The best self-hosted push notification software for most websites is a paid panel such as LaraPush, because it gives you a full marketing dashboard on your own server for a one-time price. WordPress sites on a zero budget can try Perfecty Push. Developers can build on the open-source web-push libraries, while ntfy and Gorush suit personal alerts and mobile apps.
When people search for the best self hosted push notification tool, they usually get lists of SaaS vendors with a “self-hosted” label slapped on. So I narrowed this list to software you can actually install and run yourself. Then I grouped it by job, because a website marketing panel and a phone alert server solve very different problems.
What is the best self-hosted push notification software?
The best self-hosted push notification software depends on what you’re sending and who’s sending it. Here’s the short version as of October 2026:
| Tool | Best for | Licence / price | Web push to site visitors? | Marketing dashboard? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaraPush | Websites and publishers that want a full panel | From $499 one-time (excl. tax) | Yes | Yes |
| Perfecty Push | Small WordPress sites on zero budget | Free, open source | Yes (no Safari/iOS per its page) | Basic, inside WordPress |
| web-push libraries | Developers building their own system | Free, open source | Yes, once you build it | No, you build it |
| ntfy | Alerts to your own phone or desktop | Free, open source | Only to the ntfy web app | No |
| Gorush | Push for your own mobile apps | Free, open source (MIT) | No (APNs, FCM, HMS) | No |
If you only need the definition first, read what self-hosted push notification software is in our guide to the four types of push tools.
How did I choose these self-hosted tools?
I included a tool only if you can install it on a server you control and send notifications without a vendor account in the middle. That rule removed several popular names. For example, Mautic is open source and self-hosted, but its web notifications use OneSignal by default and need your own OneSignal account (Mautic docs). So the sending side isn’t self-hosted.
Then I checked four things for each tool, on its own site or repository on Oct 29, 2026:
- Does it send web push to website visitors, or something else?
- What does it cost, and under what licence?
- How much of the marketing side (prompts, segments, scheduling, reports) is built in?
- Is it still maintained?
1. LaraPush: best self-hosted push panel for websites
LaraPush is a self-hosted web push notification panel that you install on your own VPS. It’s built with Laravel, PHP and MySQL and delivers through Firebase Cloud Messaging. One licence covers one server, with unlimited domains, subscribers and campaigns on it.
It has the marketing features you’d expect from a SaaS tool. Those include five prompt styles, segmentation by device, browser, country and more, scheduling, up to two CTA buttons, templates and per-campaign analytics. There’s also an official WordPress plugin with push-on-publish, plus AMP and Blogger support.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| One-time price, no per-subscriber fees | No free plan or free tier |
| Full marketing dashboard and REST API | You run and maintain the VPS |
| Free installation and onboarding | Licence covers one server; major upgrades are paid |
Price (checked Oct 29, 2026): Startup $499 and Pro $799, one-time and excluding tax. A $399 Premium Add-on is available for Pro. Support lasts 6 months on Startup and 12 months on Pro. See LaraPush pricing and the feature list.
2. Perfecty Push: best free option for WordPress
Perfecty Push Notifications is an open-source WordPress plugin that stores subscribers in your WordPress database and sends push from your own server. It has push-on-publish, custom notifications, scheduling and a stats dashboard (plugin page).
However, check its status before you commit. On Oct 29, 2026, WordPress.org showed version 1.6.5, last updated about a year earlier, 3,000+ active installs, and a notice that it “hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress”. The plugin page also says iOS and Safari “are not supported yet”. Its own changelog claims about 10,000 notifications a minute on a 2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU server, which is the developer’s figure, not mine.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free and open source | Not tested with recent WordPress releases |
| Data stays in WordPress | No Safari or iPhone support per its page |
| Push-on-publish built in | Sending runs on WP-Cron inside your site |
3. web-push libraries: best for developers who want to build
The web-push-libs projects are open-source libraries that handle the hard cryptography of web push. They exist for Node.js (web-push), PHP (web-push-php, MIT licence) and other languages. They generate VAPID keys, encrypt payloads and send to each browser’s push endpoint.
That’s all they do, though. You still build the subscription storage, opt-in prompt, admin dashboard, segments, scheduler, queue and reports. So this route is free in licence fees and expensive in developer time. I’ve broken that build list down in our guide to push notification software features.
4. ntfy: best for alerts to your own devices
ntfy is an open-source notification server you can self-host to send alerts to your own phone or desktop with a simple HTTP PUT or POST. It’s popular for server monitoring, backups and home automation. It also supports Web Push, so you can get alerts from the ntfy web app with the browser closed (ntfy docs).
It isn’t a website marketing tool, however. ntfy’s web push works for the ntfy web app on the same server, not as an opt-in widget for your visitors. Pick it for operational alerts, not for audience growth.
5. Gorush: best for your own mobile app backend
Gorush is an MIT-licensed push notification server written in Go. It sends to iOS through Apple Push Notification service (APNs), to Android through Firebase Cloud Messaging and to Huawei devices through HMS (Gorush on GitHub). It’s a solid backend piece if you ship native apps.
Even so, it doesn’t do browser web push or give marketers a dashboard. If your audience is website visitors, Gorush is the wrong layer. For that distinction, see web push vs app push.
Which self-hosted push tool should you pick?
Pick by who will use it day to day. A marketer or editor needs a dashboard; a developer can live with a library.
- Publisher, store or agency with growing lists: LaraPush, for a full panel and flat cost.
- Small WordPress blog, no budget, no iPhone audience: Perfecty Push, after testing it on a staging site.
- In-house dev team with custom needs: web-push libraries plus your own admin.
- Server and uptime alerts for yourself: ntfy.
- Native iOS and Android apps: Gorush.
Still weighing self-hosting against SaaS in general? Our best push notification services and tools roundup covers hosted options too.
Frequently asked questions
For a full marketing dashboard on your own server, LaraPush is built for websites and costs from $499 one-time. Perfecty Push is a free open-source alternative for WordPress, but it hasn’t been tested with recent WordPress releases and doesn’t support Safari or iPhone per its plugin page.
Yes. Perfecty Push, ntfy and Gorush are free and open source, and the web-push libraries let developers build their own sender. Each one solves a different job, and only Perfecty Push gives website owners a ready opt-in and sending dashboard. You still pay for your server.
Mautic is self-hosted marketing automation, but its web notifications use OneSignal by default. You need your own OneSignal account and its service worker, so the push delivery and subscriber handling depend on OneSignal rather than your Mautic server.
Yes, if the software supports Safari web push. iPhone and iPad users on iOS 16.4 or later must add your site to the Home Screen and allow notifications. LaraPush supports iOS Safari web push; Perfecty Push says iOS and Safari aren’t supported yet.
