AfterShip SMS vs OneSignal: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of AfterShip SMS and OneSignal to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
AfterShip SMS
5.9/10
AfterShip SMS sends SMS and email marketing to Shopify merchants, with automations, popups, segmentation and messages linked to order tracking.
OneSignal
7.1/10
OneSignal is a customer messaging platform for sending mobile push, web push, in-app messages, email and SMS to app and website users.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 5.9/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Scalability | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $11/mo Essentials | $19/mo Growth |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| A/B Testing | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| Segmentation | ||
| SMS Marketing | ||
| E-commerce Features | Not listed | |
| Landing Pages | Not listed | |
AfterShip SMS vs OneSignal cost by team size
AfterShip SMS and OneSignal cost the same at every team size we checked.
| Team size | AfterShip SMS | OneSignal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 5 users | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 10 users | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 25 users | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 50 users | FreeFree | FreeFree |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose AfterShip SMS
- Better fit for e-commerce (9/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose OneSignal
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Security score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for mid-market (7/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
AfterShip SMS
Pros
- Combines SMS, email, popups and cart recovery in one Shopify app, so small stores need fewer separate tools
- There is a free plan, and Essentials costs $11 a month, which makes it cheap to start
- Rated 4.8 from more than 2,300 Shopify reviews, and many reviewers praise how easy the features are to use
- Includes transactional SMS for order confirmations and tracking, drawing on AfterShip's shipment tracking
Cons
- Low-star reviewers in 2025 and 2026 report sending suspensions over bounce or spam thresholds, sometimes during busy seasons
- Reviewers describe billing disputes, unwanted plan upgrades and refused refunds
- Some users found support slow or limited to bot replies
- Unused communication credits expire and cannot be extended, according to a 2025 reviewer
- A business email domain is required, so Gmail addresses are not accepted
OneSignal
Pros
- A free plan with unlimited push up to 1,000 MAU and 10,000 emails a month makes it cheap to start.
- Push, in-app, email and SMS run from one platform with cross-channel journeys.
- Reviewers on G2 and PeerSpot say the dashboard is easy for non-technical marketers to use.
- A broad integration catalog covers CDPs such as Segment, RudderStack and Hightouch, data warehouses, and analytics tools.
Cons
- PeerSpot reviewers call it expensive for large subscriber bases.
- Free and Growth plans cap segments at 6 and 10, and reporting history at 30 and 90 days.
- SMS pricing is not published and requires a sales conversation.
- Reviewers mention unclear documentation for advanced cases and limited in-app design options.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
OneSignal scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 7.1/10 against 5.9/10 for AfterShip SMS. The largest gap is in Scalability: 5/10 for AfterShip SMS and 8/10 for OneSignal.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both AfterShip SMS and OneSignal have a free plan.
AfterShip SMS is the better fit for e-commerce: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 5/10 for OneSignal.
