The best push notification services, according to hackers
4 push notification services were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 2 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The two most recommended push notification services with the badge. Each figure is 5 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Easy to send scripted notifications
Simple, reliable way to send push notifications from scripts and apps to your phone, self-hostable and free. Caveat: iOS notifications and battery use are the common complaints.
Easy to trigger from scripts
People use it to send alerts from scripts, cron jobs and curl to their phone, with no subscription. Some find it frustrating and want more.
All 4 push notification services, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ntfy | 41 | 11 | 79% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 2 | Pushover | 13 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| 3 | Firebase Cloud Messaging | 8 | 8 | 50% | 5 | — | — |
| 4 | Apprise | 5 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same push notification service in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to push notification services that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.