7 Best Sendbird Alternatives for In-App Chat & Support
Compare 7 Sendbird alternatives for in-app chat and customer support, with pricing, free plans, SDK options, and the trade-offs to check before switching.
On this page
Sendbird saves you from building chat from scratch. But a growing bill or days spent customizing the chat interface can make you wonder what else is out there.
I've compared 7 Sendbird alternatives below, covering what each does well, what it costs, and what you'll still need to handle yourself. 👇
Key takeaways
| Tool | Best for | Product type | Starting cost | Free option | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Featurebase | Answering customers and collecting feedback | Support platform | $29/seat/month annually + $0.49/AI resolution | 1 seat, unlimited support conversations | Customer Messenger is web-only |
| Stream | User-to-user chat | Chat API and SDKs | $399/month annually for 10,000 MAU | 1,000 MAU, 100 concurrent connections | Usage and storage limits |
| CometChat | Chat with customizable UI kits | Chat API and UI kits | $239/month annually for 1,000 MAU | 100 development users | Concurrency and plan limits |
| Ably | Chat alongside other live features | Real-time platform and Chat SDK | $29/month + usage | 6 million messages, 200 connections | Several usage charges |
| PubNub | Chat and live data updates | Real-time platform and Chat SDK | $98/month for 1,000 MAU | 200 MAU or 1 million test transactions | Custom development |
| Twilio Conversations | Chat, SMS, and WhatsApp together | Messaging API | $0.05/active user/month for users 201-5,000 | First 200 active users | Channel and media fees |
| Rocket.Chat | Hosting chat yourself | Messaging platform | Custom paid pricing | Self-managed Starter up to 50 users | Maintenance and hosting |
MAU means monthly active users. Prices are in USD, checked in October 2026. Seats, active users, and message usage are different billing units, so the lowest starting price won't always mean the lowest bill.
What is Sendbird, and why consider alternatives?
Sendbird provides APIs and SDKs for adding chat to mobile and web apps. You build it into your product, and Sendbird runs the messaging infrastructure. It also offers voice and video calling.
Its AI customer experience offering now sits under Delight.ai. Here, I'm mainly comparing alternatives to Sendbird's Chat API, plus a support platform for teams that need to answer customers.
The main reasons to look elsewhere are:
- Cost: Starter is $349/month billed annually, or $399 month-to-month, for 5,000 MAU. Starter and Pro also limit simultaneous connections to 5% of the MAU allowance. That's 250 connections on a 5,000-MAU plan.
- Development work: Your team may find another provider's SDKs or UI kits easier to adapt to your app. Test the actual screens and workflows you need.
- A different job to do: A marketplace needs buyers and sellers to message each other. A SaaS support team needs to answer questions, route conversations, and track requests. Choose for that job.
Also, Sendbird counts users who connect through its SDK, even if they never send a message. Check when your app opens those connections before forecasting costs.
The 7 best Sendbird alternatives
Here's where I'd start for each use case.
1. Featurebase
Featurebase combines AI-powered customer support, a help center, and feedback management for product-led SaaS. It's a good fit when you want to answer customers and keep their product requests in the same place.
For example, your team can answer a billing question in the inbox, then connect a feature request from that conversation to your product feedback. Fibi AI Agent can handle questions using your support content and run configured actions, such as extending a trial.
Top features:
- Omnichannel inbox – Manage live chat, email, and Slack conversations from one AI-powered view
- Fibi AI Agent - Resolve customer issues on autopilot & run custom actions like trial extensions and refunds
- Help center with AI search – Provide instant, multilingual self-serve answers
- Workflows & automations – Auto-assign tickets, route conversations, collect customer data, and more
- AI Copilot – Help your agents answer customers faster with AI Copilot that uses your internal knowledge
- Multi-brand support – Manage multiple Help Centers and Live chats from a single workspace
- Automatic AI translations – Automatically translate all messages and help articles to your customers' native language
- Service Level Agreements – Track SLAs to make sure your team responds to customers on time, every time
- Mobile app – Respond to customers, receive notifications, and unblock users on the go
- Feedback & roadmap tools – Collect feature requests and close the loop with updates
- Product updates – Publish release notes with a changelog page, in-app widget, and emails
- Integrations – Connects with Slack, Linear, Jira, HubSpot, and more
Keep in mind: Featurebase is for customer support. It doesn't replace a user-to-user chat SDK, and its customer-facing chat widget works on websites and web apps. The mobile app is for your support team.
Pricing: $29/seat/month annually + $0.49/AI resolution. The Free plan includes 1 seat and unlimited support conversations. Fibi requires a paid plan, and advanced features depend on the plan or add-ons.
2. Stream
I'd start with Stream for user-to-user chat, such as buyers messaging sellers in a marketplace. Its SDKs and ready-made UI components handle much of the basic chat interface.
Top features
- Direct messages, group chat, threads, and reactions
- Ready-made conversation lists, message inputs, and attachments
- Web and mobile SDKs, moderation, and push notifications
Keep in mind: Active users, concurrent connections, and stored messages have separate limits. Check all 3 when estimating your bill.
Pricing: $399/month annually for 10,000 MAU. Start includes 500 concurrent connections and costs $499 on monthly billing. The free Build plan allows 1,000 MAU and 100 concurrent connections.
3. CometChat
CometChat gives you several ways to build in-app chat: SDKs, ready-made UI kits, and visual builders. It's worth a look when you want a starting interface you can adapt to your app.
Top features
- Private and group chat with message history
- Customizable UI kits and a visual builder
- Push notifications, with more moderation and AI features on higher plans
Keep in mind: Basic and Advanced include concurrent connections equal to 5% of MAU. Longer message retention and some features cost extra, so check your must-haves against the plan.
Pricing: $239/month annually for 1,000 MAU. Advanced starts at $359/month annually at that tier. The free Build plan allows 100 development users. Voice and video have separate pricing.
4. Ably
Ably makes sense when chat sits alongside other live features, such as collaborative editing or real-time updates. Its Chat SDK adds messaging features to the same real-time platform.
Top features
- Typing indicators, presence, and read receipts
- Reactions, message editing, and room occupancy
- Publish-subscribe messaging for other live app features
Keep in mind: The $29 base fee is just the starting point. Messages, connection minutes, and channel minutes all affect the bill. I'd price out a typical month before treating it as the cheaper option.
Pricing: $29/month + usage. Standard charges $2.50 per million messages, plus connection and channel charges. The Free plan includes 6 million monthly messages and 200 concurrent connections.
5. PubNub
PubNub is useful when your app needs chat and other live data, such as location updates. Its Chat SDK supplies familiar messaging features, while the wider platform handles real-time data delivery.
Top features
- Threads, reactions, typing indicators, and read receipts
- User presence and message history
- BizOps tools for user management and moderation
Keep in mind: You still need to build the interface and workflows around your product. Try the Chat SDK with a real conversation flow before estimating that work.
Pricing: $98/month for 1,000 MAU. Starter includes 6-month message storage. The Free plan allows 200 MAU or 1 million transactions for testing, with limited storage. Pro requires a quote.
6. Twilio Conversations
Twilio Conversations is worth considering when you need in-app chat connected to SMS or WhatsApp. It's especially relevant if your developers already use Twilio.
Top features
- Web and in-app chat APIs
- SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp participants
- Text and media conversations across supported channels
Keep in mind: You'll build the customer-facing interface, and the Conversations API fee is only part of the cost. Channel fees and media storage are extra.
Pricing: $0.05/active user/month for users 201-5,000. The first 200 active users are free, with lower per-user rates at higher volumes. Media storage costs $0.25/GB/month.
7. Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is worth exploring if you want to host and control the messaging platform yourself. It offers self-managed deployment and an open-source Community edition.
Top features
- Direct messages, channels, and threads
- Self-managed hosting
- APIs and integrations for custom workflows
Keep in mind: Your team takes on the work of running the service. Budget for that time alongside hosting, and check how easily it fits into your app.
Pricing: Custom paid pricing. The free self-managed Starter plan supports up to 50 users. Hosting costs extra, and Rocket.Chat advises against the Community edition for business-critical deployments.
How to choose a Sendbird alternative
Before committing, I'd check 4 things:
- Customer support: Do users need to talk to each other or your team? For support, Featurebase's Inbox brings chat, email, and Slack conversations together.
- Total cost: Add usage, storage, channel fees, and any hosting or development work. A low entry price only tells you so much.
- Your hardest workflow: Test your busiest group chat, longest conversation, and custom interface. This is where a polished demo can stop looking so polished.
- Migration: Check whether you can move message history, attachments, and user IDs before you commit.
Conclusion
For embedded chat, I'd start by comparing Stream and CometChat. Look at Ably or PubNub if you also need other real-time features, Twilio for messaging across channels, and Rocket.Chat for self-hosting.
If you're choosing a tool to support customers, Featurebase brings AI answers, a shared inbox, a help center, and feedback management together.
Its Free plan includes 1 seat and unlimited support conversations, so you can try the workflow before paying. 👇
Automate your support with Featurebase's AI-powered inbox
FAQs
Stream and CometChat both offer React Native SDKs and UI components. Check compatibility with your React Native version and Expo setup, then test notifications and attachments on iOS and Android.
A chat SDK gives developers the tools to connect users and send messages. A UI kit supplies ready-made screens and components, such as conversation lists and message inputs. They're often offered together.
Some do. CometChat, for example, includes friend management and presence. Check invitations, roles, and permissions separately, since group chat alone doesn't cover every community feature.
Yes, if the provider supports the APIs, webhooks, or agent integrations you need. Your backend can call a chatbot API and send its answer back through the chat interface. Plan human handoff and model costs separately.
You'll handle updates, security patches, monitoring, backups, and recovery. You also need someone responsible when the service fails. Test restoring a backup before going live.
