Centrifugo vs Rustpad

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureCentrifugoRustpad
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageGoRust
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 10,590★ 4,070
First released20152021
ReplacesPusher, Firebase Realtime DatabaseGoogle Docs, Etherpad

Why pick each one

Choose Centrifugo if…

  • Handles many connections
  • Easy to integrate
Centrifugo details

Choose Rustpad if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Instant setup
Rustpad details

Frequently asked questions

Is Centrifugo or Rustpad better?

Neither is universally better. Centrifugo has the larger community, while Rustpad is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Centrifugo and Rustpad free and open-source?

Yes. Centrifugo is licensed under MIT and Rustpad under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Centrifugo and Rustpad with Docker?

Centrifugo: yes. Rustpad: yes.

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