ntfy
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 4 push notification services
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.
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.
52 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 41
- criticize it
- 11
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 41 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy to send scripted notifications
“Incredibly useful to give any app the ability to send you a notification with a single line of code or shell”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile” “I even get a ntfy notification when requests are made and fulfilled.”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Jellyfin founder Andrew leaves team” “I have a ntfy topic to alert from Pi when it needs something.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Herdr has released native app” - Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (June 2026)”
- Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: I put an AI agent on a $7/month VPS with IRC as its transport layer”
Self-hosting option keeps data private
“ntfy can help you manage notifications across devices on your own infrastructure, no 3rd parties.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Claude Code On-the-Go” “Self-hosting UnifiedPush / ntfy drops FCM / Google Play Services as a requirement”
Comment from 26 Mar 2026 in “Apple Just Lost Me” “notify me on my Android phone through a self-hosted https://ntfy.sh server”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: What are tools you have made for yourself since the advent of AI” - Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile”
Reliable, instant delivery
“I use it and it's extremely consistently delivered instantly, which makes sense, it's a websocket.”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month” “Such a great, simple and reliable service”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile” “it does its one thing well”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Firebase SDK is crashing all iOS apps since this morning” Low battery use
“which uses your browser's existing push notification service and should not consume any additional battery”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile” “Doesn't chew my battery too much.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
iOS notifications unreliable
“I had all sorts of nfty notification to ios issues despite lots of trial and error”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile” “it doesn't break every other week on iOS”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “Claude Code: Channels” “The iOS client had issue showing images”
Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile” Battery drain or delayed delivery
“So it either drains battery and gets significant delays (as per ntfy's own docs), or it still uses Google's solution.”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month” “their Android app used to drain my battery fast”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile” Public server limits for some uses
“I can't use it at all except for inconsequential notifications from my laptop (residential IP) or my phone (mobile IP).”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile” “Publicly hosted version is nearly useless if you'd like to use it to send notifications from your tiny workers”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Ntfy – open-source Push to Mobile”
Other push notification services people recommend
The three most recommended other push notification services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ntfyThis page | 41 | 11 | 79% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Pushover | 13 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Firebase Cloud Messaging | 8 | 8 | 50% | 5 | — | — |
| Apprise | 5 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 60 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I have a ntfy topic to alert from Pi when it needs something.”
“ntfy is an amazing project and inspired this heavily.”
“it does its one thing well”
“And ntfy to get notifications from my home stuff”
“those are at least set once - reuse indefinitely”
“On my phone it doesn't show up in the list it's so low”
“The iOS client had issue showing images”
“I self host it and love it.”
“Thanks for building something so sicc.”
“Love ntfy. I've used it for a lot of things, but probably the most esoteric”
“their Android app used to drain my battery fast”
“I can't use it at all except for inconsequential notifications from my laptop (residential IP) or my phone (mobile IP).”
“Publicly hosted version is nearly useless if you'd like to use it to send notifications from your tiny workers”
“High priorities will even break through silence modes of your phone.”
“if you use ntfy.sh you can get proper mobile push notifications”
“I had all sorts of nfty notification to ios issues despite lots of trial and error”
“You can "install" the PWA on iOS by adding it to your home screen, then your ntfy instance can use APNs directly (via Web Push)!”
“Incredibly useful to give any app the ability to send you a notification with a single line of code or shell”
“Doesn't chew my battery too much.”
“which uses your browser's existing push notification service and should not consume any additional battery”
“Such a great, simple and reliable service”
“After using pushover & ntfy.sh for agent progress tracking. I felt the need for more.”
“I even get a ntfy notification when requests are made and fulfilled.”
“I love ntfy and use it every day, thanks for having created it!”
“Trying to make push notifications easy as pie.”
“notify me on my Android phone through a self-hosted https://ntfy.sh server”
“my family all have ntfy.sh so that honestly is viable for some things”
“You can use ntfy to send yourself an alert.”
“Self-hosting UnifiedPush / ntfy drops FCM / Google Play Services as a requirement”
“it doesn't break every other week on iOS”
“I love that you love it. That's why I do it.”
“I love ntfy, thanks for developing it.”
“ntfy is the right call when you're away from the machine.”
“it isn't a big deal, at least in my experience, at least for ntfy.sh”
“I use it and it's extremely consistently delivered instantly, which makes sense, it's a websocket.”
“So it either drains battery and gets significant delays (as per ntfy's own docs), or it still uses Google's solution.”
“It is one app that allows you to subscribe to multiple different notification endpoints.”
“UnifiedPush / ntfy is FLOSS, and allows for a single background connection for multiple apps / notification channels.”
“ntfy can help you manage notifications across devices on your own infrastructure, no 3rd parties.”
“ntfy.sh is great! But it requires: - Setting up a topic/channel - Installing their app on your phone”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.