How much does Firebase Cloud Messaging cost per message?

FCM has no per-message cost. Push notification sending is free and unlimited on all Firebase plans, including the free Spark plan. You only pay if you use adjacent Firebase or Google Cloud services (such as Cloud Functions to trigger sends), which are billed separately under the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan.

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 Firebase FCM 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.

Firebase FCM vs Pusher Beams

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

Firebase FCM wins price and featuresPusher Beams wins developer experience

Updated October 2026

At a glanceFirebase FCMPusher Beams

Entry priceFreeFree

Free tierYesYes

G2 rating4.54.3

Trustpilot3.41.8

THE VERDICT

Firebase FCM wins on price and features. Pusher Beams wins on developer experience.

Firebase FCM starts at Free versus Pusher Beams's Free. Firebase FCM rates higher with developers (4.5 vs 4.3 on G2). Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.

Which should you choose?

Pick Firebase FCM

✓If you're a developer looking to send multiple messages reliably and save money, FCM is perfect for you.

Set up Firebase FCM 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 Firebase FCM leads, violet where Pusher Beams does.

capability

Firebase FCM

Pusher Beams

Pricing

Starting paid plan

$0/mo

$29/mo

Free tier

Unlimited (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

Yes

Journeys / automation

A/B testing

Yes

Geofencing

Rich media

Yes

Developer experience

Official SDKs

iOS, Android, Web, Flutter, Unity, C++; Admin SDK: Node, Java, Python, Go, C#

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

Yes

HIPAA

Unknown

GDPR

Yes

Support

Support channels

Docs & community (paid via GCP support)

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

Firebase FCM 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 Firebase FCMPush→Apple Push Notification vs Firebase FCMPush→AWS SNS vs Firebase FCMPush→Beamer vs Firebase FCMPush→Expo vs Firebase FCMPush→Firebase FCM vs MagicBellPush→

Why not both?

Use both behind one API.

Route Firebase FCM, 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. Firebase FCM is a Google product.