PusharooChoosing a push notification service for your website
Most push services look the same on the homepage and differ in the fine print: subscriber caps, badges, locked features and lists you can’t take with you. Here’s the checklist we’d use.
- Check the subscriber cap first — it decides your bill as you grow.
- Look for forced “Powered by” badges on prompts or notifications.
- Confirm segments, schedules, automations and an API aren’t locked behind paid tiers.
- Pusharoo is free for life: no subscriber, campaign, automation, website, integration or browser limits, and no badges.
The 8-point checklist
- Subscriber cap. Many free plans stop at a few thousand or 10,000 subscribers; after that you pay per subscriber.
- Branding. Does the prompt or notification say “Powered by …”? Can you remove it without paying?
- Feature gates. Segments, scheduling, automations, A/B tests, webhooks and API access are commonly reserved for paid plans.
- Websites per account. One site free, more for a fee, is common.
- List ownership. Is the service worker on your domain? Can you get a record of every subscriber? See what owning a list means.
- iPhone support. Does it handle the Home Screen rule gracefully?
- Prompt quality. Two-step soft prompt, delay, scroll trigger and frequency caps — not a native dialog on load.
- Setup effort. How many files, plugins or accounts (Firebase, Apple) do you need?
How Pusharoo answers each one
| Question | Pusharoo |
|---|---|
| Subscriber cap | None — build your list as big as you want |
| Branding | Never. Your name and icon only |
| Feature gates | None. Segments, schedules, automations, A/B tests, webhooks, REST and JS APIs for everyone |
| Websites | Unlimited |
| Service worker on your domain | Yes — /sw.js at your root |
| iPhone | iOS/iPadOS 16.4+, with an optional Add-to-Home-Screen hint card |
| Prompt | Two-step, delay, scroll, caps, remembers “Not now” |
| Setup | One file + one script tag, ~5 minutes. No Firebase, no Apple account |
Why can it be free?
Browsers deliver push messages through their own networks without charging senders per message. The real costs are a server, a database and careful engineering — and Pusharoo runs on its own dedicated server with open-source components rather than reselling someone else’s platform. That’s why we can promise free for life, not “free for now”.
How it works
What’s included, all free
- Segments: website, device, language, timezone, tags, events, clicks, recency
- Campaigns: now, scheduled, repeating, drafts
- A/B tests: 50/50 or send-the-winner
- Automations: subscribe, event, tag, click and inactivity triggers with waits and stop conditions
- Up to two action buttons and large images
- RSS-to-push, REST API, signed webhooks, JavaScript API, Google Tag Manager
- iPhone/iPad Home Screen support, branded soft prompt, no badges
What it isn’t
Pusharoo is web push only: no native app SDKs, email, SMS or WhatsApp, no one-click store plugins and no geo-location targeting. If you need those in one tool, a paid platform may be the better fit — our comparisons say so where it applies (free services compared).
Getting started
create a free account, add your website, upload sw.js and paste the snippet — about five minutes on most sites (setup guide). Platform notes for WordPress, Shopify, Drupal, Joomla and more are in the guides.
Comparing specific tools?
We keep two honest, dated comparisons: Pusharoo vs. OneSignal and web push pricing across popular services.
Questions
Is Pusharoo really free?
Yes — free for life. There are no paid tiers, no plan gates and no “contact sales”.
Are there any limits?
No limits on subscribers, campaigns, automations, websites, integrations or browsers.
Do notifications say “Powered by Pusharoo”?
Never. The prompt and every notification use your site’s own name and icon.
Does it work with mobile apps?
Pusharoo is for websites and web apps (including iPhone Home Screen web apps). It does not send native iOS/Android app push.
Can I use Pusharoo with Google Tag Manager?
Yes. Add the snippet as a Custom HTML tag on All Pages and publish. You still need /sw.js at your site root.
Does Pusharoo have an API?
Yes: a server-to-server REST API for campaigns, segments, subscribers, tags, events and transactional sends, plus a browser JavaScript API and signed webhooks.
Keep reading
Looking for a OneSignal alternative for web push?
Fair, dated comparison: pricing at scale, limits, branding and when OneSignal is still the better pick.
Web push notification pricing, compared honestly
Published list prices for popular services at 50,000 subscribers, dated and sourced.
White-label push notifications: your brand, not ours
Your name, icon and words on every prompt and notification. No “Powered by” badge.
Self-hosted web push and owning your list
Endpoints + VAPID keys = a list you control. What self-hosting means and what it costs you.
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Free for life. No limits.
Unlimited subscribers, campaigns and automations. No badges. About five minutes to install.