OneSignal alternatives for app teams in 2026
OneSignal is a good product with a generous free tier, so it's worth being clear about why app developers look elsewhere. Usually it's one of three reasons: the bill on the Growth plan grows with every monthly active user, they also need a way for users to ask for help inside the app, or they want fewer SDKs. Hailbell is our product. We've tried to be specific about where the others fit better. Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page and are correct as of November 2026, in US dollars on monthly billing unless noted.
What OneSignal costs today
For reference: OneSignal's Free plan covers mobile push for up to 1,000 monthly active users, plus web push and 10,000 emails a month. Growth starts at $19 a month, with mobile push at $0.012 per monthly active user (in-app messages included) and web push at $0.004 per subscriber. Professional and Enterprise are custom, annual plans. OneSignal doesn't offer support chat.
The alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Push campaigns | In-app support chat | Starts at | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firebase Cloud Messaging | Yes (you build the tooling) | No | Free | Developers happy to build their own sending logic |
| Hailbell | Yes | Yes: iOS, Android, web, React Native, Flutter | $29/mo for 10,000 MAU | App teams and agencies that want chat and push in one SDK |
| Intercom | Paid add-on ($99/mo) | Yes: iOS, Android, web | $29 per seat/mo | Funded teams with a support department |
| Crisp | No | Yes: iOS, Android, web | Free (2 seats); $45/mo | Small teams that want a full inbox at a flat price |
| Chatwoot | No | Web widget; community mobile SDKs | Free tier; $19 per agent/mo | Teams that want open source or self-hosting |
| tawk.to | No | Built for websites | Free | Websites that need chat at no cost |
| Instabug (Luciq) | No | Not a support-chat tool | Not published | Larger teams focused on app quality |
1. Firebase Cloud Messaging
FCM is Google's push delivery service, and many push products, OneSignal included, use it for Android behind the scenes. Firebase lists Cloud Messaging and In-App Messaging as no-cost products on both its Spark and Blaze plans. It sends to iOS (through Apple's push service), Android and the web.
Good to know FCM delivers messages; it doesn't plan them for you. The Firebase console can compose basic notifications, but segments built from your own data, sends at each user's local time, frequency caps and campaign analytics are work you'll do yourself. There's no support chat.
Fits Developers with backend time to spare and simple needs, such as "your export is ready" messages.
2. Hailbell
Hailbell is in-app support chat and push notifications for iOS, Android and web, in one SDK. React Native (including Expo) and Flutter apps use packages that wrap the native SDKs, so they get the same native chat screen.
Users write from inside your app. You answer from the dashboard, a Discord forum thread (one per customer) or Telegram, and they get a push when you reply. A Hailbell iPhone app for answering on the go is coming soon. If a customer doesn't see your reply in the app, it goes to their email, and they can answer by replying to it. You can also forward your support address to Hailbell, so support emails land in the same inbox as in-app chats. Messages in other languages arrive translated, and saved replies cover common questions. AI replies can answer first from your knowledge note and FAQs, and hand the chat to you when they can't help.
Push goes out through APNs, FCM and Web Push, with segments, tags, scheduling, sending at each person's local time, daily caps and quiet hours. One campaign can go to your iOS, Android and web apps together, and a signed-in user with your app on several devices gets it once, on the device they used last. Chats can include offers that open your paywall (it works with Superwall and RevenueCat) and requests for an App Store review.
Each teammate signs in with Google or an emailed link as an Owner, Admin or Agent, and every reply records who sent it. Chats can be assigned to a person or shared out in turn, agents can be limited to some apps, and teammates can leave internal notes and @mention each other. Business hours set an away message for when nobody is on. Reports show first-reply time, resolution time, volume and satisfaction per app and per teammate. When a chat is closed, web users are asked for a satisfaction rating; on iOS and Android, Hailbell can ask for an App Store or Play review instead.
A REST API and an MCP server let an AI agent do anything the dashboard can.
Price Pro is $29 a month ($290 a year) for 10,000 monthly active users. Scale is $79 a month ($790 a year) for 100,000. Extra users cost $5 per 10,000. Every plan includes unlimited apps and seats, and AI replies. The trial is 14 days, with no card required.
Good to know Hailbell is new. There is no SMS or social inbox and no public help center. Email replies come from a Hailbell address with your app's name for now; sending from your own domain is on the way. Native chat needs iOS 16 or Android 8 or later.
Fits App teams, from solo developers to agencies running many client apps, that would otherwise run OneSignal and a chat tool side by side. See pricing or read the docs.
3. Intercom
Intercom is the best-known customer service platform, with native iOS and Android SDKs, a help center and the Fin AI agent. Push campaigns come with its Proactive Support Plus add-on.
Price Essential is $29 per seat a month on monthly billing ($19 on annual), Advanced $85 and Expert $132. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome. Proactive Support Plus, which includes mobile push, is $99 a month for 500 messages. There's a 14-day trial with no card.
Good to know It's excellent and priced for teams. Seats, Fin outcomes and add-ons add up quickly for a solo developer.
Fits Funded apps with a support team and real ticket volume.
4. Crisp
Crisp is a shared inbox with live chat, priced per workspace rather than per seat. It has chat SDKs for the web, iOS, Android and React Native.
Price Free covers 2 seats and 100 customer profiles, with no AI. Mini is $45 a month (4 seats, 5,000 profiles, $5 of AI credits). Essentials is $95 a month (10 seats, 50,000 profiles) and Plus $295. Paid plans have a 14-day trial with no card.
Good to know Its push is for chat replies, not marketing campaigns, so you'd still need a push tool for re-engagement.
Fits Small teams that want a polished inbox at a predictable price.
5. Chatwoot
Chatwoot is an open-source support inbox that you can self-host or use in the cloud. It brings chat and other channels into one place, with an AI assistant called Captain on paid plans.
Price The cloud Hacker plan is free for up to 2 agents and 500 conversations a month. Startups is $19 per agent a month, Business $39 and Enterprise $99. There's a 15-day trial.
Good to know We couldn't find an official native iOS or Android chat SDK. The mobile options we found are community projects or a web view, and there are no push campaigns.
Fits Teams that want to own their support data, or run it on their own server.
6. tawk.to
tawk.to is free live chat for websites, kept free by its branding and paid add-ons.
Price Free. Removing the "Powered by tawk.to" branding is $29 a month, AI Assist starts at $29 a month, and hired chat agents cost $1 an hour.
Good to know It's built for websites. It has no push campaigns and no native in-app chat SDK that we could find.
Fits A web app or marketing site that needs chat for nothing.
7. Instabug (now Luciq)
Instabug, which now goes by Luciq, is known for in-app bug reporting and app-quality tools rather than support chat or push. Its pricing page shows enterprise tiers priced on daily active users and seats, with no published prices, and asks you to request a demo.
Fits Larger teams whose main problem is crashes and bug reports, not talking to users.
How to choose
- You only need push and want to pay nothing: Firebase Cloud Messaging, or stay on OneSignal's Free plan while you're under 1,000 monthly active users.
- You want push and in-app chat without two SDKs and two bills: Hailbell.
- Chat matters most and you want AI replies and customer context without per-seat pricing: Hailbell.
- You need social channels and a public help center in one inbox, and have the budget: Intercom.
- You want a flat-priced inbox and already have push sorted: Crisp.
- You want open source or self-hosting: Chatwoot.
- You only need chat on a website: tawk.to.
Work out your monthly active users before comparing. A usage-based price that looks cheap at 2,000 users can look very different at 50,000, and a per-seat price only matters if more than one person answers.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to OneSignal?
Firebase Cloud Messaging is free on every Firebase plan and sends to iOS, Android and the web. You get the delivery pipe, not a campaign tool, so segments, scheduling and analytics are yours to build or to get from another product.
Do I need a separate tool for support chat and push?
Not necessarily. Most chat tools only send a push when a support reply arrives, and most push tools have no support chat. Hailbell does both. Intercom can send push campaigns with its Proactive Support Plus add-on.
What counts as a monthly active user?
Each vendor defines it differently. OneSignal counts a mobile subscription active in your app in the last 30 days, whether or not it opted in to push. Hailbell counts a device that opened your app with the SDK in a calendar month. Check the definition before comparing prices.
Can I move from OneSignal without asking users to opt in again?
Usually, yes. The permission belongs to your app, not to the push provider, so a new SDK can read the existing device token on the next launch and register it. Users who don't open the app again won't be registered with the new tool.
Can an AI agent send push notifications for me?
With Hailbell, yes: it has an MCP server, so an AI agent can draft and schedule notifications, and broadcasts need a preview first so nothing goes to everyone by accident. The other tools here offer a REST API that you or an agent can script.
Questions about switching? Email hello@hailbell.com and a person will reply.