Braze Alternatives: 10 Customer Engagement Platforms

Customer engagement platforms are the engines behind welcome series, abandoned basket reminders and the push notification that brings you back to an app. Braze is one of the best-known names, but plenty of teams find a better fit for their size, channels or data setup.

The ten tools below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order. Every description comes from the tool's own website, read this week. If you're still building your first journeys, my guide to email marketing automation covers the basics that apply on every platform.

Braze alternatives at a glance

In the free plan column, Yes means the tool's own site names a free plan or free tier, Trial only means a time-limited trial and No means neither is stated on the pages read. A few platforms let you start free on push or at low volumes before moving to a contract.

Tool	Type	Good for	Free plan
Airship	Mobile engagement	App-first brands	No
Bloomreach	Commerce personalisation	Retailers with rich product data	No
CleverTap	Retention platform	Consumer apps focused on retention	No
Customer.io	Data-driven messaging	Product teams with event data	No
Insider	Omnichannel engagement	Many channels from one platform	No
Iterable	Cross-channel engagement	Marketing teams running journeys	No
MoEngage	Engagement platform	Brands messaging on WhatsApp and push	No
OneSignal	Push and messaging	Starting push notifications free	Yes
Ortto	Marketing automation	SMB SaaS wanting data and journeys	Trial only
Pushwoosh	Push and omnichannel	Usage-based start	Yes

Ten Braze alternatives to consider

Airship

Best for: App-first brands that want push notifications, in-app messages and no-code mobile experiences managed by marketers rather than developers.

Bloomreach

Best for: Retailers that want email, SMS and on-site personalisation driven by product catalogue and customer data in the same platform.

CleverTap

Best for: Consumer app teams in fintech, gaming and media who care most about lifetime value and retention journeys across app channels.

Customer.io

Best for: SaaS and product teams that want messages triggered by what users do in the product, built on their own event data.

Insider

Best for: Brands that want web, app, email, SMS and WhatsApp journeys run from one engagement platform with AI agents built in.

Iterable

Best for: Growth marketing teams that build cross-channel journeys themselves and want real-time personalisation without engineering help each time.

MoEngage

Best for: Consumer brands in markets where WhatsApp and push matter as much as email, wanting all those channels in one journey builder.

OneSignal

Best for: Startups and app makers who want push notifications and in-app messages running quickly on a free plan, then add channels later.

Ortto

Best for: Smaller SaaS companies that want customer data, journeys and analytics in one tool without the setup of an enterprise platform.

Pushwoosh

Best for: App teams that want to start free on push and pay only as usage grows, rather than signing an annual platform contract.

Consent comes before the first journey

Here's the rule to settle before you build anything. The ICO says you must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent, with a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the soft opt-in.

Any engagement platform will send what you tell it to, so set up consent fields and suppression lists before you build the first journey. Check how each tool stores consent for email, SMS and push separately, because permission for one channel isn't permission for all of them.

Mobile-first, commerce-first or product-first?

Mobile-first platforms grew up around push notifications and in-app messages, so they shine for consumer apps. Commerce-first platforms are built around product catalogues and purchase data, which suits retailers. Product-first platforms trigger messages from what people do inside software, which suits SaaS teams.

Pick the group that matches where your customers spend their time. If your app is the product, mobile depth matters most. If you sell physical products, catalogue data matters most. If you sell software, event tracking and clean product data will decide how good your messages can be.

Planning a calm migration

1. List every live journey, campaign and template you rely on today.
2. Retire anything that hasn't been opened or clicked in months.
3. Map your user data and events to the new platform's structure.
4. Rebuild your most valuable journey first and test it with internal users.
5. Warm up any new sending domains gradually before full volume.
6. Switch channels one at a time and watch delivery closely.

Messages people don't mind getting

• Triggered by behaviour. A message that follows an action feels helpful, not random.
• Capped frequency. Limits stop one person getting five messages in a day.
• Quiet hours. Push and SMS respect time zones and sleep.
• Easy opt-outs. Unsubscribing is simple on every channel.

Measuring what each message earns

Opens alone don't tell you much. Set a goal for each journey, such as a second purchase or a feature used, and compare people who got the message with a small group who didn't. That holdout group is the clearest way to see whether your messages make a difference.

Data first, messages second

The cleverest journey won't work if your data is messy. Before you compare tools, list the events and profile fields you'll need, such as sign-up date, last purchase and preferred channel. If you can't get those into the platform reliably, you'll end up sending generic messages. It isn't glamorous work, but it's the part that decides whether the new platform pays its way.

Do you make a customer engagement or messaging platform? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.

My plain advice on Braze alternatives

Be honest about how many journeys you really run. Many teams pay for a platform built for hundreds of journeys when they use ten. If that's you, a simpler tool with good data connections will feel lighter and get used more.

Then insist on seeing your own data in the trial. A demo with perfect sample data hides the hard part, which is getting your events and profiles in cleanly. For the strategy side, my piece on how AI marketing automation works is a useful next read.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Braze?

It depends on your channels. Mobile-first tools suit apps, commerce-first tools suit retailers and product-first tools suit SaaS.

Is there a free alternative to Braze?

A couple of tools on this list name a free plan or a zero starting tier, and others offer trials.

Do I need consent to send marketing emails?

The ICO says you need specific consent to email or text individuals, with a limited soft opt-in exception for previous customers.

Can these platforms send WhatsApp messages?

Several can. Check whether WhatsApp is included or needs an add-on.

How long does migration take?

A focused team can move core journeys in a few weeks. Complex data setups take longer.

What data do these tools need?

At minimum, user profiles and the key events you want to trigger messages from, plus consent for each channel.