How much does Apple Push Notification service cost?

APNs has no usage-based pricing; message delivery is free at any volume. The practical entry cost is the 99 USD/year Apple Developer Program, plus whatever you spend running the backend that talks to APNs. There is no paid APNs tier to upgrade to.

Is Pusher Beams free to use?

Yes. Pusher Beams has a free Sandbox plan that supports up to 1,000 subscribers with standard support, full documentation access, and 24/7 platform monitoring. Beyond that, paid plans start at the Startup tier once you need more subscribers.

Can I use Apple Push Notification and Pusher Beams together?

Yes. Many teams route different message types through different providers or fail over between them. Courier lets you send through both behind a single API and switch providers without changing your code.

Apple Push Notification vs Pusher Beams

Two push notification providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.

Apple Push Notification wins price and cost at scalePusher Beams wins developer experience and platform coverage

Updated October 2026

At a glanceApple Push NotificationPusher Beams

Entry priceFreeFree

Free tierYesYes

G2 rating4.34.3

Trustpilot1.61.8

THE VERDICT

Apple Push Notification wins on price and cost at scale. Pusher Beams wins on developer experience and platform coverage.

Apple Push Notification starts at Free versus Pusher Beams's Free. Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.

Which should you choose?

Pick Apple Push Notification

✓If you're building an Apple-specific product, APN is a sure thing for a proper notification system.

Set up Apple Push Notification with Courier →

Pick Pusher Beams

✓You need a straightforward push notification API for iOS, Android, and web without a full engagement suite

✓Your team wants native SDKs plus server libraries across common backend languages

✓You want simple, flat, self-serve pricing tied to subscriber count

✓You do not need built-in in-app messaging, journeys, or audience segmentation

Feature by feature

Winner cells are tinted, green where Apple Push Notification leads, violet where Pusher Beams does.

capability

Apple Push Notification

Pusher Beams

Pricing

Starting paid plan

$0/mo

$29/mo

Free tier

Free

Free Sandbox plan for up to 1,000 subscribers

Pricing model

Free

Flat monthly tiers by subscriber count ($29/10k, $99/50k, $199/115k, $399/250k), custom above that

Platforms

iOS

Yes

Android

Yes

Web push

Yes

Desktop

Yes

Capabilities

Segmentation

Yes

In-app messaging

Journeys / automation

A/B testing

Geofencing

Rich media

Yes

Developer experience

Official SDKs

Swift/Obj-C (client); token-based HTTP/2 provider API (any server language)

iOS (Swift/macOS), Android (Kotlin/Java), Web (JavaScript), Flutter; server: Go, PHP, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java/Kotlin, Swift

REST API

Yes

Event webhooks

Yes

Compliance

SOC 2

—

HIPAA

Unknown

GDPR

Yes

Support

Support channels

Developer docs, forums, Feedback Assistant, DTS

Email/ticket support; docs and tutorials; standard tiers get best-effort response, Business/Premium tiers target 24-hour response

24/7 support

FAQ

Common questions

Apple Push Notification starts at Free versus Pusher Beams's Free. Compare your expected monthly volume against the per-message rates above.

Keep comparing

Related comparisons

Airship vs Apple Push NotificationPush→AWS SNS vs Apple Push NotificationPush→Apple Push Notification vs BeamerPush→Apple Push Notification vs ExpoPush→Apple Push Notification vs Firebase FCMPush→Apple Push Notification vs MagicBellPush→

Why not both?

Use both behind one API.

Route Apple Push Notification, Pusher Beams, or both, and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.

Start building free Read the docs

Pricing, plans and feature availability as of October 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms.