The FCM alternative with a dashboard.
Firebase Cloud Messaging is free — but it's just a delivery pipe. No dashboard, no segmentation, no analytics. LitePush is the managed layer on top of the same Web Push standard, so you don't build all of it yourself.
Free tier for 2,000 subscribers · No credit card required
What you get out of the box
FCM is the delivery layer. Everything around it, you'd build — or get from LitePush.
| Firebase Cloud Messaging | LitePush | |
|---|---|---|
| Send dashboard | ||
| Subscriber storage + dedup | DIY | |
| Segmentation / groups | ||
| Delivery + click analytics | ||
| Fan-out queue (retries) | DIY | |
| Event webhooks | ||
| GDPR export / erase | ||
| Time to first push | hours | < 5 min |
| Price | $0 | Free, then $9/mo |
"DIY" = available only if you build and host it yourself on top of FCM's raw delivery API. Web-push scope, verified June 2026.
Why switch
Free, but you build everything
FCM hands you a raw delivery API. The subscriber store with dedup, the fan-out queue with retries, a send dashboard, delivery tracking — all of that is yours to build and host. LitePush is that whole layer, managed. $9/mo is cheaper than the engineering time.
An actual dashboard
See your subscribers, send a broadcast, target a group, and watch delivery + click-through rates — from a UI. FCM's console has none of that for web push; you'd wire up your own admin tooling.
Same free standard underneath
LitePush speaks the same open Web Push (VAPID) protocol FCM does under the hood — you're not trading FCM for a new lock-in. Export your full subscriber list as CSV any time, from the dashboard or the API.
Five-minute setup
One drop-in script tag and a subscribe() call, versus integrating the FCM SDK and standing up your own backend plumbing behind it. We've timed it at under five minutes to a first push.
When FCM is the better choice
FCM is genuinely great at what it does, and free. Reach for it directly if:
- You want $0 and are happy building + hosting the dashboard, subscriber store, and fan-out queue yourself.
- You're already deep in the Firebase ecosystem (Firestore, Auth) and want a single vendor.
- You need native iOS / Android app push — FCM does that; LitePush does web push, not native mobile apps.
For browser notifications specifically, though, LitePush turns FCM's raw pipe into a product — the dashboard, segments, analytics, and queue you'd otherwise spend a couple of weeks building. And you can start on the free tier.
Skip the boilerplate
Drop in one script tag and send your first notification in five minutes — on a free tier that covers 2,000 subscribers, no card required.