How many users can SPChat handle simultaneously?

Since SPChat uses Server-Sent Events (SSE) for real-time delivery, every active user standardly keeps a permanent connection open to the server. Each connection occupies one PHP process (PHP-FPM worker) for up to 50 seconds. The capacity therefore directly depends on your web hosting environment:

• Up to 25 concurrent users: Runs smoothly on standard shared hosting (many shared hosts limit simultaneous PHP processes to 20 to 30).
• 50 to 100 concurrent users: A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is recommended. The PHP setting pm.max_children should be configured to at least 120.
• Over 100 concurrent users: A powerful VPS/VDS (min. 4 CPU cores, 8 GB RAM, pm.max_children > 300) is required. Optimized VPS hosting packages for SPChat are available from us upon request.

Resource-Saving Alternative: If your webspace resources are limited or your host's PHP process limits are reached, the chat can easily be switched from SSE to classic HTTP polling in the configuration. This mode polls messages at short intervals, does not block permanent PHP processes, and massively reduces the server load.