The Best Pusher Alternatives for Real-time App Development

Pusher is a widely recognized hosted API that simplifies the integration of scalable real-time functionality into web and mobile applications. While Pusher excels in its domain, developers often seek alternatives due to varying project requirements, pricing models, or the desire for more control over their infrastructure. This article explores top-notch Pusher alternative solutions that can help you build robust, real-time applications with ease.

Top Pusher Alternatives

Whether you're looking for open-source flexibility, a different pricing structure, or specific feature sets, these Pusher alternatives offer compelling solutions for your real-time development needs.

Firebase

Firebase, a Google product, is a comprehensive mobile platform offering a suite of tools and infrastructure to build and grow successful applications. As a freemium platform with robust backend, database publishing, and real-time features like cloud messaging and a NoSQL database, Firebase is an excellent Pusher alternative for those seeking a scalable and feature-rich ecosystem for web and mobile development.

Stream

Stream offers a scalable and fast API specifically designed for building social networks, activity feeds, news feeds, and activity streams. As a freemium SaaS platform, it provides features like aggregated feeds, ranked feeds, analytics, and personalization, making it a powerful Pusher alternative for applications heavily reliant on feed-based real-time data, with strong support for JavaScript and React.

GUN

GUN is an open-source, real-time, graph database written entirely in JavaScript. Built on peer-to-peer algorithms, it boasts impressive fault tolerance and ease of use. Available across various platforms including Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS, GUN is a strong Pusher alternative for developers seeking a decentralized, real-time sync, and distributed database solution for web development.

Socket.io

Socket.IO is a widely popular open-source library that enables real-time, bidirectional, event-based communication across every browser and mobile device. Available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and various programming languages like JavaScript, Node.JS, Java, and C++, Socket.IO is a direct and powerful Pusher alternative for building real-time web applications with features like broadcasting messages.

Pubnub

PubNub stands out as a global Real-Time Network that allows software developers to quickly build and scale real-time applications by providing cloud infrastructure. As a freemium service available on Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, Android, and iOS, PubNub is a robust Pusher alternative, offering features like backend services, data streaming, discovery engines, and real-time pushing capabilities.

MongooseIM platform

MongooseIM is a massively scalable XMPP/Jabber mobile messaging platform by Erlang Solutions, designed for both mobile and web applications. As a free and open-source solution available on Mac, Linux, AWS, and Azure, MongooseIM is an excellent Pusher alternative for projects requiring robust chat, chat history, social network, and voice call capabilities built on XMPP.

Jetty

The Jetty Web Server provides an HTTP server and Servlet container, capable of serving static and dynamic content, either standalone or embedded. As a free and open-source option available on Mac, Windows, and Linux, Jetty is a strong Pusher alternative for developers who need an embedded or standalone web server for their real-time web development projects.

JBoss

JBoss, Red Hat's Java EE compliant application server, offers both open-source (community) and commercial licenses. Available on Mac, Windows, and Linux, JBoss provides a robust environment for web development. While not a direct real-time API like Pusher, it serves as a powerful underlying platform for building complex, scalable web applications that can integrate real-time functionalities, making it a foundational Pusher alternative for Java-based ecosystems.

deepstream.io

deepstream.io is a clusterable real-time server that manages persistent TCP and WebSocket connections, offering data-sync, pub/sub, and request/response functionalities. As a free and open-source, self-hosted solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux, deepstream.io is an excellent Pusher alternative for developers seeking a high-performance, real-time server-side solution with Java support.

emitter.io

emitter.io is a real-time communication service that connects online devices, providing infrastructure and APIs for IoT, gaming, apps, and the real-time web. As a free and open-source, cloud-based, and self-hosted solution for Mac, Windows, Linux, and various mobile platforms, emitter.io offers a scalable backend and developer tools, making it a comprehensive Pusher alternative.

Scaledrone

Scaledrone is a real-time messaging service and platform designed for sending live updates, creating chatrooms, and building collaborative tools. As a freemium service available across Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, Android, and iOS, Scaledrone is a strong Pusher alternative, offering backend services, push notifications, real-time pushing, and scalable WebSocket streams for web development.

Stream Chat

Stream Chat provides React components, SDKs, and UI kits to enable chat functionality on web and mobile apps with minimal code. As a commercial SaaS platform, it offers features like integrated chat, messaging SDKs, encrypted chat, group chat, live chat, and private chat. Stream Chat is a specialized and scalable Pusher alternative for applications primarily focused on integrating robust real-time chat features.

simperium

Simperium is a service for developers that facilitates instant and automatic data movement across various platforms. By integrating a Simperium library, developers can sync data with just a few lines of code. As a freemium service available on Mac and Windows, Simperium is a relevant Pusher alternative for developers primarily focused on seamless data synchronization across devices.

Fast.io

Fast.io automates the hosting and tracking of static files on major cloud platforms with integrated CDN. As a freemium SaaS offering, it provides cloud storage and web hosting functionalities. While not a direct real-time messaging API like Pusher, Fast.io is a valuable Pusher alternative for managing and delivering static content efficiently, which often complements real-time applications.

Lightstreamer

Lightstreamer is a commercial server designed for delivering real-time messages to browser-based and mobile applications using WebSockets and HTTP, featuring dynamic throttling and other advanced capabilities. Available on Mac, Windows, Linux, and a wide array of mobile platforms, Lightstreamer is a robust Pusher alternative, particularly for enterprise-grade real-time web development requiring high performance and fine-grained control over data delivery.

Ultimately, the best Pusher alternative depends on your specific project requirements, budget, desired level of control, and development stack. Explore these options to find the perfect fit for your real-time application needs.