Branch Journeys Alternative: A Smart Banner for iOS and Android Without the Sales Call
Branch is turning Journeys into Banners, and the price still starts with a sales call. What Journeys bundles, what an “Open in app” banner actually needs, and how to move the banner and your Branch links to Appy, from $9.99 a month.
Put an “Open in app” banner on your website
- One script tag, from $9.99 a month
- Opens your app or the right store
- No cookies, no SDK in your app
Journeys is becoming Banners
On October 13, 2026, Branch opened opt-in access to Banners, the product that replaces Journeys. The note on its new help pages is short: “Journeys is becoming Banners.” Existing Journeys keep running whether you opt in or not. They reappear as banner campaigns, their creatives become legacy creatives that open in a code editor, and new creatives can no longer be written in code.
The price question hasn’t moved. Branch’s Journeys overview says access requires a premium plan and points you to the sales team for pricing and availability. On October 23, 2026, branch.io/pricing listed three attribution plans, Basics, Essentials and Enterprise, without a single price and without a banner line in any of them. The Banners product page ends with a button to request a demo.
So if you run a Journey, or were quoted for one, your banner setup is changing anyway. A fair moment to check how much of it you use.
What Journeys bundles
Quite a lot. Branch’s Banners overview lists eight formats. On phones: a slim bar, a partial page, a full-page takeover, a card in the center and a floating button. On desktop: a center card, a corner card and a sidebar, which show a QR code to scan. The settings reference adds placement rules on the page URL, eleven audience attributes, priorities for overlapping campaigns, schedules, A/B tests and an option to open the app without a tap.
The audience attributes are the heart of it. You can target by browser, country or referring URL, by whether Branch thinks the visitor has your app, by events they completed in it, or by how many days they visited your site, a rule that gained day-based counting in a January 2026 release note. For a team that segments its web traffic and runs banner campaigns every week, that is the product.
It also comes with a setup bill. The Banners product page says marketers can build and launch banners without engineering. The developer guide lists what has to happen first: Branch’s Web SDK on every page that can show a banner, Branch’s iOS and Android SDKs in your apps, and an extra Branch link domain registered in both. Without the app SDKs, the guide says, banners still show and send visitors to your app, but Branch can’t deep link them to content or credit installs to the banner.
What you take on, and what the job needs
With Journeys, now Banners
- A premium plan priced by Branch’s sales team, with no number on the pricing page.
- Branch’s Web SDK on every page that can show a banner.
- Branch’s iOS and Android SDKs in your apps, for deep links to content and install credit.
- A second Branch link domain registered in both apps.
- Eight formats and eleven audience attributes, even when all you want is one bar.
With Appy’s web banner
- Included in Pro at $9.99 a month, and in Business and Enterprise.
- One script tag on your website, and no SDK in your apps.
- The button opens an Appy link: your app when it’s installed, the right store when it isn’t.
- Show on and Never show on rules for the pages you choose.
- Impressions, clicks and click rate for every banner, with no cookies.
What the banner on your site really does
Look at the Journey you run today. If it is one bar that tells every phone visitor the same thing, an icon, a line of text and an Open button, you are using one format out of eight and none of the audience rules. You are paying for a segmentation tool to do a link’s job.
That job has three parts: a banner that shows in every mobile browser, not just Safari; a button that knows which phone it’s on; and a number that tells you whether anyone taps it.
Appy’s web banner does those three things and stops there. You create it in the dashboard, pick the Appy link it opens, set the text, colors and position, and paste one script tag into your pages, by hand or through a tag manager. It shows on iPhone, iPad and Android, in Chrome, Firefox and in-app browsers as well as Safari, and never on desktops. In Safari, when your page already carries Apple’s Smart App Banner tag, it stays out of the way so visitors don’t get two banners.
Where a tap on the banner goes
The banner adds nothing to routing. The Appy link decides, exactly as it would for a tap in an email or a bio.
Open in app
the banner on your product page
- iPhone with your appThe app, through the link’s deep link
- iPhone without itApp Store
- Android phoneThe app if installed, otherwise Google Play
- Huawei phoneAppGallery, if the link has it
- Inside an in-app browserA page with Open the app and store buttons
- ComputerNo banner at all
Counting it without an SDK
Every banner gets three numbers in the dashboard: impressions, clicks and click rate, for the last 7, 30 or 90 days. Known bots and crawlers don’t count as impressions. Clicks also show up in the link’s own analytics, marked as banner traffic, along with the page the visitor tapped on.
For downloads, give the banner a link of its own. On Pro, once your App Store provider token is saved in Settings, every App Store visit from that link carries the link’s name as its campaign, so App Store Connect shows the banner’s first-time downloads next to your other links. Nothing goes into the app for that either.
The script sets no cookies and sends none. Impressions and closes are stored as daily totals per banner, without IP addresses. Branch takes the other road: its Journeys FAQ says it can tell whether your app is installed thanks to a large pool of cookies tied to device identifiers, and Journeys that use audience filters such as “has the app installed” don’t show to visitors in its Do Not Track mode.
Journeys and Appy’s web banner, side by side
Only rows we could check on both sides. Every Branch cell comes from Branch’s own help center or pricing page.
Switching in an afternoon
The banner takes minutes. The links behind it need a little planning, mostly because of anything printed.
Write down what the Journey does
Its pages, its audience rules and where its button points. If it is one bar for every phone visitor, the steps below cover all of it.
Import your Branch links
Add Branch’s CSV export under Import links. The first run is a check that writes nothing and shows every link’s new address and where each device goes. Links are created only when you confirm, and Branch keeps working meanwhile.
Mind the plan limit
Pro holds 10 links and Business 500. Links on your own branded domain can keep their paths once the domain moves to Appy, which needs Business. Links on app.link belong to Branch, so share or reprint the new ones before you close the account.
Create the banner
Pick the link, write two short lines, choose colors and top or bottom, and list the pages under Show on.
Swap the tags
Pause the Journey, then add Appy’s script tag to your pages, by hand or through your tag manager. The web banner docs have the details.
Test with two phones
One with the app and one without. The first should open the app, the second the store, and both taps should show up as clicks on the banner.
Read next
- Web banner docsSetup, page rules, layout and measurement in detail.
- Migrate from BranchWhich exports to use, what carries over and what stays with Branch.
- Branch.io alternativeThe wider switch: plans, overages and expiring links.
- Web-to-app funnelsTurn the website traffic you already have into installs.
Branch Journeys alternative: questions
Is Branch Journeys going away?
Branch is turning it into Banners. Opt-in access started on October 13, 2026, and Branch says existing Journeys keep running whether or not you opt in. They move over as banner campaigns.
How much does Branch Journeys cost?
Branch doesn’t publish it. Its Journeys overview says access requires a premium plan and refers you to sales, and its pricing page showed no prices on October 23, 2026.
Do I need an SDK in my app for Appy’s banner?
No. The banner opens an Appy link, and the link’s deep link opens the installed app. Phones without the app go to the store.
Does the banner work on Android?
Yes. It shows on Android phones and tablets as well as on iPhone and iPad. Desktop visitors never see it.
Will it clash with Apple’s Smart App Banner?
Not on pages that carry Apple’s Smart App Banner tag. In Safari on iPhone and iPad, Appy’s banner stays hidden there and Apple’s shows instead. Chrome, Firefox and in-app browsers still get Appy’s.
Can I bring my Branch links?
Yes. Appy imports Branch CSV exports and runs a check that writes nothing before anything is created. Each plan imports up to its link limit: 10 on Pro, 500 on Business.
Does the banner use cookies?
No. The script sets and sends no cookies. The only thing kept on the phone is the time a closed banner may show again.
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Swap the Journey for one script tag
Create an Appy link for your app, put a web banner in front of it and paste one tag into your site. Pro is $9.99 a month, with deep links and the banner included.