OneSignal vs PushEngage - Compare Features, Pricing, and More [2021]

It looks like you are still deciding which one to go for - OneSignal or PushEngage. Well, marketers are often looking for tools that are easier to use, offer automation, and all of this at an affordable price. While there's very little that software listing websites do, we decided to do a detailed review of top OneSignal alternatives.

In this review, we have compared OneSignal vs PushEngage on things that matter - 

• Ease of Use
• Capabilities and Features 
• Customer Support and Onboarding
• Affordability and ROI
• What stands out

OneSignal started off as a push notification platform for desktop and mobile. It then went on to support mobile apps and now with SMS and email, it has turned into an omnichannel platform. PushEngage on the other hand still focuses only on web push notifications. Now let's go into specifics so that you can make a much more informed decision.

1. OneSignal vs PushEngage: Getting Started and Ease of Use

Both the tools can be integrated with popular website platforms and offer plugins for DIY website builders such as WordPress and Shopify. If you have a WordPress website, it takes around 5 minutes to set up either of the two, given you install the plugin from the CMS plugin/app store.

It gets a bit tricky if you're using the custom code set up in OneSignal. Unlike, PushEngage which has put down clear instructions on the dashboard itself, OneSignal takes you to its help docs from where you can access the next steps. 

Here's how the setup page for OneSignal looks like - 

Now compare this to PushEngage - 

When it comes to creating notifications, both the tool are easy to use and offer A/B testing which is indeed a great feature for marketers. You get access to pre-defined segments such as device type, location, and date of subscription, and you can also create custom audience segments with both OneSignal and PushEngage. However, to create custom segments you need to be on a Business plan (starts at $19/month) or higher in PushEngage, whereas you can create up to 6 segments in the free plan of OneSignal.

If you're just exploring push notifications, a quick pricing comparison of OneSignal vs PushEngage will help. We are only considering features that you get in the free plan of both these tools - 

It's quite clear that if you just want to explore push notifications, you should go ahead with OneSignal because PushEngage's free plan is limiting.

If you're a publisher who wants better features and an easier setup, you can also give iZooto a shot. We have a special plan that allows publishers to engage and monetize their subscribers for free*.

*iZooto's monetization plan is best suited for news and media websites with at least 100K unique visitors/month. Click here to set up a demo and see how you can use iZooto to bring in additional revenue.

2. OneSignal vs PushEngage: Features

Both OneSignal and PushEngage are power-packed with features. It's evident that PushEngage is being built for e-commerce marketers. They have ready campaigns such as recover abandoned carts, browse abandonment, price drop alert and trigger campaigns but are available in the Enterprise plan only. PushEngage also has plug and play integration for Shopify as well.

You can solve similar use cases and more with OneSignal as well. They offer templates that you can use but to set up the entire workflow, you would require a developer. Let's see how do OneSignal and PushEngage compare when it comes to their API capabilities - 

If you're an e-commerce business, PushEngage would suit you better. The only deal-breaker might be their high pricing. OneSignal's lower pricing seems more affordable. But then as say - never pick a cheaper lawyer or cheaper software.

3. OneSignal vs PushEngage: Customer Support

This is a tricky one. Both the tools have decent support but there are some limitations. PushEngage doesn't provide support to users on its free plan. It can be because of two reasons -

• the tool doesn't take much of an effort to get started
• the free plan is very limiting and we see no reason why would support be needed

OneSignal on the other hand does provide support to free users via Email but the team operates in the US timezone. Both the tools however have quick support for Enterprise customers and offer standard support to other paid users. 

If you’re looking for stellar customer support, then you can try iZooto, which has been awarded the highest customer satisfaction rating by G2, 3 times in a row.

4. OneSignal vs PushEngage: Affordability and ROI

PushEngage was recently acquired by Awesome Motive and is now the part of the same team that got you WPBeginner, OptinMonster, and WPForms. This as expected led to a price hike. Here's one review that says it all - 

Here's how much a business with 100K visitors coming to their website would pay PushEngage vs OneSignal.  

Not many people realize but as and when you scale, your cost with OneSignal increases manifold. It's majorly because of how they have designed their plans. But you get access to Email (they have a free trial till December 1st, 2021) and SMS. PushEngage on the other hand only offers critical features in their Enterprise plan. 

When it comes to ROI G2's latest report says it all. Customers of iZooto are able to achieve their ROI in 6 months whereas it takes 11 months for OneSignal and there's no data available for PushEngage.

Our Verdict on OneSignal vs PushEngage

Even though both OneSignal and PushEngage have their own sets of capabilities and limitations, what stands out is how are these two built for two different buyers. OneSignal extends powerful APIs for developers with which they can bake in push notifications in their apps. PushEngage focuses on small and mid-size e-commerce businesses. 

Here’s what you should go ahead with - 

1. Pick PushEngage if you have an online store, but limited developer bandwidth and can afford to pay for their Enterprise plan.
2. Pick OneSignal if you want more than just web push notifications and have a dedicated development team who can take another project.