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Overview

Courier’s preference management lets users control which notifications they receive and how they receive them. Users opt in or out of categories (e.g. marketing, product updates, security alerts), choose delivery channels per category where you enable it, and can subscribe to digests. Giving users this control respects their choices, supports compliance (e.g. unsubscribe requirements), and helps maintain trust and engagement.

When to use preferences

Use preference management when you need:
  • User-controlled subscriptions – Let recipients choose which notification categories they receive.
  • Compliance – Meet unsubscribe and consent expectations with one-click opt-out and preference centers.
  • Channel and frequency control – Let users pick delivery channels (email, SMS, push, etc.) and digest schedules where your plan supports it.

Two ways to offer preference management

Hosted Preference Center

Courier-hosted pages where users manage their notification preferences. Best when you want zero in-app development: add a link in your notifications or brand footer and users get a branded, responsive preference page. Includes unsubscribe handling and optional channel selection (Enterprise).
Hosted Preference Center

Embedded Preferences

Preference UI embedded in your app via React components or web components. Best when you want preferences to live inside your product (e.g. account or settings). Full control over layout and styling; uses GraphQL under the hood.

What you can do with preferences

Configure topics and sections

Define subscription topics, group them into sections, set default opt-in/opt-out (or required), and map notification templates to topics so sends respect user choices.

Offer channel and digest choices

Let users choose delivery channels per topic and subscribe to digests where enabled. Configure channel labels and digest schedules in the editor and Automations > Digest.

Track and query preferences

View preference change history in the dashboard and query current preferences via the User Preferences API for analytics or downstream systems.

Key Concepts