OneSignal
A leading omnichannel engagement platform specializing in push notifications and multi-channel messaging
Best for small and mid-market publishers.
Summary review · Last verified Oct 19, 2026 · Scored on 10 criteria · Vendors can't pay for scores
Research by Vahe Arabian · Scored and edited by the SODP team
Key facts
- Score
- 3.9 / 5
- Tier
- Strong Choice
- Pricing model
- Free plan (10,000 web push subscribers…
- Type
- Push notification platform
- Hosting
- SaaS
- Publishers using it
- 61
- Founded
- 2014
- HQ
- San Mateo, United States
- Headcount
- 167
At a glance
- OneSignal scores 3.9/5 (Strong Choice) in Benchmark Grid's independent push notification services benchmark, assessed on 10 published criteria.
- It is built for small and mid-market publishers.
- Strongest on Platform coverage (4.8) and Targeting & segmentation (4.7); weakest on Monetisation (0.8).
- Pricing: Free plan (10,000 web push subscribers per send, 1,000 mobile MAU); Growth from $19/month plus usage; Professional and Enterprise are custo…
- 61 publishers in our tracking use OneSignal, from ads.txt files, page code and public case studies.
- Scores last verified 19 Oct 2026. Vendors cannot pay for a score or a position.
Summary
Editor's update, October 2026: 19 Oct 2026 accuracy audit: pricing updated (Growth from $19/mo; Professional now custom annual), removed $99 Professional references.
OneSignal provides a robust omnichannel platform for web push, mobile, and SMS engagement. It is ideal for publishers and small-to-mid-market businesses seeking developer-friendly notification solutions.
OneSignal is an omnichannel engagement platform widely recognized for its dominance in the push notification space. Serving a diverse range of clients from small publishers to mid-market enterprises, it provides a unified hub for managing web push, mobile push, in-app messaging, email, and SMS. Its developer-friendly architecture and extensive documentation make it a preferred choice for organizations looking to integrate sophisticated communication workflows quickly without high technical overhead.
The platform’s core strengths lie in its automation and AI-driven features. Tools such as Intelligent Delivery and auto-segmentation are designed to optimize open rates by reaching users at the most effective times. For publishers, the RSS-to-push automation and category-based opt-in prompts are particularly valuable, allowing for streamlined content distribution and precise reader preference alignment that can drive higher engagement for specific news beats or topics.
However, there are notable constraints regarding cost and feature availability at scale. While the free tier is an excellent starting point for new publishers, it lacks many of the advanced features found in higher-tier plans. As subscriber bases grow and multi-channel needs expand, the pricing can become a significant consideration: Growth is billed per web push subscriber and mobile MAU, and the Professional tier, which unlocks more journeys, segments and longer reporting, moves to a custom annual contract.
Score breakdown
3.9 = 0.45 × 4.12 capability + 0.40 × 4.00 publisher fit + 0.15 × 3.30 cost
Σ (criterion rating × weight) across 10 criteria · scale 1 (poor) → 5 (excellent)
The platform handles messaging at a global scale for major media organizations like Tribune Publishing and USA Today Sports.
14% of capability · What we check: How fast and reliably alerts reach large audiences during breaking news.
Advanced auto-segmentation and category-based preferences allow for highly granular audience targeting.
12% of capability · What we check: Segments by topic, location and behaviour.
The tool supports category-based opt-in prompts that help publishers align messaging with specific reader interests.
12% of capability · What we check: Permission prompts and soft asks that grow subscribers.
Comprehensive automation includes RSS-to-push workflows, intelligent delivery timing, and omnichannel journey building.
12% of capability · What we check: RSS-to-push, breaking-news workflows and scheduled sends.
Provides solid deliverability insights and real-time data feeds, though it lacks the advanced business intelligence found in specialized enterprise suites.
10% of capability · What we check: Click, session and revenue attribution per notification.
Supports diverse formats including in-app carousels, rich media, and iOS Live Activities.
8% of capability · What we check: Images, action buttons and rich media.
OneSignal offers no push advertising or revenue-share programme; it is a paid messaging tool, and rivals point to the missing monetisation option.
8% of capability · What we check: Push advertising and revenue share options.
Extensive support covers web push, mobile push, SMS, MMS, and email across major operating systems.
8% of capability · What we check: Web, iOS and Android support.
The platform is highly regarded for its developer-centric approach and straightforward SDK implementation.
8% of capability · What we check: Setup work and script weight.
Standard privacy features are included, with category-based opt-in tools assisting in GDPR-compliant consent management.
8% of capability · What we check: Consent, data handling and GDPR compliance.
OneSignal scores 3.9/5 in Benchmark Grid's independent Best Push Notification Services benchmark (benchmarkgrid.com/best-push-notification-services/onesignal, verified Oct 19, 2026)
Strengths & limitations
Strengths
- Serves both eCommerce and publishing sectors with tailored functionality
- Category selection in opt-in prompts for user content preferences
- Intelligent Delivery claims 23% increase in open rates
- Auto-segmentation claims 50% boost in open rates
- Free tier available for testing
- Online calculator for cost estimation
- Trusted by Tribune Publishing, USA Today Sports, and Nexstar Digital
Limitations
- Free tier has limited features
- Growth plan costs scale up with subscriber numbers and channels
- Professional tier moves to custom annual pricing, which may be a step up for smaller publishers
Who uses it
Detected from site code, ads.txt records and published case studies — not from the vendor's own customer list. 60 confirmed, 1 seen in a single source.
By publisher size
By content vertical
Publishers running OneSignal61
- ABC27Enterprise· News
- Ad AgeEnterprise· Business
- Al JazeeraEnterprise· News
- Gedi DigitalEnterprise· News
- Global NewsEnterprise· News
- La RepubblicaEnterprise· News
- NewsweekEnterprise· News
- NFLEnterprise· Sports
- OutsideEnterprise· Sports
- RTL LuxembourgEnterprise· News
- SkiftEnterprise· Travel
- The SunEnterprise· News
Cost of ownership
Pricing
Free plan (10,000 web push subscribers per send, 1,000 mobile MAU); Growth from $19/month plus usage; Professional and Enterprise are custom-priced on annual contracts.
Pricing unclear for your setup? — we'll make the introduction. Free, and it never affects the score.
Cost data sourced from vendor pricing pages and community signals. Vendors may dispute any factor.
What users say
Users express significant dissatisfaction with restrictive pricing changes, diminished free tiers, and persistent technical issues, leading many developers to seek alternative platforms for their push notification needs.
Sources: Hacker News 49% · G2 20% · Reddit 18% · YouTube 10% · Blog 2%
Most discussed
Recent quotes
"OneSignal is pushing app developers to pay up or else they will lose their subscribers who opted in to receive push alerts from their apps by deleting all of the data."
Negative·Blog·3y ago·via App Developer Magazine
"Perfect for beginners looking for an easy how to use onesignal walkthrough, demo, and review in 2026."
Positive·YouTube·5mo ago
"the privacy manifest declares no data collected while the app sends your device model, ip address, session count, and a persistent tracking id to onesignal on every launch. false attestation anyone?"
Negative·Hacker News·7mo ago
"OneSignal is a high volume and reliable push notification service for websites and mobile applications."
Positive·Product Hunt·11y ago
"I was nervous about adding things like a RevenueCat paywall and OneSignal notifications, but they turned out to be less scary than I’d imagined."
Positive·Reddit·1mo ago
51 mentions from 6 independent sources, each read and scored by our analyser. Mentions we could not tie to a real user, and those flagged as promotional, are excluded. Sentiment is opinion, and is independent of the verified publisher adoptions shown above.
The company behind OneSignal
Company facts come from an independent business-data record rather than the vendor's own site.
- Founded
- 2014
- Employees
- 167
- Headquarters
- San Mateo, United States
- Ownership
- Privately Held
Compare OneSignal
The head-to-heads publishers look at most, then the closest contests in the same benchmark.
FAQ
How is OneSignal scored?
OneSignal scores 3.9 out of 5 in Benchmark Grid's independent Best Push Notification Services benchmark. The overall figure blends capability (45%), publisher fit (40%) and cost of ownership (15%). Capability is itself a weighted average of 10 criteria; the heaviest are delivery speed & reliability at scale (14%), targeting & segmentation (12%) and opt-in rate optimisation (12%). Vendors cannot pay for a score.
What size publisher is OneSignal built for?
OneSignal is built for small and local publishers and mid-market publishers. That is the vendor's own stated target, and it is one of the inputs to our publisher-fit score — a platform that suits a national newsroom often carries more operational load than a small one can absorb.
What does OneSignal cost?
Free plan (10,000 web push subscribers per send, 1,000 mobile MAU); Growth from $19/month plus usage; Professional and Enterprise are custom-priced on annual contracts. Our cost-of-ownership score is 3.3/5, which weighs pricing transparency, entry cost, implementation cost, hidden-fee risk and ongoing cost. Ask the vendor for a written first-year figure that includes implementation before you commit.
Who uses OneSignal?
We have evidenced 61 publishers running OneSignal. Adoptions are detected from site code, ads.txt records and published case studies rather than taken from the vendor's own customer list, and each one is listed on this page.
Can OneSignal pay for a better score?
No. Scores come from our editorial review of the product's documentation, demos and public evidence. A vendor can claim this listing or request a re-review, but nothing they buy changes a score or a position.
Verify a claim
Enter a claim about OneSignal and our AI will check it against the benchmark data on this page. Claims we have already fact-checked are listed below.
3 verifications remaining
Is this your tool? Claim the listing, get your score badge or request a hands-on review. Neither changes the score.
