What is ntfy?
ntfy (pronounced "notify") is an HTTP-based pub-sub notification service. Scripts send notifications to a phone or desktop from any computer, or through a REST API. Publishing is a PUT or POST request, and topics are created on the fly by subscribing or publishing to them. Without sign-up the topic name acts as a password, so it should be hard to guess; ntfy Pro lets you reserve topic names.
Subscribers can receive notifications with different priorities, attachments, action buttons, tags and emojis, and the web app can subscribe to topics and show desktop notifications. Attachments can carry images, videos and other files to a phone.
ntfy can be used free without sign-up on the hosted service, through paid plans, or self-hosted because it is open source. The repository README states a dual licence, Apache License 2.0 and GPLv2.
Because publishing is just an HTTP request, the site lists integrations such as changedetection.io and healthchecks.io, and describes alerts from cron jobs and from CI pipelines when they finish.
ntfy screenshots
Explore the interface. Open a screenshot to view it at full size.
Source: official ntfy project page.
Key capabilities
- HTTP publishing Send messages with PUT or POST from any script.
- Rich notifications Priorities, attachments, action buttons, tags and emojis.
- File attachments Send images, videos and other files to a phone.
- Web app Subscribe to topics and receive desktop notifications.
- Reserved topics Available with ntfy Pro on the hosted service.
- Self-hosting The open-source server can run on your own infrastructure.
Where ntfy fits
- Script alerts Report results of cron jobs and automation to a phone.
- Topic subscriptions Subscribe to topics from apps or the web app.
- Integrations Any tool that can make an HTTP request can publish.
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Alternatives to ntfy
AppriseApprise is an open-source Python library and CLI that sends notifications to many services, including chat, email, SMS and desktop, through one interface.
BoopBoop collects application events in a self-hosted inbox, stores them in SQLite and sends iOS notifications through Apple APNs. It includes a web interface, an event API and read-only MCP access.
LiveKitLiveKit server is an Apache 2.0 WebRTC selective forwarding unit written in Go. It routes audio, video and data between browsers, apps, phones and AI agents, runs as a binary, Docker image or Helm chart, and scales across nodes with Redis.