Alternatives / NotificationAPI
Looking for an open source NotificationAPI alternative? We compared 2 open source notification platforms by license, channels, self-hosting, and maintenance. Novu is the closest unified notification API, while Dittofeed is a broader customer engagement platform.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Novu | Unified notification API with inbox | MIT + enterprise license |
| Dittofeed | Journeys and segmentation across channels | MIT (some features are closed source) |
We looked for open-source tools that send notifications across channels through one API like NotificationAPI. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Novu is an open-source notification platform with one API across in-app, email, push, SMS, and chat, a workflow engine, a digest engine, and an embeddable React inbox. It can be self-hosted, and its cloud free tier includes 10,000 events per month.
Dittofeed is a customer engagement platform with drag-and-drop journeys, segmentation, HTML or MJML templates, and multi-channel delivery. Its infrastructure includes Postgres, ClickHouse, and Temporal, which adds operational weight.
Novu is MIT with enterprise-licensed parts. Dittofeed is MIT, and some of its features are closed source. Dittofeed's cloud plan starts at $75 per month after a 14-day trial.
Novu is MIT plus an enterprise license for some directories. Dittofeed is MIT with some closed-source features.
Both had commits within days of this update.
NotificationAPI is a proprietary hosted service priced by volume, with templates and user preferences stored on its servers. Open-source platforms can be self-hosted, avoid per-message platform fees, and give you control of delivery, but you run the infrastructure and connect your own providers.
Novu is an open-source platform for building in-app, email, push, SMS, and chat notifications, with a unified API, a workflow engine, and an embeddable inbox component, and it can be self-hosted or used in its cloud. Novu is a commercial open-source company: the core is MIT, and some directories are under a separate enterprise license. The free cloud tier is limited to 10,000 events per month.
Pricing: Free to self-host; the cloud has a free tier and paid plans.
Dittofeed is an MIT-licensed customer engagement platform with low-code journey automation, audience segmentation, and omni-channel messaging by email, SMS, and push. It can be self-hosted for free or used in its managed cloud, while multi-tenancy, embedding, and white-labeling are in a separate licensed closed-source codebase.
Pricing: Free to self-host; the managed cloud is paid.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novu | Notification platform | MIT + enterprise license | Yes | Product notifications |
| Dittofeed | Engagement platform | MIT (some features closed) | Yes | Lifecycle messaging |
Want one API for in-app, email, push, and SMS
Novu offers a workflow engine, digest engine, and React inbox component.
Want marketing-style journeys and segments
Dittofeed has drag-and-drop journeys and a segmentation engine with MJML templates.