How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
What is the best chat SDK and API software in 2026?
Sendbird is the best chat SDK and API software for most teams in 2026 because it pairs a mature chat API with ready UI kits, strong moderation and translation. Stream Chat is the closest alternative for social apps, while CometChat suits teams that want voice and video in the same stack. TalkJS is the best value pick for marketplaces.
Key takeaways
- Sendbird leads for most buyers, with Starter at 349 dollars/mo billed annually for 5,000 monthly active users.
- Stream Chat starts at 399 dollars/mo billed annually for 10,000 users, which makes it strong value at that size.
- CometChat starts at 239 dollars/mo billed annually, and PubNub starts at 98 dollars per month for 1,000 users.
- TalkJS includes 10,000 users for 239 dollars/mo billed annually, with unlimited messages and unlimited history.
- MirrorFly is the only pick here with a self-hosted licence, while Amity, now Social+, charges by quote.
How much does chat SDK and API software cost in 2026?
Chat SDK and API software in 2026 usually costs from 29 dollars to 499 dollars per month at the entry paid tier, and the price depends on monthly active users in most plans. Sendbird Starter is 349 dollars/mo billed annually for 5,000 users. Stream Start is 399 dollars/mo billed annually for 10,000 users. CometChat Basic is 239 dollars/mo billed annually. PubNub Starter is 98 dollars per month for 1,000 users. TalkJS Basic is 239 dollars/mo billed annually for 10,000 users. Ably Pro starts at 29 dollars/mo billed annually for 1,000 users, plus usage charges. MirrorFly Essentials is reported at 399 dollars/mo for 5,000 users. Amity does not publish a list price. Check the overage rate before you buy. Sendbird does not publish its overage rate. CometChat charges 0.10 dollars per extra user, Stream charges 0.09 dollars, and TalkJS charges 0.04 dollars on Basic. PubNub counts a heavy user as more than one monthly active user.
What features should you check before you choose a chat SDK?
You should check channels, moderation, push, UI kits and message history before you choose a chat SDK, because those five areas decide how fast you ship and how safe the chat stays. Sendbird supports supergroup channels on Pro, while Starter group channels hold 100 members. Stream has no cap on members per group channel. TalkJS caps a Basic group at 100 participants and a Growth group at 300 participants. CometChat supports private, public and password protected group chat. Moderation also varies. Sendbird includes basic moderation on Starter and image moderation on Pro. Stream includes advanced moderation on Start. CometChat puts AI moderation on Advanced. PubNub relies on message filtering and Functions, which needs more build work. All eight tools support push. TalkJS includes email, SMS and push on every plan. Sendbird, Stream, CometChat, TalkJS, MirrorFly and Amity all ship UI kits. PubNub does not have a maintained React kit in the same way. Sendbird and CometChat keep messages for six months. TalkJS keeps history with no time limit.
How do you choose the right chat SDK for your app?
You choose the right chat SDK by matching the use case first, then the user count, then the compliance need. For support chat, Sendbird fits best because it pairs chat with business messaging. For a social app, Stream fits best because it has no group size cap and data export on Start. For a marketplace, TalkJS fits best because it was built for buyer and seller chat, with contact masking and reply by email. For a health app, CometChat Advanced or Stream Elevate fit best because they support a HIPAA business associate agreement. For a live event app, PubNub fits best because chat can share a connection with live location data. For a team that must keep data on its own servers, MirrorFly fits best. For a social app that also needs feeds, Amity, now Social+, fits best. For a team that already uses realtime infrastructure, Ably fits best. Test the free tier before you pay.
The table below compares the eight tools on the same points, using prices checked on vendor pricing pages on 11 Nov 2026 unless noted. MAU means monthly active users.
| Tool |
Starting price |
Included users |
Free plan |
UI kit |
Moderation |
Message history |
| Sendbird |
349 dollars/mo, annual |
5,000 MAU |
Trial, up to 1,000 MAU |
Yes |
Basic on Starter, image on Pro |
6 months |
| Stream Chat |
399 dollars/mo, annual |
10,000 MAU |
Free, 1,000 MAU |
Yes |
Advanced on Start |
Up to 10 million messages |
| CometChat |
239 dollars/mo, annual |
1,000 MAU |
Build, up to 100 users |
Yes |
Basic on Basic, AI on Advanced |
6 months |
| PubNub Chat |
98 dollars per month |
1,000 MAU |
Free, up to 200 MAU |
Limited React kit |
Filters and Functions |
Up to 6 months on Starter |
| TalkJS |
239 dollars/mo, annual |
10,000 MAU |
Free development mode |
Yes |
Moderation tools |
Unlimited |
| MirrorFly |
399 dollars per month |
5,000 MAU |
No free tier, demo only |
Yes |
Moderation tools |
Not stated |
| Ably Chat |
29 dollars/mo, annual, plus usage |
1,000 MAU |
Free, up to 500 MAU |
Yes |
Moderation APIs |
Depends on package |
| Amity (Social+) |
Quote |
Quote |
15 day trial reported |
Yes |
Text and image on Core |
Not stated |
What does chat cost at 10,000 monthly active users?
A worked example at 10,000 monthly active users shows why the entry price alone can mislead a buyer. Take a marketplace app with 10,000 users, group chat, push and basic moderation. TalkJS Basic costs 239 dollars/mo billed annually, because Basic includes 10,000 users, unlimited messages and unlimited history. Stream Start costs 399 dollars/mo billed annually for 10,000 users, with advanced moderation and data export. Sendbird Starter costs 429 dollars/mo billed annually at 10,000 users. CometChat Basic costs 299 dollars/mo billed annually at 10,000 users. Ably Pro costs 249 dollars/mo billed annually for a 10,000 user bundle, plus usage charges. PubNub has no fixed list price at 10,000 users, because Pro uses volume discounts. MirrorFly Essentials is reported at 399 dollars/mo for 5,000 users. Amity charges by quote. To repeat the math, count monthly active users, count peak concurrent connections, and add the overage rate for the next 5,000 users.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Sendbird | Product and support chat at scale | 349 dollars/mo billed annually for 5,000 MAU | Free trial, all Pro features, up to 1,000 MAU, no card required |
 Stream Chat | Social, community and marketplace apps | 399 dollars/mo billed annually for 10,000 MAU | Free plan, 1,000 MAU, 100 concurrent connections, no card required |
 CometChat | Chat, voice and video in one stack | 239 dollars/mo billed annually for Basic at 1,000 MAU | Build plan, free, all features, up to 100 users, no card required |
 PubNub Chat | Chat beside live location or device data | 98 dollars/mo for Starter with 1,000 MAU | Free plan, up to 200 MAU or 1 million transactions, no card required |
 TalkJS | Marketplaces and support chat | 239 dollars/mo billed annually for Basic with 10,000 MAU | Free development mode, all features, no card required |
 MirrorFly | Self-hosted chat with full source code access | 399 dollars/mo for Essentials with 5,000 MAU, third-party reported | No free tier, free demo only |
 Ably Chat | Chat beside pub-sub, presence and live sync | 29 dollars/mo billed annually for Pro, 1,000 MAU, plus usage | Free plan, up to 500 MAU, no card required |
 Amity (Social+) | Social apps needing chat plus feeds and forums | quote, third-party reported from 0.06 dollars per MAU | 15 day free trial reported by third party listings |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Starting price349 dollars/mo billed annually for 5,000 MAU
Free planFree trial, all Pro features, up to 1,000 MAU, no card required
Sendbird is the most complete chat SDK here for teams that want to ship fast and scale later. The API covers one to one chat, group chat, open channels, threads, reactions, mentions, typing indicators, read receipts, presence and file sharing. The UIKit gives a working chat screen in days, and the moderation dashboard lets moderators review reports, mute users and freeze channels. Business messaging adds 30,000 free in-app messages per month. The trade off is price growth, plus the six month retention limit.
What we like- Mature API, ready UI kits, supergroup channels, translation and data export on Pro, nine global regions
Watch out for- Translation, image moderation and supergroup channels need Pro at 499 dollars/mo billed annually. Group channels hold 100 members on Starter. Overage rates are not published.
Starting price399 dollars/mo billed annually for 10,000 MAU
Free planFree plan, 1,000 MAU, 100 concurrent connections, no card required
Stream Chat is the best pick for community and marketplace apps because it removes the group size limit that blocks other tools. A channel can hold a large community without moving to a supergroup tier, and data export is included on Start. Overage rates are clear, at 0.09 dollars per extra user and 0.99 dollars per extra concurrent connection. Stream also offers Feeds and Video in the same account.
What we like- No group size cap, advanced moderation and data export on Start, clear overage rates, global edge network, wide SDK range
Watch out for- HIPAA and translation need Elevate at 599 dollars/mo billed annually. The free plan stores only up to 5 million messages. AI moderation is an Enterprise add on.
Starting price239 dollars/mo billed annually for Basic at 1,000 MAU
Free planBuild plan, free, all features, up to 100 users, no card required
CometChat suits teams that want more than text chat without adding a second vendor. The same account can add voice calls at 0.001 dollars per minute and video calls at 0.003 dollars per minute. The Build plan includes all features for up to 100 users. Push is included on Basic, and Advanced adds email and SMS notifications, plus AI smart replies. The main risk is the plan split, because Basic leaves out translation and email notifications.
What we like- Chat, voice and video in one platform, email and SMS notifications on Advanced, AI moderation on Advanced, translation on Advanced, unlimited messages
Watch out for- Translation and email notifications are missing from Basic, so many apps need Advanced at 359 dollars/mo billed annually. Retention is six months on every plan. Self serve pricing stops at 50,000 MAU.
#4
PubNub Chat
Best for: Chat beside live location or device data
Visit pubnub.com
Starting price98 dollars/mo for Starter with 1,000 MAU
Free planFree plan, up to 200 MAU or 1 million transactions, no card required
PubNub Chat is a good fit when chat is one realtime feature among many, not the whole product. The platform handles pub and subscribe messaging, presence, message persistence, file sharing and push, and Functions let a team run code at the edge for translation or moderation. The Starter price is the lowest paid entry here. The trade off is build effort, because a team that wants ready moderation will need to build more than it would with Sendbird or Stream.
What we like- Low entry price, unlimited channels, latency under 100 milliseconds, Functions for custom logic, presence and push included
Watch out for- No built in AI moderation or translation, so moderation needs custom Functions work. The React kit is less maintained than the kits from Sendbird or Stream. Heavy users can count as more than one MAU.
Starting price239 dollars/mo billed annually for Basic with 10,000 MAU
Free planFree development mode, all features, no card required
TalkJS is the value pick here for marketplaces, because it was built for buyer and seller chat from the start. The API covers one to one chat, group chat, file transfers, location sharing, voice messaging and search on Growth. Contact masking hides phone numbers and email addresses. Reply by email lets a user answer a chat from the inbox, and the message syncs back to chat. Pricing is clear, at 0.04 dollars per extra user on Basic and 0.03 dollars on Growth. The limits are group size and support.
What we like- Low price at 10,000 users, unlimited messages and history, contact masking, reply by email, push on every plan
Watch out for- Basic groups cap at 100 participants and Growth caps at 300, so large groups need Enterprise. No uptime SLA below Enterprise. One subscription covers one app only.
Starting price399 dollars/mo for Essentials with 5,000 MAU, third-party reported
Free planNo free tier, free demo only
MirrorFly is the only tool here that lets a team own the chat stack outright. The self-hosted model gives full source code access and lifetime use for a one time licence fee, which suits regulated teams and large enterprises that must keep data inside their own network. The cloud model offers Essentials from 399 dollars/mo for 5,000 users, according to the vendor site. SDKs cover Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native, Angular, React and Vue. The trade off is operations, because a self-hosted install needs server setup and monitoring.
What we like- Self-hosted licence with full source code access, one time licence option, white label UI kits, chat, voice and video in one stack
Watch out for- No free tier, so testing needs a sales demo. The self-hosted licence price is by quote, and the buyer must run and scale the servers.
#7
Ably Chat
Best for: Chat beside pub-sub, presence and live sync
Visit ably.com
Starting price29 dollars/mo billed annually for Pro, 1,000 MAU, plus usage
Free planFree plan, up to 500 MAU, no card required
Ably Chat suits engineering teams that want one realtime account for chat, live updates, presence and sync. The Chat product supports one to one chat, group messaging, live streaming chat, reactions, typing indicators, edit and delete, and moderation APIs. Pro bundles run from 29 dollars/mo billed annually for 1,000 users to 1,149 dollars/mo billed annually for 50,000 users. The limits are usage charges and build effort.
What we like- Lowest paid entry price here, fixed 0.05 dollar overage per extra user, Chat in every package, 99.999 percent uptime SLO on Pro
Watch out for- Chat is one product inside a wider realtime platform, so the chat feature set is less deep than Sendbird or CometChat. Usage charges sit on top of the bundle price. Moderation and translation need developer work.
#8
Amity (Social+)
Best for: Social apps needing chat plus feeds and forums
Visit amity.co
Starting pricequote, third-party reported from 0.06 dollars per MAU
Free plan15 day free trial reported by third party listings
Amity, now sold as Social+, is a social SDK platform, not a chat only tool. The Chat SDK covers private one to one chat, public and private group chat, live chat, broadcast chat, subchannels, threads, reactions, mentions, read receipts, presence, push and file sharing. The wider stack adds global feeds, polls, stories and live streaming. Core includes text and image moderation and standard support. Max adds AI moderation and full HD live streaming. The main risk is pricing clarity, because the vendor page shows no dollar figure, while third party listings report 0.06 dollars per MAU.
What we like- Chat, feeds, forums, live streaming and video stories in one stack, text and image moderation on Core, AI moderation on Max, UI kits included
Watch out for- No list price on the vendor pricing page, so buyers must request pricing. Chat cannot be bought alone in the bundled model. Pricing is complex, with extra fees for some AI features.
Frequently asked questions
What is a chat SDK and API?
A chat SDK and API is a set of code libraries and server APIs that add messaging to an app without building chat from scratch. The SDK handles the client side, such as the chat screen and push, while the API handles the server side, such as channels, users and moderation. Most tools here also ship a UI kit.
How is MAU pricing different from per message pricing?
MAU pricing charges for each unique user who connects in a month, while per message pricing charges for each message sent or received. MAU pricing is easier to budget when chat volume is high, because a chatty user costs the same as a quiet user. Per message pricing can be cheaper for a quiet app, but a busy group chat can raise the bill fast. PubNub counts a heavy user as more than one MAU.
Which chat SDK is cheapest at 10,000 monthly active users?
TalkJS is cheapest at 10,000 users here, at 239 dollars/mo billed annually for Basic, with unlimited messages and history. Ably Pro is next at 249 dollars/mo billed annually for a 10,000 user bundle, plus usage charges. CometChat Basic is 299 dollars/mo billed annually at 10,000 users. Stream Start is 399 dollars, and Sendbird Starter is 429 dollars. Check the feature gaps first.
Do I need HIPAA compliance for in-app chat?
You need HIPAA compliance when chat carries protected health information, such as patient messages or care plans. A chat SDK alone does not make an app HIPAA compliant. The vendor must sign a business associate agreement, and the buyer must set access controls, encryption and retention rules. CometChat Advanced, Stream Elevate and Sendbird paid plans support such an agreement. Confirm it in writing before launch.
Can I migrate from one chat SDK to another later?
You can migrate later, but the cost depends on data export, user mapping and message history. Stream includes data export on Start and Sendbird includes it on Pro. TalkJS keeps unlimited history, which helps a migration. Plan the move early by keeping user IDs stable, exporting history in batches, and running both tools in parallel for a short test period. Budget time for UI work, because each UI kit has its own layout.
Sources we checked (8)
- https://sendbird.com/pricing
- https://getstream.io/pricing/
- https://www.cometchat.com/pricing
- https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/
- https://talkjs.com/pricing/
- https://www.mirrorfly.com/pricing.php
- https://ably.com/docs/platform/pricing.md
- https://www.amity.co/pricing
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.