OneSignal

Overview

OneSignal is a customer messaging platform for teams coordinating campaigns across push, email, in-app and other channels. It is best suited to organizations that need segmentation and automated journeys alongside message delivery. Its free entry point and month-to-month Growth plan lower the barrier to trying it, though channel limits and usage fees deserve close attention as activity grows.

Key features

Campaigns across channels

Mobile and web push, email, in-app messaging, RCS, SMS and Live Activities sit within the same platform. Behavioral triggers, audience segmentation, automation workflows, a visual journey builder and A/B testing make OneSignal more useful for coordinated campaigns than for isolated sends. That range is an advantage for teams spanning several channels; it may be more platform than a business needs if its requirements are limited to one messaging channel.

SDKs cover Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native, Expo and Unity. Integrations connect with analytics services, CDPs, data warehouses and CRMs, while the API provides unlimited message-delivery send access across plans. Mobile analytics and data export are also supported.

Limits and administration

Web push permits up to 10,000 subscribers per send, and the paid-plan comparison sets mobile push at organizations with up to 1,000 monthly active users. Those thresholds matter when estimating whether the lower tiers will serve a growing audience. On Free, subscription records active in the past 18 months are retained.

Permissions range from Admin and Viewer to all roles on higher plans. Security features include GDPR compliance, two-factor authentication, audit logs and security/legal packages. Selected plans add prioritized support, jump-start onboarding and dedicated success management. OneSignal reports 1.3 trillion messages sent yearly, 1.5 billion monthly active users and 200,000 apps powered.

Pricing

OneSignal uses a freemium model. Free costs nothing and is aimed at individuals and organizations getting started. Its comparison allowance is 10,000 email sends, 1,000 monthly active mobile users, three active Journeys, 10,000 web push subscribers per send, six audience segments and six data tags. The general Free-plan description gives a different email allowance of 20,000 free sends per month, followed by $1.50 per 1,000 sends. Confirm which email quota applies before planning around the free tier.

Growth costs $19 a month, billed month-to-month, with usage fees by channel. It is intended for small teams optimizing growth and includes five active Journeys, 20,000 free email sends per month, 10 segments, 10 data tags, 30+ core integrations and 90 days of reporting history. The fixed platform fee is only part of the bill: variable channel usage can add cost. Growth customers can change plans or downgrade to Free at any time without penalty.

Professional has custom volume-based pricing on an annual contract, with volume discounts available. Its 20 active Journeys, 20 segments, 100 data tags, 30+ integrations, one year of reporting history and 60 days of message-event retention suit quickly growing businesses needing more room than Growth. Enterprise also uses an annual contract with custom pricing; it raises the ceilings to unlimited Journeys, segments and data tags, with 30+ integrations, two years of reporting history and 90 days of message-event retention. Those expanded limits suit organizations operating at scale, but require a longer contract commitment.

OneSignal accepts USD payments; some annual customers may pay locally through reseller partners. Billing is handled by Recurly with 128-bit SSL encryption, and billing information is not saved on the site.

Platforms

The platform supports web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Mobile operating-system support covers iOS and Android, with SDKs also available for Flutter, React Native, Expo and Unity.

Who it's for

OneSignal is a strong fit for teams that want to combine push, email and other messaging channels with segmentation, behavioral triggers and journey automation. Free is a practical starting point for small programs that fit its audience and send limits; Growth adds capacity and reporting for small teams willing to monitor usage charges. Businesses that need higher limits, longer reporting histories or extended event retention can consider the custom-priced annual tiers. A team seeking only a single, narrowly defined messaging function may not need this breadth.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Multiple messaging channels, automation and segmentation live in one platform, supporting coordinated campaigns rather than separate channel tools.
• Pros: Growth is month-to-month, and customers can downgrade to Free without penalty, giving smaller teams flexibility as needs change.
• Pros: Unlimited message-delivery API send access across plans keeps API sending available at every tier.
• Cons: The Free email allowance differs between the plan comparison and general plan description, making it important to confirm the applicable quota.
• Cons: Paid plans combine a fixed platform fee with variable channel usage fees, so the $19.00 USD monthly Growth price is not the whole cost.
• Cons: Professional and Enterprise require annual contracts, and their pricing is custom rather than a simple published monthly rate.

Alternatives

Twilio Segment is worth considering when visitor data collection and reverse ETL are the priority: its Free plan includes 1,000 visitors per month and 500,000 Reverse ETL records per month, alongside two sources and 700+ integrations.

Klaviyo may suit a smaller email program: its Free plan allows up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month, plus $5 of mobile messages per month.

Airship Experimentation offers app and web experiences, native UI, automation and real-time orchestration on its self-service Airship Essentials plan.

Cordial is another paid customer journey orchestration option, with a custom enterprise plan.

Pega CRM is a paid web-based alternative with a free trial.

Zeta Marketing Platform is a paid alternative with custom pricing.

Iterable is a paid option for web, iOS and Android.

WebEngage is a paid option for web, iOS and Android.

Explore more options in Customer Journey Orchestration Software, Mobile Marketing Automation Software and Push Notification Software.

Verdict

Choose OneSignal if your team needs cross-channel messaging with segmentation and automated journeys, and wants to begin on Free or a flexible month-to-month plan. Its broad campaign toolkit is the main reason to choose it; variable usage charges, constrained quotas and annual custom-priced upper tiers are the reasons to look elsewhere if you need predictable costs or only one focused messaging capability.