Image source: Freepik
Offering a paper or plastic loyalty card is no longer enough to provide customers with the seamless shopping experience they seek.
If you’re running a business, you must find ways to differentiate yourself from competitors and deliver a connected customer experience. Platforms like Airship can help you achieve this goal by allowing you to launch loyalty programs on mobile devices. With so many Airship competitors on the market, how to choose the best solution for your business?
You can start using PassKit, our customer loyalty software. It helps you create loyalty program cards or various digital passes, such as digital tickets your customers can store and use in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. PassKit integrates with your POS and CRM and helps you collect loyalty program data you can use to optimize your rewards program for small business.
Interested? Start your 45-day free trial now to see PassKit in action.
If you want to evaluate other solutions, you are at the right place. In today’s article, we will share an in-depth analysis of Airship competitors, help you learn more about their features and benefits, and mention the pros and cons of each solution to help you decide which loyalty program app best fits your needs.
Let’s start by sharing some details about Airship.
What is Airship?
Image source: G2
Airship is a mobile engagement platform that allows brands to engage audiences at every stage of the customer lifecycle. You can create and deliver personalized messages in real-time using push notification service, email, SMS, in-app messages, and other digital channels.
Airship tracks every piece of communication you send to users. The analytics shows how users engage with your app and which screens they view. It allows you to understand the customer journey.
Mobile marketing is at the heart of Airship. The platform eliminates physical loyalty cards, coupons, or tickets and lets customers store them in mobile wallets. Loyalty program points, offers, and rewards are available at customers’ fingertips.
How does Airship work?
Image source: G2
Airship is a personalized mobile messaging platform that uses a subscription-based pricing model. APIs and SDKs allow you to incorporate everything Airship offers into your business.
How exactly does that work?
Let’s say you want to leverage the platform to send push messages to users. Here are the steps you would need to take:
- Integrate a website or app with the Airship SDK to communicate with mobile phones and web browsers
- Create a project within Airship for every app and website
- Import your customer base
On the other hand, loyalty reward cards require the Wallet API. For instance, companies that want to launch beauty rewards programs must use the API to send their projects to Google Wallet or Apple Wallet.
The deployment isn’t for less tech-savvy users. You need a team of developers to integrate some of the more complex Airship solutions.
What are Airship pros?
Image source: G2
Airship is a customer engagement platform with the following benefits:
- Multichannel support – it allows companies to engage customers on various channels. For instance, you can send unlimited push notifications and emails. It ensures you reach users on platforms and devices they prefer.
- Automation – Airship features marketing automation to save time. Businesses can schedule a specific message, target website visitors 24 hours after their first purchase, or send a push notification if they haven’t visited an online store for days.
- Personalization – you can personalize a message based on customer data. You can include personal details like first name and city. Alternatively, you can base the message on user behavior, like purchase history.
- Segmentation – Airship lets you create customer segments based on various tags. For instance, you can set tags that locate consumers who subscribe to a service or follow a link.
The above features help you create relevant and memorable experiences. However, Airship also has certain drawbacks.
What are Airship cons?
Every business should consider the following Airship cons:
- Cost – although feature-rich, Airship can be expensive for some businesses. If you have a small customer base or limited budget, you might want to consider Airship competitors instead.
- Complex deployment – the platform isn’t for those with limited technical expertise. Developers would need to set up Airship and navigate its features.
- Limited customization – a unique brand identity ensures customers set your company apart from your competitors. You won’t stand out without your signature colors, fonts, and logo.
What is the cost of using the Airship platform? Let’s see.
Airship pricing
Airship is an enterprise-level platform and a high-cost software tool. The pricing starts at $25k per year, and it gives you access to the following:
- App Experience Platform (AEP) – it is a SaaS platform that helps companies create better native app experiences. It collects data to help you understand what users want and how your marketing campaigns perform. Customers start interacting with your brand more when you send messages and push notifications.
- Mobile Data Hub – the feature collects, stores, and manages customer data from numerous sources, including websites and mobile apps. It gives you a unified view of your customers across all channels.
You can also contact Airship customer support to receive a custom quote. The company might lower the price based on your requirements.
The top five Airship competitors in 2023
Image source: Freepik
Since we have covered all you need to know about Airship, we will share the best Airship competitors you can start using today.
Our list includes the following solutions:
- PassKit
- Vibes Media
- CleverTap
- Braze
- Iterable
Let’s explain what makes these competitors stand out.
1. PassKit customer loyalty software
PassKit is a software-as-a-service platform that ensures you enjoy digital transformation benefits. Using PassKit, you can eliminate paper or plastic loyalty cards, launch your loyalty program in minutes, and make any of your customer loyalty program ideas a reality, all without custom app building.
How is that possible? We unify online and offline experiences using mobile wallets.
PassKit features the Pass Designer. It is an online tool that helps you design digital membership cards, coupons, and loyalty business cards. Our loyalty card design aligns with Google and Apple guidelines. You can select colors, add your brand elements, and define custom fields to collect customer data, and you’re ready to go.
Customers can earn points using their mobile devices and redeem rewards in-store and on the web. At the same time, you can promote and distribute your loyalty cards on all brand touchpoints with a multichannel distribution system.
To win customers over, you can send push notifications, location-based alerts, text messages, emails, or in-app messages to unlimited subscribers. It helps you increase customer loyalty, retention, and engagement.
Finally, PassKit provides detailed analytics and lets you track redemption rates quickly to understand how your loyalty program performs and make necessary improvements.
We integrate with your CRM, POS, and multiple apps via Zapier. We also provide business-centric APIs for particular mobile wallet use cases.
You can build a powerful omnichannel reward machine without coding or design skills.
Industries
Businesses across a range of industries can use PassKit to drive visits, increase engagement and boost customer loyalty:
- Gyms
- Hotels
- Coffee shops
- Catering businesses
- Restaurants
- Bookstores
Whether an online or brick-and-mortar brand, we help you transform your loyalty program.
Features list
PassKit stands out because of these features:
- It’s a complete digital stamp card solution that eliminates POS integration
- You can create digital membership cards and loyalty cards for Apple Wallet and Google Wallet
- You can design, distribute and manage digital coupons for Apple and Google Wallet
- You can digitize and integrate your event tickets with Apple and Google Wallet
- You can use Flights API to manage flights and boarding passes for Apple and Google Wallet
- It provides The PassReader for Android and iOS and eliminates the scanning hardware.
- It provides mobile wallet APIs and SDKs to integrate Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes into your apps quickly
- It provides easy integrations with email marketing, automation, and CRM platforms you already use
Deployment
PassKit is suitable for beginners without any experience with design or development. All you need to do is start your 45-day free trial to access all features. Our online platform is intuitive and easy to use, and you can launch your loyalty program in minutes.
Integrations
As we previously mentioned, you can use Zapier to connect PassKit with various developer tools like Webhooks, eCommerce platforms such as WooCommerce and Shopify, marketing automation tools like Hubspot, CRM solutions such as Salesforce, and other apps such as Slack or Gmail.
What makes this tool unique
PassKit is unique because of the following reasons:
- It leverages mobile wallets customers already use and trust.
- It allows you to automate manual workflows through Zapier integrations. For instance, every new member you add to the program is automatically a part of your Mailchimp audience.
- You can leverage permission-based marketing to stay on top of customers’ minds. With our simple notification service, you can send push notifications and location-based alerts to consumers near your business.
- It is cost-effective software that falls under any budget.
Customer support
You can contact our customer support via email or live chat and visit our Support center to find answers to your questions.
Pricing
PassKit is one of the best Airship alternatives because of its pricing. We don’t make you sign a yearly contract like Airship. You can pay as you grow and use discounts if your distribution increases. We ensure you always get a fair price. To calculate your monthly cost, visit our Pricing page.
Pros and cons
The pros are:
- It’s contactless, allowing users to earn points after a quick barcode scan
- It’s paperless to ensure you’re saving the environment
- It’s scalable and cost-effective
- It offers a 45-day free trial
- Detailed guides and documentation teach you to leverage PassKit the right way
As for the cons, we’ve found only one:
- PassKit doesn’t include a free plan
Start your 45-day free trial to evaluate all PassKit features.
2. Vibes Media
Image source: Vibes Media
Vibes Media is a mobile marketing platform that allows businesses to engage with customers on their smartphones. Companies can run mobile marketing campaigns across channels like SMS, push notifications, MMS, and mobile wallets.
With its loyalty solution, you can send personalized content, activate your loyalty program on mobile wallets and collect customer insights. The system builds customer relationships through lock screen notifications, relevant messages, and two-way interactions.
Industries
As one of the best Airship alternatives, Vibes Media is suitable for a company from one of these industries:
- Retail
- Finance
- Hospitality
- Automotive
Features list
Here are the features that stand out the most:
- Audience management
- Analytics and insights
- Multichannel distribution system
- Mobile engagement
- A/B testing
- Marketing automation
Deployment
Vibes Media offers an API to enable businesses to integrate the platform with their existing systems, like CRM software. The integration allows you to automate sending messages and reach consumers on their devices.
Integrations
Vibes Media provides various integrations, including
- CRM platforms such as Salesforce and Oracle
- eCommerce platforms like Shopify and Magento
- Marketing automation platforms such as Marketo
- Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp
What makes this tool unique
Vibes Media stands out because it offers a wide range of mobile marketing solutions. You can manage SMS and MMS messaging, loyalty programs, mobile coupons, and mobile wallet campaigns from one dashboard.
Customer support
You can contact customer support via a form you can fill out on the Vibes Media website. The response should be with you within 24 hours.
Pricing
The pricing is based on a subscription model. The range depends on your business needs. You need to contact Vibes Media to get a custom quote. However, expect to receive higher rates to access all features.
Pros and cons
Vibes Media stands out from competitors because it:
- Has a comprehensive platform
- Sends push notifications based on data like customer location and purchase history
- Offers extensive analytics and tracking tools
Its drawbacks are:
- Complexity, meaning you would need some time to learn how to use it and set up campaigns
- High cost
- Limited support is available only through an online form
3. CleverTap
Image source: Capterra
CleverTap is another mobile marketing solution. The tool suits brands that want to attract and retain customers via their mobile applications. CleverTap personalizes all customer touchpoints to deliver the best experience possible.
The main products are user engagement and mobile app analytics. Its omnichannel engagement feature reaches consumers on the web, email, mobile, and other platforms. The real-time analytics tool tracks behaviors and uncovers user trends.
Industries
This software tool has clients in
- Food tech
- FinTech
- Media
- Entertainment
- Travel
- eCommerce
Features list
The features you might want to explore include
- Push notifications
- Email campaigns
- In-app messaging
- Customer segmentation
Deployment
CleverTap offers mobile and web SDKs to connect it with your mobile apps and websites. After integrating the SDKs, you must configure your account settings to use CleverTap.
Integrations
CleverTap integrates with various CRM, eCommerce, and marketing automation platforms. Some examples include Mailchimp, Hubspot, and Eloqua.
What makes this tool unique
CleverTap has an AI-powered personalization engine. It allows companies to create and run personalized campaigns based on preferences, demographics, and user behavior.
Customer support
Its customer support is available via email and phone. You can also submit an online form through the website.
Pricing
CleverTap has four pricing plans:
- Basic
- Growth
- Advanced
- Enterprise
You get fixed monthly pricing depending on your needs. The starting price is $200 per month for its most basic plan.
Pros and cons
We chose CleverTap as one of the best Airship alternatives because of these benefits:
- AI-powered personalization engine
- Push notifications and other messaging types
- Advanced analytics and segmentation tools
- Automation
- User-friendly interface
However, this software tool comes with certain cons:
- It isn’t a cost-effective solution for smaller brands
- Some users report integration issues
4. Braze
Image source: Capterra
Braze is a customer engagement platform aiming to bring brands closer to their audience. It increases engagement through personalized campaigns and messaging across multiple channels. Mobile, web, email, and SMS are some channels you can target your consumers with Braze.
Marketing teams use Braze to get a better understanding of their audience. Live-updating data inform marketers when to act on customer behaviors in real-time. Using this data, you can create intuitive journeys that trigger users’ next steps.
Industries
- Retail
- eCommerce
- Finance
- Travel
- Hospitality
- Gaming
- Healthcare
Features list
The following features make Braze stand out among other Airship alternatives:
- A personalization engine that relies on machine learning to send notifications
- Multichannel messaging that delivers push notifications, SMS, and emails straight to a customer’s preferred device and platform
- Advanced segmentation tool
Deployment
You would need developers’ help to set up Braze. The deployment process includes
- Implementing the Braze SDK
- Setting up desired messaging channels
- Implementing custom data into Braze to create a personalized customer experience
Integrations
Braze integrates with platforms like Google Cloud, PassKit, Shopify, and Twilio. It gives you plenty of options to automate your workflows and get better results.
What makes this tool unique
This software product comes with the Braze Predictive Suite. The feature gives marketers access to machine learning tools that identify at-risk consumers or those with a high purchasing propensity.
Customer support
There is a variety of available customer support options. You can use the Braze Help Desk, email support, phone support, or live chat. Some of these options are only available to users on a more advanced subscription plan.
Pricing
The pricing depends on the number of active users and specific business needs. You must contact the sales team and tell them your plans, and they will come up with custom pricing.
Pros and cons
The pros are:
- Advanced personalization
- Multichannel messaging
- Scalability
- Detailed analytics and segmentation
At the same time, the cons include:
- Cost as Braze can be more expensive than similar platforms
- The process of setting up Braze is complex for beginners
5. Iterable
Image source: G2
Iterable is a cross-channel marketing platform. It unifies a company’s marketing efforts to deliver campaigns that catch consumers’ attention. You can create and optimize every interaction through Iterable to move customers down the sales funnel.
With Iterable, you can send targeted messages, access real-time reporting to obtain relevant information, and automate lifecycle messaging. Like other alternatives on the list, Braze allows you to send a push notification or reach consumers via SMS, email, and other channels.
Industries
- SaaS
- eCommerce
- Travel
- Entertainment
Features list
- Iterable AI
- Growth marketing platform
- User management
- Customizable templates
Deployment
The first step is to create an account. After that, you must connect Iterable with your eCommerce platform, CRM, and similar tools. It allows Iterable to view customer data and make its features available to your brand.
Integrations
Iterable has the most comprehensive list of integrations. It integrates with platforms like PassKit, Mailchimp, Hubspot, Recharge, and many others.
What makes this tool unique
Iterable leverages Catalog, a feature that allows you to create real-time content. It will then deliver that content to customers depending on their behavior.
Customer support
You have the following at your disposal:
- Online community
- Documentation
- Email and phone support
- A dedicated account manager
Pricing
The pricing depends on various factors, including the number of users. It starts at $500 per month.
Pros and cons
The pros are:
- Cross-channel features
- Automated workflows
- A/B testing tools
On the other hand, the cons are
- High costs
- Limited flexibility
Airship competitors: A short overview
Choosing the right software is crucial if you want to expand your business. To make the decision easier, we will briefly overview all Airship competitors.
PassKit | Vibes Media | CleverTap | Braze | Iterable | |
Notable features | CRM and POS integrations Mobile wallet APIs and SDKs Zapier integration | Audience management A/B testing Automation | Push notifications Email campaigns In-app messaging | Personalization engine Segmentation tool In-app messaging | Iterable AI Growth marketing platform User management |
Best for | Small businesses | Medium and large businesses | Medium and large businesses | Medium and large businesses | Small and medium business |
Multichannel distribution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mobile wallet integration | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Zapier integration | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Push updates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Location-based alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Free trial | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
Pricing starts at | $39.50 | Custom quote | $200 | Custom quote | $500 |
Start with PassKit – our comprehensive customer engagement platform
PassKit is an all-in-one solution that improves customer loyalty and delivers a connected experience across your channels. We ensure your offers and rewards reach consumers on mobile devices to help you show how much they mean to your business.
You can integrate PassKit with platforms like Iterable and CleverTap to further your engagement efforts and entice consumers to choose your brand over others.