Compare software

Realm vs socat: catalog facts
Realm	socat
Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.	Free Free and open source under the GPL.
Windows, Linux, Self-hosted, Command line	macOS, Linux, Command line
Starts a relay with a single command Concurrent bidirectional forwarding	Connects almost any pair of endpoints, including TLS and serial devices Handles forking servers and complex options netcat cannot
Command-line only, with no graphical interface Documentation is mostly in the repository readme	The address syntax is dense and unforgiving The project site is served over plain HTTP only, so the repository is linked here instead
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.