About Sendbird
Sendbird is a commercial communications platform for developers who want to embed messaging and calling into their own apps. It provides APIs and client SDKs for one-to-one and group chat, along with voice and video, so teams can skip building and scaling real-time messaging infrastructure.
The platform supplies pre-built UI components for common frameworks, along with features such as push notifications, moderation tools and message history. It is typically used in marketplaces, healthcare, fintech and social apps where users need to talk to each other or to support staff inside the product. Sendbird runs as a hosted cloud service managed by the vendor.
Key features
- Chat APIs for group and direct messaging
- Voice and video calling SDKs
- Prebuilt UI components for chat screens
- Push notifications for new messages
- Moderation tools for user content
- Mobile and web SDKs
Good fit for
- →Buyer-seller chat in marketplaces
- →In-app support conversations
- Tags
- chat-api
- messaging
- voice
- video
- sdk
- in-app-chat
- communications
Sendbird: questions and answers
- What is Sendbird used for?
- Sendbird offers chat, voice and video APIs and SDKs for adding in-app messaging and calling to mobile and web applications. It is a good fit for buyer-seller chat in marketplaces and in-app support conversations.
- How much does Sendbird cost?
- Paid plans for Sendbird start at $399 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.
- Is Sendbird open source?
- No. Sendbird is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Sendbird include OpenIM, LiveKit and WuKongIM.
- What are some alternatives to Sendbird?
- Sendbird competes with Stream, QuickBlox and PubNub. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Sendbird alternatives.
Open-source alternatives to Sendbird
See all
OpenIM
Backend as a Service
IM Chat OpenClaw
Apache-2.0vs Sendbird★ 17k
LiveKit
Backend as a Service
End-to-end realtime stack for connecting humans and AI
Apache-2.0vs Daily★ 21k
WuKongIM
Backend as a Service
More than just IM 不只是即时通讯(IM)
Apache-2.0vs Sendbird★ 5k
JuggleIM
Backend as a Service
IM Chat, High-performance, scalable, self-hosted instant messaging server in Go — private
Apache-2.0vs Sendbird★ 3.5k
Novu
Backend as a Service
The open-source communication infrastructure for agents and products
OSSvs Knock★ 40k
Gotify
Backend as a Service
a simple server for sending and receiving messages
OSS★ 16k
SaaS alternatives to Sendbird
See all
Stream
Backend as a Service
Chat, activity feeds, video and moderation APIs for in-app social features
SaaSQuickBlox
Backend as a Service
Chat and video communication backend with SDKs for mobile and web apps
SaaS
PubNub
Backend as a Service
Realtime messaging and presence APIs for chat, IoT and live apps
SaaS
Twilio
Backend as a Service
Communications APIs for SMS, voice, video, email and verification
SaaS
Agora
Backend as a Service
Real-time voice, video and streaming SDKs for apps
SaaS
Ably
Backend as a Service
Realtime messaging platform with pub/sub, presence and message history
SaaS

