What should I use for mobile push notifications with web fallback?

If you want mobile push notifications with a web fallback, the best choice depends on whether you need simple consumer messaging or a full notification infrastructure.

Good options

1. OneSignal

• Easiest all-in-one option
• Supports mobile push and web push
• Good dashboards, segmentation, automation
• Fast to integrate

Best for: most apps that want a quick, reliable setup with minimal engineering effort.

2. Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) + Web Push

• Great if you want a more developer-controlled setup
• Android push is handled through FCM
• Web push can be built on top of browser push APIs
• iOS support exists through APNs integration, usually via FCM or directly

Best for: teams already using Firebase/Google tooling.

3. AWS SNS / Pinpoint

• More enterprise-oriented
• Can handle push and fallback workflows
• More complex, but scalable

Best for: larger systems needing centralized messaging across channels.

4. Braze / Airship / Customer.io

• Strong for marketing automation and multi-channel messaging
• Push + web fallback + email/SMS options
• More expensive and heavier-weight

Best for: product/marketing teams with advanced lifecycle messaging needs.

---

Recommended approach

If by “web fallback” you mean:

• send mobile push when the app is installed
• otherwise send web push if the user is on desktop/browser
• otherwise fall back to email or in-app

then a platform like OneSignal is usually the simplest starting point.

---

Important note

If you mean “fallback” only in the sense of delivering the notification to web when the mobile app isn’t available, that’s not something push systems do automatically unless you build routing logic. You usually need to:

1. store user channel preferences/devices,
2. detect which channels are available,
3. send through the appropriate channel in priority order.

---

Quick recommendation

• Simplest choice: OneSignal
• Most flexible DIY choice: FCM + web push
• Enterprise marketing choice: Braze or Airship

If you want, I can also give you:

1. a comparison table, or
2. a recommended stack based on your app type.