The best Expo Updates alternative for React Native apps. Turbopush delivers the same OTA update capabilities with up to 91% lower costs, bare React Native support, and features Expo doesn't offer.
Expo Updates is a solid solution. Here's what they get right.
Expo Updates provides reliable over-the-air updates that work well for most Expo projects.
Native integration with Expo development builds and the broader Expo ecosystem.
Built-in code signing ensures updates are verified and secure.
But as your app scales, limitations emerge. Let's look at the challenges teams face.
Expo charges per Monthly Active User, not actual updates. Your costs grow with your user base, even if you rarely push updates. With 100k MAU, you pay $449/month regardless of whether you push 1 update or 100.
EAS Update only works with Expo projects. If you have a bare React Native app or ejected from Expo, you're locked out. This forces teams to choose between OTA updates and native flexibility.
Can't gradually roll out updates to 10% or 50% of users first. It's all or nothing—risky for production apps with millions of users. One bad update can crash everyone's app simultaneously.
Managing multiple release channels (staging, production, canary) gets messy fast. No visual dashboard to see which channel is active where, making it easy to accidentally push staging builds to production users.
Storage and bandwidth are charged separately at $0.05/GB and $0.10/GB. A 5MB update to 100k users = 500GB bandwidth = $50 extra. These costs add up fast and are hard to predict.
Rolling back a bad update requires publishing a new update and waiting for users to download it. No instant rollback button means extended downtime when issues occur.
Real scenarios where Turbopush is the better choice.
Your app has 50k+ users but you only push updates occasionally. Expo charges per user, Turbopush charges per update—saving you thousands.
You ejected from Expo or use bare React Native with some Expo packages. EAS Update won't work, but Turbopush supports both.
You want to test updates with 10% of users first, then gradually increase. Turbopush offers percentage-based rollouts; Expo doesn't.
Your MAU keeps growing but update frequency stays the same. With Turbopush, costs stay flat while Expo pricing scales with users.
Everything Expo Updates offers, plus features it doesn't.
| Feature | TurbopushRecommended | Expo UpdatesEAS Update |
|---|---|---|
| Over-the-air updates | ||
| Works with bare React Native | ||
| Works with Expo | ||
| React Native New Architecture | ||
| Percentage-based rollouts | ||
| Real-time analytics dashboard | ||
| Instant rollbacks | ||
| Storage & bandwidth included | ||
| Pay-per-update pricing |
Turbopush charges per update delivered, not per user. See how much you could save.
10,000 users • 3 releases/month
20,000 users • 3 releases/month
100,000 users • 4 releases/month
Storage ($0.05/GB) and bandwidth ($0.10/GB) are charged separately. A single 5MB update to 100,000 users consumes ~500GB of bandwidth—that's $40 extra on top of your base plan. Turbopush includes storage and bandwidth in all plans.
Everything you need to know about switching to Turbopush.
Still have questions?
Contact our support team →Migrating from Expo Updates takes less than 30 minutes.
Add our package and configure your app
Simple app.json changes, same workflow
Push your first update and save money
