NoLag vs Pusher
Pusher Channels is a well-established hosted pub/sub service for adding realtime features to web and mobile apps. NoLag covers the same channels-and-events ground as open-source software you run yourself, and adds ready-made high-level SDKs for common app patterns.
Short version: for classic channels-and-events pub/sub, both work well. If you would rather run realtime on your own infrastructure, or not rebuild chat, presence, and dashboards from primitives, NoLag saves you the wiring.
At a glance
| NoLag | Pusher Channels | |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | Realtime pub/sub over WebSocket | Realtime pub/sub over WebSocket |
| Hosting | Self-hosted: one kraken container plus your auth | Hosted service |
| High-level SDKs | Blueprints for chat, notify, feed, dashboards, tracking, sync, and more | Channels and events primitives |
| Presence and delivery | Presence, lobbies, acknowledged publishes | Presence channels |
| Authentication | One actor token authenticates; ACL enforced at the broker, no per-subscribe callback | Auth endpoint callback for private and presence channels |
| SDKs | JavaScript/TypeScript (including React Native), Go, Python | Client and server libraries across many languages |
Where NoLag is different
- Open source, on your own infrastructure. kraken is Apache-2.0 and runs as a single container, so messages stay on your servers and there is no vendor lock-in. The trade is that you operate it.
- Blueprint SDKs. Chat with presence and typing; notifications with unread counts; live dashboards; asset tracking. You get a domain-specific API instead of wiring events by hand.
- Actor-based auth, no per-subscribe callback. A connection authenticates once with an actor token, and read/write permissions are enforced at the broker, so there is no callback to your server on every subscribe to a private or presence channel. For browsers, with @nolag/core, your backend mints short-lived JWTs signed with a project signing key.
Where Pusher is a strong fit
- Mature and widely adopted, with a large body of community examples.
- Simple channels-and-events mental model, with nothing for you to operate.
- Broad official library coverage across languages.
When to choose NoLag
- You want realtime on your own infrastructure, with no vendor lock-in.
- You want higher-level SDKs rather than assembling primitives.
- You want chat, dashboards, or tracking without rebuilding them.
Try it
Follow the 5-minute quick start to connect, subscribe, and publish your first message, read the self-hosting guide, then explore the high-level SDKs.