# MagicBell vs ntfy

> ntfy scores 61.5 (C) on agent readiness against MagicBell's 58.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. MagicBell leads on schema & documentation and security & auth. Both do notify push. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-ntfy
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-ntfy.md (~2,100 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-ntfy.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-ntfy.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

ntfy scores 61.5 (C) on agent readiness against MagicBell's 58.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. MagicBell leads on schema & documentation and security & auth. Both do notify push.

- MagicBell: grade C, 58.8/100, rank #515 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/magicbell.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/magicbell.json
- ntfy: grade C, 61.5/100, rank #420 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ntfy.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ntfy.json

## Which one, for what

### MagicBell (C)

Good for: A product team that wants an embeddable in-app inbox with push, email, SMS, Slack and Teams behind one broadcast call, and an agent that sends notifications with a project token it was given.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 68 against 53
- Security & auth, 50 against 38

Watch for: No batching or digest step found. Workflows have four commands (broadcast, wait, pause, abort)

### ntfy (C)

Good for: An agent that has to reach its own operator or a small team on their phones with no setup.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 75
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 35
- Maintenance & community, 67 against 49
- Transparency & trust, 78 against 58

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: Unreserved topics on ntfy.sh can be read and written by anyone who knows the name


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MagicBell | ntfy | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 83 | ntfy +8 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 53 | MagicBell +15 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 66 | ntfy +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 50 | 38 | MagicBell +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 50 | ntfy +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 67 | ntfy +18 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 78 | ntfy +20 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **58.8 · C** | **61.5 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MagicBell | ntfy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | MagicBell, Inc. | ntfy |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.magicbell.com/v2` | `https://ntfy.sh` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under MagicBell's terms. The Go client and the CLI are MIT. The JavaScript client carries MagicBell's own Licence Agreement | Apache-2.0 and GPL-2.0 (dual) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-07-29 | 2026-08-27 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-01-26 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-06-15 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 31 stars, 49k npm/wk | 34k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 4/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**MagicBell.** A public OpenAPI 3.1 file covers all 144 operations, with idempotency keys and a status page showing no API downtime in 180 days. No batching or digest step, llms.txt, error code list, SLA or sub-processor list was found, and project tokens carry no scopes.

**ntfy.** Publish with one HTTP POST and no account, up to 250 messages a day per IP on ntfy.sh. Unreserved topics on ntfy.sh can be read and written by anyone who knows the name.

## Before you call either

### MagicBell

1. Ask the owner for a Project JWT from the dashboard's Project Auth page. The terms forbid accounts registered by automated methods
2. Send `Idempotency-Key` with a UUID on `POST /v2/broadcasts`, and reuse it on a retry within 24 hours
3. Stay under 500 requests a minute per IP. A 429 blocks the address for 60 seconds, so put many recipients in one broadcast
4. Use a Project JWT for broadcasts, users, integrations and workflows, and a User JWT for one user's inbox, tokens and preferences
5. Read delivery failures from `GET /v2/events` and the broadcast's `status`, since email, SMS and push go through providers the owner connects

### ntfy

1. Use a long random topic name, or a reserved topic with a Bearer token
2. Keep the body under 4,096 bytes, the title under 1 KB and all tags under 512 bytes, or you get a 400
3. Don't blind-retry a publish. There's no idempotency key, so the person gets it twice
4. Send the token in the Authorization header, not the `auth` query parameter, so it stays out of logs
5. Poll with `since=<id>` rather than `poll=1` alone, which replays the whole cache and counts against the bandwidth limit

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, MagicBell or ntfy?

ntfy scores 61.5 (C) on agent readiness against MagicBell's 58.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. MagicBell leads on schema & documentation and security & auth.

### Do MagicBell and ntfy need an API key?

MagicBell needs an API key. ntfy takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call MagicBell and ntfy without installing anything?

Yes. MagicBell has a hosted endpoint at https://api.magicbell.com/v2 and ntfy at https://ntfy.sh.

### Are MagicBell and ntfy open source?

No open-source release is listed for MagicBell. ntfy is open source (Apache-2.0 and GPL-2.0 (dual)).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-ntfy.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-ntfy.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "magicbell", "b": "ntfy"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare magicbell ntfy`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/magicbell.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ntfy.json

## Other comparisons with MagicBell or ntfy

- [Amazon SNS vs MagicBell](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-sns-vs-magicbell.md)
- [Amazon SNS vs ntfy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-sns-vs-ntfy.md)
- [Courier vs MagicBell](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/courier-vs-magicbell.md)
- [Courier vs ntfy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/courier-vs-ntfy.md)
- [Firebase Cloud Messaging vs MagicBell](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firebase-cloud-messaging-vs-magicbell.md)
- [Firebase Cloud Messaging vs ntfy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firebase-cloud-messaging-vs-ntfy.md)
- [Knock vs MagicBell](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/knock-vs-magicbell.md)
- [Knock vs ntfy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/knock-vs-ntfy.md)
- [MagicBell vs Novu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-novu.md)
- [MagicBell vs OneSignal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-onesignal.md)
- [MagicBell vs Pushover](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-pushover.md)
- [MagicBell vs SuprSend](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-suprsend.md)
- [Novu vs ntfy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novu-vs-ntfy.md)
- [ntfy vs OneSignal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ntfy-vs-onesignal.md)
- [ntfy vs Pushover](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ntfy-vs-pushover.md)
- [ntfy vs SuprSend](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ntfy-vs-suprsend.md)