What Pushover does

Pushover, LLC is a privately held, bootstrapped push notification relay service founded in 2012 (originally as Superblock, LLC) and headquartered in Chicago, with a 1-10 person team. The company provides native client applications for Android, iOS/iPadOS, and desktop browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari across Mac, Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS), delivering real-time push notifications through Google Firebase Cloud Messaging, Apple Push Notification service, and WebSocket connections. The product is accessible via a public REST API that uses simple token-based authentication without OAuth, enabling integration from standard HTTP libraries in 20+ programming languages.

The platform is differentiated by several technical features: end-to-end message encryption using per-device keys (v5.0), bcrypt password hashing, image attachments (v3.0), a built-in email-to-notification gateway (@pomail.net), Tasker plugin integration for Android automation, Apple Watch Glances API support, and TOTP-based two-factor authentication. Infrastructure is self-operated on Vultr dedicated servers in U.S. datacenters with daily encrypted off-site backups via rsync.net, and the service explicitly states no data selling and minimal message retention.

Pushover monetizes through three streams: (1) a one-time $4.99 per-platform device license for individuals (Android, iOS, Desktop) following a 30-day free trial, (2) a $5/user/month Pushover for Teams subscription for organizations requiring centralized user management and automated onboarding, and (3) usage-based API capacity upgrades above a free monthly quota of 10,000 messages (individuals) or 25,000 messages (Teams). The company is founder-led, with Joshua Stein identified as the author of official blog posts, and operates without venture capital or external institutional investment.

Name

Pushover

Legal name

Pushover, LLC

Website

https://pushover.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pushover, LLC operates a self-hosted push notification relay service that delivers real-time alerts to Android, iOS, and desktop browsers via native apps and a simple token-based REST API. The bootstrapped Chicago-based company serves individual developers, system administrators, and home-automation users through one-time $4.99 device licenses and a $5/user/month Teams subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Per-Platform Device License (Individual): Individuals purchase a one-time $4.99 USD license for each platform (iPhone/iPad, Android, Desktop) after a 30-day free trial. Once licensed on a platform, the user can use Pushover on as many of their own devices on that platform with no additional recurring fees. For example, an iOS license covers both iPhone and iPad.
2. Pushover for Teams (Subscription): Organizations requiring centralized user management and automated onboarding can subscribe to Pushover for Teams at $5 USD per user per month. This subscription model includes no per-platform licensing fees and provides team administration features.
3. API Message Capacity Upgrades: Application developers and service providers sending notifications through the API receive a free monthly quota of messages per account. Additional message capacity can be purchased on a one-time or recurring basis per account. As of May 1, 2026, capacity upgrades are applied to and shared among all applications on an account rather than per-application.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Pushover provides a unified push notification relay service that delivers real-time notifications to Android, iPhone/iPad, Desktop browsers, Android Wear, and Apple Watch through dedicated clients and a developer-friendly REST API. Consumers pay a one-time $4.99 per-platform license (after a 30-day free trial), organizations subscribe to Pushover for Teams at $5/user/month for centralized user management, and application developers consume a free monthly message quota via the API with paid capacity upgrades. Supporting features include end-to-end encryption, an email-to-notification gateway, image attachments, Delivery Groups, and a Tasker plugin.

Product overview

Pushover is a unified push notification service consisting of three native device clients (Android, iOS/iPadOS, and Desktop browsers), an API for developer integration, and an optional Teams subscription for organizations. The core offering includes Pushover for Android, Pushover for iOS (iPhone/iPad), and Pushover for Desktop, all receiving notifications through carrier push services (Google Firebase, Apple Push Notification service, or WebSocket). The service also includes an Email Gateway (@pomail.net) for sending notifications via email. Pushover for Teams adds centralized user management for $5/user/month with higher message limits. The Pushover API allows developers to programmatically send notifications with support for multiple programming languages via simple HTTP requests.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pushover for Android Native Android application that receives real-time push notifications via Google Firebase Cloud Messaging. Requires Android 6 or higher (optimized for Android 8+), supports a home screen widget, and includes an embedded Tasker action plugin for automation. Sold via Google Play with a 30-day free trial leading to a one-time $4.99 license or a Teams subscription.
• Pushover for iOS (iPhone and iPad) Native iOS application for iPhone and iPad that receives push notifications via Apple Push Notification service. Supports Apple Watch with complications and glances. Sold via the App Store with a 30-day free trial leading to a one-time $4.99 license or a Teams subscription.
• Pushover for Desktop Browser-based desktop client that works in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, and Unix without any download or installation. Uses WebSocket connections for real-time notification delivery; on macOS, supports native notifications via Safari registration without an open browser.
• Pushover for Teams Monthly subscription service priced at $5 per user per month for organizations sending messages to multiple users. Includes centralized user management, automated onboarding, no per-platform licensing fees, and a higher free API message quota of 25,000 messages per month per account.
• Pushover Email Gateway Email-to-notification service that assigns every Pushover user a unique @pomail.net email address. Emails sent to this address are converted into Pushover notifications, enabling notification delivery via standard email without requiring API integration. Users can create additional email aliases with custom notification settings (sounds, priority, delivery options).
• Pushover API REST API enabling developers to send push notifications from any application or service via simple HTTPS POST requests with token-based authentication (no OAuth required). Supports image attachments, message priorities, custom sounds, and other notification parameters. Includes a free tier of 10,000 messages per month per account with optional paid capacity upgrades on a one-time or recurring basis.

Quantifiable outcome

• Notifications delivered within seconds, often within a few hundred milliseconds under normal operation
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• FastMail Pty LtdminorOthersFastMail is listed as a sub-processor under EU GDPR regulations, providing e-mail delivery services for Pushover's transactional and notification e-mails.
• Wildbit, LLC (Postmark)minorOthersPostmark by Wildbit, LLC is listed as a sub-processor under EU GDPR regulations, providing e-mail delivery services for Pushover's transactional and notification e-mails.
• rsync.net, Inc.minorOthersrsync.net, Inc. provides encrypted backup services for Pushover's off-site data backups. Backups are performed daily with separate database snapshots. The temporary message queue database table is not backed up for security and privacy reasons.
• Vultr Holdings CorporationminorOthersVultr Holdings Corporation provides dedicated server hosting for Pushover's production infrastructure. All Pushover servers are located within the United States at Vultr-operated datacenters.
• Cloudflare, Inc.minorOthersCloudflare, Inc. is listed as a sub-processor under EU GDPR regulations, providing DNS services and DDoS protection for Pushover's infrastructure.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Apprise Notifications: Apprise is an open-source notification relay library/CLI that supports sending to 80+ notification services including Pushover, ntfy, Gotify, email, Slack, and Discord. It is relevant because it abstracts away the underlying notification service for developers, reducing lock-in to Pushover specifically.
• Home Assistant Companion App: Home Assistant includes a companion mobile app with rich push notification support for home automation events, directly serving the home-automation user segment that is one of Pushover's primary persona use cases. It is an emerging, vertically-specialized substitute that could displace Pushover for that segment over time.

Direct peers

• Gotify: Gotify is an open-source self-hosted notification server with Android and web clients, API, and webhooks for sending real-time push notifications. It is a direct functional alternative to Pushover for technical users willing to run their own infrastructure and represents the self-hosted threat to Pushover's hosted convenience pricing.
• Pushbullet: Pushbullet is a direct competitor offering cross-device push notifications, SMS mirroring, file transfer, and universal copy/paste between phones and computers. It targets a similar developer/power-user persona with a freemium subscription model and is the most apples-to-apples alternative to Pushover in the consumer notification relay category.
• ntfy (ntfy.sh): ntfy.sh is an open-source, self-hostable push notification service that provides a near-identical API surface to Pushover, including email-to-push conversion and topic-based delivery. It targets the same developer/sysadmin segment and competes primarily on price (free/self-hosted) versus Pushover's hosted convenience and polish.
• Join by João Dias: Join is a push notification and device-to-device automation tool from the same developer as Tasker and AutoApps. It targets Android power users with deep automation integration (mirroring Pushover's Tasker advantage) and represents a direct threat in the home-automation/automation enthusiast segment.
• Boxcar 2: Boxcar is a push notification delivery service that historically aggregated notifications from many third-party services (email, social, monitoring) into a single mobile feed. It targets the same "one inbox for all your alerts" use case as Pushover and competes on breadth of pre-built third-party integrations.

Broad incumbents

• OneSignal: OneSignal is a leading customer engagement and push notification platform focused on mobile app developers and marketers, with segmentation, A/B testing, and journey orchestration. It overlaps with Pushover's API use case but is targeted at app publishers sending notifications to their end users rather than individual/team notification relay.
• Twilio (Notify API): Twilio is a large communications platform that offers push notification APIs (and SMS, voice, email) as part of a broader CPaaS portfolio. It competes with Pushover at the developer-integration layer for enterprise customers that want one vendor for all messaging channels, though it lacks Pushover's consumer-facing clients.
• Slack (incoming notifications): Slack serves as a destination for many of the same monitoring/alerting alerts that Pushover handles, with extensive webhook support and team-oriented delivery. For team-based alerting workflows (Teams' primary use case), Slack is an adjacent substitute that absorbs notification traffic without a separate consumer app.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pushoverapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pushover