Sendbird Chat review
A paid chat API suite for teams that need moderation, analytics, and export controls.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Sendbird Chat provides SDKs, UI kits, a Platform API, and messaging infrastructure for adding real-time chat to web, mobile, game, and other applications. It suits established teams that need more than basic messaging, particularly those planning moderation workflows, searchable conversations, analytics, exports, and administrative controls. Support for presence, typing indicators, delivery and read receipts, push notifications, rich media, offline messaging, and message search covers the core requirements of an in-app chat experience.
Pricing is structured around paid plans. Starter 5K costs $349 per month when billed annually and includes messaging essentials, basic moderation, and ticketed support. Pro 5K costs $499 per month when billed annually and adds translation, data export, image moderation, and supergroup channels alongside all Starter features. Enterprise uses custom pricing and includes dedicated or shared server options, various support levels, and optional add-on products. A free trial is available, but there is no permanent free plan, making the product a better fit for teams with an established budget than for early experimentation.
The platform spans web, iOS, Android, and API delivery, with official SDKs for mobile, web, game, and application development environments. Firebase Cloud Messaging and Apple Push Notification service support push delivery, while persistent WebSocket connections, webhooks, and the Platform API provide additional delivery and integration paths. Moderation includes filters, blocking, banning, muting, and reporting, and post-event webhooks support connected workflows. Teams that need translation, export, image moderation, or supergroup channels should consider Pro; teams seeking a lower-cost or permanently free starting point should look elsewhere.
Sendbird Chat pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Supports one-to-one, group, open, and supergroup channels
- Includes moderation, search, analytics, export, and message retrieval
- Official SDKs cover iOS, Android, JavaScript, Flutter, Unity, Unreal, and .NET
- Where it doesn't
- No permanent free plan
- Starter lacks translation, data export, and image moderation
- Enterprise pricing is custom
Sendbird Chat fact sheet, pricing and score →
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