NATSvsNovu
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| NATS | Novu | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 76/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Message Broker | #2 of 19 in Notifications |
| GitHub stars | 20 953 | 40 216 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +191 | +167 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 12 |
| Latest release | v2.14.9 · 26 Oct 2026 | @novu/framework@v2.14.0 · 28 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
NATS scores 80/100 against 76/100 for Novu, so it is the safer default.
NATS ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 12 for Novu.
If you want the quickest setup, NATS is easier to run; Novu needs more configuration.
Swap a project
Keep NATS, compare it with
Keep Novu, compare it with