OneSignal is Free (10K subs) / $9/mo. Notify is a self-hosted alternative at $0.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.
| Notify | OneSignal | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted, your infra | Managed SaaS (cloud only) |
| Data location | Your server, your disk | OneSignal's cloud |
| Free tier | 1,000 pushes/mo | Free |
| Pro pricing | $0.99/mo | Free (10K subs) / $9/mo |
| Dependencies | None (single binary + SQLite) | N/A (managed) |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Account signup |
| Dashboard | Built-in at /ui | Cloud dashboard |
| License | BSL 1.1 | Proprietary SaaS |
Notify is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.
curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/notify/install.sh | sh
The pricing math between Notify and OneSignal changes depending on team size. OneSignal at Free (10K subs) / $9/mo is reasonable for a solo user. At ten seats, the difference compounds. Notify is a flat $0.99/mo regardless of seats — the binary does not count how many people use it. For growing teams, this makes Notify progressively cheaper while OneSignal gets progressively more expensive.
Notify runs as a single static binary with an embedded SQLite database. There is no application server, no cache layer, no background worker. One process handles HTTP requests and reads from and writes to the database file directly. This simplicity is the entire point — fewer moving parts means fewer things that can break at 2 AM.
If you are currently using OneSignal and considering Notify, start by running both in parallel. Install Notify on a test server, point your workflow at it for a week, and compare the experience. Notify's data directory is isolated — running a trial costs nothing beyond the compute. If Notify does not fit, delete the binary and the data directory. There is nothing else to clean up.
Single binary. Free to start. $0.99/mo for Pro.