws

With over 17,500 stars on GitHub and about 35 million weekly downloads on npm, ws is one of the most popular Node.js WebSocket libraries available.

ws is a fast, easy-to-use, well-documented, and fully-tested WebSocket client and server implementation that supports nearly all browsers. As such, ws is the preferred library of choice for many developers, which means its community is active and strong.

Installing ws is very simple and can be done with one of the following commands:

npm install ws
//
npm i ws

To get started with the ws WebSocket library, check out documentation .

npm install --save-optional bufferutil

The above commands allow you to effectively perform operations such as masking and unmasking the data payload of a WebSocket frame.

npm install --save-optional utf-8-validate

To effectively check if a message contains valid UTF-8, run the above command.

Socket.IO

Created in 2010, 16225c9a10a95e is a popular WebSocket library used by several large companies including Trello and Microsoft. Socket.IO is reliable, provides load balancing, supports binary streams, handles proxies, and more.

However, the primary purpose of Socket.IO is to facilitate real-time, two-way, and event-based communication between the browser and the server. Like ws, Socket.IO has a Node.js server and a JavaScript client library.

Additionally, Socket.IO includes features such as support for connections established in the presence of a proxy or load balancer and broadcasting over the network. WebSocket does not support either activity.

With nearly 55,000 stars on GitHub and ~3 million weekly downloads on npm, Socket.IO is a great library to watch in 2022. The documentation is very straightforward, which means that even inexperienced developers should be able to get started in very little time.

Faye WebSocket

Faye WebSocket was extracted from the Faye project and is a multipurpose WebSocket that makes it easy to command pre-existing WebSocket connections in Node.js applications.

Faye WebSocket only provides the standard WebSocket API and classes needed to build WebSocket clients and servers in Node.js. It does not provide the server itself or provide any other abstraction.

To install Faye WebSocket, run npm install faye-WebSocket . The README section of the Faye project provides the necessary documentation to get started.

SocketCluster

SocketCluster is a highly scalable framework and real-time HTTP server engine that enables you to build multi-process real-time servers using all available CPU cores at once. With SocketCluster, the backend avoids running the Node.js server as a single thread, works more efficiently, and remains resilient.

The SocketCluster framework supports client-server and group communication via pub/sub channels. It uses a local area network (LAN) to connect the components of the cluster. SocketCluster is optimized to easily recover from failures or disconnections without data loss.

At the time of writing, SocketCluster has nearly 6k stars on GitHub and 7k downloads per week on npm.

Sockette

Sockette is a WebSocket wrapper that allows you to reuse instances without declaring all event listeners multiple times. Sockette is a very lightweight library, only about 367 bytes according to the GitHub page. If the connection is lost, Sockette will automatically reconnect.

Considering that Sockette is a small tool, it is best to declare all event listeners during initialization. To install and start using Sockette, run the following commands:

npm install -- save sockette

As of this writing, Sockette has about 2k stars on GitHub and 9k weekly downloads on npm. The documentation is a great resource.

Feathers

Feathers framework uses the Socket.IO module so that you can receive and provide updates in real time. It also lets you control your data through sockets, flexible plugins, and RESTful APIs and resources.

Feathers offers the ultimate combination of automation and control. With Feathers, you have complete control over how your API behaves, while still benefiting from the tools provided.

As of this writing, the project has nearly 14,000 stars on GitHub and 26,000 weekly downloads on npm. Feathers also includes an excellent documentation and is known for being lightweight and easy to integrate with different databases.

To install the Feathers.js library, run the following command:

npm install -g @feathersjs/cli