What is Novu used for?

Novu is open-source communication infrastructure that connects products and AI agents to email, SMS, push, in-app inbox and chat channels through one API. It is a good fit for product notifications across channels, in-app notification center and connecting AI agents to chat platforms.

Yes. Novu is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at novuhq/novu and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Novu is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $30 per month.

Can I self-host Novu?

Yes. Novu can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Novu an alternative to?

Novu is an open-source alternative to Knock, Courier, OneSignal and SuprSend. Other open-source alternatives to Knock include Apprise.

Is Novu actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Novu was on 2 October 2026. The project has 40k stars on GitHub.

Novu: open-source alternative to Knock, Courier, OneSignal

About Novu

Novu is open-source communication infrastructure for products and AI agents. It offers one API and a unified conversation model that connects your software to the channels your users already use, reaching them by email, SMS, push, an in-app inbox, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Telegram and other chat apps. It is written in TypeScript with Node.js and React, and GitHub lists the license as 'Other'.

There are two ways to build with it that share the same foundation. Communication infrastructure for products delivers notifications to inbox, email, SMS, push and chat via a single API, and supports workflows, digest batching and an embeddable UI component. Agent Communication Infrastructure connects agents you have already built to channels such as Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp and email through a single conversation model.

The README argues that people now expect conversations rather than one-way notifications, and positions Novu as the layer that saves teams from rebuilding inbox feeds, provider integrations and channel webhooks. Getting started starts with a free account, and the project links documentation, a changelog, a roadmap and a Discord community. It suits product and engineering teams that send notifications or build agents.

Key features

One API for inbox, email, SMS, push and chat
Workflows and digests for notifications
Embeddable notification inbox component
Connects agents to Slack, Teams and Telegram
Unified conversation model across channels
Provider integrations and channel webhooks

Good fit for

→Product notifications across channels
→In-app notification center
→Connecting AI agents to chat platforms

Built with: TypeScript; Node.js; React
Tags: notifications; messaging; email; sms; push-notifications; ai-agents; typescript; infrastructure

Novu: questions and answers

What is Novu used for?: Novu is open-source communication infrastructure that connects products and AI agents to email, SMS, push, in-app inbox and chat channels through one API. It is a good fit for product notifications across channels, in-app notification center and connecting AI agents to chat platforms.
Is Novu open source?: Yes. Novu is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at novuhq/novu and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Novu free?: Yes. Novu is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $30 per month.
Can I self-host Novu?: Yes. Novu can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Novu an alternative to?: Novu is an open-source alternative to Knock, Courier, OneSignal and SuprSend. Other open-source alternatives to Knock include Apprise.
Is Novu actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Novu was on 2 October 2026. The project has 40k stars on GitHub.