diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index eaf698c..0daec82 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@
     "ws": "^8.4.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@types/sinon": "^17.0.3",
     "aegir": "^44.0.1",
     "delay": "^6.0.0",
     "it-all": "^3.0.1",
@@ -207,6 +208,7 @@
     "it-ndjson": "^1.0.0",
     "it-pipe": "^3.0.1",
     "p-defer": "^4.0.0",
+    "sinon": "^18.0.0",
     "wherearewe": "^2.0.1",
     "wsurl": "^1.0.0"
   },
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 8878ef8..4525426 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 export { default as duplex } from './duplex.js'
 export { default as source } from './source.js'
 export { default as sink } from './sink.js'
-export { createServer } from './server.js'
+export { createServer, type WebSocketServer } from './server.js'
 export { connect } from './client.js'
diff --git a/src/server.ts b/src/server.ts
index 359bb39..36e4f02 100644
--- a/src/server.ts
+++ b/src/server.ts
@@ -6,12 +6,23 @@ import duplex, { type DuplexWebSocket } from './duplex.js'
 import type WebSocket from './web-socket.js'
 import type { VerifyClientCallbackSync, VerifyClientCallbackAsync, AddressInfo } from 'ws'
 
+export interface ClientWebSocket extends WebSocket {
+  alive?: boolean
+}
+
 export interface ServerOptions {
   key?: string
   cert?: string
   server?: http.Server | https.Server
   verifyClient?: VerifyClientCallbackAsync | VerifyClientCallbackSync
   onConnection?(connection: DuplexWebSocket): void
+
+  /**
+   * If specified, send a PING to every connected client, if
+   * they do not respond with a PONG before the next interval,
+   * terminate the connection
+   */
+  heartbeatMs?: number
 }
 
 export interface WebSocketServer extends EventEmitter {
@@ -23,6 +34,8 @@ export interface WebSocketServer extends EventEmitter {
 class Server extends EventEmitter {
   private readonly server: http.Server | https.Server
   private readonly wsServer: WSServer
+  private readonly heartbeatMs?: number
+  private heartbeatInterval?: ReturnType<typeof setInterval>
 
   constructor (server: http.Server | https.Server, opts?: ServerOptions) {
     super()
@@ -34,9 +47,26 @@ class Server extends EventEmitter {
       verifyClient: opts.verifyClient
     })
     this.wsServer.on('connection', this.onWsServerConnection.bind(this))
+    this.heartbeatMs = opts?.heartbeatMs
   }
 
   async listen (addrInfo: { port: number } | number): Promise<WebSocketServer> {
+    if (this.heartbeatMs != null) {
+      this.heartbeatInterval = setInterval(() => {
+        this.wsServer.clients.forEach((client: ClientWebSocket) => {
+          // the client did not send a pong since the last heartbeat so
+          // terminate the connection
+          if (client.alive === false) {
+            client.terminate()
+            return
+          }
+
+          client.alive = false
+          client.ping()
+        })
+      }, this.heartbeatMs)
+    }
+
     return new Promise<WebSocketServer>((resolve, reject) => {
       this.wsServer.once('error', (e) => { reject(e) })
       this.wsServer.once('listening', () => { resolve(this) })
@@ -45,6 +75,10 @@ class Server extends EventEmitter {
   }
 
   async close (): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.heartbeatInterval != null) {
+      clearInterval(this.heartbeatInterval)
+    }
+
     await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
       this.server.close((err) => {
         if (err != null) {
@@ -60,7 +94,7 @@ class Server extends EventEmitter {
     return this.server.address()
   }
 
-  onWsServerConnection (socket: WebSocket, req: http.IncomingMessage): void {
+  onWsServerConnection (socket: ClientWebSocket, req: http.IncomingMessage): void {
     let addr: string | AddressInfo | null
 
     try {
@@ -83,6 +117,10 @@ class Server extends EventEmitter {
       return
     }
 
+    socket.on('pong', () => {
+      socket.alive = true
+    })
+
     const stream: DuplexWebSocket = {
       ...duplex(socket, {
         remoteAddress: req.socket.remoteAddress,
@@ -100,7 +138,7 @@ export function createServer (opts?: ServerOptions): WebSocketServer {
   opts = opts ?? {}
 
   const server = opts.server ?? (opts.key != null && opts.cert != null ? https.createServer(opts) : http.createServer())
-  const wss = new Server(server)
+  const wss = new Server(server, opts)
 
   if (opts.onConnection != null) {
     wss.on('connection', opts.onConnection)
diff --git a/test/server-ping.spec.ts b/test/server-ping.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..78c43ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/server-ping.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import { expect } from 'aegir/chai'
+import delay from 'delay'
+import Sinon from 'sinon'
+import { isNode, isElectronMain } from 'wherearewe'
+import * as WS from '../src/index.js'
+import WebSocket from '../src/web-socket.js'
+
+describe('ping', () => {
+  if (!(isNode || isElectronMain)) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  let server: WS.WebSocketServer
+  let client: WebSocket
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    if (client != null) {
+      client.close()
+    }
+
+    if (server != null) {
+      await server.close()
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('server should ping connected clients', async () => {
+    server = WS.createServer({
+      heartbeatMs: 10
+    })
+    await server.listen(55214)
+
+    client = new WebSocket('http://127.0.0.1:55214')
+    const pongSpy = Sinon.spy(client, 'pong')
+
+    await delay(200)
+
+    expect(client).to.have.property('readyState', WebSocket.OPEN)
+    expect(pongSpy).to.have.property('called', true)
+  })
+
+  it('server should disconnected unresponsive clients', async () => {
+    server = WS.createServer({
+      heartbeatMs: 10
+    })
+    await server.listen(55214)
+
+    client = new WebSocket('http://127.0.0.1:55214')
+
+    // make sure the client will not respond to a pong
+    client.pong = () => {}
+
+    await delay(200)
+
+    expect(client).to.have.property('readyState', WebSocket.CLOSED)
+  })
+})