Vercel Functions Now Support Native WebSockets via Fluid Compute Runtime
Vercel has introduced native WebSocket support for its serverless Functions through an experimental API called experimental_upgradeWebSocket(), eliminating the need for a separate WebSocket server or third-party real-time service. The feature runs on Fluid Compute, Vercel's updated runtime that reuses warm function instances across concurrent requests rather than spinning up a new container per invocation. This architectural shift makes long-lived socket connections practical on a platform traditionally built around short request-response cycles. Standard Node.js WebSocket libraries such as ws remain compatible without code changes, and the client-side implementation requires no Vercel-specific dependencies. Managed real-time services like Pusher or Ably remain relevant for large-scale fan-out scenarios, but Vercel Functions now offer a viable self-hosted option for typical application real-time features.
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