Novu vs Knock
Open-source self-host versus polished hosted product.
What matters for developers picking email infrastructure
The question here is which one a backend engineer would rather operate. That means SDK depth in the language already in use, whether a retry can safely be replayed, how much the event log tells you when a customer says the email never arrived, and whether the pricing curve stays sane as volume grows.
| Priority | Novu | Knock |
|---|---|---|
| DX score | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| SDKs | node, python, go, php, java, dotnet | node, python, go, ruby, php, elixir, java, dotnet |
| Idempotency keys | Yes | Yes |
| Operating since | 2021 | 2021 |
| Event stream | Yes | Yes |
| Best published rate per 1,000 | Tiers not published in comparable form | Tiers not published in comparable form |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Deliverability | BYO provider. | Inherits the deliverability of the provider you BYO (Postmark, SendGrid, Resend). |
| Free tier | 30,000 events/mo on cloud, free self-hosted | 10,000 notifications/mo |
For a developer-owned stack running password resets, receipts, and magic links shipped from application code, Knock takes every priority that separates them here (developer experience and SDK breadth), while Novu matches it on the rest. On free tier, Novu offers 30,000 events/mo on cloud, free self-hosted against 10,000 notifications/mo from Knock. That ordering reflects this audience. Weigh the same table differently and the answer changes.
Side by side
| Feature | Novu | Knock |
|---|---|---|
| DX score | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| SDKs | node, python, go, php, java, dotnet | node, python, go, ruby, php, elixir, java, dotnet |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Deliverability | BYO provider. | Inherits the deliverability of the provider you BYO (Postmark, SendGrid, Resend). |
| Free tier | 30,000 events/mo on cloud, free self-hosted | 10,000 notifications/mo |
| Tagline | Open-source notification infrastructure. | Notification infrastructure with workflow engine. |
| 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 |
| Best for | Teams that want self-hostable notification infrastructure. | Teams that need multi-channel product notifications with preferences. |
Novu
- ›Open source, MIT-licensed
- ›Self-hostable
- ›Active community
- ›Self-hosting takes effort
- ›Cloud pricing competitive only above 1M events/mo
Knock
- ›Strong workflow engine
- ›In-app feed component
- ›Deep SDK coverage
- ›Idempotency keys
- ›Pricier than running your own; entry plan is steep
- ›Bring your own delivery provider