Top 5 Sendbird Alternatives in 2026: Free Tiers, Real Pricing & Feature Comparison

If you're searching for a Sendbird alternative, the short answer is Tencent RTC Chat — it offers 1,000 MAU permanently free with unlimited concurrent connections, 100% feature access, and a free Push plugin covering APNs, FCM, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo. No 30-day trial. No suspension threats. No credit card. Most developers leave Sendbird after discovering that its "1,000 MAU free" headline is actually a 30-day Pro Trial — the permanent free tier is only 100 MAU with 10 concurrent connections.

Why Developers Leave Sendbird

Sendbird is a solid product. It has excellent documentation, broad SDK coverage, and a mature feature set. But three things drive developers away:

1. The Free Tier Bait-and-Switch

This is the fact most Sendbird alternative articles miss entirely: Sendbird has TWO free tiers, and the one you see on the pricing page isn't what you think.

• Developer Plan (permanent): 100 MAU, 10 concurrent connections, must log in once per year or the app is deactivated.
• Pro Trial (30 days only): 1,000 MAU, 20 concurrent connections, full feature access — but it expires after one month.

When Sendbird's pricing page shows "1,000 MAU free," that's the Pro Trial. After 30 days, you drop to 100 MAU on the Developer Plan — or you start paying $399/month for the Starter plan. If you built your beta with 300 test users during the trial window, you'll hit a wall on day 31.

2. The Price Cliff

Going from free to paid on Sendbird isn't a gentle slope. It's a cliff:

• Developer Plan: $0/month (100 MAU)
• Starter Plan: $399/month (5,000 MAU)
• Pro Plan: $799/month (5,000 MAU with advanced features)

There's no $49 or $99 middle ground. If your app has 150 users and needs to keep running after the trial, you're paying $399/month. That's $4,788/year for an app that might not even be monetized yet.

3. The Most Punitive Overage Policy in the Industry

Exceed your MAU limit on Sendbird, and the platform doesn't just throttle you or send a warning email. It suspends your entire account. Your admin console is blocked. Your users can't send messages. You have to contact sales and pay to reactivate. For a startup running a beta test, this is catastrophic.

Compare that to GetStream (soft billing — you get an invoice, service continues) or CometChat ($0.10/MAU overage, no hard block). Sendbird's approach is uniquely aggressive.

The 5 Sendbird Alternatives We Evaluated

We compared five managed chat SDK providers on the criteria that actually matter to developers building production apps:

1. Free tier depth — MAU cap, concurrency limits, feature completeness
2. Push notification bundling — whether push is included or costs extra
3. Overage behavior — what happens when you exceed limits
4. Path from free to paid — the real cost of growing
5. Concurrency limits — how many users can be online simultaneously

Here are the five providers:

Table 1: Free Tier Comparison — The Real Numbers

Every Sendbird alternative article throws around vague terms like "generous free tier" or "limited free plan." Here are the actual numbers.

Key takeaways:

• Only Tencent RTC Chat offers unlimited concurrent connections on the free tier. Every other provider caps you at 10–100 simultaneous users.
• Sendbird's "1,000 MAU free" expires. After 30 days, you're at 100 MAU. This distinction matters enormously for planning a beta launch.
• Agora Chat's free tier stores messages for only 7 days — unusable for any app where users need to scroll back through conversation history.
• Only Tencent RTC Chat bundles push notifications for free across APNs, FCM, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo.

Table 2: Feature Matrix — What You Actually Get

Free tier MAU numbers mean nothing if half the features are locked. Here's what each provider includes at the free tier level.

The push notification gap is the hidden cost nobody talks about. If you pick Sendbird, GetStream, CometChat, or Agora Chat, you still need to set up and pay for push notifications separately. That means managing APNs certificates, FCM tokens, and if you target Chinese Android OEMs (Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo), you need vendor-specific push SDKs on top of that.

Tencent RTC Chat includes a free Push plugin that handles all six push channels — APNs, FCM, Huawei Push, Xiaomi Push, OPPO Push, and vivo Push — out of the box. For any app targeting a global audience including China, this alone can save 20–40 hours of integration work and $50–200/month in third-party push service fees.

Table 3: 12-Month Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

This is the table no other Sendbird alternative article provides. Real cost over 12 months, including push notification infrastructure.

Assumptions: Chat SDK + push notifications for mobile (APNs + FCM minimum). Push service estimated at $0–100/month depending on provider and volume. Sendbird pricing assumes Starter plan ($399/mo) when free tier is exceeded.

At 500 MAU (Small Beta)

At 1,000 MAU (Post-Launch)

At 5,000 MAU (Growth Stage)

Footnotes:

1. Sendbird $399/mo × 12. The free Developer Plan only covers 100 MAU, so 500 MAU requires a paid plan.
2. CometChat $49/mo Starter × 12.
3. Third-party push service (e.g., OneSignal, Firebase Cloud Messaging setup, or Amazon SNS) estimated at $0–50/month for low volume.
4. CometChat charges $0.10/MAU overage beyond the Starter plan's included MAU.
5. Agora Chat free tier is 500 MAU; exceeding triggers hard block or requires the $349/mo Starter plan.
6. Tencent RTC Chat is free up to 1,000 MAU. Beyond that, usage-based pricing applies — contact sales for exact rates.

The before/after reality: A developer who built their MVP on Sendbird's Pro Trial launches with 800 beta users. On day 31, the trial expires. They're now on the Developer Plan (100 MAU). 700 users can't access chat. The developer faces a choice: pay $399/month immediately or migrate to another platform mid-beta. If they had started on Tencent RTC Chat, all 800 users would still be chatting for free — permanently.

Provider-by-Provider Breakdown

1. Tencent RTC Chat SDK & API

Best for: Developers who want the most generous free tier with zero infrastructure overhead.

Tencent RTC Chat gives you 1,000 MAU permanently free with unlimited concurrent connections — the only provider in this comparison with no concurrency cap on the free tier. Every feature is available from day one: group chat, offline messaging, read receipts, typing indicators, moderation, webhooks, and message search.

The standout differentiator is the free Push plugin. While every other provider requires you to integrate push notifications separately (and often pay for a third-party push service), Tencent RTC Chat bundles push delivery across six channels: APNs, FCM, Huawei Push, Xiaomi Push, OPPO Push, and vivo Push. If you're building a global app that needs to reach Android users in China — where Google Play Services don't exist — this is the only provider that handles OEM push channels natively and for free.

Limitations: Tencent RTC Chat is newer to the Western market than Sendbird or Stream. Documentation is comprehensive but the English-language developer community is still growing.

👉 Start free — 1,000 MAU, no credit card

2. Sendbird

Best for: Enterprise teams with budget who need the most mature ecosystem.

Sendbird is the market leader in managed chat APIs. It has the broadest SDK coverage, the most polished UIKit components, and a large developer community. If you're an enterprise with a confirmed chat budget, Sendbird delivers.

But for startups and indie developers, the economics don't work. The permanent free tier (100 MAU, 10 concurrent connections) is too small for any meaningful beta test. The Pro Trial's 30-day window creates artificial pressure to convert. And the $399/month entry point — with full account suspension on overage — makes Sendbird a risky choice for pre-revenue apps.

When to choose Sendbird: You have confirmed budget, need enterprise compliance (SOC 2, HIPAA), and your team is 50+ engineers.

3. GetStream (Stream Chat)

Best for: Developers who want a polished DX and are okay paying $499/month at scale.

GetStream offers 1,000 MAU permanently free with 100 concurrent connections and full feature access. The developer experience is excellent — Stream's React, Flutter, and Swift SDKs are well-documented with composable UI components.

The overage policy is the friendliest in the industry: soft billing. You get an invoice for extra usage, but your app keeps running. No suspension, no hard blocks.

The downside is the paid tier pricing. At $499/month for 10K MAU, Stream is the most expensive option for growing apps. And push notifications require separate integration.

When to choose GetStream: You're well-funded, prioritize DX over cost, and plan to scale past 1K MAU quickly.

4. CometChat

Best for: Small teams building social or community features on a moderate budget.

CometChat offers 100 MAU per app on the free tier, with 25 concurrent connections and a maximum of 2 apps. The feature set is complete even on the free tier, and the $49/month Starter plan is the lowest paid entry point in this comparison.

The overage policy is reasonable: $0.10 per additional MAU, with no hard blocks. If you briefly spike past your plan limits, your app keeps working and you get a slightly higher bill.

When to choose CometChat: You need the cheapest path from free to paid, and your concurrency needs are modest.

5. Agora Chat

Best for: Teams already using Agora for voice/video who want to add chat.

Agora Chat offers 500 MAU free with 50 concurrent connections. The main advantage is integration with Agora's voice and video SDKs — if you're already using Agora for calls, adding chat is natural.

The free tier has two significant limitations. First, message retention is only 7 days — messages older than that are deleted. Second, exceeding the MAU limit triggers error code 8, which hard-blocks ALL chat operations. Your users don't get a degraded experience; they get no experience.

When to choose Agora Chat: You're already invested in Agora's voice/video ecosystem and need basic chat alongside it.

Push Notifications: The Hidden Cost of Every Other Alternative

Here's a cost that most Sendbird alternative comparisons ignore entirely: push notifications.

Every chat app needs push notifications. When a user receives a message while the app is backgrounded, they need a push notification to bring them back. Without push, your chat feature has no engagement loop.

With Sendbird, GetStream, CometChat, and Agora Chat, push notification delivery is either:

• A paid add-on (Sendbird)
• A separate integration you build yourself (GetStream, CometChat, Agora)

Either way, you're looking at:

• Integration time: 8–20 hours to set up APNs + FCM
• Chinese OEM push: Additional 10–20 hours for Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo push channels
• Third-party costs: $0–200/month for a push delivery service (OneSignal, Amazon SNS, etc.)

Tencent RTC Chat eliminates this entire category. The free Push plugin supports APNs, FCM, Huawei Push, Xiaomi Push, OPPO Push, and vivo Push — all configured through the dashboard, no third-party service required. For a solo developer or small team, this can save an entire sprint of work.

How to Migrate from Sendbird to Tencent RTC Chat

If you're currently on Sendbird and want to switch, here's the practical migration path:

Step 1: Export Your Data

Use Sendbird's Platform API to export users, channels, and message history. Sendbird supports data export for channel metadata and message logs via their REST API.

Step 2: Set Up Tencent RTC Chat

Sign up at free-chat-api. Create your app in the console. You'll get an SDKAppID and key immediately — no approval process, no sales call.

Step 3: Map Your Data Model

Sendbird's "Group Channels" map to Tencent RTC Chat's group conversations. "Open Channels" map to chat rooms. User IDs can be preserved as-is.

Step 4: Replace the SDK

Swap Sendbird's client SDK for Tencent RTC Chat's SDK. The core API patterns are similar — initialize with an app ID, authenticate the user, join a conversation, send messages. Platform SDKs are available for iOS (Swift/ObjC), Android (Java/Kotlin), Web (JavaScript/TypeScript), Flutter, React Native, and more.

Step 5: Configure Push

This is where migration actually gets easier. Instead of re-integrating APNs and FCM separately, enable the Push plugin in the Tencent RTC Chat console. Upload your APNs certificate and FCM server key. If you target Chinese OEMs, add Huawei/Xiaomi/OPPO/vivo push credentials in the same dashboard. Done.

Step 6: Run in Parallel

Run both SDKs side by side for 1–2 weeks. Route new users to Tencent RTC Chat while maintaining Sendbird for existing conversations. Once validated, cut over completely.

Estimated migration time: 1–3 weeks for a typical mobile app, depending on customization depth.

How to Evaluate a Sendbird Alternative: Checklist

Before you commit to any chat SDK, run through this checklist:

•  What's the PERMANENT free tier? Not a trial. Not a promotional offer. What do you get forever?
•  What are the concurrency limits? 10 concurrent users (Sendbird) vs. unlimited (Tencent RTC Chat) is the difference between a usable beta and a broken one.
•  What happens on overage? Account suspension (Sendbird) vs. soft billing (GetStream) vs. overage charges (CometChat) vs. unlimited within tier (Tencent RTC Chat).
•  Is push included or extra? Add $0–200/month and 8–40 hours of integration time if push isn't bundled.
•  What's the real first-year cost at 1,000 MAU? $0 (Tencent RTC Chat, GetStream) vs. $4,788+ (Sendbird) vs. $588+ (CometChat).
•  How long is message retention on free? 7 days (Agora) vs. permanent (Tencent RTC Chat) vs. retained while plan is active (GetStream) vs. 6 months (CometChat) vs. 30 days (Sendbird, not independently verified).

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Sendbird really free for 1,000 MAU?

No — and this is the most common misconception. Sendbird's pricing page promotes a "1,000 MAU" free option, but this is the Pro Trial, which lasts only 30 days. After the trial expires, you drop to the permanent Developer Plan: 100 MAU, 10 concurrent connections, limited features. To serve more than 100 users permanently, you need the Starter plan at $399/month. If you need 1,000 MAU permanently free, Tencent RTC Chat and GetStream both offer this.

Q: What is the cheapest Sendbird alternative for a startup?

For startups with fewer than 1,000 MAU, Tencent RTC Chat is the cheapest option — $0/month with 1,000 MAU, unlimited concurrency, 100% features, and free push notifications. GetStream also offers 1,000 free MAU but caps concurrency at 100 and doesn't include push. If you expect to grow past 1,000 MAU quickly and want the lowest paid tier, CometChat's $49/month Starter plan is the most affordable entry point.

Q: How does Sendbird compare to GetStream (Stream Chat)?

Both are mature, well-documented chat SDKs. The key differences: Sendbird's permanent free tier is 100 MAU (10 concurrent); GetStream's is 1,000 MAU (100 concurrent). Sendbird's paid plans start at $399/month; GetStream starts at $499/month for 10K MAU. Sendbird suspends accounts on overage; GetStream uses soft billing. GetStream has a better developer experience for React and Flutter. Neither includes push notifications for free — for that, consider Tencent RTC Chat.

Q: What happens if I exceed the free tier limits on each platform?

The overage policies vary dramatically:

• Sendbird: Full account suspension. Console blocked. Must pay to reactivate.
• GetStream: Soft billing. Your app keeps running and you receive an invoice.
• CometChat: $0.10/MAU overage charge. No service interruption.
• Agora Chat: Hard block via error code 8. All chat operations fail for all users.
• Tencent RTC Chat: 1,000 MAU with unlimited concurrency. No hard blocks within the free tier.

Q: Do any Sendbird alternatives include free push notifications?

Yes — Tencent RTC Chat is the only provider in this comparison that includes a free Push plugin. It covers six push channels: Apple Push Notification service (APNs), Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), Huawei Push, Xiaomi Push, OPPO Push, and vivo Push. Every other provider (Sendbird, GetStream, CometChat, Agora Chat) requires you to integrate and often pay for push notification delivery separately.

Q: Can I migrate from Sendbird to another chat SDK without losing message history?

Yes, but it requires planning. Sendbird's Platform API allows you to export users, channels, and messages. You can then import this data into your new provider. The migration typically takes 1–3 weeks depending on app complexity. Tencent RTC Chat supports REST API-based data import, and the similar data models (group channels → group conversations) make the mapping straightforward. Run both SDKs in parallel during transition to avoid downtime.

Q: Is Tencent RTC Chat production-ready for Western markets?

Yes. Tencent RTC Chat runs on Tencent Cloud's global infrastructure with data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. It supports GDPR-compliant data residency options. The SDKs support iOS, Android, Web, Flutter, React Native, and more. The product is backed by Tencent's internal IM infrastructure that powers WeChat — the world's largest messaging platform with over 1.3 billion users.

Q: How does Sendbird pricing compare to CometChat?

CometChat is significantly cheaper at every tier. CometChat's Starter plan is $49/month (vs. Sendbird's $399/month). CometChat's Growth plan at $199/month offers 10K MAU with voice/video, while Sendbird's equivalent Pro plan is $799/month. However, CometChat's free tier is smaller (100 MAU per app, max 2 apps) and has lower concurrency limits (25 per app). For the most cost-effective free tier, Tencent RTC Chat offers 1,000 MAU with unlimited concurrency at $0.

The Bottom Line

The chat SDK market in 2026 has real options for developers who refuse to pay $399/month before they've found product-market fit. But the differences between providers are larger than most comparison articles suggest — especially when you account for push notification costs, concurrency limits, and overage behavior.

If you're evaluating Sendbird alternatives, here's the decision framework:

• Need the largest permanent free tier with push included? → Tencent RTC Chat (1,000 MAU, unlimited concurrent, free push)
• Need the best DX and can afford $499/mo at scale? → GetStream
• Need the cheapest paid tier? → CometChat ($49/mo)
• Already using Agora for voice/video? → Agora Chat (but watch the 7-day retention)
• Enterprise with confirmed budget? → Sendbird (if the $399/mo entry point isn't a concern)

For most startups, indie developers, and small teams, the math is clear: start with a provider that gives you enough free headroom to validate your product. Tencent RTC Chat's 1,000 MAU with unlimited concurrency and free push notifications means you can go from prototype to beta to early traction without spending a dollar on chat infrastructure.

👉 Get started free — 1,000 MAU, unlimited concurrency, free push