centrifugoScalable real-time messaging server in a language-agnostic way. Self-hosted alternative to Pubnub, Pusher, Ably, socket.io, Phoenix.PubSub, SignalR. Set up once and forever.

centrifugo

Centrifugo is a scalable, self-hosted real-time messaging server that provides language-agnostic PUB/SUB functionality over multiple modern transports. It serves as an open-source alternative to managed services like Pusher, Pubnub, and Ably, enabling developers to decouple business logic from real-time communication layers.

Key Features

• Multiple Transport Protocols: Supports WebSocket, HTTP-streaming, Server-Sent Events, GRPC, and WebTransport for flexible client connections
• Built-in Scalability: Integrates with Redis, Redis Cluster, Nats, and Redis-compatible storage solutions to handle massive concurrent connections
• Channel Subscriptions: Implements channel-based PUB/SUB with multiplexing over single connections, presence tracking, and join/leave notifications
• Advanced Message Features: Includes hot message history, automatic recovery on reconnect, delta compression, and cache recovery mode
• Flexible Authentication: Offers JWT-based and proxy-based connection authentication mechanisms
• Rich API: Provides simple HTTP and GRPC server APIs plus support for asynchronous PostgreSQL and Kafka consumers
• Observable: Exposes comprehensive Prometheus metrics and includes an official Grafana dashboard with beautiful embedded admin UI

Use Cases

• Chat Applications: Build real-time messaging and chat systems with presence awareness and message history
• Live Collaboration: Power collaborative tools, multiplayer games, and live data visualizations with instant updates
• Live Comments: Deliver real-time user comments and reactions for content platforms and social features
• IoT and Notifications: Stream live updates and notifications to connected clients at scale

Who Is It For

Centrifugo is ideal for backend developers and architects building modern applications that require real-time capabilities without vendor lock-in. It suits teams using any programming language or framework who need production-ready, scalable real-time communication infrastructure they can self-host and maintain.