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Comparison · Comms
Apprise vs Maddy
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Apprise and Maddy — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Apprise vs Maddy: at a glance
What is Apprise?
Apprise 2 is out: notify() returns a result object, and 2.1 takes the catalog to 170 services.
Apprise, the Python notification library, shipped v2.0.0 on 26 September after closing out the v1 line. notify() now returns an AppriseResult with per-service status, including new PARTIAL and TIMEOUT states, and v2 adds template variables for secrets, tag priorities with escalation, retries, timeouts and multiple body formats per service. v2.0.1 fixed markdown handling and v2.1.0 added 12 services, for 170 in total.
What is Maddy?
maddy's latest release is a security fix, five months after its last feature work.
maddy is an all-in-one Go mail server for SMTP and IMAP. Its most recent release, 0.9.6 in October, requires explicit trust for PROXY protocol headers and closes an auth misconfiguration that could skip password checks. Before that, the 0.9 line ran from March to May: no-downtime config reload in 0.9.0, an LDAP injection fix, and removal of long-deprecated commands.
Apprise vs Maddy: editorial side-by-side
Apprise
5.0COMMS
Apprise 2 is out: notify() returns a result object, and 2.1 takes the catalog to 170 services.
◆ Current state
Apprise, the Python notification library, shipped v2.0.0 on 26 September after closing out the v1 line. notify() now returns an AppriseResult with per-service status, including new PARTIAL and TIMEOUT states, and v2 adds template variables for secrets, tag priorities with escalation, retries, timeouts and multiple body formats per service. v2.0.1 fixed markdown handling and v2.1.0 added 12 services, for 170 in total.
◆ Where it's heading
The v2 break was about making delivery observable and controllable, building on the weighted tags of v1.11. Since then the project is back to its usual rhythm of community service additions and fixes, with v1 maintained on a separate branch.
◆ Prediction
Expect v2.x releases of the same shape, new services plus fixes, with more v2-era adoption fixes for embedders moving off v1.
Maddy
0.0COMMS
maddy's latest release is a security fix, five months after its last feature work.
◆ Current state
maddy is an all-in-one Go mail server for SMTP and IMAP. Its most recent release, 0.9.6 in October, requires explicit trust for PROXY protocol headers and closes an auth misconfiguration that could skip password checks. Before that, the 0.9 line ran from March to May: no-downtime config reload in 0.9.0, an LDAP injection fix, and removal of long-deprecated commands.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is moving from convenient defaults to safer ones, accepting breaking changes on the way. Older conveniences such as SASL LOGIN, STARTTLS plaintext fallback and the maddyctl symlink have been removed, and 0.9.1 flagged several DNS providers for removal in 0.10.0. Two of the last four releases were security fixes.
◆ Prediction
0.10.0 is scoped by the deprecations announced in 0.9.1: expect the flagged DNS providers to go and gandi to require Bearer tokens. The five-month gap gives no date for it.
Alternatives to Apprise and Maddy
Other Comms products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Apprise or Maddy.
Grain
Grain adds consent controls and rule-based privacy as its meeting data reaches more AI tools.
Converse.js
Converse.js 14.0.1 fixes OMEMO:2 group decryption broken by Chromium 153.
Element iOS
Element Classic now asks its own users to move to Element X, if their server opts in.
Brosix
Brosix follows its communities launch with a referral push and a private-room how-to.
VerneMQ
VerneMQ follows its year-in-the-making 2.2.0 with a quick round of subscription fixes.
See all Apprise alternatives → · See all Maddy alternatives →
Recent activity from Apprise and Maddy
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 9d agoAppriseApprise 2.1.0 adds 12 notification services
- 1mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.6 fixes PROXY trust and auth bypass misconfig
- 1mo agoApprisev2.0.1: markdown handling fixes after v2.0.0
- 1mo agoAppriseApprise 2.0: notify() returns per-service results
- 2mo agoAppriseFinal v1.x patch: attachment fix and two more services
- 2mo agoAppriseLast release of the v1.x line — pin before v2 breaks ⚡
- 4mo agoApprisePast 150 services, with HTML-to-Markdown conversion built in
- 5mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.5 fixes nested pipeline logging and systemd reload reporting
- 6mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.4 removes the maddyctl symlink and implicit run command
- 6mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.3 patches an LDAP injection flaw in auth.ldap
- 7mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.2 fixes an rspamd panic on unspecified tls_client
- 7mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.1 flags libdns providers for removal in 0.10.0
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Apprise and Maddy?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Apprise is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Apprise better than Maddy?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Apprise is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Comms products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Apprise?
Top Apprise alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Apprise alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/apprise for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Maddy?
Top Maddy alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Maddy alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/maddy for the full list with editorial commentary on each.