Centrifugo is a scalable open-source real-time messaging server that powers interactive applications like chats, live updates, and multiplayer games for developers seeking a self-hosted alternative to Pusher or PubNub.

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🚀 Overview

Centrifugo is a language-agnostic, self-hosted real-time messaging server built in Go. It handles persistent connections over WebSocket, SSE, HTTP-streaming, gRPC, and WebTransport, providing a simple PUB/SUB API for broadcasting messages to subscribers. This allows developers to add real-time features to any app without major architecture changes.

It solves the problem of delivering low-latency real-time updates at massive scale, supporting millions of connections and high message throughput, while avoiding vendor lock-in from SaaS providers. Battle-tested in production for over a decade by companies like VK, Badoo, and Grafana.

Centrifugo was created by Centrifugal Labs to offer a mature, efficient solution for real-time interactivity that's easy to deploy and scales seamlessly.

• What problem does this project solve? Efficient, scalable real-time message delivery decoupled from your backend logic.
• Who is it built for? Backend developers, full-stack teams, and companies building chats, dashboards, games, and collaborative tools.
• Why did you build it? To provide a reliable open-source alternative that's performant, flexible, and production-ready from day one.

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✨ Key Features

• Modern Transports: WebSocket, SSE, HTTP-streaming, gRPC, WebTransport for broad compatibility and optimal performance.
• Scalability: Horizontal scaling with Redis (Cluster/compatibles like KeyDB) or NATS brokers; handles 1M+ connections.
• Rich Channel Features: Subscriptions, history with recovery, online presence, permissions, delta compression (FossilΔ), server-side filtering.
• Flexible Integration: JWT/proxy auth, RPC over connections, Protobuf/JSON, admin UI, Prometheus metrics.
• Upcoming/Experimental: Enhanced PRO features like advanced APIs; AI streaming support.

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🛠 Tech Stack

• Backend: Go
• Broker: Redis (Cluster, AWS ElastiCache, Valkey, KeyDB, DragonflyDB), NATS
• Database: PostgreSQL (async consumer), Kafka (CDC/outbox)
• Auth: JWT, Proxy (backend requests)
• Hosting: Docker, Kubernetes, self-hosted

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👥 Who Is This For?

This project is useful for:

• Developers who want to add real-time messaging without rewriting their backend
• Teams looking for a scalable self-hosted Pusher/PubNub alternative
• Indie makers building chat apps, live dashboards, or multiplayer experiences

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📸 Screenshots / Demo

• Live demo: https://centrifugal.dev/docs/tutorial/intro (Messenger chat tutorial)
• GitHub: https://github.com/centrifugal/centrifugo

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🔥 Project Status

• 🟢 Actively building

Last updated: 2026-03-24

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❓ FAQ

Is this project free?

Open Source (Apache-2.0 core); Freemium with Centrifugo PRO for enterprise features like advanced performance and APIs.

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Is the source code available?

Yes — https://github.com/centrifugal/centrifugo

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Can I contribute?

Yes, open issues, submit PRs, or provide feedback on GitHub. See SECURITY.md for vulnerabilities. 46+ contributors already.

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📬 Contact & Links

• Website: https://centrifugal.dev
• GitHub: https://github.com/centrifugal/centrifugo
• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/centrifugalabs
• Email: sales@centrifugal.dev

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