# Expo Push Notifications vs Pingram

> Expo Push Notifications scores 58.8 (C) to Pingram's 57.4 (C) for push notifications. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-pingram
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-pingram.md (~2,400 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-pingram.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-pingram.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Expo Push Notifications scores 58.8 (C) on agent readiness against Pingram's 57.4 (C), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Pingram leads on schema & documentation and maintenance & community. Both do push notifications.

- Expo Push Notifications: grade C, 58.8/100, rank #571 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/expo-push-notifications.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/expo-push-notifications.json
- Pingram: grade C, 57.4/100, rank #611 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pingram.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pingram.json
- Best notification APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/notifications/index.md
- All 66 notifications comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/notifications/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Expo Push Notifications (C)

Good for: An agent that must push to an app already built with Expo, at no cost and with one call for both platforms.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 65 against 58
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 54

Watch for: The send API needs no authentication by default, so anyone holding a push token can send to that device until the owner enables access tokens

### Pingram (C)

Good for: An agent that needs to send transactional email and SMS and read replies through one account without separate carrier or SMTP providers.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 69 against 60
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 74

Watch for: The terms of service forbid using the service for benchmarking. This matters before any probe is run


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Expo Push Notifications | Pingram | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 58 | Expo Push Notifications +7 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 69 | Pingram +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 67 | Pingram +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 51 | Pingram +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 40 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 81 | Pingram +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 54 | Expo Push Notifications +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **58.8 · C** | **57.4 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Expo Push Notifications | Pingram |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Expo | Pingram |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://exp.host/--/api/v2/push/send` | `https://mcp.pingram.io` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Expo's terms of service. The Node.js server SDK is MIT | Proprietary service under Pingram's terms of service. The Node.js SDK and CLI are MIT on npm. The Go SDK repository has no licence file |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.pingram/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-08-24 | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-05-29 | 2025-04-16 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-10-21 | 2025-04-16 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 1k stars, 1.3M npm/wk | 1 stars, 13k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Expo Push Notifications.** A free push relay with a small, well documented HTTP API, published limits of 600 notifications a second and written error codes. Sending needs no credential unless the owner turns on access tokens, there is no idempotency key or SLA, and the status page records three iOS push incidents since 4 August 2026.

**Pingram.** Email and SMS go out through one REST call with built-in delivery, per-message prices are public and the free tier needs no card. No rate limits or idempotency keys were found in the reviewed documentation, and the MCP connector acts with the signed-in user's whole account.

## Before you call either

### Expo Push Notifications

1. Send an array of up to 100 messages per request, all for one project, and stay under 600 notifications a second
2. Keep each ticket `id` and POST them to `/--/api/v2/push/getReceipts` about 15 minutes later. Receipts are cleared after 24 hours
3. Stop sending to a token when a ticket or receipt returns `DeviceNotRegistered`
4. If the project has enhanced push security on, send `Authorization: Bearer <access token>` or the call fails with `UNAUTHORIZED`
5. Retry 429 and 5xx with exponential backoff, and expect an occasional duplicate because there is no idempotency key

### Pingram

1. Use the API host for the account's region. The key and region (`us`, `eu` or `ca`) come from the API Keys page in the dashboard
2. Keep the `trackingId` from each send and check Logs before retrying. No idempotency key was found, so a blind retry can send twice
3. Pass `accountId` on MCP tools when the user belongs to several accounts. Without it the tools use the earliest account joined
4. Create broadcasts as drafts only. Pingram's own skill says a person must send a broadcast from the dashboard
5. Expect 402 when the monthly budget is spent. Unused balance does not roll over

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Expo Push Notifications or Pingram?

Expo Push Notifications scores 58.8 (C) on agent readiness against Pingram's 57.4 (C), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Pingram leads on schema & documentation and maintenance & community.

### Do Expo Push Notifications and Pingram need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Expo Push Notifications and Pingram without installing anything?

Yes. Expo Push Notifications has a hosted endpoint at https://exp.host/--/api/v2/push/send and Pingram at https://mcp.pingram.io.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-pingram.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-pingram.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "expo-push-notifications", "b": "pingram"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare expo-push-notifications pingram`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/expo-push-notifications.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pingram.json

## Other comparisons with Expo Push Notifications or Pingram

- [Amazon SNS vs Expo Push Notifications](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-sns-vs-expo-push-notifications.md)
- [Amazon SNS vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-sns-vs-pingram.md)
- [Courier vs Expo Push Notifications](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/courier-vs-expo-push-notifications.md)
- [Courier vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/courier-vs-pingram.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs Firebase Cloud Messaging](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-firebase-cloud-messaging.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs Knock](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-knock.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs MagicBell](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-magicbell.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs Novu](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-novu.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs ntfy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-ntfy.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs OneSignal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-onesignal.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs Pushover](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-pushover.md)
- [Expo Push Notifications vs SuprSend](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expo-push-notifications-vs-suprsend.md)
- [Firebase Cloud Messaging vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/firebase-cloud-messaging-vs-pingram.md)
- [Knock vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/knock-vs-pingram.md)
- [MagicBell vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/magicbell-vs-pingram.md)
- [Novu vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novu-vs-pingram.md)
- [ntfy vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ntfy-vs-pingram.md)
- [OneSignal vs Pingram](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/onesignal-vs-pingram.md)
- [Pingram vs Pushover](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pingram-vs-pushover.md)
- [Pingram vs SuprSend](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pingram-vs-suprsend.md)