Laravel Octane + WebSockets: Real-time at Scale

We ran a prediction platform on Pusher for 18 months. It worked — until it didn't. Connection drops during traffic spikes, $400/month bills, and the nagging feeling that we were paying for infrastructure we could own.

We migrated to Laravel Octane + Reverb (native WebSockets). The result: 80% cost reduction, zero connection drops under load, and full infrastructure ownership.

Why Pusher Failed Us

Three concrete problems:

• Connection drops under load: During peak prediction cycles (every minute), 15-20% of clients would disconnect and need manual reconnection logic.
• Cost scaling: $400/month for ~50k concurrent connections. Our traffic was growing 20% MoM.
• No control: Debugging connection issues meant filing support tickets. Black box.

Architecture: Octane + Reverb

Octane keeps the Laravel application in memory (Swoole/RoadRunner). Reverb is Laravel's native WebSocket server — built on Swoole, zero dependencies, fully integrated with Laravel's broadcasting.

# Install
composer require laravel/octane laravel/reverb

# Configure Octane for Swoole
php artisan octane:install --server=swoole

# Configure Reverb
php artisan reverb:install
php artisan reverb:start

Broadcasting Events

Standard Laravel broadcasting — just swap the driver:

# .env
BROADCAST_DRIVER=reverb
REVERB_APP_ID=your-app-id
REVERB_APP_KEY=your-app-key
REVERB_APP_SECRET=your-app-secret
REVERB_HOST=localhost
REVERB_PORT=8080
REVERB_SCHEME=http

Then your existing events work unchanged:

prediction->market_id)];
    }

    public function broadcastWith(): array
    {
        return $this->prediction->toBroadcastArray();
    }
}

Horizontal Scaling: Multiple Octane Workers

Octane runs multiple workers. Each worker maintains its own WebSocket connections. Reverb handles the pub/sub across workers via Redis.

# supervisord.conf
[program:octane]
command=php artisan octane:start --server=swoole --workers=8 --max-requests=500
process_name=octane-%(process_num)02d
numprocs=1
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=www-data

[program:reverb]
command=php artisan reverb:start --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8080
process_name=reverb
numprocs=1
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=www-data

Results

Metric	Pusher	Octane + Reverb
Monthly cost	$400	$80 (server)
Connection drops (peak)	15-20%	0%
Max concurrent connections	50k (plan limit)	200k+ (server limit)
Latency (p95)	180ms	45ms

Gotchas

• Memory leaks: Octane keeps app in memory. Use `--max-requests=500` to recycle workers. Profile with php artisan octane:status.
• Stateful services: Singletons persist across requests. Reset DB connections, flush caches in Octane::flushState().
• SSL termination: Reverb runs on HTTP internally. Terminate TLS at nginx, proxy to Reverb on 8080.
• Heartbeat: Configure ping_interval in Reverb config to detect dead connections.

Client-Side: Laravel Echo + Reverb

import Echo from 'laravel-echo'
import Pusher from 'pusher-js'

window.Echo = new Echo({
    broadcaster: 'reverb',
    key: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_APP_KEY,
    wsHost: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_HOST,
    wsPort: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_PORT,
    wssPort: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_PORT,
    forceTLS: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_SCHEME === 'https',
    disableStats: true,
})

Conclusion

Moving off Pusher was the best infrastructure decision we made this year. Full control, 80% cost savings, and better reliability. If you're on Laravel and need real-time — Octane + Reverb is the path.

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Questions? Email me or GitHub.