Chatwoot
Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).
Chatwoot vs Novu
Two self-hosted Communication - Custom Communication Systems apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.
Side by side
| Chatwoot | Novu | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk). | Notification infrastructure for developers. |
| GitHub stars | 39,906 | 40,341 |
| Forks | 9.7k | 4.5k |
| Open issues (incl. PRs) | 1.6k | 116 |
| Commits (12 months) | 1.5k | 2.5k |
| Last activity | 2026-11-10 | 2026-11-09 |
| Latest release | v4.19.1 (2026-10-24) | @novu/[email protected] (2026-09-28) |
| Maintenance health | Active | Active |
| License | ⊘ Proprietary | MIT |
| Language / platform | Ruby, Docker, K8S | Docker, Nodejs |
| Docker Hub image | chatwoot/chatwoot | – |
| Docker pulls | 11552k | – |
| Est. server size | ~2 GB, 1 vCPU | ~2 GB, 1 vCPU |
| Est. hosting from | $10/mo | $10/mo |
| Categories | Communication - Custom Communication Systems | Communication - Custom Communication Systems |
| Links | Website · Source | Website · Source |
What the numbers say
- Chatwoot and Novu have a similar number of GitHub stars (39.9k vs 40.3k).
- Novu had more commits in the last 12 months (2,475 vs 1,508).
- Chatwoot published a release more recently (v4.19.1 on 2026-10-24; Novu's latest is @novu/[email protected] on 2026-09-28).
- Chatwoot is licensed under ⊘ Proprietary, Novu under MIT.
- Chatwoot is written in Ruby; Novu in Nodejs.
- Deployment options listed upstream: Chatwoot: Docker, K8S; Novu: Docker.
- Only Chatwoot has a Docker Hub image that we detected (chatwoot/chatwoot).
Summary: Chatwoot leads on Docker Hub availability; Novu leads on commit activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.
This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-15. It does not rate features or quality.
Get the Docker images
Chatwoot
docker pull chatwoot/chatwootImage on Docker Hub. Ports, volumes and environment variables differ per app; follow the official docs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chatwoot or Novu more popular?
They are close: Chatwoot has 39,906 GitHub stars and Novu has 40,341 (as of 2026-11-15).
Which is more actively maintained, Chatwoot or Novu?
Novu had more commits over the last 12 months (2,475 vs 1,508). The last recorded activity was 2026-11-10 for Chatwoot and 2026-11-09 for Novu. Releases in the past year: Chatwoot 10+, Novu 10+. Our health labels: Chatwoot is “Active”, Novu is “Active”.
What licenses do Chatwoot and Novu use?
Chatwoot: ⊘ Proprietary. Novu: MIT. Note: Chatwoot includes a non-free license component.
Can I run Chatwoot and Novu with Docker?
Chatwoot has a Docker Hub image (chatwoot/chatwoot). We did not find one for Novu, though the upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option.
Read more
Novu
Notification infrastructure for developers.
Browse all self-hosted Communication - Custom Communication Systems apps.