# OneSignal vs Pingram

> OneSignal scores 69.3 (B) 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/onesignal-vs-pingram
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/onesignal-vs-pingram.md (~2,200 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/onesignal-vs-pingram.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/onesignal-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

OneSignal scores 69.3 (B) on agent readiness against Pingram's 57.4 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Pingram leads on payments & pricing. Both do push notifications.

- OneSignal: grade B, 69.3/100, rank #189 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/onesignal.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/onesignal.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

### OneSignal (B)

Good for: A team whose main channel is push to its own mobile or web app and who wants delivery handled without a separate push provider.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 58
- Schema & documentation, 87 against 69
- Security & auth, 74 against 51
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 54

Watch for: Three incidents on the API and SDK endpoints in September 2026

### 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:
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35

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


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OneSignal | Pingram | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 58 | OneSignal +12 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 69 | OneSignal +18 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 64 | 67 | Pingram +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 74 | 51 | OneSignal +23 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | Pingram +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 81 | 81 | even |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 54 | OneSignal +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **69.3 · B** | **57.4 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OneSignal | Pingram |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | OneSignal | Pingram |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.onesignal.com` | `https://mcp.pingram.io` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Modified MIT (Node SDK, use limited to OneSignal's services) | 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 |
| Tools exposed | 43 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.pingram/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | 2024-06-12 | 2025-04-16 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2025-04-16 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | 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 | 52 stars, 231k npm/wk, 28k PyPI/wk | 1 stars, 13k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**OneSignal.** Runs push delivery itself, so there's no separate push provider to wire up. Three incidents on the API and SDK endpoints in September 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

### OneSignal

1. Use `Authorization: Key <key>`, not Bearer, and put `app_id` in the body
2. Send an `idempotency_key` UUID with every create call and reuse it on each retry
3. On 429, wait for `Retry-After`, then back off with jitter, up to 10 attempts
4. Stay under 10 sends per subscribed subscription in 15 minutes or the app is disabled
5. Target people with `include_aliases.external_id` and set `target_channel`

### 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, OneSignal or Pingram?

OneSignal scores 69.3 (B) on agent readiness against Pingram's 57.4 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Pingram leads on payments & pricing.

### Do OneSignal and Pingram need an API key?

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

### Can an agent call OneSignal and Pingram without installing anything?

Yes. OneSignal has a hosted endpoint at https://api.onesignal.com and Pingram at https://mcp.pingram.io.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with OneSignal or Pingram

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