hushGitHub notification tools compared
Hush next to GitHub’s own notifications, Gitify, Octobox, Graphite, gh-dash, Neat, Notifier for GitHub, and gh-hush: what each one does well, and who should choose which.
Summary
GitHub's own inbox is free and built in, and sorts by time. Other tools add a desktop app (Gitify, Neat), a self-hosted web inbox (Octobox), a terminal view (gh-dash), a toolbar badge (Notifier for GitHub), team code review (Graphite), or a cleanup command (gh-hush). Hush is a web app that sorts GitHub notifications by whose turn it is and pushes only what waits on you.
Each comparison below lists where the other tool is better, where Hush is better, and its sources. We checked every fact on 3 October 2026.
Overview
| Tool | What it is | Price | Open source | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hush | Web app (installable), hosted | Free in beta; planned $3 a month | Yes | A “Needs you” list sorted by whose turn it is, with push alerts |
| GitHub notifications | github.com inbox, GitHub Mobile, email | Included with GitHub | No | Built in; Enterprise Server; native mobile apps |
| Gitify | Desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux) | Free | Yes (MIT) | A local menu bar app; several accounts; Enterprise Server |
| Octobox | Web app, hosted or self-hosted | Free for open source; from $10 per user a month | Yes (AGPL-3.0) | Self-hosting; rich search; an API |
| Graphite | Code review platform (web, CLI, VS Code) | Free; from $20 per user a month | No | Team code review, stacked PRs, merge queue |
| gh-dash | Terminal app (gh CLI extension) | Free | Yes (MIT) | PRs, issues, and notifications in the terminal |
| Neat | macOS menu bar app | Free | No | Mac menu bar alerts, with local data; Linear too |
| Notifier for GitHub | Browser extension (Chrome, Firefox) | Free | Yes (MIT) | An unread count on the toolbar, and nothing more |
| gh-hush | Command-line tool (gh CLI extension) | Free | Yes (MIT) | Clearing noise from GitHub’s inbox with rules, on demand |
How to choose
- You use GitHub Enterprise Server: GitHub's own notifications, Gitify, Octobox (self-hosted), Notifier for GitHub, or Graphite (Enterprise plan). Hush works only with github.com.
- You want a native desktop app: Gitify (macOS, Windows, Linux) or Neat (macOS).
- You want nothing on a third-party server: GitHub's own notifications, Gitify, Neat, gh-dash, Notifier for GitHub, gh-hush, or a self-hosted Octobox.
- You work in the terminal: gh-dash, or gh-hush to clean your inbox.
- Your team wants a new code review flow: Graphite.
- You want one short list of what waits on you, with push on your phone: Hush.
Other tools
We did not write a full comparison for these, because they do a different job or are no longer updated:
- DevHub: columns of GitHub notifications and activity. Its last release was v0.102.0, in December 2020, and its last commit in September 2024.
- SignalBox: alerts for GitHub Actions, pull requests, issues, Vercel, and Linear, on the web, macOS, and iOS. You subscribe to the items you want. Closed source.
- Volta: an open-source (MIT) web inbox for open-source maintainers, with optional AI features. It syncs through a GitHub App.
- Gitmore: AI summaries of a team's commits and pull requests, sent to Slack, email, or Microsoft Teams. It does not triage your own notifications.
- Axolo and PullFlow: pull request conversations in Slack (and VS Code, for PullFlow), for teams.
- Meteorite: a web app that scores notifications by importance. Its last commit was in March 2023.
Last checked: 3 October 2026.