Campfire SMS
Pushover is a long-running push notification app that you pay for once per platform. It is a popular way to send yourself "task finished" alerts from a Claude Code hook. It delivers alerts one way: you can't answer your agent through it. Campfire SMS lets the agent you already run text your phone number and read your reply, with no app and no hook to write. Pick Pushover for cheap, dependable alerts. Pick Campfire SMS when the agent needs an answer from you.
| Decision | Pushover | Campfire SMS |
|---|---|---|
| How it reaches you | A push notification in the Pushover app on iPhone and iPad, Android, or desktop. | A text message in your normal SMS inbox. |
| Answering your agent | Not supported. Emergency-priority alerts repeat until you acknowledge them and can notify a callback URL you host. | Reply to the text in plain words. The agent retrieves your reply the next time it checks. |
| Connecting your agent | You wire it up, for example with a hook that posts to its message API with your application token and user key. | Sign up, verify your phone, and run the one-time install command from your account. |
| Phone app | The Pushover app on each platform. | None. |
| Pricing model (as observed) | $4.99 one-time per platform after a 30-day free trial. Each user account can send 10,000 messages a month free, shared across its applications. Teams: $5 per user per month, with 25,000 messages a month. | 40 free messages after phone verification, no card required. Then $8 a month for 500 messages, or one-time packs from $5 for 200. Each text sent or received counts as one message. |
| Best for | Dependable "done" or "stuck" alerts, without a subscription. | Questions and results your agent sends you, answered from your phone. |
What Pushover does
Pushover delivers notifications from your own scripts, servers, and services to its app. You register an application to get a token, and anything that can make an HTTPS request can send a message to your user key. Individuals pay once: "a $4.99 USD one-time purchase on each platform," with a 30-day free trial. See Pushover's pricing.
Messages can carry a priority, a sound, and a link. For coding agents, the usual setup is a hook that sends an alert when the agent stops or needs attention.
Acknowledging is not answering
Pushover's emergency priority keeps repeating an alert until you acknowledge it. Its API can then send a request to a callback URL you host. That tells your system you saw the alert. It doesn't carry an answer such as "use the staging database" or "skip the flaky test," and you still host the endpoint and connect it to the agent.
Campfire SMS is built for the answer. Your agent texts the question, you reply in plain words, and the agent retrieves your exact reply through the connector you installed. If you only ever need to know that something finished, Pushover is enough. If the agent regularly stops to ask you something, the reply is what saves the trip back to your desk.
Choose Pushover if…
- You only need to know when the agent is done or stuck, and you'll respond at your computer.
- You prefer a one-time purchase to a monthly plan.
- You want alerts from other systems too, such as servers and scripts, in the same app.
- You're comfortable writing a hook and keeping your keys in it.
Choose Campfire SMS if…
- You want the agent you already run (Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Grok Bot, OpenCode, or Grok Build) to ask you a question and read your answer.
- You want to give the next step from wherever you are, without going back to your desk.
- You'd rather get real texts in your normal inbox than install another app.
- You don't want to write hooks or manage API keys for notifications.
Setup is three steps: sign up at campfiresms.com, verify your phone (40 free texts, no card), and run the one-time install command from your account. Then send a test text and reply. See the setup guide for each agent.
What Campfire SMS does not do
Campfire SMS is not a general notification service. It doesn't take alerts from servers or scripts outside your connected agent, and it has no emergency mode that repeats until acknowledged.
- Local agents need a live session. Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode, Grok Build, and other local agents need the computer awake and online and the session running. Campfire SMS does not wake a stopped local session. Grok Bot is the exception: an active webhook routine can start it in the cloud when you text.
- Replies don't grant new permissions. A text can steer the task, but the agent keeps the permissions it already had. Native approvals stay in the agent's own interface.
- SMS isn't end-to-end encrypted. Don't text secrets, and keep sensitive detail on the computer.
Try a text and a reply
Campfire SMS starts with 40 free messages after phone verification. No card required. The monthly plan is $8 for 500 messages, and one-time packs never expire. See current pricing and message counting. Your agent's own costs are separate.
Start with a harmless exchange: ask your agent to text you a short status, reply with a question, and check that it reads your exact reply and answers.
Pushover details checked October 16, 2026 against pushover.net/pricing (prices, trial, Teams, and message quotas) and the Pushover API docs (limits and emergency priority). Prices and plans are as of October 2026 and can change; check the linked pages before you decide. Product names belong to their owners. Campfire SMS is independent of Pushover.
Common questions
How do I get a Pushover alert when Claude Code finishes?
Add a Claude Code hook, for example on the Stop or Notification event, that sends a request to Pushover's message API with your application token and user key. You write and maintain the hook yourself.
Can I answer my coding agent from Pushover?
No. Pushover delivers one-way notifications. Emergency-priority alerts repeat until you acknowledge them and can notify a callback URL you host, but that only says you saw the alert. Campfire SMS returns your text reply to the agent.
Is Pushover a subscription?
Not for individuals. As of October 2026, it is a $4.99 one-time purchase on each platform you use (iPhone and iPad, Android, desktop) after a 30-day free trial. Pushover for Teams is $5 per user per month.
How many messages can I send with Pushover?
Each user account can send 10,000 messages a month for free, shared across all of that user's applications. Teams can send 25,000 a month.
Do I need an app for Campfire SMS?
No. Texts arrive in your phone's normal messages app, on an iPhone or an Android phone. Pushover needs its app on each platform where you want alerts.