Email, SMS and push: which of these numbers compare

Email is opened around 21% of the time, SMS an estimated 90–98%. Those numbers can’t be compared: the first is measured by tracking pixel, the second inferred from delivery reports.

The only sound way to compare channels is to look at clicks.

Key figures

• Email: 21% average open rate, 3.96% CTR Industry email marketing benchmarks, 2026
• Automated and transactional email: 30.63% opens, 7.39% clicks Industry email marketing benchmarks, 2026
• SMS: estimated 90–98% opens, CTR around 28% Industry SMS marketing benchmarks, 2026
• 79.6% call SMS an acceptable promotional channel against 54.2% for push Industry surveys, 2026

Why can’t open rates be compared?

Because they’re measured differently. Email opens are recorded by a pixel in the message — a direct measurement with known limitations (image blocking, mail-client prefetch). Benchmarks put the average email open rate at 21% with a CTR of 3.96% Industry email marketing benchmarks, 2026 .

SMS has no such mechanism at all. The reported 90–98% open range Industry SMS marketing benchmarks, 2026 is derived from delivery reports and behavioural responses rather than measured. It’s an estimate, and almost certainly an inflated one, because a delivered message isn’t a read one.

What can be compared, then?

Clicks. It’s the only metric calculated roughly the same way across channels — by an actual navigation event.

The difference here is substantial too: SMS CTR is estimated at around 28% Industry SMS marketing benchmarks, 2026 against 3.96% for email Industry email marketing benchmarks, 2026 . Even allowing for different samples the gap holds, and it’s explained not by channel quality but by volume: SMS is sent less often and to a narrower audience.

Why do automated emails beat campaigns?

Because of context, not copy. Benchmarks give automated and transactional emails 30.63% opens and 7.39% clicks Industry email marketing benchmarks, 2026 , with automated flows showing roughly three times the click rate of broadcast campaigns — 5.58% against 1.69% Industry email marketing benchmarks, 2026 .

The explanation is simple: an automated email arrives in response to something the person did — a purchase, a view, a signup. A broadcast arrives when it suits the sender.

What do shoppers themselves say?

That they’d sooner accept SMS than push or advertising. In 2026 the share naming SMS an acceptable promotional channel rose to 79.6% Industry surveys, 2026 against 54.2% for in-app push and 48.7% for social advertising Industry surveys, 2026 .

This is stated preference rather than observed behaviour — the gap between the two is usually significant in surveys. But the direction is stable: a channel someone explicitly opted into is received better than one they landed in automatically.

Where do these figures come from?

This report aggregates 2026 channel engagement benchmarks. The key methodological boundary: email opens are measured by tracking pixel, SMS has no equivalent mechanism, so the stated range is an estimate. Those two metrics are deliberately not set against each other in the text; clicks are used for cross-channel comparison. Preference data comes from surveys and describes stated rather than observed behaviour.