Zero costs are appealing when you need a new tool for your website that you’ve never tried before or when you’re just short of money. However, even free products with the same mission could have many differences. Here, we review the best free push notifications services. We’ll show you what features you can get without payment with eight popular push services. We don’t include services with just a free trial in our guide, but you can also check TOP-7 paid push notification services for more options to make a choice.
Features of free push notification services
Push notifications service enables you to re-engage website visitors, increase repeat visits and conversions. To get the best results from your push campaigns, you need not just basic features but more complex ones such as segmentation and automation. And this is possible even with a free web push notification tool.
What to consider when choosing a free push service
- User Interface (UI) and Installation. The hassle-free interface and onboarding process could be crucial for non-technical people. On the contrary, tech-savvies could prefer services that allow unlimited customization even if it takes time to handle everything.
- Subscribers limit. An opt-in rate for push notifications for e-commerce is up to 5%. So If your online store generates 100,000 visits per month, you’ll get roughly 5,000 subscriptions. Taking this into account, you can calculate what subscribers limit is enough for you.
- Websites. If you’re running more than one website, pay attention to how many websites you can add with a free plan. This limit is crucial for agencies.
- Segments. If you’re into targeted push campaigns, check the number of subscriber segments that you can create for free. Some services provide pre-built segments; others can add custom segments.
- Data tags. Tags are your tool to create custom segments based on user behavior. If you need to segment your subscribers by website category/page they visit, the number of free tags might be valuable.
- API send access. If you want to use custom features such as transactional push notifications, you need API access. Make sure that your desired push service includes this as a free feature.
- Automatic notifications. Alerts about your new blog posts, welcome messages, price drop alerts are among automatic notifications. They help you save time once automation is set up. Check if a service supports automation for a free plan.
- User permissions. This feature is helpful if you want to grant multiple users access to your push notifications dashboard, such as when adding multiple websites.
Services like Gravitec.net, PushAssist, and TruePush also have a monetization option, so check their terms if you’re interested in sending push notification ad to your subscribers.
Learn more about push notification features in the push notification tutorial.
To optimize the choice for you, we’ve compiled a list of push notification services with a free plan.
Gravitec.net
Gravitec.net is a straightforward web push service that you can set up in a matter of minutes without coding. It’s the best fit for small and medium businesses, and individual entrepreneurs. To start using the Gravitec.net free plan you need to sign up and add your website to the service dashboard.
Also you can integrate with the service by using the WordPress push notifications plugin. There is also another alternative option by using Google Tag Manager.
After the integration process is finished, you need to customize your permission prompt (opt-in prompt). Additionally, you can set up the bell widget to let your subscribers choose push notifications topics. You can send push notifications manually or automatically. There are five automation features to set up and forget about spending your time on push campaigns: RSS to Push, Drip Campaigns, Push Digest, Tweet to Push, and Welcome Message.
Also Gravitec.net supports Abandoned cart alerts for WooCommerce, which is great if you’re running an online store. For Zapier and Integrately fans, Gravitec.net has workflow automations.
The Gravitec.net free plan limits are pretty generous.
- Subscribers: up to 10,000
- Websites: unlimited
- Segments: unlimited
- Data tags: unlimited
- API send access: up to 5 campaigns per day
- Automatic notifications: up to 5 campaigns per day
- User permission: 1
To add team members and unlock all the features, you need to upgrade to a paid plan.
OneSignal
OneSignal is a multi-channel platform that combines in-app messages, app and web push notifications, SMS, and emails. The service was designed for marketers and developers, so it could be challenging to start with all of the features for a non-technical user new to marketing platforms. However, Onesignal has a free plan to start with the basic push features.
After signing up, you can add your website to the dashboard and choose the integration type: Typical website, WordPress plugin and website builder, or Custom code if you’re an advanced user.
The Onesignal free plan lets you save money if you’re ready for a learning curve.
- UI & Setup: clear UI, to set up some features you need coding
- Subscribers: up to 10,000
- Websites: unlimited
- Segments: 6
- Data tags: 10
- API send access: unlimited
- Active automates workflows: 3
- User permissions: multi-user
To use more segments, tags, and automations, you’ll need the Onesignal Growth plan that starts at $9 per month + $3 per 1,000 subscribers. So, the cost for 30,000 subscribers is $99 per month.
PushEngage
PushEngage is a push notification vendor that is mainly designed for eCommerce websites. It has an amazing set of automation features such as automated re-engagement notifications with a paid plan. The PushEngage forever-free plan limits you to just 30 push notifications campaigns. And, you’ll be able to set up a targeted opt-in trigger and an opt-in reminder. So it is instead a forever-free trial to test the service.
- UI & Setup: clear UI, registration requires your credit card info
- Subscribers: up to 200
- Websites: 1
- Segments: No
- Data tags: No
- Automatic notifications: No
- API access: Yes
- User permissions: No
The PushEngage paid plans start at $9 for 1,000 subscribers per month.
Subscribers.com
Subscribers.com is a simple web push notification service that supports Chrome and Firefox browsers for desktop and mobile. With their free plan, you can send notifications to no more than 200 subscribers and use the most basic features. Automations and API access are only available with Subscribers.com paid plans. To try Subscribers for free, you can install their WordPress plugin, add an integration code via Google Tag Manager, or use the Squarespace integration.
Check out the list of Subscribers.com free features.
- UI & Setup: clear UI, manual installation with code
- Subscribers: up to 200
- Websites: 1
- Segments: No
- Data tags: No
- API send access: No
- Automatic notifications: No
- User permissions: 1
Sibscribers.com pricing starts at $29 per month for up to 10,000 subscribers.
PushAlert
The PushAlert push notification service provider has a set of automated eCommerce solutions available with paid plans. But you can start using PushAlert with a forever-free plan if you’re not into automations. JavaScript & REST API will help you add needed customization. You can integrate with the service via WordPress and Joomla plugins, and use multiple integrations.
Check out the list of PushAlert limits.
- UI & Setup: clear UI, manual installation with code
- Subscribers: up to 3,000
- Websites: 1
- Segments: unlimited
- API send access: Yes
- Automatic notifications: No
- User permissions: 1
To try PushAlert automations, you can start with the Basic Plan that includes Abandoned Cart Notifications and Recurring Notifications. Pricing starts at $12 per 3,000 subscribers.
TruePush
TruePush is a free push notification software for up to 30,000 subscribers in your base, which sounds marvelous compared to the limits offered by most push providers. However, the way TruePush handles data raises privacy concerns. Plus, you can’t
Initially, TruePush was going to monetize by using cookie data for ads. Once Google stopped supporting 3d-party cookies, TruePush claimed that the freemium model for push notifications was their way to obtain clients for their upcoming paid services that they planned to launch in 2021.
At the moment, TruePush charges $29 for up to 100,000 subscribers after you exceed the free plan limit. Still, their business model seems vague, and you can’t be sure of how they will use your data in the future.
Nevertheless, here is a set of TruePush free features.
- UI & Setup: clear UI, manual installation with code
- Subscribers: 30,000
- Websites: unlimited
- Segments: unlimited
- Tags: No
- API send access: Yes
- Automatic notifications: No
- User permissions: 1
TruePush integration options
PushAssist
PushAssist is another push notification service that unlocks its potential with a paid plan. However, its free plan could be a place to start using push notifications. Even though it doesn’t include automations, you can create segments and send notifications to up to 3,000 subscribers. To set it up for free, you need to manually add code on your website or activate the PushAssist WordPress plugin.
PushAssist limits:
- UI & Setup: confusing UI, manual installation with code
- Subscribers: 3,000
- Websites: 1
- Segments: 5
- Tags: No
- API send access: Yes
- Automatic notifications: No
- User permissions: 1
PushAssist pricing starts at $9 per 3,500 subscribers.
Firebase cloud messaging
If you have coding experience, you might wish to try Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to set up free push notifications for your website. It will take you some time and effort to make all work right as FCM is a developer-centric platform. However, you’ll have complete control over your projects. Learn how to set up web pushes with Firebase.
Wrapping Up
To sum up, here is a brief description of eight free services.
- Gravitec.net is an easy-to-use code-free service with up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited websites/segments/tags, and limited automations included in a free plan.
- OneSignal is a marketer-centric platform with a learning curve with up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited websites, and limited segments/tags/automations included in a free plan.
- PushEngage is a push service designed for eCommerce with just up to 200 subscribers and 30 push campaigns for free.
- Subscribers.com is a simple push notification tool with a free plan that includes 200 subscribers and basic features to send notifications.
- PushAlert unlocks its eCommerce automations with a paid plan, but you can customize your campaigns through API and send notifications to up to 3,000 subscribers for free.
- TruePush is a free push service for up to 30,000 subscribers, with unlimited websites/ segments, and data privacy concerns.
- PushAssist has a free plan with up to 3,000 subscribers and limited segments.
- Firebase Cloud Messaging is a free tool for developers to set up and customize push notifications by using code.
Hopefully, you’re ready to choose a push service. If you’re still in doubt, we recommend Gravitec.net as a reliable tool to boost your user engagement. Start it for free right now!
FAQ
- Are push notifications cheaper than SMS?
Yes. The SMS cost is roughly $0,02 per message. Push notifications pricing starts at even less than $1 per 1,000 subscribers for unlimited notifications.
- Is it free to send push notifications?
You can use free push notification services, but typically they limit their features such as the number of subscribers and automations. For example, the Gravitec free plan includes 10,000 subscribers and up to 5 automations per day along with all of the basic push notifications features such as custom opt-in prompts and scheduling notifications in advance.
- How to use Gravitec.net for free?
Sign up and add your website, then choose an integration option – Standard integration, WordPress plugin, Website builders. Alternatively, you can install the Gravitec.net plugin from your WordPress dashboard and follow the onboarding steps. After push notifications are set up, you can use all the free Gravitec.net features.
- How to set up push notifications and save my budget?
Carefully choose a service that allows for a fixed payment so that you don’t end up paying more than you expected. Gravitec.net provides fixed plans, unlike other push services where you pay for every 1,000 subscribers. Gravitec.net fixed pricing starts at $8,99 for 30,000 subscribers per month. Alternatively, you can purchase lifetime access to the Gravitec.net service for $149.
