Spaces:
Paused
Paused
| Title: FAQs - ntfy | |
| URL Source: https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq | |
| Markdown Content: | |
| Frequently asked questions (FAQ)[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#frequently-asked-questions-faq "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Isn't this like ...?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#isnt-this-like "Permanent link") | |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Who knows. I didn't do a lot of research before making this. It was fun making it. | |
| Can I use this in my app? Will it stay free?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#can-i-use-this-in-my-app-will-it-stay-free "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Yes. As long as you don't abuse it, it'll be available and free of charge. While I will always allow usage of the ntfy.sh server without signup and free of charge, I may also offer paid plans in the future. | |
| What are the uptime guarantees?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#what-are-the-uptime-guarantees "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |
| Best effort. | |
| ntfy currently runs on a single DigitalOcean droplet, without any scale out strategy or redundancies. When the time comes, I'll add scale out features, but for now it is what it is. | |
| In the first year of its life, and to this day (Dec'22), ntfy had **no outages** that I can remember. Other than short blips and some HTTP 500 spikes, it has been rock solid. | |
| There is a [status page](https://ntfy.statuspage.io/) which is updated based on some automated checks via the amazingly awesome [healthchecks.io](https://healthchecks.io/) (_no affiliation, just a fan_). | |
| What happens if there are multiple subscribers to the same topic?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#what-happens-if-there-are-multiple-subscribers-to-the-same-topic "Permanent link") | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| As per usual with pub-sub, all subscribers receive notifications if they are subscribed to a topic. | |
| Will you know what topics exist, can you spy on me?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#will-you-know-what-topics-exist-can-you-spy-on-me "Permanent link") | |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| If you don't trust me or your messages are sensitive, run your own server. It's open source. That said, the logs do contain topic names and IP addresses, but I don't use them for anything other than troubleshooting and rate limiting. Messages are cached for the duration configured in `server.yml` (12h by default) to facilitate service restarts, message polling and to overcome client network disruptions. | |
| Can I self-host it?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#can-i-self-host-it "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |
| Yes. The server (including this Web UI) can be self-hosted, and the Android/iOS app supports adding topics from your own server as well. Check out the [install instructions](https://docs.ntfy.sh/install/). | |
| Is Firebase used?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#is-firebase-used "Permanent link") | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| In addition to caching messages locally and delivering them to long-polling subscribers, all messages are also published to Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) (if `FirebaseKeyFile` is set, which it is on ntfy.sh). This is to facilitate notifications on Android. | |
| If you do not care for Firebase, I suggest you install the [F-Droid version](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/io.heckel.ntfy/) of the app and [self-host your own ntfy server](https://docs.ntfy.sh/install/). | |
| How much battery does the Android app use?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#how-much-battery-does-the-android-app-use "Permanent link") | |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| If you use the ntfy.sh server, and you don't use the [instant delivery](https://docs.ntfy.sh/subscribe/phone/#instant-delivery) feature, the Android/iOS app uses no additional battery, since Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) is used. If you use your own server, or you use _instant delivery_ (Android only), or install from F-droid ([which does not support FCM](https://f-droid.org/docs/Inclusion_Policy/)), the app has to maintain a constant connection to the server, which consumes about 0-1% of battery in 17h of use (on my phone). There has been a ton of testing and improvement around this. I think it's pretty decent now. | |
| Paid plans? I thought it was open source?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#paid-plans-i-thought-it-was-open-source "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| All of ntfy will remain open source, with a free software license (Apache 2.0 and GPLv2). If you'd like to self-host, you can (and should do that). The paid plans I am offering are for people that do not want to self-host, and/or need higher limits. | |
| What is instant delivery?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#what-is-instant-delivery "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |
| [Instant delivery](https://docs.ntfy.sh/subscribe/phone/#instant-delivery) is a feature in the Android app. If turned on, the app maintains a constant connection to the server and listens for incoming notifications. This consumes additional battery (see above), but delivers notifications instantly. | |
| Can you implement feature X?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#can-you-implement-feature-x "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |
| Yes, maybe. Check out [existing GitHub issues](https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy/issues) to see if somebody else had the same idea before you, or file a new issue. I'll likely get back to you within a few days. | |
| I'm having issues with iOS, can you help? The iOS app is behind compared to the Android app, can you fix that?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#im-having-issues-with-ios-can-you-help-the-ios-app-is-behind-compared-to-the-android-app-can-you-fix-that "Permanent link") | |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| The iOS is very bare bones and quite frankly a little buggy. I wanted to get something out the door to make the iOS users happy, but halfway through I got frustrated with iOS development and paused development. I will eventually get back to it, or hopefully, somebody else will come along and help out. Please review the [known issues](https://docs.ntfy.sh/known-issues/) for details. | |
| Can I disable the web app? Can I protect it with a login screen?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#can-i-disable-the-web-app-can-i-protect-it-with-a-login-screen "Permanent link") | |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| The web app is a static website without a backend (other than the ntfy API). All data is stored locally in the browser cache and local storage. That means it does not need to be protected with a login screen, and it poses no additional security risk. So technically, it does not need to be disabled. | |
| However, if you still want to disable it, you can do so with the `web-root: disable` option in the `server.yml` file. | |
| Think of the ntfy web app like an Android/iOS app. It is freely available and accessible to anyone, yet useless without a proper backend. So as long as you secure your backend with ACLs, exposing the ntfy web app to the Internet is harmless. | |
| If topic names are public, could I not just brute force them?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#if-topic-names-are-public-could-i-not-just-brute-force-them "Permanent link") | |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| If you don't have [ACLs set up](https://docs.ntfy.sh/config/#access-control), the topic name is your password, it says so everywhere. If you choose a easy-to-guess/dumb topic name, people will be able to guess it. If you choose a randomly generated topic name, the topic is as good as a good password. | |
| As for brute forcing: It's not possible to brute force a ntfy server for very long, as you'll get quickly rate limited. In the default configuration, you'll be able to do 60 requests as a burst, and then 1 request per 10 seconds. Assuming you choose a random 10 digit topic name using only A-Z, a-z, 0-9, _ and -, there are 64^10 possible topic names. Even if you could do hundreds of requests per seconds (which you cannot), it would take many years to brute force a topic name. | |
| For ntfy.sh, there's even a fail2ban in place which will ban your IP pretty quickly. | |
| Where can I donate?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#where-can-i-donate "Permanent link") | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |
| I have just very recently started accepting donations via [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/binwiederhier). I would be humbled if you helped me carry the server and developer account costs. Even small donations are very much appreciated. | |
| Can I email you? Can I DM you on Discord/Matrix?[¶](https://docs.ntfy.sh/faq#can-i-email-you-can-i-dm-you-on-discordmatrix "Permanent link") | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| While I love chatting on [Discord](https://discord.gg/cT7ECsZj9w), [Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/#ntfy-space:matrix.org), [Lemmy](https://discuss.ntfy.sh/c/ntfy), or [GitHub](https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy/issues), I generally **do not respond to emails about ntfy or direct messages** about ntfy, unless you are paying for a [ntfy Pro](https://ntfy.sh/#pricing) plan, or you are inquiring about business opportunities. | |
| I am sorry, but answering individual questions about ntfy on a 1-on-1 basis is not scalable. Answering your questions in the above-mentioned forums benefits others, since I can link to the discussion at a later point in time, or other users may be able to help out. I hope you understand. | |