Head to head
Airship vs Knock
As a push notification API, Knock rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 83.6 to 69.8, a 13.8-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Airship | Knock |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 69.8 | 83.6 |
Specifications
| Airship | Knock | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Enterprise mobile engagement | Notification infra + in-app inbox |
| Free tier | No | 10k messages/mo |
| Pricing | Custom MAU contract | Per message (MAU/message tiers) |
| Official SDKs | 11 languages | 12 languages |
Is Airship better than Knock?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Knock rates higher (83.6 vs 69.8). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
Knock leads by 13.8 points (83.6 vs 69.8) and wins 3 of 4 criteria; Airship wins 1.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 74 | 90 | |
| Reliability | 88 | 80 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 72 | 76 | |
| Accessibility | 38 | 88 |
Choose Airship if… / choose Knock if…
- →reliability matters most to you (88 vs 80)
- →your use case matches its focus: enterprise mobile engagement
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (90 vs 74)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (76 vs 72)
- →accessibility matters most to you (88 vs 38)
- →you want a free tier to start (10k messages/mo)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (12 official SDKs vs 11)
- →your use case matches its focus: notification infra + in-app inbox
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Custom MAU contract
- Free tier
- No
- Airship EssentialsCustom (quote)
- Airship Experience Platform (AXP) / EnterpriseCustom (quote)
- Model
- Per message (MAU/message tiers)
- Free tier
- 10k messages/mo
- Developer$0/month
- Starter$250/month
- EnterpriseContact sales
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Airship) and 2026-06-27 (Knock).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 1
React Native
Only Airship · 10
iOS / tvOS / visionOSAndroid / Android TV / FireOS / FireTVWebFlutterCordova / PhoneGapCapacitorUnityXamarinAppcelerator TitaniumREST API
Only Knock · 11
Node.js / TypeScriptPythonRubyGoJavaC# / .NETElixirPHPReactiOS (Swift)Android (Kotlin)
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Mature, battle-tested push infrastructure at massive scale (claimed 3+ trillion messages delivered since 2009)
- +True omni-channel reach in one platform: mobile push, web push, in-app/Scenes, SMS, email, and mobile wallet
- +Strong push-notification feature depth, rated 9.3/10 on G2's push feature breakdown
- –Among the most expensive push providers; quote-only pricing with ~$35k/yr entry plus onboarding fees prices out SMBs and indie developers
- –No public/self-serve pricing, every plan requires a sales conversation
- –Inconsistent UI across channels, requiring different approaches per channel
- +Single API orchestrates email, push, SMS, in-app feed, and chat channels so teams stop building bespoke notification pipelines
- +Visual workflow builder with batching, delays, branching, and channel fallbacks out of the box
- +Production-ready front-end components (React, React Native, iOS, Android, Flutter, Expo) for real-time in-app feeds, badge counts, toasts, and preference centers
- –Steep price jump from free to the $250/month Starter plan can be hard to justify for small workloads
- –Key enterprise features (per-customer branding, i18n, SCIM, SAML, HIPAA/BAA, data-warehouse analytics) are locked behind Contact-sales Enterprise pricing
- –Reviewers note the lack of a declarative / Terraform-style way to define workflows as code
Airship vs Knock: questions
- Which has better documentation, Airship or Knock?
- Knock scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 90 vs 74 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Airship or Knock?
- Airship scores higher on reliability: 88 vs 80 out of 100.
- Do Airship and Knock have a free tier?
- Airship: no free tier. Knock: yes (10k messages/mo).
- How are Airship and Knock priced?
- Airship: Custom MAU contract. Knock: Per message (MAU/message tiers).
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Knock lists 12 official SDKs, Airship lists 11.