Kudos to @mleku and his benchmarking efforts, he was able to compare the most popular relay software out there.
Rely is a framework that gives you a lot of flexibility, but it doesn't come with a database, you have to provide it to build your own relay.
So I stitch together rely + sqlite and it ranked at the very top of the list, higher than strfry and khatru, and comparable to nostr-rs.
For a framework this is quite an achievement, given that you get both flexibility AND performance.
quotinghere's your comparison results. indeed, it is a peer to orly, relayer and khatru:
nevent1q…5u6e
================================================================
NOSTR RELAY BENCHMARK AGGREGATE REPORT
================================================================
Generated: 2025-11-20T20:32:25+00:00
Benchmark Configuration:
Events per test: 50000
Concurrent workers: 24
Test duration: 60s
Relays tested: 9
================================================================
SUMMARY BY RELAY
================================================================
Relay: rely-sqlite
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 17507.10
Events/sec: 6243.12
Events/sec: 17507.10
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.223582ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 698.877µs
Avg Latency: 1.178662ms
P95 Latency: 1.87223ms
P95 Latency: 2.046981ms
P95 Latency: 883.507µs
Relay: next-orly-badger
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 16840.34
Events/sec: 6128.23
Events/sec: 16840.34
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.297596ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 722.094µs
Avg Latency: 1.265918ms
P95 Latency: 2.027536ms
P95 Latency: 2.302166ms
P95 Latency: 894.834µs
Relay: next-orly-dgraph
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 16563.45
Events/sec: 6132.86
Events/sec: 16563.45
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.32589ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 726.176µs
Avg Latency: 1.340819ms
P95 Latency: 2.152481ms
P95 Latency: 2.37338ms
P95 Latency: 904.165µs
Relay: next-orly-neo4j
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 14622.22
Events/sec: 6182.48
Events/sec: 14622.22
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.559545ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 795.698µs
Avg Latency: 1.269605ms
P95 Latency: 2.658118ms
P95 Latency: 2.293256ms
P95 Latency: 867.888µs
Relay: khatru-sqlite
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 16872.81
Events/sec: 6219.91
Events/sec: 16872.81
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.294206ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 724.237µs
Avg Latency: 1.28288ms
P95 Latency: 2.011193ms
P95 Latency: 2.16732ms
P95 Latency: 868.521µs
Relay: khatru-badger
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 15204.92
Events/sec: 6277.98
Events/sec: 15204.92
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.485679ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 768.979µs
Avg Latency: 1.216531ms
P95 Latency: 2.501619ms
P95 Latency: 2.028348ms
P95 Latency: 862.271µs
Relay: relayer-basic
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 17272.97
Events/sec: 6207.90
Events/sec: 17272.97
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.255956ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 712.498µs
Avg Latency: 1.21703ms
P95 Latency: 1.909735ms
P95 Latency: 2.233521ms
P95 Latency: 871.278µs
Relay: strfry
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 15745.79
Events/sec: 6264.53
Events/sec: 15745.79
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.415908ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 739.523µs
Avg Latency: 1.153768ms
P95 Latency: 2.340716ms
P95 Latency: 2.007502ms
P95 Latency: 855.87µs
Relay: nostr-rs-relay
----------------------------------------
Status: COMPLETED
Events/sec: 17638.66
Events/sec: 6241.74
Events/sec: 17638.66
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Success Rate: 100.0%
Avg Latency: 1.18563ms
Bottom 10% Avg Latency: 646.954µs
Avg Latency: 1.182584ms
P95 Latency: 1.847889ms
P95 Latency: 2.120267ms
P95 Latency: 866.51µs
================================================================
DETAILED RESULTS
================================================================
Individual relay reports are available in:
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/khatru-badger_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/khatru-sqlite_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/next-orly-badger_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/next-orly-dgraph_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/next-orly-neo4j_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/nostr-rs-relay_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/relayer-basic_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/rely-sqlite_results.txt
- /reports/run_20251120_200202/strfry_results.txt
================================================================
BENCHMARK COMPARISON TABLE
================================================================
Relay Status Peak Tput/s Avg Latency Success Rate
---- ------ ----------- ----------- ------------
rely-sqlite OK 17507.10 1.223582ms 100.0%
next-orly-badger OK 16840.34 1.297596ms 100.0%
next-orly-dgraph OK 16563.45 1.32589ms 100.0%
next-orly-neo4j OK 14622.22 1.559545ms 100.0%
khatru-sqlite OK 16872.81 1.294206ms 100.0%
khatru-badger OK 15204.92 1.485679ms 100.0%
relayer-basic OK 17272.97 1.255956ms 100.0%
strfry OK 15745.79 1.415908ms 100.0%
nostr-rs-relay OK 17638.66 1.18563ms 100.0%
================================================================
End of Report
================================================================