Best for
Best for consumer brands with a serious mobile app, where wallet passes, in-app experiences and push carry the relationship and email is one channel among several.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Email Marketing Comparison
Airship vs. OneSignal
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for product and growth teams running app-first lifecycle messaging, where push and in-app carry as much of the programme as email.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Airship | OneSignal |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Not stated | Free plan, then from $19 / month The Growth platform fee, billed monthly. Messaging is metered on top: $0.012 per monthly active user for mobile push, $0.004 per web push subscriber and $1.50 per 1,000 email sends after the first 20,000 a month. Professional and Enterprise are annual contracts with quoted pricing and volume discounts. |
| Free trial | Not stated | Free plan across all channels, with 10,000 email sends a month and unlimited mobile push and in-app messaging for up to 1,000 monthly active users |
| Users | The vendor states thousands of global brands and more than 15 years in mobile messaging | The vendor states 200,000 apps, 1.5 billion monthly active users and 1.3 trillion messages sent a year |
| API | Yes, REST APIs, mobile and web SDKs and real-time data streaming, plus an open-source MCP server | Yes, unlimited API send access on every plan, SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native, Expo and Unity, and a hosted MCP server in open beta |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Made in | United States | United States |
| Campaign types | Email for both promotional and transactional sends, mobile and web push notifications, SMS, RCS and MMS, mobile wallet passes, and native app and web experiences including scenes, surveys and preference centres | Email, mobile push, web push, in-app messaging, SMS and RCS, plus iOS Live Activities, all from the same dashboard |
| Automation and journeys | Journey orchestration that connects messaging, app and web experiences into one flow, built either in the no-code builder or conversationally through the Journeys AI Agent, with continuous testing and optimisation of timing, content and channel | Journeys, a visual drag-and-drop workflow builder with branching, cross-channel flows, webhook steps and unlimited message steps. Active journeys are capped by plan at 3 on Free, 5 on Growth and 20 on Professional, and are unlimited on Enterprise |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Real-time segmentation on behaviour, preferences and context, fed by customer data management that activates existing data and captures zero-party preferences through in-session surveys, forms and preference centres | Audience segments, data tags and custom events, with timezone delivery, dynamic content and personalised notifications on every plan and intelligent delivery, time-delayed sends and retargeting from Growth up. Segments and tags are capped by plan, from 6 of each on Free to unlimited on Enterprise |
| Templates and editor | Drag-and-drop email blocks with generative AI for content, plus the Native Experience AI Agent that builds app and web experiences from a text description or an image upload, and partner design workflows that export from Figma through Email Love or from EmailShepherd as content templates | No-code and HTML message builders, free prebuilt templates, a drag-and-drop email editor with full HTML control, and Liquid syntax for dynamic content |
| Deliverability and testing | Built-in previews and Litmus-powered inbox rendering tests, subject line tests and cross-channel control groups, with strategic services offered for migrations and deliverability optimisation | Email auto warm-up on every plan, plus A/B testing that is standard on Free and Growth and multivariate on the annual plans. Sending uses shared IPs on Free and Growth, with a dedicated IP available on Professional and Enterprise depending on volume |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | Integrations across analytics and attribution, customer data platforms, data warehouses and commerce, including Adobe Experience Platform, Salesforce Data Cloud, Segment, Tealium, Treasure Data, LiveRamp, Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift, Shopify, RevenueCat and Talon.One | More than 30 core integrations across analytics, CRM, customer data platforms and data warehouses, including Segment, HubSpot, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Adobe Experience Cloud, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Databricks and RevenueCat, with premium integrations available for purchase on the annual plans |
| Integrations and API | Yes, REST APIs, mobile and web SDKs and real-time data streaming, plus an open-source MCP server that works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop and Cursor for querying channel data, sending test pushes, inspecting tags and attributes and running guided SDK migrations | Yes, unlimited API send access on every plan, SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native, Expo and Unity, and a hosted MCP server in open beta that exposes messaging, users, segments, templates, exports and analytics to an outside AI assistant |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| MCP-ready | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum | Not stated |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Personal consulting | Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries Adobe Experience Platform, Salesforce Data Cloud, Segment, Tealium, Treasure Data, LiveRamp, Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift, Shopify, RevenueCat, Talon.One, Adjust, Branch, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, Movable Ink | Segment, HubSpot, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Adobe Experience Cloud, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Databricks, RevenueCat, ActiveCampaign, Adjust, Adapty |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Company size Airship Small and mid-sized, Enterprise OneSignal Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Users Airship The vendor states thousands of global brands and more than 15 years in mobile messaging OneSignal The vendor states 200,000 apps, 1.5 billion monthly active users and 1.3 trillion messages sent a year
- API Airship Yes, REST APIs, mobile and web SDKs and real-time data streaming, plus an open-source MCP server OneSignal Yes, unlimited API send access on every plan, SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native, Expo and Unity, and a hosted MCP server in open beta
- Campaign types Airship Email for both promotional and transactional sends, mobile and web push notifications, SMS, RCS and MMS, mobile wallet passes, and native app and web experiences including scenes, surveys and preference centres OneSignal Email, mobile push, web push, in-app messaging, SMS and RCS, plus iOS Live Activities, all from the same dashboard
- Automation and journeys Airship Journey orchestration that connects messaging, app and web experiences into one flow, built either in the no-code builder or conversationally through the Journeys AI Agent, with continuous testing and optimisation of timing, content and channel OneSignal Journeys, a visual drag-and-drop workflow builder with branching, cross-channel flows, webhook steps and unlimited message steps. Active journeys are capped by plan at 3 on Free, 5 on Growth and 20 on Professional, and are unlimited on Enterprise
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Airship
Strengths
- Email, push, SMS, RCS, mobile wallet and in-app experiences are orchestrated as one journey
- Native app and web surfaces go well beyond what email-led platforms offer, including wallet passes and Live Activities
- The AI agent fleet covers campaign setup, journeys, recommendations and accessibility auditing with a human review step
- An open-source MCP server connects Claude Code, Claude Desktop and Cursor to channel data and test sends
- Broad data integrations in both directions, across CDPs, warehouses and attribution tools
Limitations
- No pricing is published for either the platform or the self-service Essentials tier, so evaluation starts with a quote
- The mobile-first design is wasted on a programme that is essentially an email newsletter
- Working conversationally through agents means reviewing machine-drafted campaigns rather than composing them
- The split between Essentials and the full platform is described by capability, not by any published limits
OneSignal
Strengths
- The free plan carries every channel, including unlimited mobile push for up to 1,000 monthly active users
- Unlimited contacts and unlimited API send access on every plan, the free one included
- Push, in-app, email, SMS and RCS run on one platform, so a lifecycle programme does not span two vendors
- Official SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native, Expo and Unity
- A hosted MCP server lets an outside AI assistant query analytics and operate campaigns
Limitations
- Active journeys, audience segments and data tags are all capped below the Enterprise plan
- Frequency capping, conversion metrics and CSV exports start on the annual Professional plan
- Cost follows monthly active users and send volume, so a large but lightly engaged audience gets expensive
- Dedicated sending IPs are limited to the annual plans and depend on volume
- Professional and Enterprise pricing is quoted rather than published
Plans
Pricing
Airship
- Airship Essentials Not stated A self-service platform with no code required, aimed at growth-focused teams building app and web experiences with native UI, automation and real-time orchestration. No price is published.
- Airship Experience Platform (AXP) Not stated Quoted. Cross-channel experiences across email, SMS, RCS and MMS, push, web notifications, mobile wallet, app and web, with customer data management, personalisation and segmentation, journey orchestration, testing and optimisation, partner integrations, reporting analytics and strategic services.
OneSignal
- Free $0 Per month. All channels, basic automation, analytics and personalisation, OneSignal AI and the MCP server, 10,000 email sends a month, unlimited mobile push and in-app messaging for up to 1,000 monthly active users, 3 active journeys and 6 audience segments.
- Growth $19 Per month, starting price. Adds more automation, more integrations, prioritised support and better analytics and personalisation. Messaging is metered on top: $0.012 per monthly active user for mobile push, $0.004 per web push subscriber and $1.50 per 1,000 email sends after the first 20,000.
- Professional Not stated Annual contract, quoted, with volume discounts. Adds advanced marketing and analytics, all integrations, advanced experiments, advanced permission management, 20 active journeys and reporting history up to a year.
- Enterprise Not stated Annual contract, quoted. Adds unlimited personalisation, reporting history up to two years, a security and compliance package, a custom SLA and a dedicated success manager.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Airship
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
OneSignal
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
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What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
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Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Airship https://www.airship.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-24
OneSignal https://onesignal.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-23
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.