Vask is a drop-in replacement for Pusher that provides a Pusher-compatible WebSocket service built on Cloudflare's edge network, charging only per publish rather than per delivery to eliminate fan-out fees.
What is Vask?
Vask is a real-time WebSocket service that speaks the Pusher protocol on the wire. It takes broadcast messages from any server-side application (via any Pusher SDK) and delivers them to subscribed clients over persistent WebSocket connections. The service runs on Cloudflare’s edge network spanning 330+ cities, with sub-50ms p99 latency within region. It is built and maintained by Ashley Hindle, a 21-year engineering veteran and former CTO.
Key Features
- No fan-out fees — One publish costs one message regardless of how many subscribers receive it, unlike Pusher which bills per delivery. A single broadcast to 24 subscribers costs 1 message on Vask vs. 24 on Pusher.
- Drop-in compatibility — Any existing Pusher SDK (JS, PHP, Python, Ruby, .NET, Swift, Android) works without modification. Migrate by changing three environment variables: app ID, host (
wss.vask.dev), and app key.
- Generous free tier — 500,000 server broadcasts per month and 100 concurrent connections across unlimited apps, with no credit card required.
- Unlimited apps and channels — Create as many applications and channels as needed; only messages-published are metered.
- Presence channels and client events — Full support for presence (up to 1,000 members per channel) and client events, identical to Pusher’s feature set.
- Direct founder support — Email the engineer who wrote the code (Contact by email); no ticket carousel or escalation tiers.
- No throttling or surprise bills — If you exceed your plan limits, Vask emails you and gives time to upgrade without dropping messages or blocking connections.
Who is it for?
- Startups and side-project developers who want real-time features like live notifications or chat without managing infrastructure or facing steep cost jumps as their user base grows.
- Teams currently on Pusher Channels looking to reduce costs — Vask claims ~70% smaller bills (e.g., $20/mo vs. $99/mo for 2K concurrent connections and 10M broadcasts/month with average 10 subscribers).
- Enterprise applications needing low-latency, global real-time delivery — built on Cloudflare’s edge network with sub-50ms p99 latency and 330+ points of presence.
What can you do with Vask?
- Broadcast live updates to thousands of subscribers — Publish a single message to a channel and every connected client receives it instantly, with no per-subscriber surcharge.
- Implement presence awareness — Track online/offline status and custom user data across presence channels, supporting up to 1,000 members per channel.
- Send client events — Enable peer-to-peer communication between connected clients (e.g., typing indicators, cursor position) without server round-trips.
- Migrate existing Pusher applications in under an hour — Update your app’s host to
wss.vask.dev, drop in your Vask app key, and redeploy — no code changes required.
How does Vask work?
- Create a free account at vask.dev/register (no credit card needed).
- Create a new Vask app, receiving an app ID and key.
- Update your application’s Pusher SDK configuration: change the host to
wss.vask.dev, set the app ID and key to your Vask credentials.
- Broadcast messages as usual — Vask charges per publish, not per subscriber.
