Both tools publish a hosted changelog, embed a widget in your app, and email your subscribers, and both bill per changelog site. The differences are what a site costs, what the free tier can actually do, and whether your subscriber list shows up as a line item.
ReleaseNotes.io adds $10 for every 1,000 email subscribers on top of its $39 Teams plan, so by about 4,000 subscribers the metering has pushed you onto their $79 Business plan. Onset includes 10,000 on the $30 Team plan.
A custom domain, the embeddable widget, the REST API, and unlimited releases with full history are all on the Onset free plan. ReleaseNotes.io gates the widget and API behind Teams and the custom domain behind its $79 Business plan.
Both tools charge per changelog site, so this is a like-for-like comparison rather than a billing trick: $30 against $39 to get started, $60 against $79 at the top. Their paid plans do include unlimited teammates, where Onset includes five.
For one changelog site. Set your team size and subscriber count to see both bills side by side.
Figures are for one changelog site. Both tools bill per site — what ReleaseNotes.io calls a “project” is the same unit as an Onset workspace.
Who writes and publishes.
Each one can force a higher plan.
$24/month billed yearly
Onset saves you $
These figures are for one changelog site. Both products bill per site: a ReleaseNotes.io “project” is an independent site with its own billing, team, subscribers and theme, which is the same unit as an Onset workspace. Running two sites means paying twice on either tool.
Onset’s own “projects” are a way to group releases inside a single site, closest to tags on ReleaseNotes.io. They are unlimited on every plan and never change the price.
The ReleaseNotes.io Starter plan is free but caps you at 5 releases with a 90-day history and no email subscribers, so the calculator only uses it when that genuinely covers you.
Switching on a custom domain or private notes limits ReleaseNotes.io to its Business plan, the only tier that offers either. The in-app widget needs at least their Teams plan.
Team members are the one axis where ReleaseNotes.io is more generous: seats are unlimited from their $39 Teams plan, while Onset includes 1 on Free, 5 on Team, and unlimited on Business. Above 5 people the calculator moves Onset up and leaves them where they are.
The calculator always picks the cheapest ReleaseNotes.io plan that fits. Their subscriber metering therefore stops mattering above about 4,000 subscribers, where their $79 Business plan with unlimited subscribers becomes the cheaper option.
Both columns show list prices billed monthly. ReleaseNotes.io pricing last checked August 12, 2026.
Compare the features of Onset and ReleaseNotes.io side by side to see which one is right for you.
Onset
ReleaseNotes.ioCan't find the answer here? Contact our support team.
Yes. Onset has an importer for ReleaseNotes.io that brings across your published releases, dates, and tags. See the import guide in our documentation, or email support@onset.io and we will run it for you.
No. Custom domains are on every Onset plan including Free Forever, along with the embeddable widget, the REST API, webhooks, and the MCP server.
On ReleaseNotes.io a project is a whole independent site — their docs describe it as relating to a single website or web app, with separate billing, team members, subscribers and themes. The equivalent unit in Onset is a workspace, and like their projects, each one is billed on its own. Onset also has something called projects, but those group releases inside a single site and are closest to tags on ReleaseNotes.io. They are unlimited on every plan and do not affect the price.
Both tools charge per site, so two sites means two subscriptions on either one. If the changelogs can live on the same page, Onset projects and labels let you group and filter releases by product without paying twice.
We tell you before you hit it and you upgrade when you are ready. There is no per-subscriber surcharge on any Onset plan.
ReleaseNotes.io figures come from their public pricing page and are re-checked periodically. Vendors change prices, so treat the calculator as an estimate and confirm on their site before you decide.
Our importer brings your published releases, dates, and tags across.
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