Real-time communication has become an essential component of modern applications across industries—from healthcare and education to e-commerce and social platforms. Sendbird offers a popular solution for developers looking to implement chat, voice, and video features into their applications without building these complex systems from scratch.
But for product managers and developers evaluating their options, one crucial question remains: How much does Sendbird actually cost, and does it provide good value? This comprehensive guide breaks down Sendbird's pricing structure, helps you understand what you're paying for, and compares it with alternatives to ensure you make the right choice for your business.
Sendbird's Product Suite: What Are You Paying For?
Before diving into the specific pricing details, it's important to understand that Sendbird offers several distinct products, each with its own pricing model:
- Sendbird Chat
- The core messaging API/SDK that allows you to implement in-app chat
- Sendbird Calls
- Voice and video calling capabilities
- Sendbird Live
- Live streaming features with audience interaction
- Sendbird Desk
- Customer support messaging solution
Most companies start with Sendbird Chat and may add other products as needed. For simplicity, we'll focus primarily on Sendbird Chat pricing in this article, but we'll touch on the other products as well.
Sendbird Chat Pricing Structure: The Basics
Sendbird Chat follows a tiered pricing model based primarily on Monthly Active Users (MAUs), which is the standard pricing metric across the chat API industry. An MAU is counted when a unique user connects to Sendbird at least once during a calendar month.
Free Plan (Developer)
Sendbird's Developer plan is designed for small applications and testing:
- Monthly Active Users: Up to 100 MAUs
- Messages: Up to 1,000 per day
- Features: Basic chat functionality, 1-to-1 messaging, group chats
- Limitations: Limited support, Sendbird branding, limited SDK/API access
- Price: $0/month
This plan is ideal for development and testing purposes but isn't suitable for production applications due to its limitations.
Starter Plan
The Starter plan is Sendbird's entry-level paid tier designed for small-to-medium applications:
- Monthly Active Users: Starting at 1,000 MAUs
- Price: Starting at approximately $400/month (pricing can vary)
- Features:
- All basic chat features
- Custom branding
- Advanced moderation tools
- Message search
- Up to 5GB file storage
- Basic support
The Starter plan provides a significant upgrade from the free tier, making it suitable for applications with a growing user base.
Pro Plan
The Pro plan targets larger applications with more advanced needs:
- Monthly Active Users: Starting at 5,000+ MAUs
- Price: Starting at approximately $800-1,000/month (pricing scales with MAUs)
- Features:
- All Starter features
- Data export options
- Enhanced security features
- Additional storage capacity
- Translation features
- Advanced analytics
- Priority support
- Higher capacity
This tier is popular among established businesses and applications that need reliable, feature-rich chat capabilities.
Enterprise Plan
For large organizations and applications with significant scale, Sendbird offers customized Enterprise plans:
- Monthly Active Users: Customized for large-scale needs
- Price: Custom pricing based on requirements
- Features:
- All Pro features
- Custom feature development
- Dedicated account management
- Premium SLAs
- Advanced security and compliance
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Custom integrations
- On-premise deployment options
- 24/7 support with faster response times
Enterprise plans are negotiated directly with Sendbird's sales team and are tailored to the specific requirements of large organizations.
Beyond MAUs: Other Factors Affecting Sendbird Pricing
While Monthly Active Users (MAUs) are the primary factor in determining your Sendbird costs, several other elements can affect the final price:
1. Message Volume
Unlike some competitors who charge per message, Sendbird's core pricing is based on MAUs. However, there are some limitations on message volume at each tier, and exceeding these limits might require an upgrade or additional fees.
2. Storage Requirements
Sendbird provides file and message storage, but the amount included varies by plan:
- Starter: 5GB
- Pro: 50GB
- Enterprise: Custom storage allocations
Additional storage can be purchased as needed.
3. Advanced Features
Some specialized features might require additional fees or higher-tier plans:
- Translation services
- Content moderation tools
- Advanced analytics
- Message search capabilities
- Comprehensive data exports
4. Support Levels
The level of support varies significantly between tiers:
- Developer: Community support only
- Starter: Basic email support
- Pro: Priority support during business hours
- Enterprise: 24/7 support with dedicated account managers and faster response times
Sendbird Calls, Live, and Desk: Additional Pricing Considerations
If you need more than just chat functionality, here's a brief overview of Sendbird's other products:
Sendbird Calls Pricing
Sendbird Calls (voice and video calling) follows a separate pricing structure based on:
- Minutes of voice/video usage
- Number of concurrent calls
- Quality requirements
Pricing starts at around $500/month for the basic tier and scales based on usage.
Sendbird Live Pricing
Sendbird Live (interactive live streaming) pricing depends on:
- Number of hosts
- Number of viewers
- Stream duration
- Video quality
Pricing typically starts higher than basic chat, given the bandwidth and processing requirements.
Sendbird Desk Pricing
Sendbird Desk (customer support messaging) pricing considers:
- Number of agents using the system
- Number of customer conversations
- Integration requirements
Starting prices are usually in the $300-500/month range for small teams.
Hidden Costs to Watch Out For
When evaluating Sendbird's pricing, be aware of these potential additional costs:
1. Overage Charges
Exceeding your plan's MAU limits can result in overage charges. These are typically charged at a per-user rate that might be higher than your standard plan rate.
2. Implementation and Integration Costs
While not charged by Sendbird directly, don't forget to account for:
- Developer time for implementation
- Integration with existing systems
- Testing and quality assurance
- Ongoing maintenance
3. Upgrade Costs as You Scale
As your application grows, the jump between pricing tiers can be significant. Plan your growth trajectory and budget accordingly.
4. Multi-Region Support
If you need deployment across multiple geographical regions for lower latency, this might incur additional costs in higher tiers.
How Sendbird Compares to Alternatives
To provide context, here's how Sendbird's pricing compares to some popular alternatives:
Stream Chat
- Pricing model: Also MAU-based but with clearly published pricing tiers
- Entry price: Starts around $299/month for 1,000 MAUs
- Differentiators: Known for transparent pricing, modern UI components, and competitive rates
- Best for: Companies wanting predictable pricing and modern UI components
Twilio Conversations
- Pricing model: Based on active users and message volume
- Entry price: Usage-based starting at $0.03 per active user + message costs
- Differentiators: Pay-as-you-go model that can be economical for certain use cases
- Best for: Applications with irregular usage patterns
PubNub
- Pricing model: Complex pricing based on transactions, devices, and features
- Entry price: Starts around $49/month for low volume
- Differentiators: Good for IoT and complex messaging patterns beyond just chat
- Best for: IoT applications and specialized messaging needs
Firebase (Google)
- Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go based on database operations and bandwidth
- Entry price: Free tier available, then usage-based pricing
- Differentiators: Deep Google Cloud integration, simple implementation
- Best for: Small to medium apps already using other Firebase services
Strategies to Optimize Your Sendbird Costs
If you're concerned about Sendbird costs, consider these strategies:
1. Accurately Forecast Your MAU Growth
Understand your user growth patterns to select the appropriate plan and avoid unexpected overage charges.
2. Implement Client-Side Caching
Reduce API calls by caching data on the client side when appropriate.
3. Optimize Message Payload Size
Keep message payloads small to optimize bandwidth and storage usage.
4. Consider User Lifecycle Management
Implement systems to deactivate inactive users to potentially reduce MAU counts.
5. Negotiate Multi-Year Contracts
For established applications, consider negotiating multi-year contracts to lock in better rates.
Is Sendbird Worth the Investment?
Whether Sendbird provides good value depends on your specific needs:
When Sendbird Might Be Worth It:
- You need a comprehensive, battle-tested solution: Sendbird is robust and widely used across industries
- You value reliability and uptime: Sendbird has a strong track record for service reliability
- You need specialized features: For complex moderation, translation, or enterprise requirements
- You prefer managed services: You want to outsource the complexities of chat infrastructure
When Alternatives Might Be Better:
- You're extremely price-sensitive: Some competitors offer lower entry-level pricing
- You have simple needs: For basic chat functionality, simpler alternatives might suffice
- You prefer transparent pricing: Some competitors publish more detailed pricing information
- You need custom infrastructure: For unique requirements, custom solutions might be necessary
How to Get an Accurate Sendbird Quote
Sendbird's published pricing information provides general guidance, but for an accurate quote:
- Contact Sendbird's sales team directly through their website
- Provide detailed information about your expected MAUs, message volume, and feature requirements
- Ask about potential growth scenarios and how pricing would scale
- Request a detailed breakdown of all costs, including any potential add-ons
- Negotiate terms for multi-year contracts if applicable
Conclusion: Making the Right Choice for Your Application
Sendbird offers a robust, reliable platform for adding real-time chat, voice, and video capabilities to your application. While its pricing might seem opaque at first glance and potentially higher than some alternatives, the platform's reliability, feature set, and scalability often justify the investment for many businesses.
When evaluating Sendbird against alternatives, consider not just the immediate costs but the total value provided, including reliability, support quality, implementation simplicity, and long-term scalability. For many applications, particularly those where communication is a core feature, investing in a quality solution like Sendbird can pay dividends through improved user engagement and retention.
Remember that the best choice ultimately depends on your specific use case, technical requirements, and budget constraints. Don't hesitate to request demos from multiple providers and engage your development team in the evaluation process before making a final decision.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information about Sendbird pricing based on publicly available data as of April 2025. Actual pricing may vary. Always contact Sendbird directly for the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information for your specific needs.
Want to level-up your learning? Subscribe now
Subscribe to our newsletter for more tech based insights
FAQ