head to head · open source
novu vs cap
novu has 40,002 GitHub stars, 4,494 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cap has 22,381 stars, 1,918 forks, 339 open issues and last shipped yesterday. novu leads on adoption by 79% (40,002 vs 22,381 stars). novu is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; cap is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. novu has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, cap 9%. novu was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (react), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| novu | cap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 22K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick novu if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cap if
- You want the cap feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and cap fits your workflow better
About novu
Novu is an open source communication infrastructure platform for building and managing multi channel notifications in products and connecting them to AI agents. It lives in the Node.js/TypeScript ecosystem and targets developers who need to send and receive messages across email, SMS, push, in app inbox, chat, and collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
About cap
Cap open source screen recording sharing project for teams. Lives web desktop software ecosystem. Uses Rust TypeScript stack, Next.js web dashboard, desktop apps macOS Windows. Presents alternative Loom. Supports importing existing Loom videos.
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Frequently asked questions
Is novu or cap more popular?
novu has 40,002 GitHub stars and cap has 22,381. novu has the larger community by that measure.
Are novu and cap free?
Neither novu nor cap declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between novu and cap?
novu is written in TypeScript and cap in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, novu or cap?
Choose novu if you want the larger community (40,002 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose cap if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.