NovuOpen-source notification infrastructure that unifies email, SMS, push, in-app, and chat behind one API and workflow engine, self-hostable or run on Novu's cloud.
Repo
Novu
Open-source notification infrastructure that unifies email, SMS, push, in-app, and chat behind one API and workflow engine, self-hostable or run on Novu's cloud.
The default open-source choice for multi-channel notifications, with a drop-in React Inbox component and a real workflow engine that saves weeks of plumbing. The catch is that the self-host stack is heavy, MongoDB plus Redis plus separate worker and WebSocket services, and SSO, RBAC, and social login live only in Novu Cloud or the commercial Enterprise Edition.
Great for
Product and engineering teams that need email, SMS, push, in-app, and chat behind one API, and want the option to keep subscriber and message data on their own infrastructure.
The catch
Self-hosting is genuine DevOps work, a multi-service Docker stack, and the community build has no SSO, RBAC, or social sign-in.
Bottom line
Actively shipping, 39.7k stars and releases most weeks from a venture-backed company, so support is a team and not one maintainer. Small teams usually start on the free cloud tier and self-host only when volume or compliance forces it.
Self-hostYes (Docker Compose; MongoDB, Redis, API, worker, and WebSocket services)
Managed cloudYes (novu.co; free tier 10,000 workflow runs/mo, Pro from $30/mo, Team $250/mo)
LicenseMIT core; enterprise/ packages under a commercial license
LanguageTypeScript (Node.js, Nx monorepo)
Maintained byNovu (venture-backed company, active core team)
Watch out forHeavy self-host stack, plus SSO, RBAC, and social login are cloud or EE only
Multi-channel delivery (in-app, email, SMS, push, chat)Yes
Workflow engine (steps, delays, conditions)Yes
Digest & batchingMerges a burst of events into a single message
Embeddable Inbox componentReal-time React component; non-React frameworks use the headless API
Subscriber preference managementYes
60+ provider integrations with fallback routingYes
No-code block email editorYes
Code-first workflows (framework SDK)Workflows live in your app and sync via CLI or GitHub Actions
Self-host via Docker ComposeMulti-service stack: MongoDB, Redis, API, worker, WebSocket, S3
SSO / SAML / RBAC / MFANovu Cloud or Enterprise Edition only; community build is email + password, one team member
Social sign-in (Google, GitHub)Self-hosted auth is email and password only
Vue / Angular / Svelte InboxReact component only; other frameworks use the headless API
What it does
- Sends across in-app, email, SMS, push, and chat from one API, so you stop wiring Twilio, SendGrid, FCM, and Slack together separately
- Runs a workflow engine with steps, delays, conditional branches, and digests that batch a burst of events into a single message
- Drops a real-time Inbox notification center into a React app, with a bell, feed, mark-as-read, preferences, and WebSocket updates
- Routes each channel through 60+ provider integrations, with fallback chains you configure once and change without touching application code
- Lets subscribers manage their own per-channel notification preferences, and stores that state for you
- Runs on your own servers via Docker Compose, keeping subscriber and message data inside your infrastructure for GDPR or data-residency needs
What it can’t do
- Install as a single binary; a real deployment means MongoDB, Redis, S3-compatible storage, and separate API, worker, and WebSocket services
- Give you SSO, SAML, RBAC, MFA, or social sign-in on the community build; those sit in Novu Cloud or the commercial Enterprise Edition
- Drop a prebuilt Inbox into Vue, Angular, or Svelte the way it does with React; non-React stacks fall back to the headless API
- Retain more than a short activity feed on the free cloud tier, which makes debugging older production issues harder
- Remove Novu branding, snooze notifications, or keep more than two environments on the self-hosted build; those are gated to the cloud
Pros & cons
Pros
- One API and one workflow model across every channel, which removes weeks of provider-by-provider integration work
- The React Inbox is the best drop-in in-app notification center in open source, real-time and paginated out of the box
- MIT-licensed core with a genuine self-host path, so subscriber data can stay on your own infrastructure with no per-message fee
- Alive and well funded, 39.7k stars, 4.4k forks, and commits most days from a paid core team
- 60+ providers with fallback routing you set once and change without redeploying application code
Cons
- Self-hosting is a multi-service stack, MongoDB plus Redis plus workers plus S3, and the cost math beats cloud only at high volume
- SSO, RBAC, MFA, and social login are absent from the community build, a real gap for team access control
- Self-host docs trail the cloud pages, and several users report Docker Compose setups that fail on the first try
- The product has rearchitected more than once, v2 and then a v3 code-first line, so older setups face migration work
- The recent pivot toward agent messaging raises questions about focus on the core notification product
1 positive1 mixed2 critical
What the community says
I've used Novu to manage notifications for me in a lot of projects. I'm mostly self hosting my instances, 2 years running and no issues so far.
Trying to self host Novu but Claude cannot find where the MCP server is located in the codebase. It appears that it doesn't exist or is not open source. This would be super valuable for many people.
On the new dashboard, the self-hosted login and signup forms cannot be autofilled or saved by browsers or password managers. It does not affect Novu Cloud, where Clerk renders its own autofill-aware form.
any body have install Novu on docker can help me i tried to install 100 and every time do not would work
10 sourcesWhere this page’s facts came from. Open the receipts.
- 1GitHub - novuhq/novu repo
- 2GitHub API - repo metadata (stars, language, activity)
- 3Novu LICENSE-MIT (core, Copyright 2019 Dima Grossman)
- 4Novu EE-PACKAGES-LICENSE (enterprise/ proprietary license)
- 5Novu docs - Self-Hosted and Novu Cloud (feature comparison)
- 6Novu docs - Self-hosting overview (Docker deployment)
- 7Reddit r/bun - self-hosting Novu across projects
- 8Reddit r/selfhosted - Experiences with Self-Hosted Novu
- 9GitHub issue #12243 - Open source the MCP (self-host)
- 10GitHub issue #12267 - self-hosted sign-in autofill gap
Watch it work
Real tutorials and reviews from YouTube, not ours.