How to Cut Your Push Notifications Bill

If your app sends push notifications, you're probably paying a third-party platform to manage delivery, segments, and analytics. Vendors like Airship, OneSignal, Braze, and others offer convenience, but their pricing can scale quickly with users and messages. For many teams, the real cost isn't the feature set — it's the per-message or per-user fees that grow with your audience. This article breaks down what the major providers charge, why Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) costs nothing for delivery, and how you can migrate to cut your push bill.

What the major providers charge

Pricing varies widely, but one thing is consistent: as your user base grows, so does the bill. Here's a quick overview of how the biggest names structure their push notification costs.

Provider	Pricing model	Rough cost at scale
Airship	Custom / enterprise; no public per-message rates	Contact sales; often tens of thousands/year
OneSignal	Free tier + Growth ($19/mo+); $0.012/MAU mobile, $0.004/web subscriber	e.g. 100k MAU approx. $1,200+/mo on Growth
Braze	Enterprise; data-point and volume based	$60k to $100k+ per year
FCM / APNs (direct)	No per-message or per-device fees	$0 for delivery

Airship doesn't publish public per-message rates. Pricing is custom and based on your goals, channels, and volume. You'll need to contact sales for a quote. Enterprise plans typically include push, email, SMS, mobile wallet, and add-ons (e.g. extended analytics, extra integrations), which can push annual costs into the tens of thousands depending on scale.

OneSignal has a free tier with unlimited mobile push, but paid plans add usage-based costs. On the Growth plan ($19/month and up), you pay $0.012 per monthly active user for mobile push and $0.004 per web push subscriber. At 100,000 MAUs that's $1,200/month just for mobile push — and it scales from there.

Braze and similar enterprise platforms typically don't list public pricing. Contracts are often in the $60k to $100k+ per year range, with pricing tied to data points and volume. You get powerful orchestration and analytics, but the bill is significant.

FCM is no-cost for delivery

Under the hood, most mobile push to Android goes through Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). Google does not charge for FCM message delivery. There are no per-message or per-device fees for using FCM to send push notifications. The infrastructure is free — you're not limited by a fixed "free tier" of messages.

So when you pay Airship, OneSignal, or another vendor, a large part of what you're paying for is their dashboard, segmentation, A/B tests, and support — not the underlying delivery for Android. For iOS, the story is similar: you use Apple's APNs (Apple Push Notification service), which also doesn't charge per message. The cost from vendors is for their platform and tooling, not for the core delivery channel.

FCM works well for marketing teams

FCM isn't just for engineers. It's a strong fit for marketing teams too. The Firebase Console includes its own dashboard for composing and sending push notifications — no code required for one-off or campaign-style sends. That dashboard is no-cost as well: you're not paying per message or per user to use it. On top of that, Firebase supports flexible targeting queries (e.g. by topic, condition, or user property), so you can reach the right audiences without needing a separate paid tool.

When it makes sense to reconsider your stack

If you're on a tight budget, scaling quickly, or simply want to reduce a predictable monthly line item, moving to a direct FCM/APNs integration (or a lightweight layer on top) can cut your push bill to zero for delivery. The tradeoff is building or maintaining more of the logic yourself — or working with a partner who can do that for you.

It's worth revisiting your stack if:

• Your monthly push spend is growing faster than you're comfortable with.
• You're hitting usage caps or considering a plan upgrade mainly for volume.
• You only need reliable delivery and basic targeting, not full marketing automation.
• You'd rather invest in your own backend and tooling than lock into a vendor's pricing.

What migration typically involves

Moving off a paid provider onto FCM (and APNs for iOS) is doable, but it needs to be planned. Typical steps include:

• Credentials and config: Setting up or moving Firebase project credentials, and (for iOS) APNs keys/certificates.
• Device tokens: Migrating or re-collecting FCM/APNs device tokens in your backend so you can target the same users.
• Send path: Replacing the vendor's API with your own service that calls FCM/APNs (or a thin abstraction).
• Segments and scheduling: Rebuilding any segments, scheduling, or automation in your backend or a minimal tool — or simplifying to a smaller set of use cases.
• Testing and cutover: Verifying delivery and behavior before switching traffic and retiring the old provider.

MetaShark® can help with migration

Migrating off a paid push provider onto FCM (and APNs where needed) requires careful planning: credential handling, device token migration, and optionally replacing segments and automation with your own backend or a minimal toolset. MetaShark® has experience designing and implementing push notification systems and can help you migrate from Airship, OneSignal, Braze, or similar platforms to a no-cost, FCM-based solution — without losing reliability or control.