OneSignal alternatives: 11 push and engagement tools

Who this is for: app and web growth teams

Product and growth marketers at app and web businesses who send web and mobile push notifications to bring people back: a nudge about an abandoned basket, news of a feature, a reason to open the app again. If you're comparing this with my broader list of push services, the difference is the reader. This one is for the person who owns retention numbers and has to choose a platform the whole team will live in.

OneSignal sits in the push and customer messaging category. I've kept to what each alternative says about itself on its own site, and I haven't sent campaigns through them, so treat this as a shortlist.

What web push is, in one line

Before comparing anything: the W3C's Push API specification describes a way to send a push message to a web application through a push service. That shared plumbing is why the differences between vendors show up in targeting, timing, reporting and the other channels around push.

Grouping the alternatives by the job you need done

Push first. Aimtell and PushEngage name push on their home pages, the first for web push across major browsers, the second for web and app push plus in-app and WhatsApp. Audience re-engagement. iZooto and Wingify Engage talk about engaging users and bringing visitors back, but their home page wording doesn't mention push, so confirm push support on their sites.

Cross-channel engagement. Airship, Braze, CleverTap and Iterable describe themselves as customer engagement or experience platforms without listing channels in their home page wording, so check push coverage before you shortlist them. Batch and Customer.io, also engagement platforms, name push next to email and SMS.

Notifications built into your product. Courier is the one to look at if your product team wants one place to send notifications across email, push, SMS and Slack, with journeys and preferences included.

OneSignal alternatives compared

A quick view, in no particular order, using each vendor's own description of what it does.

Tool	Category	Main job
Aimtell	Web push tool	Re-engaging website visitors on major browsers
Airship	Mobile-first customer experience platform	Unified cross-channel experiences, mobile first
Batch	Customer engagement platform	Email, SMS and push with AI decisioning
Braze	Customer engagement platform	Real-time interactions between brands and customers
CleverTap	Customer engagement platform	Personalised messaging and automated campaigns
Courier	Multichannel notification platform	Product notifications with journeys and preferences
Customer.io	Customer engagement platform	Journeys across email, push, SMS and in-app
Iterable	AI customer engagement platform	Real-time responses using unified customer data
iZooto	Audience marketing platform	Engaging users across devices, with ad options
PushEngage	Push and in-app messaging	Cart recovery and repeat sales for retention teams
Wingify Engage	Visitor re-engagement tool	Bringing drop-off visitors back to your site

Eleven OneSignal alternatives, alphabetically

One line each. The order is alphabetical, not a ranking.

Aimtell

Best for: Website owners who want targeted web push to re-engage visitors across Safari, Firefox and Chrome.

Airship

Best for: Mobile-led brands that want what the vendor calls a mobile-first customer experience platform, with AI-powered, unified cross-channel experiences.

Batch

Best for: Marketers who want email, SMS and push in one platform, with AI decisioning to personalise and automate campaigns.

Braze

Best for: Brands that want what the vendor describes as real-time, customer-centric interactions between consumers and brands.

CleverTap

Best for: Growth teams wanting personalised messaging and automated campaigns from an all-in-one engagement platform.

Courier

Best for: Product teams sending notifications across email, push, SMS and Slack, with journeys and user preferences included.

Customer.io

Best for: Marketers building personalised journeys that mix email, push, SMS and in-app messages.

Iterable

Best for: Brands that want an AI engagement platform responding in real time from unified customer data.

iZooto

Best for: Sites that want to engage and keep users across devices and monetise their audience with ads.

PushEngage

Best for: Retention teams that want web push, app push, in-app messages and WhatsApp to recover carts and grow repeat sales.

Wingify Engage

Best for: Websites losing visitors who drop off, where the aim is to bring them back to the site.

Questions to settle before you migrate subscribers

• Can you move existing web push subscribers, or will people need to opt in again on the new tool? Ask the vendor directly.
• Do you need mobile app push, web push or both?
• Who builds the campaigns: a marketer in a visual editor or a developer through an API?
• Which other channels do you want in the same place: email, SMS, in-app or WhatsApp?
• What reporting will you show the rest of the business each month?

That last one gets skipped more than any other, and it's the one that decides whether the tool survives its first renewal. If nobody can see what push is doing for retention, the renewal conversation goes badly.

My advice for growth teams leaving OneSignal

Be honest about how many channels you'll use over the coming months. If push is the job, a push-first tool keeps setup light and the team focused. If you already send email and SMS from separate tools and want one journey across them, a wider engagement platform will save more time than it takes to learn. Run a small test segment before moving everyone, because a badly timed first message from a new tool is the fastest way to lose subscribers.

If SMS is part of the plan, my guide to SMS marketing software goes deeper on texting, and the round-up of customer engagement platforms covers the bigger suites in more detail.

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

Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between web push and app push?

Web push reaches people through their browser after they've allowed notifications from your site. App push reaches people who've installed your mobile app. Some tools here focus on one, others handle both, so check before you switch.

Can I keep my existing subscribers if I leave OneSignal?

It depends on the tools and how your subscriptions were set up. Ask the new vendor what migration it supports before you cancel anything, and plan for some people needing to opt in again.

Is a push-first tool enough for a small app business?

Often, yes. If push is your main reason to message people, a push-first tool keeps setup simple. Move to a wider platform when you need joined-up journeys across email, SMS and in-app.

How does web push work behind the scenes?

The W3C's Push API describes how a push message is sent to a web application through a push service. The tools on this list sit on top of that and add targeting, timing and reporting.