Sendbird vs CometChat: Which chat tool should you choose?

Communication is key to any relationship, and that goes for digital ones, too. If you’re building a website or app, your users need an easy way to get in touch with you. Sure, you can always share your email address or phone number. But for instant responses, live chat is the clear winner. 

A messaging software development kit (SDK) lets you add chat features to your website or mobile app without building them from scratch. CometChat and Sendbird are two popular SDKs that make it easy to set up real-time communication. If you run an online fashion boutique, for instance, you could use Sendbird to build an AI chatbot to talk to customers. No more wasting hours answering questions like, “How long does this dress take to ship?” 

You don’t need much tech knowledge to use either platform, but each comes with different features and scopes. Choosing the right one depends on your team size, tech stack, and CRM needs. For instance, Sendbird integrates with Salesforce, while CometChat doesn’t. 

Understanding the differences between CometChat and Sendbird will help you find the best messaging tool for your app or website. We’ll also spotlight an alternative platform: Noupe. 

What is Sendbird? 

Sendbird offers SDKs and APIs that businesses can use to add communication features to their apps and websites, without any coding. 

The Sendbird chat API allows you to embed messaging and voice calling in your own software. The platform also lets you design custom AI chatbots and agents that work across channels, including social media and phone calls.

What is a chatbot? It’s software that acts as a customer service agent, responding to users with natural conversation.

Key features

• Ability to moderate messages and filter out anything harmful or offensive 
• AI agents 
• Analytics dashboards 
• Automatic translation 
• Ability to use many different types of media, including audio, GIFs, and video 
• Chat history 
• Compliant with HIPAA and other data privacy regulations 
• Delivery receipts 
• Offline messaging 
• One-to-one and group chats 
• Push notifications 
• Status indicators (online or offline) 

Best for 

Companies that need advanced messaging or an SDK that’s compatible with Salesforce 

Limitations

• No guarantee that messages will get delivered 
• More complex setup than CometChat 
• Extra cost for add-on features, such as a user interface (UI) kit 

Pricing 

Starts at $349 per month for basic messaging features, with a free trial available  

What is CometChat? 

CometChat provides ready-to-use chat, messaging, and voice and video calling tools. You can plug these components into your site or app and start using them out of the box. Or, if you’d rather customize them, you can use the low-code UI Kit Builder.

Like Sendbird, CometChat also has AI agents that can communicate with users. Choose a production-ready agent with everything you need or build a custom one that’s 100 percent “you.”

Key features

• Ability to search in chat threads 
• Analytics dashboard 
• Ability to attach documents, images, and voice notes 
• E-commerce feature 
• Global edge network 
• HIPAA-compliant chat 
• Messaging history 
• Multiple moderation options 
• No-code and low-code options for building chat features 
• Real-time delivery status 
• Smart notifications 
• Status indicators 
• Works with popular frameworks and web builders, including Angular and WordPress 

Best for 

Teams that need user-friendly messaging tools with no-code builders 

Limitations

• Less scalable than Sendbird 
• Limits message sizes to 100 MB per file
• Relatively expensive

Pricing 

• Free for development for up to 100 users
• $239 per month for the basic plan, which includes essential chat features such as basic moderation and push notifications 

An alternative tool: Noupe

Maybe you’re on a tight budget, or you don’t have time to brush up on your coding skills. If you’re looking for an affordable alternative to Sendbird or CometChat, consider Noupe. It’s a no-code platform that lets you quickly embed an AI chatbot for customer service on your website. 

Not sure how to train a chatbot? Noupe learns from your website and any documents you feed into its knowledge base, such as FAQs about your products. 

Key features

• Automatically detects and responds to the user’s language 
• Ability to customize the avatar, color, and other features to match your brand 
• Chatbot automatically updates when your site changes 
• Compatible with Squarespace, WordPress, and other web builders 
• E-commerce features 
• Fast setup, with no coding necessary 
• Learns from your site’s public pages and knowledge base 
• Mobile-friendly 
• Sends conversations to your inbox in real time 

Best for 

Users looking for an affordable, no-fuss chat SDK that works for any industry 

Limitations

• Fewer customization options 
• No video or voice calling 
• Supports only 10,000 conversations per month, depending on the plan

Pricing 

Choose from a free plan with up to 100 conversations per month or paid plans ranging from $8 to $16 per month when paid annually

Noupe vs CometChat vs Sendbird comparison

Given the number of real-time messaging SDKs, it’s not always easy to tell which one will work for you. Here’s how our three contenders stack up in five categories: 

What you’ll notice when comparing them

Ask a dozen developers or product managers about their favorite chat SDK, and you won’t get a universal response. Like any technology, the best product depends on your specific goals and needs. 

Here are a few factors to keep in mind during your chat SDK comparison shopping: 

• Target audience: CometChat and Sendbird are designed for developers building communication infrastructure. Both platforms have no-code options, but you may need some programming knowledge to use their more advanced features. Noupe is incredibly user-friendly and doesn’t require any special tech skills. 
• Scalability: When it comes to growing your communications, both CometChat and Sendbird shine. They each offer multiple pricing tiers, so you can easily adjust your plan as your user base grows. Noupe is also scalable, offering up to 10,000 conversations per month. 
• Pricing: Sendbird offers consumption-based pricing, which means you can adjust your plan to fit what you use. CometChat also prices its plans based on the number of monthly users. The advanced plan, for instance, starts at $339 per month for 1,000 users, but it quickly climbs to $1,549 per month for 50,000 users. By contrast, Noupe’s AI chatbot pricing is more straightforward. Choose from three plans based on the number of conversations per month. 
• Complexity of setup: Noupe’s AI chatbot is as out-of-the-box as it comes. This tool learns from your website, so it doesn’t require any coding or training. Sendbird’s no-code chat UI kit also makes it relatively easy to build a messaging app. Expect a steeper learning curve with CometChat, especially if you want to integrate it with a CRM like Salesforce. 
• Applications: Look for a platform that fits your chatbot use cases. Selling real estate? Noupe’s friendly chatbot can answer questions about listings and prices. Instead of tying up your phone line, let the chatbot respond to questions like, “Are there any duplexes under $500,000 in X neighborhood?” For enterprises that want multiple communication channels, such as chatbots and voice calling, CometChat could be the ticket. 
• Moderation: How much control do you want over what your users say? If you’re only chatting one-on-one with customers, you might not care about the occasional curse word. The stakes are much higher if users communicate with each other, such as in a role-playing online game. In that case, you may prefer to pay extra for Sendbird’s advanced moderation tools to protect your audience. 
• Customer support: Every minute counts when you run into a glitch or error. Noupe is powered by Jotform, which offers 24-7 support through chat, phone, and other channels. Similarly, Sendbird has 24-7 support through chat or Slack. CometChat provides only 24-5 live chat or ticketed support, which could be an issue if your messaging app crashes on a Saturday morning. 

Once you narrow your options, do a free trial or demo. That will give you a clearer sense of how the tool actually works better than a generic list of features. If a platform seems too complicated or finicky, just move on. It shouldn’t take weeks to learn how to use a chat SDK, especially if that’s not the main focus of your app. 

Which product wins for whom?

Sendbird works best for apps that need enterprise-scale, multimodal messaging. If you want to send videos to users or invite 2,000 people to join a group chat, this option is worth considering. It also fully integrates with Salesforce, which makes it a great choice for sales teams and B2B companies. 

Go with CometChat if you need flexible chat and calling APIs without extensive setup. It’s reasonably easy to use and more affordable than Sendbird, though it may still be too pricey for small businesses. 

If simplicity is your top priority, Noupe is the obvious choice. You can easily embed the AI chatbot on your site with only a single line of code, and it will train itself on your content. It’s also the most affordable option in this guide, which is a major perk for small businesses. 

Connect with users through real-time messaging SDKs

For many apps, two-way communication is nonnegotiable. For example, e-commerce customers will quickly get frustrated if they can’t ask basic questions about shipping times and product availability. Healthcare providers, insurance companies, and countless other organizations also need easy ways to get in touch. 

If you want full control over your chat infrastructure, consider CometChat or Sendbird. Both platforms allow you to add messaging features and AI agents to your app or website. They’re also compatible with Salesforce, though CometChat requires custom setup. However, neither offers CRM automation or built-in AI chat. 

For the best results, combine CometChat or Sendbird with Noupe. It’s an accessible, no-code alternative perfect for businesses that want fast, AI-powered engagement. Plus, it integrates with Salesforce without the acrobatics CometChat requires. 

Not sure where to begin? Pick your chat foundation first, and then use Noupe to automate CRM and improve the customer experience. Sign up for free today!