Customer.io starts at $100/mo for 5,000 profiles with limited automations. DailyStory starts at $100/mo for 5,000 contacts with unlimited automations, segments, campaigns, and a RESTful API that integrates with anything you already run.
Customer.io is great for product teams at SaaS companies. But if you’re the engineer wiring marketing into a custom CRM, POS, or internal platform—DailyStory was designed for exactly that.
Every feature in the DailyStory platform—contacts, campaigns, segments, automations—is accessible via a documented RESTful API. Not a subset of features. Everything.
DailyStory builds native, bidirectional integrations with your existing business systems—Salesforce, Shopify, custom ERPs. Not generic webhooks into a data pipeline.
Control popup triggers, fire custom events, and track conversions directly from browser sessions using a first-class JavaScript API—not just a tracking pixel.
Subscribe or unsubscribe to specific webhook events via the API itself. Receive real-time notifications for unsubscribes, opt-outs, conversions—managed programmatically.
Pay based on contact volume. Unlimited automations, campaigns, and segments at every tier. No separate charge for the features you need to run real marketing logic.
Send transactional messages—receipts, password resets, alerts—through the same platform as your marketing automation. One API, one deliverability infrastructure, one bill.
The DailyStory REST API uses standard HTTP verbs and returns JSON. Authenticate once, then create contacts, fire events, trigger automations, and send transactional messages from any language or runtime.
View API reference →// Create/update a contact, then add them to a campaign const API_TOKEN = 'your-api-token'; const DATA_CENTER = 'us-1'; // found in Account Settings › Support const TENANT_UID = 'your tenant id'; const CAMPAIGN_ID = your campaign id; // Campaign Settings › Advanced Options const BASE = `https://${DATA_CENTER}.dailystory.com/api/v1`; // ── 1. Create or update a contact (Bearer auth) ────────────────── const contactRes = await fetch(`${BASE}/contact`, { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${API_TOKEN}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ email: 'rob@example.com', firstName: 'Rob', lastName: 'Howard', extendedProperties: { // any custom fields plan: 'premium', crm_id: 'sf-0012300' } }) }); const { Response } = await contactRes.json(); // Response.id is the contact's dsId // ── 2. Add contact to a campaign via WebToLead (no auth needed) ── await fetch( `https://${DATA_CENTER}.dailystory.com/api/v1/public/webtolead/${TENANT_UID}`, { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ email: 'rob@example.com', campaignid: CAMPAIGN_ID }) } );
A direct comparison of the features that matter most to engineering teams building on top of a marketing platform.
| Feature | ✦ DailyStory | Customer.io |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & Plans | ||
Entry price | $100/mo | $100/mo |
Price for unlimited automations | $100/mo (included) | $1,000/mo (Premium) |
Pricing model | Contact volume | Profile volume + overages |
Free trial | ✓ Free (no credit card) | ✓ 14-day trial |
| Developer & API | ||
RESTful API Full platform access via API | ✓ All features | ✓ Core features |
JavaScript client SDK Browser-side event & popup control | ✓ Full JS API | ⚠ Tracking snippet only |
Webhooks Manage subscriptions via API | ✓ API-managed | ✓ UI-managed |
Dedicated developer docs | ✓ dev.dailystory.com | ✓ customer.io/docs |
Mobile SDKs iOS, Android, React Native | ✓ App push notifications | ✓ Full mobile SDK suite |
Reverse ETL / data warehouse sync | ⚠ Via API integrations | ✓ Native (Snowflake, BigQuery) |
| Automation & Journeys | ||
Active automations | Unlimited (all plans) | Unlimited |
Automation limit at $100/mo | Unlimited | Requires $1,000/mo plan |
Visual workflow builder | ✓ | ✓ |
Pre-built automation templates | ✓ | ✓ |
API-triggered automations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Channels | ||
Email marketing | ✓ | ✓ |
SMS marketing | ✓ With deliverability score | ✓ |
Transactional email & SMS | ✓ | ✓ |
Push notifications (web + app) | ✓ Web & app push | ✓ Web & in-app |
Website popups & web forms | ✓ | ⚠ Connected forms only |
QR codes + URL shortener | ✓ Built-in | ✗ |
| Integrations | ||
Native CRM integrations Salesforce, custom CRMs, ERP | ✓ Deep native sync | ⚠ Via data pipelines |
POS integrations Shopify, WooCommerce, Square, Stripe | ✓ Native | ⚠ Premium tier / 3rd party |
Zapier integration | ✓ | ✓ |
WordPress plugin | ✓ | ✗ |
Ad audience sync Google, Facebook, etc. | ⚠ Via integrations | ✓ Native |
| Segmentation & Analytics | ||
Active segments | Unlimited | Unlimited |
A/B & multivariate testing | ✓ | ✓ |
Conversion & ROI tracking | ✓ Revenue-level attribution | ✓ Goal-based |
AI content recommendations | ✓ Email & SMS | ✓ AI-powered insights |
DailyStory doesn’t gate advanced features behind premium tiers. Unlimited automations, unlimited segments, and full API access start at $100/mo.
DailyStory’s import tools and API make it straightforward to bring over your contacts, segments, and automation logic. Most technical teams are sending campaigns within 24 hours.
Book a technical demoUse Customer.io’s data export or API to pull your contact list, segments, and custom attributes as CSV or JSON.
Bulk-import contacts through the UI or POST directly to the Contacts API to recreate your existing data structure including all custom fields.
Swap the Customer.io tracking snippet for the DailyStory JavaScript API, or re-point your server-side event calls to the DailyStory REST endpoint.
DailyStory ships with pre-built automation templates for common journeys. Clone and customize, or build from scratch with the visual workflow editor.
Every DailyStory plan includes a dedicated account manager. They’ll review your setup, validate deliverability, and help you go live.
DailyStory gives engineering teams a complete API-first marketing platform at a fraction of Customer.io’s cost. Unlimited automations, full API access, and a dedicated account manager — starting at $100/mo.