WebSocket vs Socket: What's the Difference? (Protocols, Use Cases & Performance Compared)

What is a Socket?

A Socket is an interface between an application and the underlying operating system. It enables applications to send and receive data via TCP and UDP protocols. Sockets are primarily used for data transmission between clients and servers. Data transfer can only occur after a Socket connection is established.

What is WebSocket?

WebSocket is a network protocol built on top of HTTP, enabling bidirectional communication. It allows servers to push data to clients and clients to send data to servers. The WebSocket protocol uses HTTP upgrade requests and responses to establish connections. Its key advantage is enabling bidirectional communication over a single TCP connection, reducing connection overhead and improving data transfer speed.

Key Differences:

1. Protocol Socket is based on the transport-layer TCP protocol, while WebSocket is based on HTTP.
2. Connection Persistence Traditional Socket communication uses short-lived connections that terminate after data transfer. WebSocket upgrades HTTP to establish persistent/long-lived connections, avoiding frequent connection setup/teardown.
3. Communication Direction Socket supports unidirectional communication (client request → server response). WebSocket enables bidirectional communication (both client and server can initiate messages), offering better real-time interaction.
4. Transmission Efficiency Socket is highly efficient and real-time, as data lacks HTTP headers. WebSocket adds extra data beyond HTTP headers, resulting in relatively lower efficiency.
5. Use Cases Socket: Real-time data transfer (online games, chat rooms). WebSocket: Long-lived connection scenarios (live audio/video, remote control).
6. Security WebSocket (like HTTP) can use SSL/TLS encryption. Socket requires custom application-layer encryption, increasing complexity.

Comparison Table

Comparison Item	WebSocket	Socket
Nature	Application-layer protocol	Programming Interface (API)
Underlying Protocol	TCP (with its own framing protocol)	TCP or UDP
Scope	Primarily browser-server bidirectional comm	Any network communication (browser-agnostic)
Cross-platform/Language	Yes (standard, widely supported)	Yes (but implementations vary by language)
Communication Type	Persistent, bidirectional, full-duplex	Depends on protocol & implementation
Typical Uses	Real-time chat, live streams, stock tickers, collaborative editing	HTTP, FTP, games, VoIP, custom protocols, IoT, intranet comm

IV. Application Scenario Differences

WebSocket Use Cases:

● Real-time chat (e.g., WeChat Web)

● Real-time data push (e.g., stocks, crypto prices)

● Multi-user collaboration (e.g., Notion, Google Docs)

● Bullet chat systems (e.g., Bilibili, Douyu)

Socket Use Cases:

● Game client-server communication

● Audio/video communication (e.g., VoIP)

● Custom protocol data transfer (e.g., P2P)

● Intranet communication, IoT device communication

This content was compiled and produced by the Cliproxy operations team.

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