Why In-App Chat is Great for Customer-Centric Businesses?
“Wish to stay atop of user engagement & retention for your product? Then without a doubt, your go-to solution has to be ‘in-app chats.”
In-app chats have been on the rise for the past decade because of the pool of benefits it give to customer-centric businesses. From seamlessly being able to connect with customers to ensure quick solutions round-the-clock, in-app chats are becoming the most popular communication channel for users.
As per a recent report, almost 46% of customers prefer to reach out to businesses via chats than any other medium. Hence, these days web developers and SaaS-based companies are increasingly finding the need to integrate in-app chats into business chat applications.
Table of Contents
Why Are the Importance of In-App Chats For Business?
We just saw about the percentile of customers preferring real time chat as a communication medium. In such a case, in-app chats are required for any online chat platform to boost loyalty, productivity, and collaboration.
Additionally, in-app chats are a great option for:
- Optimizing user experience with real time chat
- Product stickiness
- Customer retention
- Increased conversation with gratification
Now that we see the importance of in-app chat strategies for a business. Let us see what features in any in-app chat app make it a boon in the user community.
Must-have In-App Messaging Features
What features your business must include completely depends on the type of products you develop for your customers. Some of the basic chat features to include are:
- Group chats: Lets users create groups and engage in a group chat for project discussions and team meetings.
- Real-time message translation: Translate messages received to the user’s preferred languages.
- Emojis: Allow users to send emojis and emoticons to keep the conversation going.
- Ban user: This feature lets you ban any user from the group.
- Unread message count: Display the number of messages that are not read by the user.
- Read and delivery receipts: Let users know when their messages are read and delivered.
- Typing indicators: Allow users to know when other users are typing a message.
- Alerts and notifications: Alert users whenever a new chat is received or missed.
- Security: All chats and communications to and fro the app is secured using AES, SSL, and TLS encryptions and other security standards.
You can also include some of the collaboration tools in your product like:
- Screen sharing: Share screen during group calls for better conversation.
- File sharing: This lets users share files in any format with peers either in a single chat or group chat.
- Interactive digital whiteboards: Display your ideas and views visually with other users using whiteboards.
- Message broadcasting: Display information, alerts, and updates across vast groups or chat rooms in just a click.
Additionally, features like UI kits, and cloud services are a few of the advanced features mostly searched by customers in any online chat platform. Giving your users different deployment models like the cloud can be a treat to them!
We have just learned about some of the top features. But how do you build those?
Here’s how:
Platforms & Programming Languages
Programming languages are very pivotal for creating a fully functional chat app. Below, let us briefly see a tabular description of the different languages that are used to build a real time chat application on varied platforms.
| Platforms | Programming Languages |
|---|---|
| Android | Java, Kotlin |
| iOS | Objective C, Swift |
| Web | Javascript, React JS, Angular |
| Desktop | Python, Ruby, Flutter (Multi-platform) |
In case you want your chat app to be built with a single code that can run on multiple platforms, you can make use of cross-platform programming languages like Flutter, React Native and Iconic.
If you wish to master your skills in this section, take a look here. Our next section will surely glue you to your screens.
Eager to know what are the different chat API providers in the market? Take a look below:
Top 6 In-app Chat API Providers in 2023
The market of some of the best canned real-time chat APIs is massive. So, we have curated a list of the top 6 providers that knit real time chats to your business chat applications smoothly.
A short disclaimer that the provider’s list is explained in no particular order.
1. MirrorFly
Leading In-app Chat Provider
MirrorFly’s chat APIs are built keeping customers in mind. Our software development kits are a powerhouse of canned features that every user expects in a chat platform. Be it the modern-looking UI kits cloud deployment options or the SaaS pricing models, everything is hooked for the customers.
Launched more than a decade ago, our chat APIs still stand tall amidst different players in terms of user experience, concurrent connections, low latencies, scalability, and top-notch chat features.
Features:
- Real-time messaging API
- Dedicated cloud hostings
- Dedicated development team for hire
- Dashing UI kits
- Real time message translation
- Collaboration tools
- Security standards and techniques
- Location tracking
- Read and deliver receipts
- User-to-user blocking and banning of user
- HIPAA and GDPR compliances
- User online presence
Locations served:
MirrorFly provides communication solutions worldwide, and mainly serves users in the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Singapore, among others.
Industries served:
MirrorFly caters to various industries such as e-commerce, healthcare, education, finance, social media, telecom, transportation, logistics, defense, government services and entertainment.
Pricing:
MirrorFly gives its users a free trial for a certain number of days. After this, you may have to select one of the SaaS pricing plans to continue further. We also offer SaaP plans too.
Essential: $ 299/month
Growth: $ 699 /month
Premium: $ 999/month
2. Sendbird
The Best Chat Solution Provider
Established in the year 2013, Sendbird has become the desired messaging solution for all user-business communications. This credit is because of the premade chat features, analytics, chat moderation tools, and bots. Though Sendbird is into VoIP calling, their web chat APIs lack UI customization options.
Features:
- Sendbird UIKit
- Typing & presence indicators
- Read & deliver receipts
- Chat moderation and channel management
- Push notifications
- Reactions
- User & channel mentions
- Unread message count
- Different analytics and tools
Locations served:
Sendbird serves businesses and enterprises worldwide, with a strong presence in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
Industries served:
Sendbird provides communication solutions to various industries, including e-commerce, gaming, social media, and on-demand services.
Pricing:
There are 3 pricing plans from Sendbird and a free trial plan named ‘Developer’:
Starter 5K MAU: $399/ month
Pro 5K MAU: $599/ month
Enterprise: Custom pricing based on features you opt for.
3. ApphiTect
The Best Self-Hosted Chat Service Provider
ApphiTect is the leading self-hosted in-app chat, voice, and video SDK provider for web or mobile apps. Their chat APIs have secured a remarkable place among developers and enterprises.
They are well-known among developers for providing remarkable SDK features and an easy documentation process.
Features:
- Chat and call metadata
- Push notifications
- Effortless UIKits
- Ultra-low latencies
- 99.999% uptime SLA
- Custom security
- Limitless customization
- Compatible with privacy regulation laws HIPAA, GDPR, and OWASP
- Analytics and Dashboard
Locations served:
ApphiTect has extended its service beyond boundaries and all over the world. The primary service areas are the UAE, India, and Vietnam.
Industries served:
ApphiTect provides its services to multiple industries like IT projects, telecommunications, healthcare, enterprises, finance and banking, etc.
Pricing:
ApphiTect provides self-hosted SDKs that come at a one-time license fee with complete ownership, 100% customization, a white-label solution, and on-premise hosting.
4. PubNub
Secure In-app Chat, Voice, and Video Solution
PubNub is everything that a customer looks for in gaining out-of-the-box messaging experiences. Their chat APIs have solved the biggest challenge of maintaining uptime SLA, and so, they have become a renowned provider for user retention and engagement.
Features:
- Pre-built chat components
- Different security standards and mechanisms
- Alerts and notifications
- In-app and group chats
- Collaboration tools
- Location tracking
- IoT device control
Locations served:
PubNub serves businesses and enterprises globally, and has a strong user base in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Industries served:
PubNub provides real-time communication solutions to various industries, including healthcare, finance, transportation, and logistics.
Pricing:
PubNub offers two pricing plans and a free plan of up to 200 MAUs.
Starter: $49 per month
Pro: Custom pricing for different use cases.
5. Stream (Formerly Getstream)
The Best Chat Provider with Streaming Features
Stream is a SaaS solution that is known to be a counterpart of Sendbird. It offers a comprehensive suite of Chat APIs, SDKs, UI, and UX kits. What differentiates Stream from the rest is the ‘news-feed‘ functionality that includes add-ons, comments, reactions, and many more. Stream also supports concurrent connections with minimal latency and SLA time.
Features:
- 1-to-1 direct and group chats
- Message translation
- Call recording
- Moderations and banning users
- Live Video Calling & audio conferencing
- Screen & file sharing
- Security standards
- GDPR and HIPAA compliances
Locations served:
Stream serves businesses and enterprises worldwide, with a strong presence in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Industries served:
Stream provides real-time communication solutions to various industries, including social media, e-learning, and healthcare.
Pricing:
Stream offers a 30-day free trial of its features. After that, you may have to choose any one of the below plans.
Startup: $499/month
Standard: $1,299/month
Premium: $2,299/month
Enterprise: Pay for the features you opt for.
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6. Agora
Leading Real-time Communication Platform
This developer-friendly chat API provider is known to deliver exceptional chat, voice, and video functionalities to a larger customer base. With over 250+ data centers, they hold a wide networking solution offering low latency connections.
Features:
- Message translation
- Read receipts
- Presence and typing indicators
- Notifications
- Emojis and GPS location tracking
- Exporting chat history
Locations served:
Agora serves businesses and enterprises worldwide, with a strong presence in the United States, Asia, and Europe.
Industries served:
Agora provides real-time communication solutions to various industries, including e-commerce, education, social media, and gaming.
Pricing:
Agora does not have any upfront costs. It lets you pay only for the services you opt for.
Free: Up to 1000 MAUs
Chat (Public Beta): Contact the sales team for pricing.
7. Twilio
Highly Scalable In-app Chat Solution Provider
When it comes to web chat API and messaging SDKs, Twilio is the industry leader holding a suite of feature sets and customizable UI kits.
Their chat APIs are designed with customers’ needs in mind and their standout is their programmable SMS, MMS, and FB messenger-like chats. Additionally, their APIs support multiple languages and platforms.
Also Read: Best Twilio Alternatives in 2023
Features:
- Alerts and notifications
- Reporting and analytical tools
- Collaboration tools
- Event streams
- Third-party integrations
- Programmable messaging and voice
Locations served:
Twilio serves businesses and enterprises worldwide, with a strong presence in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Industries served:
Twilio provides communication solutions to various industries, including healthcare, finance, education, and e-commerce.
Pricing:
Twilio’s pricing plan depends on the user base.
Usage: $0.05/ user/month
Storage: $0.25/ GB/month
Looking to Recreate your Existing Twilio Chat Platform?
8. Cometchat
Developer-friendly Communication SDK Provider
Cometchat is the leading developer-friendly in-app chat API provider. It is trusted by more than 50,000 developers worldwide. Their documentation allows developers to enhance hassle-free integration across any web or app.
Features:
- Presence and typing indicators
- Pre-built UI kits
- Simple and easy documentation
- Hassle-free integration
- Low latency
- Scalability and reliability
- 100% customization
- On-cloud/On-premise hosting
- End-to-end encryption
Locations served:
Cometchat’s base locations are the USA and India; apart from its mother country, it serves multiple countries such as Russia, Japan, China, etc.
Industries served:
Cometchat serves various types of industries, including telecommunication, banking, fitness and wellness apps, consultation apps, etc.
Pricing:
Cometchat has custom pricing plans; the basic plans are
Essentials: Starting at $109/month
Pro: Starting at $529/month
9. TalkJS
Best In-app Chat, Voice, and Video SDK Provider
TalkJS is the best in-app chat, voice, and video API provider for developers and enterprises. They offer robust security features, enriched communication features, effortless UIKit components, and a developer-friendly SDK for easy integration.
Features:
- Ironclad security
- Push notifications
- Typing and presence indicators
- Unlimited customization
- Whitelabel solution
- Multi-platform support
- Chat metadata
- Chat moderation
Locations served:
TalkJS finds its base location in the Netherlands, and from there they extends its services to the UK, USA, Russia, Ireland, etc.
Industries served:
TalkJS offers its services to industries such as healthcare, government projects, NGOs, telecommunications, media and entertainment, finance and banking, etc.
Pricing:
They have various pricing plans, such as
Basic: Starting at $279/month
Growth: Starting at $569/month
10. QuickBlox
The Best Free In-app Chat Solution Provider
QuickBlox is a real-time in-app chat, voice, and video API provider for Android, iOS, Web, and desktop apps. It is trusted globally among startups, developers, and enterprises as well.
As per the record, it has 30,000+ developers worldwide using QuickBlox for their enterprise and startup communication solutions.
Features:
- Real-time messaging
- Video conferencing
- Push notifications
- On-demand translation
- Read receipts
- File sharing
- Screen sharing
- End-to-end encryption
- Low latency
Location served:
QuickBlox is located in London and serves India, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, the USA, Ireland, etc.
Industries served:
QuickBlox serves various industries like IT projects, e-commerce, on-demand services, telecommunications, media and entertainment, etc.
Pricing:
Quickblox offers pricing in various ranges.
Basic: Free
Starter: Starting at $99/month
Growth: Starting at $249/month
HIPAA Cloud: Starting at $399/month
Final Words
Finally! We have come down to the end of the blog post. From analyzing the importance of in-app chats to the different chat API players, we think we gave you a fair insight into how to enhance communication on your customer-oriented business applications.
Interested in our in-app Chat APIs? Feel free to reach out to our experts to get complete support on integrating messaging into your business apps. Happy Developing!
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
We just saw about the percentile of customers preferring real time chat as a communication medium. In such a case, in-app chats are required for any online chat platform for boosting loyalty, productivity, and collaboration. Additionally, in-app chats are a great option for: 1. Optimizing user experience with real time chat 2. Product stickiness 3. Customer retention 4. Increased conversation with gratification
1. Group chats: Lets users to create groups and engage in a group chat for project discussions and team meetings. 2. Real-time message translation: Translate messages received to the user’s preferred languages. 3. Emojis: Allow users to send emojis and emoticons for maintaining the conversation going. 4. Ban user: This feature lets you ban any user from the group. 5. Unread message count: Display the number of messages that are not read by the user. 6. Read and delivery receipts: Let users know when their messages are read and delivered. 7. Typing indicators: Allow users to know when other users are typing a message. 8. Alerts and notifications: Alert users whenever a new chat is received or missed. 9. Security: All chats and communications to and fro the app is secured using AES, SSL, and TLS encryptions and other security standards.
In-app chat allows you to facilitate peer-to-peer communication functionalities within your web or mobile apps. It consists of various basic features like push notifications, one-to-one and group chat, read and delivery receipts, presence indicators, file sharing, location sharing, and so on.
Yes, chat APIs are completely safe as they facilitate end-to-end encryption and AES security standards. Most of the chat APIs are compatible with major privacy regulation laws such as HIPAA, GDPR, and OWASP. Even some providers add additional security features like IP whitelisting, token authentication, access controls, and so on.
The internal chat feature allows you to communicate within an app or website without the need for downloading additional software or plugins. For example: MirrorFly, ApphiTect, Aptha, etc. They provide in-app chat APIs that can be integrated with your web and mobile applications to facilitate chat functionalities and features.
In-app chat API refers to the Application Programming Interface that allows you to integrate in-app chat functionalities into your web or mobile applications. In-app chat APIs establish peer-to-peer communication in your app without the need for additional plugins.
Vigneshwar is a seasoned digital marketer and blogger, extremely passionate about driving search engine visibility for websites. He thoroughly enjoys exploring emerging technologies and is currently honing his expertise in Chat APIs and their associated tech stacks.