OneSignal to delete inactive app users by October 31st unless you pay

OneSignal, a company that provides a push notification service for mobile and web applications, just announced they are going to start deleting subscribers that are in-active for over 18 months unless you choose a paid subscription plan.

In an email to developers, they said: "If you'd like to retain all your push subscriptions (players), you can upgrade to any of our paid plans or reach out to us to discuss a customized plan before October 31, 2023."

Going forward after the deadline, for free accounts, the only subscribers that will be automatically deleted are those who have not been seen as "active" within the last 18 months. If the subscriber has been seen in the last 18 months, then there is no change.

In the past, OneSignal has let developers still harvest users who want messages from them, but only let them send push notifications to small portions (10,000) of the users until they had a paid plan.

Their pricing starts at $9 bucks a month, plus $3 bucks for every 1000 subscribers. So, let's do a little math here.

25,000 subscribers is $9 growth subscription + $75 sub/user fee = $84/mo
50​​​​,000 subscribers is $9 growth subscription + $150 sub/user fee = $159/mo
100​​​​,000 subscribers is $9 growth subscription + $300 sub/user fee = $309/mo
250​​,000 subscribers is $9 growth subscription + $750 sub/user fee = $759/mo

Their pricing is still one of the more affordable options out there, but I guess the days of free user data retention are over. No more "harvest now, push later".

What is an inactive user anyway?

An "inactive user" in the context of apps or digital platforms refers to an individual who has downloaded or registered for an app but does not engage with it regularly or has stopped using it altogether over a specified period of time.

Different companies might define "inactive" based on various criteria, such as:

1. Time since last login: For instance, a user might be considered inactive if they haven't logged in for 30 days or more.
2. Lack of engagement: Even if a user logs in, they might be considered inactive if they don't interact with the app's core features.
3. No recent transactions: In transaction-based apps, like e-commerce or banking, inactivity might be gauged by the lack of recent purchases or transactions.

Understanding and monitoring inactive users is crucial for businesses, as it can provide insights into potential problems with the app, shifts in user behavior, or opportunities for re-engagement campaigns. For instance, a sudden increase in inactive users might indicate a problem with the app's functionality or user experience, while a gradual increase might suggest that users are losing interest or finding better alternatives.

But keeping inactive users stored one the OneSIgnal platform is costly, in a quote from OneSignals email to developers:

"OneSignal serves over 2 million users sending over 12 billion notifications and emails daily. That results in a lot of data storage in the OneSignal system."

OneSignal pricing below

Founding and Early Days

OneSignal was founded in 2012 by George Deglin and Long Vo. The company initially started as a gaming studio named Hiptic Games. They developed a game called "Golvellius Valley of Doom," which was quite popular. The team pivoted from game development to focus on developing a push notification platform, which became OneSignal, after realizing the need for a user-friendly and efficient push notification service during their time as game developers.

OneSignal experienced significant growth and became one of the popular platforms for push notifications, in-app messaging, and email marketing.

You only have until October 31 to subscribe to OneSignal

The company's move to shove developers into subscribing to their platform is being met with some anxiety, mainly over the small 2-week window to decide to subscribe or lose your users.

OneSignal is offering to let you download all of your subscribers before October 31st.

OneSignal competitor pricing

CleverTap

5,000 Subscribers is $75/month
20,000 Subscribers is $250/month
40,000 Subscribers is $500/month
60,00 Subscribers is $750/month
80,0000 Subscribers is $1000/month
100,000 Subscribers is $1200/month

PushEngage

50,000 Subscribers is $9/month
100,000 Subscribers is $29/month
250,000 Subscribers is $49/month

Pusher

1,000 Subscribers is free
10,000 Subscribers is $29/month
50,000 Subscribers is $99/month
115,000 Subscribers is $199/month
250,000 Subscribers is $399/month

Firebase Cloud Messaging

FCM is a push notification service from Google, that you can send messages to your users, and it doesn't charge a per-subscriber or per-month fee for using the service itself.

Pushwoosh

Their pricing starts at $7/month, plus $5 bucks for every 2000 additional subscribers.

25,000 subscribers is $69.5/mo
50​​​​,000 subscribers is $139/mo
100​​​​,000 subscribers is $278/mo
250​​,000 subscribers is $695/mo