| Vendor | Billing unit | Free tier | Paid tier | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novu | 1 per trigger (all channels) | 10,000 runs | Pro $30 (30k) / Team $250 (250k) | $1.20 / 1,000 runs |
| Knock | 1 per message per channel | 10,000 messages | Starter $250 (50k) | $0.005 / message |
| Courier | 1 per send per channel | 10,000 sends | Pay-as-you-go, no base fee | $0.005 / send |
Same notification, three different bills
All three platforms let your app call one function to fan a notification out across email, push, SMS and in-app. The billing math diverges the moment you fan out to more than one channel: Novu counts the trigger once, while Knock and Courier count every channel it lands on. For raw push-only sends without orchestration, see the push notification cost calculator; for a wider messaging stack view, see email & SMS guides.
How this calculator works
This calculator models the three dominant notification infrastructure platforms — Novu, Knock and Courier — using their official 2026 pricing pages. You enter notification triggers per month (how many times your app calls the send/notify function) and the average number of channels each notification fans out to (email, push, SMS, in-app, etc.). The calculator converts that into each vendor's own billing unit: Novu counts workflow runs (one per trigger, regardless of fan-out), while Knock and Courier count messages/sends (one per channel per trigger). Each vendor's cost then applies its own free tier, base plan and per-unit overage rate.
The practical takeaway: if you send single-channel notifications, all three land close together. The moment you fan a single trigger out to two, three or more channels, Knock and Courier's bills multiply with the channel count while Novu's does not — because Novu is priced on the trigger, not the delivery. That gap is why teams with heavy multi-channel orchestration (order updates hitting email + push + in-app simultaneously) increasingly favor per-trigger billing, while teams sending mostly single-channel transactional messages may find Knock or Courier's developer experience worth the difference. Novu is also the only one of the three that's genuinely self-hostable (MIT license, Docker Compose), which caps your cost at a VPS bill once volume gets large enough to matter.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Novu, Knock and Courier pricing?
Novu bills per workflow run — one notification trigger counts as one run even if it fans out to email, SMS and in-app together. Knock and Courier bill per message sent, so the same 3-channel notification counts as 3 billable sends. At high fan-out, Novu can end up far cheaper per notification.
Is Novu open source?
Yes. Novu is MIT-licensed and self-hostable via Docker Compose, typically for the cost of a $50-100/month VPS regardless of volume. Knock and Courier are SaaS-only with no self-hosted option.
How much do Knock and Courier cost per month?
Knock's Starter plan is $250/month for 50,000 messages, then $0.005 per extra message; its free Developer plan covers 10,000 messages. Courier gives 10,000 sends free, then charges $0.005 per send pay-as-you-go with no monthly base fee on its Business tier.
What counts as a "message" vs a "workflow run"?
A workflow run (Novu) is one trigger from your app, e.g. notify(user, 'order_shipped'). A message or send (Knock, Courier) is one delivery on one channel. If that trigger fans out to email + push + in-app, Novu counts 1 run while Knock/Courier count 3 messages.
When does self-hosting Novu make sense over any SaaS option?
Once monthly SaaS cost consistently exceeds roughly $100-150 — a $50-100/month VPS running self-hosted Novu handles effectively unlimited volume for a flat fee, at the cost of running your own infrastructure and updates.