NotificationAPI
vs.
Courier
Detailed comparison with screenshots (2024)
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Summary
Both NotificationAPI and Courier provide 3rd party notification systems however, each service appeals to different philosophies.
NotificationAPI
Philosophy:
Saving Time, Simplifying Architecture
5x more cost-effective
Better support even in the free tier
Does not require 3rd-party setup
Inclusive features for all plans
Fewer supported channels
No complex workflow editor
Minimal logs & analytics
Better for:
NotificationAPI is for small to medium-sized B2B SaaS companies that want to move fast with their notification project and expect reliable customer support.
Courier
Philosophy:
Customization, Lower Abstraction
Extensive channel support
Complex workflow editor
Logs, Analytics & Data streaming
More expensive per-notification
Requires 3rd party integrations
Many features exclusive to executive plan
Limited customer support for most plans
Better for:
Courier is for companies that require a large reach of channel compatibility, and a workflow editor for a nuanced delivery system.
Pricing
NotificationAPI offers a 5x more cost-effective paid service than Courier, along with quality support, even in the free tier.
NotificationAPI
10,000 free notifications per month
Starting at $0.001 per notification
Includes 3rd-party service costs
All plans include fast & reliable customer support
Courier
10,000 free notifications per month
Starting at $0.005 per notification
Pay for your own 3rd-party costs
Provides community forum outside of enterprise plans
Major Capability Differences
Automations & Workflows
NotificationAPI provides simple, yet competitive automation features, though Courier provides more features with its custom workflow editor.
NotificationAPI
Batching, digests, scheduling, deduplication, throttling
User preferences, time-zone aware digest delivery
No custom workflow builder; no delays, or conditionals
Courier
Batching, digests, scheduling & throttling
User preferences
Custom workflow builder featuring delays & conditionals
Logs & Insights
NotificationAPI and Courier offer essential logs and analytics for managing your notification system. Courier also features the ability to stream metrics to 3rd party services.
NotificationAPI
High-level reports by notification status & type
Preview of delivered notifications
Custom search queries
Logs query API and dashboard
60-day retention starting in the free plan
No open or click tracking
Courier
High-level reports by notification status & type
Preview of delivered notifications
Open & click tracking
30-day retention starting in the free plan
Ability to stream metrics to services, such as Segment or Datadog
Developer Experience
Both NotificationAPI and Courier deliver a quick integration experience, though NotificationAPI’s fully integrated services allow for faster setup for all available channels.
NotificationAPI
5 minutes to your first notification
No 3rd party setup
WYSIWYG template editor & free stock images for all channels
Courier
10 minutes to your first notification
Manually manage, integrate, and pay for all 3rd party channels
WYSIWYG template & Handlebars editor for all channels
Other Notable Mentions
NotificationAPI
Supports email, in-app, text, voice, push, web push
White labeling starts in free plan
No webhooks
Courier
Supports email, in-app, text, voice, push, on-call pub/sub
Also supports chat integration for Slack, Microsoft Team, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Discord
Supports webhooks
White labeling restricted to enterprise plans
Reliability
NotificationAPI offers quality customer support for all plans. Courier locks most support behind enterprise plans.
NotificationAPI
Chat, Email, Slack, Discord, Video call
~1 business hour response time (EST)
99.9% uptime
Courier
Community forum for free & Pro plans
Unknown response time
99.9% uptime
Closing thoughts by
NotificationAPI's CEO
Evident from their pricing, Courier targets larger enterprise customers, so we don't see them as direct competition in that market.
The workflow editor and Slack integration are features that we aim to bring to NotificationAPI for the small-to-mid sized software teams who want a reasonably priced third-party notification service.
Looking forward to our team updating this page with 2-3 more green checks for us this year!
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