ntfy

A simple pub-sub service that pushes notifications to your phone or desktop from any script with a plain HTTP PUT or POST request.

35.3k stars, 1.7k forks Go On GitHub since October 2021

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is ntfy?

ntfy (pronounced "notify") lets you send a message to a topic with a single curl call, and every phone or browser subscribed to that topic gets a push notification. There is no sign-up on the public ntfy.sh server, and you can run your own instance from one binary or a Docker container. Android apps on Google Play and F-Droid and an iOS app receive the messages. Volunteers on Weblate have translated the web app into 46 languages.

Good fit if

  • You want alerts from cron jobs, backups, CI or home servers on your phone without a paid push service.
  • You prefer a tiny, self-hosted alternative to Pushover-style apps.

Look elsewhere if

  • You need product notifications to customers with templates, digests and many delivery channels: Novu.

Before you adopt it

ntfy is Apache-2.0, and the repository has no paid code. Paid plans exist only for the hosted ntfy.sh service. A single developer authored every commit of the past three months, so the project depends on one person. Ready-made builds exist for Linux, macOS and Windows.

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

ntfy health: is it still maintained?

72 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    672 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 3 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    2 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 99% of them.
    4 / 20
  • Releases
    15 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v2.37.1, on 2 November 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 43% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 11 hours.
    15 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 4.4 of 10.
    4 / 10

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

ntfy license: is it open source?

ntfy uses Apache-2.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. October 2021First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayApache-2.0.

How to run ntfy yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
docker-compose.yml: 1 service
Setup effort
1 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for Linux, macOS, Windows, including ARM in GitHub releases
Interface languages
46 languages

Install instructions: ntfy.sh or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to ntfy

  • NovuThe open-source communication infrastructure for agents and products 81 health · MIT · 40.3k stars
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All 8 projects in Developer tools

Questions about ntfy

Is ntfy open source?

Yes. ntfy is published under Apache-2.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is ntfy still maintained?

Its health score is 72 of 100 (actively developed). It had 672 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 3 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 2 November 2026.

How do I run ntfy?

You can run it with Docker, as an app for Linux, macOS, Windows, including ARM. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to ntfy?

Close alternatives in the Developer tools category include Novu, Hasura, Langfuse.