9 best Pusher Beams alternatives & competitors
The top Pusher Beams alternatives for push notification, compared on price, free tier, ratings and what each is best for, with Pusher Beams pinned so you can measure each option against it.
Updated October 2026
About Pusher Beams
Pusher Beams
PushPusher Beams is a cross-platform push notification API for iOS, Android, and web, with native client and server SDKs, topic-based targeting, and delivery tracking via webhooks. The catch is it is a narrow push API rather than an engagement platform, with no in-app messaging, journeys, or rules-based segmentation, now run by a small team inside Bird.
developer teams that want a simple, self-serve push notification API for iOS, Android, and web without needing a full customer-engagement or in-app-messaging platform
- Starting price
- $29/mo
- Free tier
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.3 / 5
- HIPAA
- Unknown
Company profile
- Founded
- 2011
- Headquarters
- London, UK
- Funding
- Not disclosed
- Team size
- ~7
- Ownership
- Subsidiary of Bird
- Reviews
- 4.3 / 5 on G2 (11)
Compliance
Official SDKs
Side by side
Pusher Beams vs the alternatives
Sorted by rating · figures as of October 2026
Pusher Beams
You're viewing
Starting price
$29/mo
Free tier
Yes
Rating
4.3
Starting price
$19/mo
Free tier
Yes
Rating
4.7
Starting price
Free
Free tier
Yes
Rating
N/A
Starting price
Free
Free tier
Yes
Rating
N/A
Starting price
$4.99/mo
Free tier
Yes
Rating
N/A
At a glance
What each Pusher Beams alternative is best for
- MagicBell
5.0 / 5
- MagicBell provides a drop-in in-app notification inbox and a multichannel delivery API. The catch is a very small company, narrow focus, and per-channel pricing that climbs at scale.
- OneSignal Push
4.7 / 5
- OneSignal is a multichannel platform best known for mobile push, with one of the market's most generous free tiers. The catch is per-MAU pricing that climbs at scale.
- Pushwoosh
4.4 / 5
- Pushwoosh is a cross-platform push platform with broad SDK coverage, including Unity. The catch is a 2022 Reuters report on its Russia-based development that drew US-agency and FTC scrutiny.
- AWS SNS
4.2 / 5
- Amazon SNS fans out mobile push across the AWS ecosystem at very low per-notification cost. The catch is raw infrastructure with no segmentation, templating, or analytics.
- Airship
4.0 / 5
- Airship is an enterprise engagement platform for mobile and web push with deep cross-channel orchestration. The catch is opaque, five-figure enterprise pricing and a steep learning curve.
- Apple Push Notification
Not rated
- APNs is Apple's free, unlimited native push transport for all Apple devices. The catch is transport only, Apple only, with no segmentation or analytics and a server you build.
- Expo
Not rated
- Expo is a free push relay unifying iOS and Android for React Native apps. The catch is a bare relay with no segmentation, scheduling, or analytics.
- Firebase FCM
Not rated
- Firebase Cloud Messaging offers free, unlimited push across Android, iOS, and web, and is Android's native transport. The catch is a low-level transport with no orchestration or segmentation.
FAQ
Common questions
The strongest Pusher Beams alternatives depend on what you need. MagicBell rates highest among the options here; the comparison table covers price, free tier, and rating, and the "what each alternative is best for" section matches each option to a use case.
Yes. Several alternatives offer an ongoing free tier, including MagicBell. Check the "Free tier" column above; free allowances and limits vary by provider, and some offers are trials rather than perpetual free tiers.
Pusher's public security materials do not make an explicit HIPAA compliance claim or confirm a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for Beams specifically. Pusher does publish support articles about handling HIPAA considerations when using its products, but teams with PHI requirements should confirm HIPAA/BAA terms directly with Pusher or parent company Bird before relying on Beams for regulated healthcare notifications.
After the free 1,000-subscriber Sandbox plan, Pusher Beams uses fixed self-serve tiers: Startup is $29 per month for up to 10,000 subscribers, Pro is $99 per month for up to 50,000, Business is $199 per month for up to 115,000 (with premium support), and Premium is $399 per month for up to 250,000. Larger volumes require a custom enterprise quote from Pusher's sales team.
Pusher (as part of Bird, formerly MessageBird) states it conducts business in accordance with GDPR, and Pusher's infrastructure is ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified. Pusher's separate real-time product, Channels, documents an EU cluster in Ireland (eu-west-1), but Pusher's public documentation does not clearly confirm a dedicated EU data residency option for Beams specifically, so teams with strict EU-hosting requirements should verify directly with Pusher.
Beams offers four officially maintained client SDKs (iOS/Swift, Android/Kotlin-Java, Web/JavaScript, and Flutter) and seven officially maintained server SDKs (Go, PHP, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java/Kotlin, and Swift). It also exposes a REST API directly, and delivery/open tracking is available via webhooks.
Often, yes. Courier sits in front of these providers behind one API, so you can route through Pusher Beams or an alternative, or fail over between them, without rewriting your integration each time.
Keep exploring
More push notification alternatives guides
One API, every provider
Switch or combine providers without rewrites.
Courier sits in front of Pusher Beams and every alternative above: route, fail over, and swap providers behind a single API.
Company facts, pricing and compliance were verified against each provider's public pricing and security or trust pages, plus G2 and Trustpilot, as of October 2026, and compiled by the Courier team. Details change often, so confirm with the provider before you buy.