Airship vs OneSignal
Airship
Enterprise-grade mobile engagement platform for orchestrating automated multi-channel customer journeys at scale
Publishers using it: 10 · incl. Boston Globe Media, CBS News, CBS Sports
OneSignal
A leading omnichannel engagement platform specializing in push notifications and multi-channel messaging
Publishers using it: 61 · incl. ABC27, Ad Age, Al Jazeera
Last verified Oct 19, 2026
At a glance
- Airship scores 3.3/5 and OneSignal scores 3.9/5 in Benchmark Grid's independent push notification services benchmark, both assessed on the same 10 criteria.
- The widest gaps are integration effort & page speed (Airship 2.0, OneSignal 4.6) and privacy & compliance (Airship 4.7, OneSignal 3.5); they are within 0.3 on 5 of 10 criteria.
- Airship is built for enterprise publishers; OneSignal for small and mid-market.
- On total cost of ownership Airship scores 1.4 and OneSignal 3.3 (higher means better value, not a lower price).
- In our tracking 10 publishers use Airship and 61 use OneSignal.
- Scores last verified 19 Oct 2026. Vendors cannot pay for a score or a position.
Where they differ
Airship is stronger on privacy & compliance (4.7 vs 3.5), monetisation (2.0 vs 0.8) and analytics & attribution (4.5 vs 3.8).
OneSignal is stronger on integration effort & page speed (4.6 vs 2.0).
Which one fits
Choose Airship if…
- You publish at enterprise scale.
- You weight privacy & compliance, monetisation and analytics & attribution heavily — Airship leads on those in this benchmark.
Choose OneSignal if…
- You publish at small and mid-market scale.
- You weight integration effort & page speed, delivery speed & reliability at scale and opt-in rate optimisation heavily — OneSignal leads on those in this benchmark.
Also weighing these
The nearest-scored tools to Airship and OneSignal in this benchmark, listed A to Z.
- 3.6FoxPushA programmatic push notification platform built for publisher monetization and audience retentionRead review
- 3.9iZootoAn owned audience marketing platform for digital publishers to engage, retain, and monetize their audience.Read review
- 3.5PushEngageThe leading web push notification platform to increase traffic, engagement, and sales with automated messaging.Read review
- 3.7PushwooshA high-speed omnichannel customer engagement platform for personalized push, email, SMS, and WhatsApp messaging.Read review
All 12 scored tools are in Best Push Notification Services.
Who uses them
Publishers we have detected running each tool, from ads.txt, site code and published case studies. Agencies, brands and vendors are excluded.
Head to head
| Criterion | Airship | OneSignal |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery speed & reliability at scale14% of capability | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Automation & triggers12% of capability | 4.8 | 4.6 |
| Opt-in rate optimisation12% of capability | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| Targeting & segmentation12% of capability | 4.8 | 4.7 |
| Analytics & attribution10% of capability | 4.5 | 3.8 |
| Integration effort & page speed8% of capability | 2.0 | 4.6 |
| Monetisation8% of capability | 2.0 | 0.8 |
| Platform coverage8% of capability | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| Privacy & compliance8% of capability | 4.7 | 3.5 |
| Rich content & formats8% of capability | 4.7 | 4.5 |
| Capability45% of composite | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Publisher fit40% of composite | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Total cost of ownership15% of composite | 1.4 | 3.3 |
Cost of ownership
| Sub-score | Airship | OneSignal |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| Entry cost | 1.0 | 4.1 |
| Implementation cost | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| Hidden-fee risk | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| Ongoing cost | 1.2 | 3.0 |
Airship pricing
Custom quote for the Airship Experience Platform (AXP); a self-service, no-code Airship Essentials plan is also available. Prices are not published.
OneSignal 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.
What users say
Airship
4 positive · 5 neutral · 0 negative
OneSignal
29 positive · 13 neutral · 9 negative
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 above.
Airship scores 3.3 and OneSignal scores 3.9 in Benchmark Grid's independent Best Push Notification Services benchmark (benchmarkgrid.com/vs/airship/onesignal, verified Oct 19, 2026)
Common questions
How do Airship and OneSignal differ?
Airship is stronger on privacy & compliance (4.7 vs 3.5), monetisation (2.0 vs 0.8) and analytics & attribution (4.5 vs 3.8). OneSignal is stronger on integration effort & page speed (4.6 vs 2.0). Neither is better in the abstract — which one suits you depends on which of those dimensions carries the most weight in your operation.
Which is cheaper, Airship or OneSignal?
On total cost of ownership — pricing transparency, entry cost, implementation, hidden-fee risk and ongoing cost — Airship scores 1.4/5 and OneSignal scores 3.3/5. A higher score means better value, not a lower sticker price.
How are these scores calculated?
Each tool is assessed against its category's published criteria (10 in this benchmark), which make up Capability (45% of the composite), Publisher fit (40%) and Total cost of ownership (15%). Assessment is carried out by SODP's editorial team against a published methodology. Vendors cannot pay for inclusion, scores or positions.
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Both tools are scored in Best Push Notification Services. See alternatives to Airship or alternatives to OneSignal.
Weighing a third option? Add a tool to this comparison.
Where to next
Related comparisons
Other head-to-heads publishers look at in Best Push Notification Services.
