diff --git a/ntfy-daemon/src/subscription.rs b/ntfy-daemon/src/subscription.rs
index 98f6129..d0ca5fe 100644
--- a/ntfy-daemon/src/subscription.rs
+++ b/ntfy-daemon/src/subscription.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use crate::{Error, SharedEnv};
 use tokio::select;
 use tokio::sync::{broadcast, mpsc, oneshot};
 use tokio::task::spawn_local;
+use tokio::time::{interval, Duration};
 use tracing::{debug, error, info, trace, warn};
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
@@ -138,8 +139,15 @@ struct SubscriptionActor {
 
 impl SubscriptionActor {
     async fn run(mut self) {
+        let mut cleanup_timer = interval(Duration::from_secs(3600));
         loop {
             select! {
+                _ = cleanup_timer.tick() => {
+                    if self.model.retention_hours > 0 {
+                        debug!(topic=?self.model.topic, "running retention cleanup");
+                        let _ = self.env.db.cleanup_messages(&self.model.server, &self.model.topic);
+                    }
+                }
                 Ok(event) = self.listener.events.recv() => {
                     debug!(?event, "received listener event");
                     match event {