head to head · open source
novu vs parlant
novu has 40,249 GitHub stars, 4,522 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parlant has 18,318 stars, 1,553 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped yesterday. novu leads on adoption by 120% (40,249 vs 18,318 stars). novu is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; parlant is written in Python under Apache-2.0. novu has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, parlant 8%. parlant 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 | parlant | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 18K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 parlant if
- You want the parlant feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and parlant fits your workflow better
About novu
The open source communication infrastructure for agents and products One API and one unified conversation model to connect your products and your agents to every channel your users live on — Inbox, Email, SMS, Push, Chat, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, and more. Learn More » Report a bug · Docs · Website · Join our Discord · Changelog · Roadmap · X · Contact us Software is becoming more conversational, and user expectations are rising with it. People no longer want static, irrelevant notifications they glance at and forget, they want to engage, ask questions, and go deeper. Instead of a one way report dropped…
About parlant
The interaction control harness for customer facing AI agents Website • Quick Start • Examples • Discord Deutsch Español français 日本語 한국어 Português Русский 中文 Looking for an open source alternative to Ada, Decagon, or Sierra? Parlant is production ready. It streamlines the development and maintenance of enterprise grade B2C (business to consumer) and sensitive B2B interactions that need to be consistent, compliant, on brand, and comprehensively traceable. Why Parlant? Conversational context engineering is hard because real world interactions are diverse, nuanced, and non linear. ❌ The Problem…
read the full parlant overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is novu or parlant more popular?
novu has 40,249 GitHub stars and parlant has 18,318. novu has the larger community by that measure.
Are novu and parlant free?
Both are open source. novu has no licence declared in this registry, and parlant is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between novu and parlant?
novu is written in TypeScript and parlant in Python. 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 parlant?
Choose novu if you want the larger community (40,249 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose parlant if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.