Novu

Notification infrastructure that sends in-app, email, SMS, push and chat messages through one API, plus a layer that links AI agents to chat channels.

40.3k stars, 4.5k forks TypeScript On GitHub since August 2021

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Novu?

Novu gives your product one API for all user notifications. You define workflows with digests and per-channel conditions, and Novu delivers through the matching providers, or into an embeddable Inbox component with user preferences. A newer part, Agent Communication Infrastructure, connects AI agents you have built to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp and email through a shared conversation model. A dashboard manages workflows and providers.

Good fit if

  • Your app sends notifications through several channels and you want templates, digests and preferences in one service.
  • You need an in-app notification feed without building it yourself.

Look elsewhere if

  • You only want to push alerts from scripts to your own phone: ntfy.

Before you adopt it

Novu moved from its proprietary license to MIT in November 2024 for the main code, but the enterprise/ directory and an ee test folder hold commercially licensed parts. The company also runs a hosted cloud with a free tier. Self-hosting uses Docker with MongoDB and Redis. Work is very active and shared among several core developers.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 31 October 2026. Report a correction

Novu health: is it still maintained?

81 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    617 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 3 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    8 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 31% of them.
    13 / 20
  • Releases
    15 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, @novu/framework@v2.14.0, on 28 September 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 25% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 7 hours.
    14 / 20
  • Security practices
    No OpenSSF Scorecard for this repository yet, so this part gets a neutral score.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 3 November 2026. How the score works

Novu license: is it open source?

Novu uses MIT, an open-source license approved by the OSI. Some features sit under a separate paid license inside the same repository.

  1. August 2021First published on GitHub under Novu Proprietary Software License.
  2. 6 November 2024Changed to MIT. Commit: Update LICENSE-ENTERPRISE
  3. TodayMIT, with paid parts: directory enterprise/; directory libs/testing/src/ee/.

How to run Novu yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
docker/community/docker-compose.yml: 6 services (redis, mongodb)
Setup effort
4 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: go.novu.co or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Novu

  • ntfySend push notifications to your phone or desktop using PUT/POST 72 health · Apache-2.0 · 35.3k stars
  • LangfuseOpen source agent evals & observability: Trace, evaluate, and improve LLM applications with one open platform. 89 health · MIT · 36.9k stars
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  • HyperSwitchOpen source, composable payments platform | PCI compliant | SaaS and Self-host options | Enables… 84 health · Apache-2.0 · 45.7k stars

All 8 projects in Developer tools

Questions about Novu

Is Novu open source?

Yes. Novu is published under MIT, an OSI-approved open-source license. Some features are kept under a separate paid license in the same repository.

Is Novu still maintained?

Its health score is 81 of 100 (actively developed). It had 617 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 3 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 28 September 2026.

Did Novu change its license?

Yes. It moved from Novu Proprietary Software License to MIT on 6 November 2024.

How do I run Novu?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Novu?

Close alternatives in the Developer tools category include ntfy, Langfuse, code-server.