Feature comparison

This comparison highlights the key differences between Mesh and other popular WebSocket and real-time frameworks.

	Mesh	Socket.IO	Colyseus	Deepstream.io	ws (+ custom)	uWebSockets.js
Command API (RPC)	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌
Raw Events Support	✅	✅	⚠️ Limited	✅	✅	✅
Room Support	✅	✅	✅	✅	⚠️ DIY	⚠️ Manual
Presence Tracking	✅ Built-in	⚠️ Manual	✅	✅	❌	❌
Presence State	✅ Client-defined	❌	❌	⚠️ Records	❌	❌
Presence Expiration	✅ TTL + silent cleanup	⚠️ Manual	❌	❌	❌	❌
Redis Scaling	✅ Native	✅ With adapter	✅	✅	✅ If added	❌
Connection Metadata	✅ Redis-backed	⚠️ Manual	⚠️ Limited	✅ Records	❌	❌
Latency Tracking	✅ Built-in	⚠️ Manual	❌	❌	❌	❌
Automatic Reconnect	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Redis Pub/Sub	✅ Client subscription	⚠️ Server-side only	❌	✅	❌	❌
History on Subscribe	✅ Optional Redis-backed	❌	❌	⚠️ Streams only	⚠️ DIY	❌
Record Subscriptions	✅ Versioned + Patchable	❌	❌	⚠️ Raw records	❌	❌
Typescript-First	✅ Yes, mostly	⚠️ Mixed	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌
Scalability	✅ Horizontal via Redis	✅ Horizontal via Redis Adapter	✅	✅	⚠️ Manual	✅ But no sync
Target Use Case	Real-time/generic async	Real-time apps, chat	Multiplayer games	Pub/Sub, IoT	Anything (low-level)	Anything (perf-focused)
Ease of Use	✅ Minimal API	⚠️ Event-centric	⚠️ More boilerplate	⚠️ More config	⚠️ DIY	⚠️ Very low-level

When to Choose Mesh

Mesh is ideal for:

Real-time collaborative applications that need presence awareness
Distributed systems that need to scale horizontally
Applications with structured commands rather than just events
Projects that need efficient state synchronization with minimal bandwidth
Teams that want built-in solutions for common real-time patterns

Mesh provides a balance of structure, features, and flexibility that makes it well-suited for a wide range of real-time applications, from chat and collaboration tools to dashboards and multiplayer games.