Is EmailOctopus or Novu better?

Neither clearly leads. EmailOctopus starts at Free and Novu at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, EmailOctopus or Novu?

EmailOctopus starts at Free and Novu at Free.

Does EmailOctopus or Novu run on more platforms?

EmailOctopus runs on Web. Novu runs on web, api.

Can I use EmailOctopus for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What can EmailOctopus do that Novu cannot?

Novu covers Multi-channel workflows, Advanced email editor, Activity feed, Multi-environment support.

Email Marketing · head to head

EmailOctopus vs Novu

EmailOctopus

Email Marketing

Affordable email marketing

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Novu

Communication & Collaboration

Open-source notification infrastructure for multi-channel messaging

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: EmailOctopus paid plans scale from about $4 to $19 per month by subscriber count, and the free plan caps at 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month; Novu free plan activity feed retention is limited to 24 hours, restricting how far back teams can debug delivery issues.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which EmailOctopus and Novu actually diverge.

Attributes where EmailOctopus and Novu differ
Attribute	EmailOctopus	Novu
Platforms	Web	web, api
Category	Email Marketing	Communication & Collaboration

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in EmailOctopus

Nothing recorded that Novu does not also cover.

Only in Novu

Multi-channel workflows
Advanced email editor
Activity feed
Multi-environment support
Role-based access control
Self-hosting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

EmailOctopus

No use cases recorded yet. See the EmailOctopus review.

Novu

Building multi-channel notification workflows for a SaaS productnot EmailOctopus
Self-hosting notification infrastructure for data controlnot EmailOctopus
Managing separate notification environments for staging and productionnot EmailOctopus
Tracking notification delivery history and activitynot EmailOctopus

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

EmailOctopus

Paid plans scale from about $4 to $19 per month by subscriber count, and the free plan caps at 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month

Novu

Free plan activity feed retention is limited to 24 hours, restricting how far back teams can debug delivery issues.
Overage on Pro and Team plans is billed at $1.20 per 1,000 additional workflow runs, which can add up at scale.
HIPAA BAA compliance and dedicated SSO are Enterprise-only and require custom pricing.

Pricing, plan by plan

EmailOctopus

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the EmailOctopus review.

Novu

Free

FreeFree
- 10,000 workflow runs/month
- All channels included
- Up to 20 workflows
Pro$30/month
- 30,000+ workflow runs/month
- Advanced email editor
- Remove Novu branding
Team$250/month
- 250,000+ workflow runs/month
- Up to 10 environments
- 90-day activity feed retention

Which should you pick?

Choose EmailOctopus if

You want to start without paying.

EmailOctopus review

Choose Novu if

You need multi-channel workflows.
You want to start without paying.
You work on web, api.
You also want advanced email editor.

Novu review

Questions people ask

Is EmailOctopus or Novu better?: Neither clearly leads. EmailOctopus starts at Free and Novu at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, EmailOctopus or Novu?: EmailOctopus starts at Free and Novu at Free.
Does EmailOctopus or Novu run on more platforms?: EmailOctopus runs on Web. Novu runs on web, api.
Can I use EmailOctopus for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What can EmailOctopus do that Novu cannot?: Novu covers Multi-channel workflows, Advanced email editor, Activity feed, Multi-environment support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Novu: What does Novu cost?

Novu offers a Free plan for 10,000 workflow runs per month, Pro from $30/month for 30,000+ runs, Team from $250/month for 250,000+ runs, and custom Enterprise pricing for 10M+ runs.

Source

Novu: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Yes, the Free plan includes 10,000 workflow runs per month, all messaging channels, up to 20 workflows, 2 environments, and up to 3 team members.

Source

Novu: How is usage metered?

Billing is based on the number of workflow runs per month rather than per user or per message, with overage on paid plans charged at $1.20 per 1,000 additional runs.

Source

EmailOctopus vs Novu

EmailOctopus

Novu

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in EmailOctopus

Only in Novu

What people use each for

EmailOctopus

Novu

Where each one falls short

EmailOctopus

Novu

Pricing, plan by plan

EmailOctopus

Novu

Which should you pick?

Choose EmailOctopus if

Choose Novu if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on EmailOctopus

More on Novu

Keep looking

Other head to heads