head to head · open source
novu vs openpanel
novu has 40,002 GitHub stars, 4,494 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openpanel has 6,985 stars, 480 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. novu leads on adoption by 473% (40,002 vs 6,985 stars). novu is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; openpanel is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. novu has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, openpanel 7%. novu was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | openpanel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 7.0K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 480 |
| 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 openpanel if
- You want the openpanel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and openpanel 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 openpanel
OpenPanel is an open source web and product analytics platform written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0, built for product teams and developers who want Mixpanel style funnels, cohorts, and session replay while keeping their event data on their own infrastructure.
read the full openpanel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is novu or openpanel more popular?
novu has 40,002 GitHub stars and openpanel has 6,985. novu has the larger community by that measure.
Are novu and openpanel free?
Both are open source. novu has no licence declared in this registry, and openpanel is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between novu and openpanel?
novu is written in TypeScript and openpanel in TypeScript. 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 openpanel?
Choose novu if you want the larger community (40,002 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose openpanel if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.