Knock vs Courier
Code-first workflow engine versus visual-journey notification platform.
What matters for growth and lifecycle teams
Growth work lives or dies on targeting and measurement. What matters is whether behavioral triggers can be built without engineering time, whether the event stream supports attribution past the open, and whether deliverability holds when broadcast volume shares a reputation with product email.
| Priority | Knock | Courier |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Event stream | Yes | Yes |
| Deliverability | Inherits the deliverability of the provider you BYO (Postmark, SendGrid, Resend). | Inherits providers you connect. |
| Operating since | 2021 | 2019 |
| Suppressions API | Yes | Yes |
| Best published rate per 1,000 | Tiers not published in comparable form | Tiers not published in comparable form |
| Multi-tenant | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | 10,000 notifications/mo | 10,000 sends/mo |
| Starts at | $249/mo (Starter) | $95/mo (Business) |
For lifecycle and activation work running behavior-triggered journeys, broadcasts, and winback campaigns measured on revenue, Courier takes every priority that separates them here (operating track record), while Knock matches it on the rest. On free tier, Knock offers 10,000 notifications/mo against 10,000 sends/mo from Courier. That ordering reflects this audience. Weigh the same table differently and the answer changes.
Side by side
| Feature | Knock | Courier |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverability | Inherits the deliverability of the provider you BYO (Postmark, SendGrid, Resend). | Inherits providers you connect. |
| Multi-tenant | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | 10,000 notifications/mo | 10,000 sends/mo |
| Starts at | $249/mo (Starter) | $95/mo (Business) |
| Tagline | Notification infrastructure with workflow engine. | Notification infrastructure with visual journeys. |
| Pricing model | volume | volume |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | No | No |
| SDKs | node, python, go, ruby, php, elixir, java, dotnet | node, python, go, ruby, php, java |
| Templates | rich | rich |
| React Email | Yes | No |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound | No | No |
| Idempotency | Yes | No |
| Dedicated IP | No | No |
| DX score | 9/10 | 8/10 |
| Best for | Teams that need multi-channel product notifications with preferences. | Teams that need both product notifications and marketing-style journeys. |
Knock
- ›Strong workflow engine
- ›In-app feed component
- ›Deep SDK coverage
- ›Idempotency keys
- ›Pricier than running your own; entry plan is steep
- ›Bring your own delivery provider
Courier
- ›Visual journey editor
- ›Native Slack/Teams routing
- ›Drop-in inbox component
- ›Less code-first than Knock
- ›Pricing climbs with volume