head to head
Novu vs Knock
Open-source self-host versus polished hosted product.
What matters for teams choosing a transactional API
Judged purely as an API. What the request contract guarantees on retry, how complete the webhook event coverage is, whether suppressions are readable and writable programmatically, and how much the message log retains when something needs debugging in production.
| Priority | Novu | Knock |
|---|---|---|
| Idempotency keys | Yes | Yes |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Event stream | Yes | Yes |
| Operating since | 2021 | 2021 |
| Suppressions API | Yes | Yes |
| Best published rate per 1,000 | Tiers not published in comparable form | Tiers not published in comparable form |
| Batch sending | Yes | Yes |
| SDKs | node, python, go, php, java, dotnet | node, python, go, ruby, php, elixir, java, dotnet |
| Deliverability | BYO provider. | Inherits the deliverability of the provider you BYO (Postmark, SendGrid, Resend). |
For a transactional workload running high-frequency programmatic sends where a missed delivery is a product failure, Knock takes every priority that separates them here (SDK breadth), while Novu matches it on the rest. That ordering reflects this audience. Weigh the same table differently and the answer changes.
Side by side
| Feature | Novu | Knock |
|---|---|---|
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| SDKs | node, python, go, php, java, dotnet | node, python, go, ruby, php, elixir, java, dotnet |
| Deliverability | BYO provider. | Inherits the deliverability of the provider you BYO (Postmark, SendGrid, Resend). |
| Tagline | Open-source notification infrastructure. | Notification infrastructure with workflow engine. |
| Free tier | 30,000 events/mo on cloud, free self-hosted | 10,000 notifications/mo |
| Starts at | $250/mo (Business cloud) | $249/mo (Starter) |
| Pricing model | volume | volume |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | No | No |
| Templates | rich | rich |
| React Email | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound | No | No |
| Multi-tenant | Yes | Yes |
| Idempotency | Yes | Yes |
| Dedicated IP | No | No |
| DX score | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Best for | Teams that want self-hostable notification infrastructure. | Teams that need multi-channel product notifications with preferences. |
Novu
pros
- ›Open source, MIT-licensed
- ›Self-hostable
- ›Active community
cons
- ›Self-hosting takes effort
- ›Cloud pricing competitive only above 1M events/mo
Knock
pros
- ›Strong workflow engine
- ›In-app feed component
- ›Deep SDK coverage
- ›Idempotency keys
cons
- ›Pricier than running your own; entry plan is steep
- ›Bring your own delivery provider