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Novu: Open-Core alternative to OneSignal in 2026

Novu is a notification infrastructure that unifies email, SMS, push and in-app notifications in a single API with templates and visual workflows, as a self-hostable alternative to OneSignal.

Core is open source, but advanced features or enterprise support may be behind a paid tier — check the license.

ℹ️ novuhq/novu-api doesn't exist as a published image. Novu's real deployment uses several independent services (ghcr.io/novuhq/novu/api, /worker, /ws, /dashboard), published only with commit-SHA tags — no stable version to pin to. The official path is Novu's repo setup.sh script, which generates the correct multi-service docker-compose.

Alternative to OneSignal
License MIT40.1k starsWebsite GitHub Repository

Audit Snapshot

View notes →

  • License — Not verifiable on GitHub

  • GitHub — Active

  • Latest release — @novu/framework@v2.14.0 · 14 days ago

  • Docker Compose — Not verified

  • Production — Not production-tested by AltFreeStack

Novu vs. OneSignal

Pros

  • Unifies every notification channel in one place

Things to consider

  • You still need to connect your own delivery providers (SMTP, SMS)
  • This catalog's docker-compose isn't real (see note above) — use Novu's official setup.sh script

Quick Docker installation guide

Copy this docker-compose.yml, adjust the example passwords and run docker compose up -d on your server. See the full step-by-step guide →

💡 Official SaaS or self-hosted with AltFreeStack?

  • On the official cloud: a recurring monthly fee and usage limits on OneSignal.
  • On your own VPS: the core is free to self-host on your own server — no more monthly SaaS fee, though some advanced features stay behind a paid plan.
docker-compose.yml
version: "3.9"
services:
  novu:
    image: novuhq/novu-api:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - MONGO_URL=mongodb://novu-db:27017/novu
      - REDIS_HOST=novu-redis
    depends_on:
      - novu-db
      - novu-redis
  novu-db:
    image: mongo:7
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - novu_mongo_data:/data/db
  novu-redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
  novu_mongo_data:

🚀 Deploy in 1 command

Recommended for beginners

Copy this single command and paste it into your freshly created VPS's console (Vultr, DigitalOcean...). It downloads the script, prints it to your screen so you can see exactly what it's about to do (never a blind direct pipe), and only then installs Docker if needed, writes the files with secrets already generated, and starts everything — no nano, no pasting code blocks.

curl -sSL ".../api/deploy?stack=novu" -o deploy.sh && cat deploy.sh && bash deploy.sh
See what this script does →

This docker-compose corresponds to an actively maintained project — last commit today.

This docker-compose not working for you? Report it on GitHub →

Technical profile

License
MIT
Category
Dev Tools
Replaces
OneSignal
Tech stack
NestJSMongoDBRedis

Under the hood

Database

MongoDB

Language

TypeScript (NestJS)

Platforms

Web

Key features

  • Email, SMS, push and in-app in one API
  • Visual notification workflow editor
  • Embeddable notification center

Preview

Novu interface preview

Public image provided by Novu on its own website.

💾 Backups in 3 steps (Day 2)

As long as the ./data folder (the "volume" mapped into the container) exists on your server, your data survives any restart or container update — that's the only thing you need to back up.

1. Create a compressed backup on the server

tar -czvf backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz ./data

2. Download it to your computer

From your computer's terminal (not your server's):

scp root@YOUR_IP:~/app/backup-*.tar.gz ./

3. Restore in case of emergency

tar -xzvf backup-file.tar.gz
🌐 Connect your domain with free SSL

Step 1 — Set up the DNS

In your domain registrar's dashboard (Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy...), create a record:

Type
A
Name/Host
@ (root domain) or a subdomain, e.g. app
Content/Value
Your server's public IP

Wait 5 to 15 minutes for the record to propagate across the internet.

Step 2 — Automatic reverse proxy with Caddy

One single file, no Nginx config or manual certificates — Caddy issues and renews Let's Encrypt HTTPS on its own.

Create a file called Caddyfile:

yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Start Caddy with this command (pulls the image and runs it in the background):

docker run -d -p 80:80 -p 443:443 --name caddy --restart always -v $PWD/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile -v caddy_data:/data caddy