WebSocket
IETF, Fremont, California, United StatesWebSocket is a communication protocol that enables persistent, full-duplex data exchange between a client and a server over a single TCP connection.
It maintains a long-lived connection that allows low-latency message exchange, supports both text and binary frames, minimizes overhead by avoiding repeated request headers, and enables servers to push data to clients in real time.
The WebSocket API allows browsers to create and manage these connections, providing event-driven message handling and enabling real-time features such as chats, live updates, and streaming data without continuous server polling.
According to our data, WebSocket is the 6th most popular browser API on the web.
It has 2.5% of the browser API market share and is detected on 0.8% of all websites.
- 🏠 Website
- 🔗 Links
Wikipedia
MDN📊 Rankings and Market Share
- Browser APIs
- Rank: 6
- Market share: 2.5%
🏆 WebSocket Awards
- ⭐ 4th most popular in Russia in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 4th most popular in Belarus in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 4th most popular in Kazakhstan in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 4th most popular in Iran in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 5th most popular in Ukraine in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 6th most popular in the United Kingdom in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 6th most popular in the Netherlands in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 6th most popular in France in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 6th most popular in Italy in the Browser APIs category.
- ⭐ 6th most popular in Poland in the Browser APIs category.
⚡ Sites Using WebSocket
We have data on 31,412 websites that use the WebSocket browser API. Here is a list of some of the top ranked ones.
The highest rated site using WebSocket is 
facebook.com.
| # | Website | Rank | Country | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | facebook.com |
#2 | United States | English |
| 2 |  instagram.com |
#5 | United States | English |
| 3 |  x.com |
#12 | United States | English |
| 4 |  github.com |
#13 | United States | English |
| 5 |  pinterest.com |
#15 | United States | English |
| 6 |  tiktok.com |
#18 | China | English |
| 7 |  cloudflare.com |
#20 | United States | English |
| 8 | #29 | United States | American English | |
| 9 |  dropbox.com |
#35 | United States | English |
| 10 |  discord.com |
#46 | United States | English |
| 11 | #55 | English | ||
| 12 |  steampowered.com |
#57 | United States | English |
| 13 | #59 | Netherlands | English | |
| 14 | #88 | English | ||
| 15 |  ebay.com |
#92 | United States | American English |
| 16 |  uber.com |
#117 | United States | English |
| 17 | #123 | Russia | Russian | |
| 18 |  surveymonkey.com |
#136 | United States | American English |
| 19 |  behance.net |
#139 | United States | American English |
| 20 |  walmart.com |
#162 | United States | American English |
📈 Usage Statistics
Most of the sites that use WebSocket:
- are located in the United States
- have content in English
- use the .com domain extension
- fall into the Business category.
Most of the sites using WebSocket are from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
- United States 23.7%
- United Kingdom 8.7%
- Germany 7.2%
- Netherlands 6.6%
- France 4%
- Australia 3.5%
- Russia 3.2%
- Canada 2.5%
- Italy 2.4%
- Other 38.2%
Most WebSocket users speak English, German, or Dutch.
- English 65.1%
- German 5.2%
- Dutch 4.6%
- Spanish 3.1%
- French 3%
- Russian 3%
- Portuguese 1.9%
- Italian 1.9%
- Polish 1.4%
- Other 10.8%
The WebSocket browser API is especially popular on .com and .org top-level domains.
- .com 44.8%
- .org 5.1%
- .nl 3.5%
- .de 3.4%
- .co.uk 3%
- .com.au 1.8%
- .ru 1.8%
- .net 1.7%
- .it 1.6%
- Other 33.3%
The primary market segments for websites utilizing WebSocket include business, online shopping, and marketing and merchandising.
- Business 18.3%
- Online Shopping 11.9%
- Marketing/Merchandising 9.2%
- Finance/Banking 6%
- Blogs/Wiki 5.9%
- Education/Reference 5%
- Internet Services 4.8%
- Travel 3.2%
- Health 3.2%
- Other 32.5%
🕵️ Similar Technologies
These are some of the best WebSocket alternatives.
🆚 Compare Alternatives
Compare WebSocket to…
- 🕵️ Similar APIs
- ⭐ Market leaders
- 💡 More alternatives
- 🔎 All options
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
What is the company behind WebSocket?
WebSocket is owned by Internet Engineering Task Force, headquartered in Fremont, California, United States.
Which country uses WebSocket the most?
The majority of WebSocket users are from the United States.
Who uses WebSocket?
According to our data, WebSocket is used on thousands of sites, including facebook.com, instagram.com, and x.com.
Is WebSocket used on government websites?
Overall, we found WebSocket on 41 government sites in the United States.
Do academic institutions use WebSocket?
Yes. In total, we know of 61 academic websites in the United States that use WebSocket.
How does WebSocket stack up against its competitors?
WebSocket is a moderately popular browser API, ranking ahead of 12 other browser APIs we track.
What are the alternatives to WebSocket?
Alternatives and possible competitors to WebSocket may include 
Socket.io, 
SignalR, and 
XMLHttpRequest.
👉 See Also
🗃️ About This Data
- We evaluate the popularity of technologies based on the number of websites where we detect their usage.
- Technologies without a detectable web footprint, and those we do not track, are not reflected in the calculated market share.
- This report is based on the analysis of 3,717,657 websites.
- Statistics were last calculated on .
- For more details, see our methodology and disclaimer.