What push notification platform should I use for transactional alerts?

If you mean transactional alerts like OTPs, payment confirmations, shipping updates, password-reset prompts, and account/security notifications, the best choice depends on your app’s platform mix and how much control you want.

Good default recommendations

• Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM)
  Best general-purpose option if you have Android, web, or a backend that can fan out to mobile/web. It’s free, widely used, and reliable for high-scale basic push.
• Apple Push Notification service (APNs)
  Required for iOS. In practice, most teams use a provider or FCM/another abstraction on top, but APNs is the underlying transport for iPhones.
• OneSignal
  Best if you want the fastest setup and a simple dashboard for push across web/iOS/Android. Great for transactional alerts if you don’t need deep infrastructure control.
• AWS SNS / Pinpoint
  Good if your stack is already on AWS and you want to keep everything in one ecosystem.

How to choose

Use OneSignal if:

• you want quick implementation
• you need segmentation, templates, and analytics out of the box
• you don’t want to manage push plumbing

Use FCM + APNs directly if:

• you want maximum control
• you already have backend infrastructure
• you want to minimize vendor dependency/cost

Use AWS Pinpoint/SNS if:

• you’re heavily on AWS
• you need multi-channel orchestration later

Important note for transactional alerts

For truly critical transactional messages, push alone should not be the only delivery channel. Push can be delayed, disabled, or blocked. For important notifications:

• send email/SMS/in-app as fallback depending on urgency
• use push for speed and convenience, not guaranteed delivery

My practical recommendation

• Small/medium app, want easiest path: OneSignal
• Engineering-led product with custom backend: FCM + APNs directly
• AWS-first org: AWS SNS/Pinpoint

If you tell me:

1. iOS/Android/web support needed
2. your backend stack
3. whether you want dashboards/analytics or just APIs
   …I can recommend one platform more precisely.