OneSignal’s free tier got a cap.
Here’s the honest math on switching.
OneSignal now caps free mobile push at 1,000 monthly active users — new accounts since September 1, everyone else from October 1. If your app sits above that line, your first invoice is coming: $19/month plus $0.012 for every monthly active user. Before you pay it, run your numbers. Below: three worked examples, the break-even table, and — because we’d rather be trusted than clicked — the cases where staying put is cheaper.
OneSignal rates verified on onesignal.com/pricing, August 30, 2026. PushEngage prices are standard annual renewal rates — not first-year promotional pricing.
Two different meters — that’s the whole story
OneSignal bills mobile push on monthly active users and web push on subscribers — two meters, two line items that move on their own every month. PushEngage bills everything on one meter: subscribers, in fixed tiers. Which model costs less depends on one number you already know: your 30-day active share.
Published pricing, full SDK set
iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter SDKs at a public price. The enterprise platforms with matching breadth — Braze, Airship, MoEngage, CleverTap — all hide theirs behind a sales call.
One denominator
They meter mobile on MAU and web on subscribers. We meter both on subscribers. One number to forecast, one line on the invoice.
A fixed tier, not a running meter
Your bill doesn’t move because you had a good month. OneSignal’s most-cited G2 complaint is the jump from free to paid with no SMB step in between.
The mobile math (conditional)
Above roughly 25–30% active share, PushEngage runs 2–4× cheaper on app push. Below it, MAU billing wins. The break-even table is below — we’re not hiding it.
Three worked examples — not a headline rate
A single “X% cheaper” claim would be wrong for half the apps reading this. Pricing depends on install base and engagement, so here are three real profiles.
Profile 1 — the engaged mid-size app: 20,000 installs, 60% active (12,000 MAU)
| Meter | Monthly | Yearly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OneSignal | $19 + 12,000 × $0.012 | $163 | $1,956 |
| PushEngage | 20,000 subscribers · fixed tier | $85 | $1,020 — saves $936/yr |
Profile 2 — the growing commerce app: 50,000 installs, 40% active (20,000 MAU)
| Meter | Monthly | Yearly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OneSignal | $19 + 20,000 × $0.012 | $259 | $3,108 |
| PushEngage | 50,000 subscribers · fixed tier | $160 | $1,920 — saves $1,188/yr |
Profile 3 — the big, quiet install base: 100,000 installs, 15% active (15,000 MAU)
| Meter | Monthly | Yearly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OneSignal | $19 + 15,000 × $0.012 | $199 | $2,388 — cheaper here |
| PushEngage | 100,000 subscribers · fixed tier | $368 | $4,416 |
Yes, they win Profile 3. If most of your installs are dormant, a meter that only counts actives is the better deal — see the break-even table before you switch anything.
The break-even table
Find your install base, check your 30-day active share. Above the threshold, PushEngage costs less on app push; below it, OneSignal’s MAU meter does.
| Install base (subscribers) | PushEngage renewal /mo | Break-even active share | Cheaper above it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | $45 | 43% | PushEngage |
| 20,000 | $85 | 27% | PushEngage |
| 50,000 | $160 | 24% | PushEngage |
| 100,000 | $368 | 29% | PushEngage |
Break-even = the active share where $19 + $0.012 × (share × installs) equals the PushEngage tier price. Retention-focused commerce and content apps typically sit well above these thresholds; utility apps with huge dormant bases often don’t.
What the fixed tier includes
The comparison isn’t only the meter — it’s what ships at the price. Every PushEngage tier includes both channels (web + app push on one subscriber profile), the visual workflow builder, behavior-based segmentation, and revenue attribution via Goal Tracking. Cart and browse abandonment, price-drop and back-in-stock automations ship as templates, not add-ons. And a first-party MCP server plus open-source Agent Skills let AI assistants run campaigns and integrate the SDKs.
Switching: the SDKs install alongside your current setup — iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter — and paid plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee, so you can run the numbers on your real traffic before the decision is permanent.
See the pricing tiers →Free tier note, honestly: OneSignal’s post-cap free tier (1,000 MAU) is bigger than ours (200 subscribers). If you’re under 1,000 actives, staying free there is rational — bookmark this page for the month you get your first invoice.