HACS vs ntfy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
HACS
Community store for custom Home Assistant integrations and themes
VS
ntfy
Send push notifications to your phone via simple HTTP
| Feature | HACS | ntfy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,603 | ★ 33,263 |
| First released | 2019 | 2021 |
| Replaces | SmartThings community add-ons | Pushover, Pushbullet |
Why pick each one
Choose HACS if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 7.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is HACS or ntfy better?
Neither is universally better. ntfy has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are HACS and ntfy free and open-source?
Yes. HACS is licensed under MIT and ntfy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run HACS and ntfy with Docker?
HACS: check the project docs for container support. ntfy: yes.