diff --git a/docs/commands.md b/docs/commands.md
index f437c8f..e28acbe 100644
--- a/docs/commands.md
+++ b/docs/commands.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use `python3 -m relay` if installed via pip or `~/.local/bin/activityrelay` if i
 
 ## Run
 
-Run the relay. Optionally add `-d` or `--dev` to enable auto-reloading on code changes.
+Run the relay.
 
 	activityrelay run
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index ec8212f..2fad0af 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ proxy is on the same host.
 	port: 8080
 
 
-### Web Workers
+### Push Workers
 
-The number of processes to spawn for handling web requests. Leave it at 0 to automatically detect
-how many processes should be spawned.
+The number of processes to spawn for pushing messages to subscribed instances. Leave it at 0 to
+automatically detect how many processes should be spawned.
 
 	workers: 0
 
diff --git a/relay/application.py b/relay/application.py
index cafef59..02fe73c 100644
--- a/relay/application.py
+++ b/relay/application.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import asyncio
+import multiprocessing
 import os
 import signal
 import subprocess
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ from aiohttp import web
 from aiohttp_swagger import setup_swagger
 from aputils.signer import Signer
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from queue import Empty
 from threading import Event, Thread
 
 from . import logger as logging
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@ if typing.TYPE_CHECKING:
 class Application(web.Application):
 	DEFAULT: Application = None
 
-	def __init__(self, cfgpath: str, gunicorn: bool = False):
+	def __init__(self, cfgpath: str):
 		web.Application.__init__(self,
 			middlewares = [
 				handle_api_path
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ class Application(web.Application):
 
 		Application.DEFAULT = self
 
-		self['proc'] = None
+		self['running'] = None
 		self['signer'] = None
 		self['start_time'] = None
 		self['cleanup_thread'] = None
@@ -58,9 +60,8 @@ class Application(web.Application):
 		self['database'] = get_database(self.config)
 		self['client'] = HttpClient()
 		self['cache'] = get_cache(self)
-
-		if not gunicorn:
-			return
+		self['push_queue'] = multiprocessing.Queue()
+		self['workers'] = []
 
 		self.on_response_prepare.append(handle_access_log)
 		self.on_cleanup.append(handle_cleanup)
@@ -119,16 +120,18 @@ class Application(web.Application):
 
 
 	def push_message(self, inbox: str, message: Message, instance: Row) -> None:
-		asyncio.ensure_future(self.client.post(inbox, message, instance))
+		self['push_queue'].put((inbox, message, instance))
 
 
-	def run(self, dev: bool = False) -> None:
-		self.start(dev)
+	def run(self) -> None:
+		if self["running"]:
+			return
 
-		while self['proc'] and self['proc'].poll() is None:
-			time.sleep(0.1)
+		if not check_open_port(self.config.listen, self.config.port):
+			return logging.error(f'A server is already running on port {self.config.port}')
 
-		self.stop()
+		logging.info(f'Starting webserver at {self.config.domain} ({self.config.listen}:{self.config.port})')
+		asyncio.run(self.handle_run())
 
 
 	def set_signal_handler(self, startup: bool) -> None:
@@ -141,56 +144,54 @@ class Application(web.Application):
 				pass
 
 
+	def stop(self, *_):
+		self['running'] = False
 
-	def start(self, dev: bool = False) -> None:
-		if self['proc']:
-			return
 
-		if not check_open_port(self.config.listen, self.config.port):
-			logging.error('Server already running on %s:%s', self.config.listen, self.config.port)
-			return
-
-		cmd = [
-			sys.executable, '-m', 'gunicorn',
-			'relay.application:main_gunicorn',
-			'--bind', f'{self.config.listen}:{self.config.port}',
-			'--worker-class', 'aiohttp.GunicornWebWorker',
-			'--workers', str(self.config.workers),
-			'--env', f'CONFIG_FILE={self.config.path}',
-			'--reload-extra-file', pkgfiles('relay').joinpath('data', 'swagger.yaml'),
-			'--reload-extra-file', pkgfiles('relay').joinpath('data', 'statements.sql')
-		]
-
-		if dev:
-			cmd.append('--reload')
+	async def handle_run(self):
+		self['running'] = True
 
 		self.set_signal_handler(True)
-		self['proc'] = subprocess.Popen(cmd)  # pylint: disable=consider-using-with
+
+		self['database'].connect()
+		self['cache'].setup()
 		self['cleanup_thread'] = CacheCleanupThread(self)
 		self['cleanup_thread'].start()
 
+		for i in range(self.config.workers):
+			worker = PushWorker(self['push_queue'])
+			worker.start()
 
-	def stop(self, *_) -> None:
-		if not self['proc']:
-			return
+			self['workers'].append(worker)
 
-		self['cleanup_thread'].stop()
-		self['proc'].terminate()
-		time_wait = 0.0
+		runner = web.AppRunner(self, access_log_format='%{X-Forwarded-For}i "%r" %s %b "%{User-Agent}i"')
+		await runner.setup()
 
-		while self['proc'].poll() is None:
-			time.sleep(0.1)
-			time_wait += 0.1
+		site = web.TCPSite(runner,
+			host = self.config.listen,
+			port = self.config.port,
+			reuse_address = True
+		)
 
-			if time_wait >= 5.0:
-				self['proc'].kill()
-				break
+		await site.start()
+		self['starttime'] = datetime.now()
+
+		while self['running']:
+			await asyncio.sleep(0.25)
+
+		await site.stop()
+
+		for worker in self['workers']:
+			worker.stop()
 
 		self.set_signal_handler(False)
-		self['proc'] = None
 
-		self.cache.close()
-		self.database.disconnect()
+		self['starttime'] = None
+		self['running'] = False
+		self['cleanup_thread'].stop()
+		self['workers'].clear()
+		self['database'].disconnect()
+		self['cache'].close()
 
 
 class CacheCleanupThread(Thread):
@@ -217,6 +218,40 @@ class CacheCleanupThread(Thread):
 		self.running.clear()
 
 
+class PushWorker(multiprocessing.Process):
+	def __init__(self, queue: multiprocessing.Queue):
+		multiprocessing.Process.__init__(self)
+		self.queue = queue
+		self.shutdown = multiprocessing.Event()
+
+
+	def stop(self) -> None:
+		self.shutdown.set()
+
+
+	def run(self) -> None:
+		asyncio.run(self.handle_queue())
+
+
+	async def handle_queue(self) -> None:
+		client = HttpClient()
+
+		while not self.shutdown.is_set():
+			try:
+				inbox, message, instance = self.queue.get(block=True, timeout=0.25)
+				await client.post(inbox, message, instance)
+
+			except Empty:
+				pass
+
+			## make sure an exception doesn't bring down the worker
+			except Exception:
+				traceback.print_exc()
+
+		await client.close()
+
+
+
 async def handle_access_log(request: web.Request, response: web.Response) -> None:
 	address = request.headers.get(
 		'X-Forwarded-For',
@@ -241,14 +276,3 @@ async def handle_cleanup(app: Application) -> None:
 	await app.client.close()
 	app.cache.close()
 	app.database.disconnect()
-
-
-async def main_gunicorn():
-	try:
-		app = Application(os.environ['CONFIG_FILE'], gunicorn = True)
-
-	except KeyError:
-		logging.error('Failed to set "CONFIG_FILE" environment. Trying to run without gunicorn?')
-		raise RuntimeError from None
-
-	return app
diff --git a/relay/cache.py b/relay/cache.py
index 3f258eb..448267f 100644
--- a/relay/cache.py
+++ b/relay/cache.py
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ class Cache(ABC):
 
 	def __init__(self, app: Application):
 		self.app = app
-		self.setup()
 
 
 	@abstractmethod
@@ -158,8 +157,8 @@ class SqlCache(Cache):
 
 
 	def __init__(self, app: Application):
-		self._db = get_database(app.config)
 		Cache.__init__(self, app)
+		self._db = None
 
 
 	def get(self, namespace: str, key: str) -> Item:
@@ -232,6 +231,10 @@ class SqlCache(Cache):
 
 
 	def setup(self) -> None:
+		if self._db.connected:
+			return
+
+		self._db = get_database(self.app.config)
 		self._db.connect()
 
 		with self._db.session(True) as conn:
@@ -247,7 +250,11 @@ class SqlCache(Cache):
 @register_cache
 class RedisCache(Cache):
 	name: str = 'redis'
-	_rd: Redis
+
+
+	def __init__(self, app: Application):
+		Cache.__init__(self, app)
+		self._rd = None
 
 
 	@property
@@ -322,6 +329,9 @@ class RedisCache(Cache):
 
 
 	def setup(self) -> None:
+		if self._rd:
+			return
+
 		options = {
 			'client_name': f'ActivityRelay_{self.app.config.domain}',
 			'decode_responses': True,
diff --git a/relay/manage.py b/relay/manage.py
index 3acd1c2..8066d79 100644
--- a/relay/manage.py
+++ b/relay/manage.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import sys
 import typing
 
 from aputils.signer import Signer
-from gunicorn.app.wsgiapp import WSGIApplication
 from pathlib import Path
 from shutil import copyfile
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
@@ -208,9 +207,8 @@ def cli_setup(ctx: click.Context) -> None:
 
 
 @cli.command('run')
-@click.option('--dev', '-d', is_flag = True, help = 'Enable worker reloading on code change')
 @click.pass_context
-def cli_run(ctx: click.Context, dev: bool = False) -> None:
+def cli_run(ctx: click.Context) -> None:
 	'Run the relay'
 
 	if ctx.obj.config.domain.endswith('example.com') or not ctx.obj.signer:
@@ -237,23 +235,12 @@ def cli_run(ctx: click.Context, dev: bool = False) -> None:
 		click.echo(pip_command)
 		return
 
-	if getattr(sys, 'frozen', False):
-		subprocess.run([sys.executable, 'run-gunicorn'], check = False)
-
-	else:
-		ctx.obj.run(dev)
+	ctx.obj.run()
 
 	# todo: figure out why the relay doesn't quit properly without this
 	os._exit(0)
 
 
-@cli.command('run-gunicorn')
-@click.pass_context
-def cli_run_gunicorn(ctx: click.Context) -> None:
-	runner = GunicornRunner(ctx.obj)
-	runner.run()
-
-
 
 @cli.command('convert')
 @click.option('--old-config', '-o', help = 'Path to the config file to convert from')
@@ -921,30 +908,6 @@ def cli_whitelist_import(ctx: click.Context) -> None:
 		click.echo('Imported whitelist from inboxes')
 
 
-class GunicornRunner(WSGIApplication):
-	def __init__(self, app: Application):
-		self.app = app
-		self.app_uri = 'relay.application:main_gunicorn'
-		self.options = {
-			'bind': f'{app.config.listen}:{app.config.port}',
-			'worker_class': 'aiohttp.GunicornWebWorker',
-			'workers': app.config.workers,
-			'raw_env': f'CONFIG_FILE={app.config.path}'
-		}
-
-		WSGIApplication.__init__(self)
-
-
-	def load_config(self):
-		for key, value in self.options.items():
-			self.cfg.set(key, value)
-
-
-	def run(self):
-		logging.info('Starting webserver for %s', self.app.config.domain)
-		WSGIApplication.run(self)
-
-
 
 def main() -> None:
 	# pylint: disable=no-value-for-parameter
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 65b70b0..aea9c24 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ aiohttp-swagger[performance]==1.0.16
 aputils@https://git.barkshark.xyz/barkshark/aputils/archive/0.1.6a.tar.gz
 argon2-cffi==23.1.0
 click>=8.1.2
-gunicorn==21.1.0
 hiredis==2.3.2
 pyyaml>=6.0
 redis==5.0.1