OneSignal alternatives for subscription apps
The main OneSignal alternatives for a subscription app are Whisperr, Customer.io, CleverTap, Airship and Braze. If you mostly need retention, Whisperr decides who gets a message and writes it, and can still send push through your OneSignal account. If you need a bigger campaign platform, Customer.io and CleverTap have published prices, and Braze sells by quote while Airship publishes no prices (a quoted platform plus a self-service tier).
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The alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Channels | Published pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whisperr | Retention decided and written per user; can send through OneSignal | Push and email | Free up to 1,000 users; paid from $49 a month |
| Customer.io | Behaviour-triggered campaigns your team builds | Email, push, SMS, in-app, WhatsApp, LINE | Essentials from $100 a month; 14-day trial |
| CleverTap | Analytics and engagement in one platform | Push, email, WhatsApp, in-app, web, RCS, SMS | Core $85 a month after a 30-day trial |
| Airship | Mobile-first brands with a mobile marketing team | Push, SMS, email, in-app, web, mobile wallet | Not published |
| Braze | Large teams running many channels and campaign types | Push, email, SMS, WhatsApp, in-app and more | Not published; no free plan |
| OneSignal, for reference | Low-cost sending of messages you design | Mobile push, web push, email, SMS, in-app | Free plan; Growth from $19 a month |
Whisperr
Whisperr adds the part OneSignal leaves to you: deciding which users need a retention message, writing it for each of them, and measuring it against a 10% holdout. It reads product events and subscription events from RevenueCat, Superwall or Adapty, and sends through your own providers, including OneSignal. Whisperr vs OneSignal.
Customer.io
Customer.io builds workflows on your own event data and sends email, push, SMS and in-app messages. It’s a step up in campaign tooling, with a 14-day trial. Whisperr vs Customer.io.
CleverTap
CleverTap adds product analytics, predictions and an account-wide control group to multichannel messaging, including WhatsApp and RCS. Whisperr vs CleverTap.
Airship
Airship is a mobile-first platform with deep push tooling at enterprise scale, plus Predictive Churn, Optimal Send Time and mobile wallet. Whisperr vs Airship.
Braze
Braze is the broadest option, with Canvas journeys, BrazeAI tools and a Global Control Group, sold through sales quotes. Whisperr vs Braze.
How to choose
- Keep OneSignal, add retention that runs itself: Whisperr.
- More campaign tooling at a published price: Customer.io or CleverTap.
- Enterprise mobile programme: Airship or Braze.
FAQ
Do I have to leave OneSignal to use Whisperr?
No. Whisperr can use your OneSignal account as its push provider. OneSignal keeps delivering notifications while Whisperr decides which users get a retention message and writes it.
Why look for a OneSignal alternative?
Usually because sending isn't the hard part. Deciding who should get a message, what it should say, and whether it kept anyone takes work that OneSignal leaves to you. Teams then want either more campaign tooling or retention that runs on its own.
Which alternative is closest to OneSignal in price?
Whisperr has a free plan up to 1,000 users and paid plans from $49 a month. CleverTap Core is listed at $85 a month and Customer.io Essentials starts at $100 a month. Airship and Braze don't publish prices.
Which alternative measures lift against a control group?
Whisperr holds back 10% of users by default and shows retention and revenue kept with a confidence interval once each group has 200 users. Braze has a Global Control Group with an uplift report, CleverTap has an account-wide System Control Group, Airship has holdout experiments, and Customer.io runs holdout tests per email message.
Sources
Facts about other products come from their own websites and docs, checked on . Prices and plans change, so confirm them with the vendor.
Let Whisperr run this for you.
Whisperr watches how people use your app, spots the ones about to leave and brings them back with the right message at the right moment. After you sign up, one prompt in your coding agent sets it up.
You approve until you trust it. Then it runs itself.