Real-time Laravel: Reverb vs Pusher

When adding Real-time features to Laravel applications, the most common approach has traditionally been using external services like Pusher.

Recently, I experimented with Laravel Reverb, a WebSocket server built directly into Laravel.

After trying both approaches, here are some practical differences I noticed:

🔹 Pusher

• Fully managed external service
• Very quick to set up
• Scales easily
• Requires an account

🔹 Laravel Reverb

• Runs inside your own infrastructure
• Full control over the WebSocket server
• No external service costs (only your hosting resources)
• Seamless integration with Laravel Broadcasting

In my case, I used Reverb to push real-time updates from the backend to the frontend without relying on constant polling.

The setup was simpler than I expected, especially because it integrates directly with Laravel’s event broadcasting system.

From my perspective, Reverb is a great option when you want more control over your infrastructure or want to avoid relying on external services.

However, Pusher is still a very practical choice when you want a fast, managed solution without worrying about infrastructure.

For developers who have tried both:

Which approach do you prefer — managing WebSockets with Reverb or relying on services like Pusher?