diff --git a/app/activitypub/util.py b/app/activitypub/util.py
index 4337892f..78fa99ee 100644
--- a/app/activitypub/util.py
+++ b/app/activitypub/util.py
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ import pytesseract
 from app.utils import get_request, allowlist_html, get_setting, ap_datetime, markdown_to_html, \
     is_image_url, domain_from_url, gibberish, ensure_directory_exists, markdown_to_text, head_request, post_ranking, \
     shorten_string, reply_already_exists, reply_is_just_link_to_gif_reaction, confidence, remove_tracking_from_link, \
-    blocked_phrases, microblog_content_to_title, generate_image_from_video_url, is_video_url, reply_is_stupid
+    blocked_phrases, microblog_content_to_title, generate_image_from_video_url, is_video_url, reply_is_stupid, \
+    notification_subscribers, communities_banned_from
 
 
 def public_key():
@@ -1524,7 +1525,8 @@ def create_post(activity_log: ActivityPubLog, community: Community, request_json
                     post.cross_posts.append(op.id)
             db.session.commit()
 
-        notify_about_post(post)
+        if post.community_id not in communities_banned_from(user.id):
+            notify_about_post(post)
 
         if user.reputation > 100:
             post.up_votes += 1
@@ -1537,20 +1539,12 @@ def create_post(activity_log: ActivityPubLog, community: Community, request_json
 def notify_about_post(post: Post):
     # todo: eventually this function could trigger a lot of DB activity. This function will need to be a celery task.
 
-    # Send notifications based on subscriptions to the author
+    # Send notifications based on subscriptions
     notifications_sent_to = set()
-    for notify_id in post.author.notification_subscribers():
-        if notify_id != post.user_id:
-            new_notification = Notification(title=shorten_string(post.title, 50), url=f"/post/{post.id}",
-                                            user_id=notify_id, author_id=post.user_id)
-            db.session.add(new_notification)
-            user = User.query.get(notify_id)
-            user.unread_notifications += 1
-            db.session.commit()
-            notifications_sent_to.add(notify_id)
-
-    # Send notifications based on subscriptions to the community
-    for notify_id in post.community.notification_subscribers():
+    send_notifs_to = set(notification_subscribers(post.author_id, NOTIF_USER) +
+                         notification_subscribers(post.community_id, NOTIF_COMMUNITY) +
+                         notification_subscribers(post.community.topic_id, NOTIF_TOPIC))
+    for notify_id in send_notifs_to:
         if notify_id != post.user_id and notify_id not in notifications_sent_to:
             new_notification = Notification(title=shorten_string(post.title, 50), url=f"/post/{post.id}",
                                             user_id=notify_id, author_id=post.user_id)
@@ -1558,6 +1552,7 @@ def notify_about_post(post: Post):
             user = User.query.get(notify_id)
             user.unread_notifications += 1
             db.session.commit()
+            notifications_sent_to.add(notify_id)
 
 
 def update_post_reply_from_activity(reply: PostReply, request_json: dict):
diff --git a/app/community/routes.py b/app/community/routes.py
index 6c7051a3..4b825920 100644
--- a/app/community/routes.py
+++ b/app/community/routes.py
@@ -497,7 +497,8 @@ def add_discussion_post(actor):
         db.session.commit()
 
         upvote_own_post(post)
-        notify_about_post(post)
+        if not post.community.user_is_banned(current_user):
+            notify_about_post(post)
 
         if not community.local_only:
             federate_post(community, post)
diff --git a/app/models.py b/app/models.py
index f3f0db7f..5736bf17 100644
--- a/app/models.py
+++ b/app/models.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import jwt
 import os
 
 from app.constants import SUBSCRIPTION_NONMEMBER, SUBSCRIPTION_MEMBER, SUBSCRIPTION_MODERATOR, SUBSCRIPTION_OWNER, \
-    SUBSCRIPTION_BANNED, SUBSCRIPTION_PENDING, NOTIF_USER, NOTIF_COMMUNITY
+    SUBSCRIPTION_BANNED, SUBSCRIPTION_PENDING, NOTIF_USER, NOTIF_COMMUNITY, NOTIF_TOPIC
 
 
 # datetime.utcnow() is depreciated in Python 3.12 so it will need to be swapped out eventually
@@ -327,6 +327,14 @@ class Topic(db.Model):
         return_value = list(reversed(return_value))
         return '/'.join(return_value)
 
+    def notify_new_posts(self, user_id: int) -> bool:
+        existing_notification = NotificationSubscription.query.filter(NotificationSubscription.entity_id == self.id,
+                                                                      NotificationSubscription.user_id == user_id,
+                                                                      NotificationSubscription.type == NOTIF_TOPIC).first()
+        return existing_notification is not None
+
+
+
 
 class Community(db.Model):
     query_class = FullTextSearchQuery
@@ -476,14 +484,9 @@ class Community(db.Model):
             return False
 
     def user_is_banned(self, user):
-        membership = CommunityMember.query.filter(CommunityMember.community_id == self.id, CommunityMember.user_id == user.id).first()
-        if membership and membership.is_banned:
-            return True
-        banned = CommunityBan.query.filter(CommunityBan.community_id == self.id, CommunityBan.user_id == user.id).first()
-        if banned:
-            return True
-        return False
-
+        # use communities_banned_from() instead of this method, where possible. Redis caches the result of communities_banned_from()
+        community_bans = CommunityBan.query.filter(CommunityBan.user_id == user.id).all()
+        return self.id in [cb.community_id for cb in community_bans]
 
     def profile_id(self):
         retval = self.ap_profile_id if self.ap_profile_id else f"https://{current_app.config['SERVER_NAME']}/c/{self.name}"
diff --git a/app/templates/topic/_notification_toggle.html b/app/templates/topic/_notification_toggle.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c39105cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/templates/topic/_notification_toggle.html
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<a href="/topic/{{ topic.id }}/notification" rel="nofollow" aria-live="assertive"
+   aria-label="{{ 'Notify about new posts in this topic' if topic.notify_new_posts(current_user.id) else 'Do not notify about new posts' }}"
+class="fe {{ 'fe-bell' if topic.notify_new_posts(current_user.id) else 'fe-no-bell' }} no-underline"
+hx-post="/topic/{{ topic.id }}/notification" hx-trigger="click throttle:1s" hx-swap="outerHTML"
+title="{{ _('Notify about every new post. Not advisable in high traffic topics!') }}"></a>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/templates/topic/show_topic.html b/app/templates/topic/show_topic.html
index 9531c9a1..de8761fd 100644
--- a/app/templates/topic/show_topic.html
+++ b/app/templates/topic/show_topic.html
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
           </ol>
         </nav>
         <h1 class="mt-2">{{ topic.name }}
+            {% if current_user.is_authenticated %}
+                {% include 'topic/_notification_toggle.html' %}
+            {% endif %}
         </h1>
         {% if sub_topics %}
         <h5 class="mb-0" id="sub-topics">{{ _('Sub-topics') }}</h5>
diff --git a/app/topic/routes.py b/app/topic/routes.py
index a3f16806..9ad33bcb 100644
--- a/app/topic/routes.py
+++ b/app/topic/routes.py
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@ from flask_babel import _
 from sqlalchemy import text, desc, or_
 
 from app.activitypub.signature import post_request
-from app.constants import SUBSCRIPTION_NONMEMBER, SUBSCRIPTION_OWNER, SUBSCRIPTION_MODERATOR, POST_TYPE_IMAGE, POST_TYPE_LINK, POST_TYPE_VIDEO
+from app.constants import SUBSCRIPTION_NONMEMBER, SUBSCRIPTION_OWNER, SUBSCRIPTION_MODERATOR, POST_TYPE_IMAGE, \
+    POST_TYPE_LINK, POST_TYPE_VIDEO, NOTIF_TOPIC
 from app.inoculation import inoculation
-from app.models import Topic, Community, Post, utcnow, CommunityMember, CommunityJoinRequest, User
+from app.models import Topic, Community, Post, utcnow, CommunityMember, CommunityJoinRequest, User, \
+    NotificationSubscription
 from app.topic import bp
 from app import db, celery, cache
 from app.topic.forms import ChooseTopicsForm
@@ -206,6 +208,26 @@ def topic_create_post(topic_name):
                            SUBSCRIPTION_OWNER=SUBSCRIPTION_OWNER, SUBSCRIPTION_MODERATOR=SUBSCRIPTION_MODERATOR)
 
 
+@bp.route('/topic/<int:topic_id>/notification', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
+@login_required
+def topic_notification(topic_id: int):
+    # Toggle whether the current user is subscribed to notifications about this community's posts or not
+    topic = Topic.query.get_or_404(topic_id)
+    existing_notification = NotificationSubscription.query.filter(NotificationSubscription.entity_id == topic.id,
+                                                                  NotificationSubscription.user_id == current_user.id,
+                                                                  NotificationSubscription.type == NOTIF_TOPIC).first()
+    if existing_notification:
+        db.session.delete(existing_notification)
+        db.session.commit()
+    else:  # no subscription yet, so make one
+        new_notification = NotificationSubscription(name=topic.name, user_id=current_user.id, entity_id=topic.id,
+                                                    type=NOTIF_TOPIC)
+        db.session.add(new_notification)
+        db.session.commit()
+
+    return render_template('topic/_notification_toggle.html', topic=topic)
+
+
 def topics_for_form():
     topics = Topic.query.filter_by(parent_id=None).order_by(Topic.name).all()
     result = []
diff --git a/app/utils.py b/app/utils.py
index e33f0548..e5e52fe9 100644
--- a/app/utils.py
+++ b/app/utils.py
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ def community_membership(user: User, community: Community) -> int:
 
 
 @cache.memoize(timeout=86400)
-def communities_banned_from(user_id) -> List[int]:
+def communities_banned_from(user_id: int) -> List[int]:
     community_bans = CommunityBan.query.filter(CommunityBan.user_id == user_id).all()
     return [cb.community_id for cb in community_bans]
 
@@ -710,6 +710,11 @@ def finalize_user_setup(user, application_required=False):
     send_welcome_email(user, application_required)
 
 
+def notification_subscribers(entity_id, entity_type) -> List[int]:
+    return list(db.session.execute(text('SELECT user_id FROM "notification_subscription" WHERE entity_id = :community_id AND type = :type '),
+                                  {'community_id': entity_id, 'type': entity_type}).scalars())
+
+
 # topics, in a tree
 def topic_tree() -> List:
     topics = Topic.query.order_by(Topic.name)