# Pocket Alert vs Pushbullet > Pushbullet alternative for alerts and monitoring: priority levels, inbound webhook URLs, message history, delivery stats and action buttons. iOS and Android, free tier included. Pushbullet is a device-sync tool with an API bolted on: it moves links, files and text between the machines you own. Pocket Alert starts from the other end. It is for the notifications your servers, cron jobs and payment providers generate, so it has priority levels, webhook endpoints, delivery history and buttons you can act on. ## Where Pushbullet runs out of road Pushbullet is good at moving things between your devices. Alerting is a different job. - **No priority levels** — Every push arrives the same way. Nothing separates a finished backup from a production outage at 3am. - **No inbound webhooks** — Pushbullet pushes go out; nothing comes in. A service that only emits webhooks needs your own code in the middle. - **Nothing to debug with** — No delivery statistics and no record of a failed call, so a missing alert leaves nothing to inspect. - **A tight free allowance** — Free accounts are limited to 500 pushes a month, which a single noisy monitor can burn through in a week. ## Pocket Alert vs Pushbullet, feature by feature Two products that both put text on your phone, aimed at different problems. ### Where you use it - **iOS app** — Pocket Alert: Yes; Pushbullet: Partly (Not listed in the US App Store) - **Android app** — Pocket Alert: Yes; Pushbullet: Yes - **Web dashboard** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Devices, keys, apps, webhooks); Pushbullet: Yes (Web app) - **Chrome extension** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Send a link or note to your phone); Pushbullet: Yes (Chrome and Firefox) - **Command-line tool** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Official binary for Linux, macOS, Windows); Pushbullet: No (Community scripts only) - **MCP server for AI agents** — Pocket Alert: Yes (10 tools); Pushbullet: No ### Sending alerts - **Send via HTTP API** — Pocket Alert: Yes; Pushbullet: Yes - **Inbound webhook URL per source** — Pocket Alert: Yes (One URL per service); Pushbullet: No - **Payload mapping into the message** — Pocket Alert: Yes (%field.path% into title, body and buttons); Pushbullet: No - **Scheduled delivery** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Up to 30 days, listable and cancellable); Pushbullet: No - **Priority levels** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Five, silent to critical); Pushbullet: No - **Critical alerts that override Do Not Disturb** — Pocket Alert: Yes (On paid plans); Pushbullet: No - **Action buttons on the notification** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Up to 3: open, HTTP request, copy); Pushbullet: No - **Attachments** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Images); Pushbullet: Yes (Files, 25 MB free and 1 GB on Pro) - **Grouping by source** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Applications, filtered in the app); Pushbullet: Partly (Channels, meant for broadcast) - **Email delivery** — Pocket Alert: No; Pushbullet: Partly (Push to an e-mail address) - **SMS or phone-call delivery** — Pocket Alert: No; Pushbullet: Yes (From the desktop, with an Android phone) ### Records and debugging - **Message history** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Account-wide, synced to app and web); Pushbullet: Partly (Push list in the apps) - **Webhook call log** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Headers, payload, rendered message, result); Pushbullet: No - **History retention** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Messages until you delete them; webhook calls 7–365 days by plan); Pushbullet: Partly (Not documented) - **Delivery statistics** — Pocket Alert: Yes (Per application and per device); Pushbullet: No ### Account and data - **Content encryption** — Pocket Alert: Yes (At rest with a per-account key, secrets redacted); Pushbullet: Partly (End-to-end for mirroring, SMS and clipboard) - **Two-factor authentication** — Pocket Alert: Yes (TOTP with recovery codes); Pushbullet: Partly (Not documented) - **Open source or self-hosted** — Pocket Alert: No; Pushbullet: No Pushbullet data from pushbullet.com and its API documentation, checked August 2026. ## Pricing - **Free plan** — Pocket Alert: 50 messages a day, no card; Pushbullet: 500 pushes a month, 100 SMS a month - **Entry paid plan** — Pocket Alert: $6/month — 1,000 messages a day, 5 webhooks; Pushbullet: Pro, $4.99/month - **Highest tier** — Pocket Alert: $25/month — unlimited messages, 365-day history; Pushbullet: Pro, $39.99/year — the only paid tier Pocket Alert pricing as of August 2026. Pushbullet figures from pushbullet.com and docs.pushbullet.com. ## Coming from Pushbullet 1. **Install and get a key** — Install the app, sign in, and copy your API key from the dashboard. 2. **Swap the endpoint** — Replace the Pushbullet push endpoint in your scripts with the Pocket Alert one and keep the same title and body. 3. **Keep the browser habit** — Add the Chrome extension if you used Pushbullet mainly to send links and notes to your phone. 4. **Separate the sources** — Give each source its own webhook and default level, so a failed backup and a new signup no longer sound the same. ### Before: Pushbullet ```bash curl https://api.pushbullet.com/v2/pushes \ -H 'Access-Token: YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{ "type": "note", "title": "Deploy finished", "body": "main is live" }' ``` ### After: Pocket Alert ```bash curl https://api.pocketalert.app/v1/messages \ -H 'Token: YOUR_API_KEY' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{ "title": "Deploy finished", "message": "main is live", "level": "high" }' ``` ## FAQ ### How is Pocket Alert different from Pushbullet? Pushbullet was built to move things between your own devices: links, files, clipboard, SMS from the desktop. Pocket Alert is built for alerts coming out of servers, scripts and services, which is why it has priority levels, inbound webhook URLs, a call log and action buttons instead of file transfer. ### Can I still send links from my computer to my phone? Yes. The Chrome extension sends a link, a selection or a note to your phone in two clicks, which covers the part of Pushbullet most people actually use daily. What it does not do is mirror phone notifications to the desktop or send SMS. ### Can I make some alerts louder than others? In Pushbullet every push arrives the same way. Pocket Alert has five levels, from silent to critical: routine jobs land quietly in the tray, and a critical alert breaks through Do Not Disturb. Each level is a separate Android channel, so the noisy ones can be muted without losing the urgent ones. ### What does each one cost? Pushbullet Pro is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, and free accounts are capped at 500 pushes a month by the API. Pocket Alert is free for 50 messages a day, $6/mo for 1,000 a day with five webhooks, and $25/mo for unlimited.