SendiventvsNovu

The notification infrastructure landscape

Novu is one of the best-known open-source notification infrastructure projects. It's powerful, flexible, and self-hostable. Sendivent takes a different approach: fully managed, opinionated, and optimized for simplicity.

Philosophy differences

Novu's philosophy: Give developers maximum control and flexibility through an open-source platform with advanced workflow capabilities.

Sendivent's philosophy: Handle the infrastructure so you can focus on your product. Simple API, managed service, clear pricing, and notification templates your team can edit without code.

When open-source matters

Novu is the better choice if:

• You must self-host for compliance or data residency
• You want to audit the code or contribute improvements
• You need complex digest/batching workflows
• You have DevOps resources to manage infrastructure

When hosted wins

Sendivent is the better choice if:

• You want zero infrastructure to manage
• You prefer predictable costs without hosting fees
• You're a small team without dedicated DevOps
• You value faster time to value over maximum flexibility

Novu also offers a managed cloud product. But if you choose the open-source / self-hosted route, you're responsible for running and scaling the stack yourself.

The honest tradeoff

Novu gives you more power. Sendivent gives you less to manage. For most indie developers and small SaaS teams, the simplicity tradeoff is worth it.

See how Sendivent handles common use cases like user onboarding, password resets, and payment alerts with minimal setup.

Code Comparison

Novu setup (self-hosted)

# Step 1: Clone and run Docker
git clone https://github.com/novuhq/novu && cd novu
docker-compose up

# Step 2: Configure providers in dashboard
# Step 3: Create workflows
# Step 4: Integrate SDK

import { Novu } from '@novu/node';
const novu = new Novu('YOUR_API_KEY');

await novu.trigger('order-confirmation', {
  to: { subscriberId: user.id },
  payload: { orderId, items }
});

You get maximum control, but you also own the infrastructure.

Sendivent setup

# Step 1: Sign up (60 seconds)
# Step 2: Get API key
# Step 3: Send

await sendivent
  .event('order.confirmed')
  .to({ email: user.email })
  .payload({ orderId, items })
  .send();

No Docker, no infrastructure, no maintenance. The trade-off is less control.

Want multi-channel without the ops work? Start with a free account and send your first notification in minutes. No self-hosting, no infrastructure decisions, just working notifications.