fromHello vs Novu
Novu and fromHello are both open source and self-hostable, and both send across email, SMS, push, and in-app. But they sit at different layers. Novu is notification infrastructure — a developer-first engine for delivering the notifications you wire up in code, with a standout embeddable inbox. fromHello is a growth team and platform: it decides what to send, builds the segments and journeys, runs the experiments, and writes the copy, then ships across those same channels. Notifications are a channel; growth is a job. If you need to send product notifications, Novu is purpose-built for that. If you need someone to run growth, that's fromHello.
Updated 1 Jul 2026
you need reliable, developer-first notification infrastructure — a multi-channel delivery engine and an embeddable inbox you wire into your product.
you need a growth team and platform that decides what to send and runs it — strategy, segments, journeys, experiments — not just the pipes to deliver it.
Same channels, a different layer.
Novu licensing, capabilities, and pricing reflect public information as of 2026 — check novu.co and the Novu repository for current details. Novu is open-source notification infrastructure (MIT core, open-core model) — a different layer from a growth platform. fromHello is in early access; rows describe the platform on GitHub today and the hosted product at general availability.
Notifications are a channel. Growth is a job.
Novu and fromHello overlap on the surface — both open source, both self-hostable, both send across email, SMS, push, and in-app. But they solve different problems. Novu is infrastructure: a developer wires it into the product to deliver notifications reliably, with a polished embeddable inbox. It's very good at that, and it doesn't claim to be a growth platform.
fromHello starts a layer up. It decides what to send and why. The Growth Lead sets the North Star, the Growth PM picks the next experiment, the Lifecycle Marketer builds the onboarding and win-back journeys, the Copywriter writes every message, the Data Analyst reads the results. The agents build the segments, run the experiments, and ship across the channels. They propose; you approve, edit, or auto-ship.
Put simply: Novu delivers the notifications you design; fromHello designs and runs the growth, then delivers it. If you have engineers who want a delivery layer, Novu is the right tool. If you want a growth team, that's a different job — and it's the one fromHello does.
Where Novu wins
We're not going to pretend it competes for the same job — and where Novu is built to win, it wins cleanly.
- For notification infrastructure, Novu is purpose-built and generally available — reliable multi-channel delivery a pre-launch product can't claim.
- Its embeddable in-app inbox, with real-time delivery, an official React component, and a framework-agnostic JavaScript SDK for Vue and Angular, is a polished developer primitive that takes years to harden.
- Its provider breadth is huge — dozens of email, SMS, and chat providers, so you can swap delivery vendors without touching code.
- It's MIT-licensed open-core with a free self-hosted edition and a managed cloud with a real free tier — a mature, inspectable codebase.
Both free to self-host. Different jobs entirely.
Neither charges you to self-host — Novu's core is MIT, fromHello's is AGPL, and both run on your infrastructure. Novu's managed cloud is generally available with a free tier, then from $30 a month, priced per workflow run. fromHello's hosted version arrives at GA, with the eight agents included. But this was never really a price comparison — it's a job comparison. Novu prices delivery; fromHello includes the team that runs growth.
fromHello — self-host free, hosted pricing at GA; the eight agents are included.
Novu — self-host free (MIT); managed cloud free tier, then from $30/mo, priced per workflow run.
What teams ask before they move
Is fromHello a Novu alternative?
Only if you're really after a growth platform, not notification infrastructure. They overlap on channels but sit at different layers — Novu delivers the notifications you wire up; fromHello decides what to send and runs growth. If you need a delivery engine and an embeddable inbox, Novu is the better fit.
Can't I just use Novu for marketing?
You can send marketing messages through Novu, but you'd still have to decide what to send, build the segments, design the journeys, run the experiments, and write the copy. Novu is the pipes; fromHello is the team and the strategy. That's the difference between a delivery layer and a growth team.
Aren't they both open source?
Yes — Novu is MIT, fromHello is AGPL, and both are self-hostable. On openness they're peers. The difference isn't licensing; it's the layer — notification infrastructure versus a growth team and platform.
Does fromHello have an embeddable inbox like Novu's?
Not the same drop-in developer component. Novu's inbox is the standout for that, and if an embeddable notification center is what you need, Novu is purpose-built. fromHello focuses on running growth across channels rather than shipping a notification UI primitive.
Will the agents message my customers without approval?
Not unless you let them. Every send is human-approved by default. Once you trust a surface — onboarding, say — you can auto-approve it. The point is to move faster, not to lose control of the brand.
When can I use fromHello?
Early access opens gradually, so the agents tune to real use cases. Join the waitlist and we'll email when your spot opens. The open-source platform is on GitHub today.
Put your growth teamon autopilot.
Early access opens gradually, so the team tunes to real use cases. Small teams with big ambitions go first.
Not ready to share an email? It's open source. Run it yourself today. View on GitHub
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