diff --git a/.config/example.yml b/.config/example.yml
index e18afd615b..f3caa0d676 100644
--- a/.config/example.yml
+++ b/.config/example.yml
@@ -419,3 +419,9 @@ attachLdSignatureForRelays: true
   # How long to save each log entry before deleting it.
   # Default: 2592000000 (1 week)
   #maxAge: 2592000000
+
+# Transparently compress every websocket message on clients that support it.
+# Trades server CPU usage for reduced bandwidth usage and a faster frontend on the client.
+# If you're not using jemalloc, this may cause memory fragmentation and performance issues! (https://www.npmjs.com/package/ws#websocket-compression)
+# jemalloc is used by default in the Sharkey Docker image and may be set up manually otherwise: https://github.com/jemalloc/jemalloc/wiki/getting-started
+websocketCompression: false
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/config.ts b/packages/backend/src/config.ts
index 61c7fcb6c7..067672fd79 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/config.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ type Source = {
 		preSave?: boolean;
 		maxAge?: number;
 	};
+
+	websocketCompression?: boolean;
 };
 
 export type Config = {
@@ -253,6 +255,8 @@ export type Config = {
 		preSave: boolean;
 		maxAge: number;
 	};
+
+	websocketCompression?: boolean;
 };
 
 export type FulltextSearchProvider = 'sqlLike' | 'sqlPgroonga' | 'meilisearch' | 'sqlTsvector';
@@ -401,6 +405,7 @@ export function loadConfig(): Config {
 			preSave: config.activityLogging?.preSave ?? false,
 			maxAge: config.activityLogging?.maxAge ?? (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 30),
 		},
+		websocketCompression: config.websocketCompression ?? false,
 	};
 }
 
@@ -535,7 +540,7 @@ function applyEnvOverrides(config: Source) {
 
 	// these are all the settings that can be overridden
 
-	_apply_top([['url', 'port', 'address', 'socket', 'chmodSocket', 'disableHsts', 'id', 'dbReplications']]);
+	_apply_top([['url', 'port', 'address', 'socket', 'chmodSocket', 'disableHsts', 'id', 'dbReplications', 'websocketCompression']]);
 	_apply_top(['db', ['host', 'port', 'db', 'user', 'pass', 'disableCache']]);
 	_apply_top(['dbSlaves', Array.from((config.dbSlaves ?? []).keys()), ['host', 'port', 'db', 'user', 'pass']]);
 	_apply_top([
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts b/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts
index 6e7abcfae6..0954744f81 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import MainStreamConnection from './stream/Connection.js';
 import { ChannelsService } from './stream/ChannelsService.js';
 import type * as http from 'node:http';
 import type { IEndpointMeta } from './endpoints.js';
+import type { Config } from "@/config.js";
 
 @Injectable()
 export class StreamingApiServerService {
@@ -49,6 +50,9 @@ export class StreamingApiServerService {
 		private channelFollowingService: ChannelFollowingService,
 		private rateLimiterService: SkRateLimiterService,
 		private loggerService: LoggerService,
+
+		@Inject(DI.config)
+		private config: Config,
 	) {
 	}
 
@@ -74,6 +78,7 @@ export class StreamingApiServerService {
 	public attach(server: http.Server): void {
 		this.#wss = new WebSocket.WebSocketServer({
 			noServer: true,
+			perMessageDeflate: this.config.websocketCompression,
 		});
 
 		server.on('upgrade', async (request, socket, head) => {