CometChat

What is CometChat?

CometChat provides the infrastructure for adding real-time communication to any application. Instead of building chat, voice, and video calling from scratch—a massive engineering undertaking—developers integrate CometChat's SDKs and APIs to add these features in days rather than months.

The platform handles the complex backend requirements: message delivery, presence detection, push notifications, media handling, and scaling to millions of users. Developers focus on their core product while CometChat manages the communication layer.

For product teams who need in-app messaging but can't justify months of development time, CometChat provides the infrastructure that makes real-time communication achievable.

Key Features

Text Messaging

Real-time text chat with support for one-on-one conversations, group chats, and broadcast channels. Features include message threading, reactions, read receipts, typing indicators, and message editing/deletion. Rich media support handles images, videos, files, and custom message types.

Voice & Video Calling

Integrate voice and video calls directly within your application. Support for one-on-one calls and group conferences with features like screen sharing, recording, and virtual backgrounds. WebRTC-based calling works across web and mobile platforms.

Pre-Built UI Kits

CometChat provides ready-to-use UI components for React, React Native, iOS, Android, Angular, Vue, and Flutter. These customizable components accelerate development—drop in a chat interface, style it to match your brand, and focus on unique features.

Moderation Tools

Built-in moderation handles the challenges of user-generated communication. Profanity filters, user blocking, message reporting, and admin controls protect community safety. AI-powered moderation can automatically flag problematic content.

Push Notifications

Keep users engaged with push notifications for new messages and calls. Integration with Firebase Cloud Messaging and Apple Push Notification service ensures reliable delivery across platforms.

Webhooks & Extensions

Webhooks notify your backend about chat events for custom processing. Extensions add functionality like translations, sentiment analysis, and data enrichment. Build custom workflows triggered by communication events.

Pricing

CometChat offers a free tier with 1,000 monthly active users—useful for development and small applications. The Startup plan at $149/month supports 10,000 MAU with priority support. Growth at $399/month scales to 50,000 MAU with advanced features. Enterprise provides custom pricing for higher volumes with dedicated infrastructure.

Voice and video calling incur additional usage-based charges. The pricing model scales with application growth.

Who Uses CometChat?

Marketplace Platforms

Marketplace platforms add buyer-seller messaging to facilitate transactions. Real-time communication builds trust and accelerates deal completion.

Dating Apps

Dating apps implement matching conversations and video dates. Communication is core to the product experience.

Healthcare Applications

Healthcare applications enable secure patient-provider communication with HIPAA compliance. Telehealth features connect patients and providers remotely.

EdTech Platforms

EdTech platforms build student-teacher messaging and virtual classrooms. Learning happens through interaction.

Gaming Companies

Gaming companies add in-game chat for community building. Social features increase engagement and retention.

Integrations

CometChat integrates with authentication providers, analytics platforms, and backend services. Connect with Firebase, Auth0, and custom authentication systems. Push data to analytics tools for engagement tracking. Webhooks enable integration with any backend system.

CometChat vs Alternatives

CometChat vs SendBird

SendBird is CometChat's primary competitor with similar feature sets and pricing models. SendBird offers slightly more mature enterprise features; CometChat provides competitive functionality with responsive support. Both serve the same use cases effectively.

CometChat vs Stream

Stream started with activity feeds and expanded to chat. Stream's feed functionality remains stronger; CometChat focuses purely on communication. Choose based on whether you need social feeds alongside messaging.

CometChat vs Twilio

Twilio provides communication APIs at a lower level of abstraction. More flexibility but more development work. CometChat's pre-built components accelerate shipping; Twilio suits teams wanting complete control.

Pros and Cons

What We Like

Comprehensive SDK coverage across platforms

Pre-built UI kits accelerate development

Combined chat, voice, and video in one platform

Strong moderation and safety features

Generous free tier for development

Responsive technical support

What Could Be Better

Costs scale with user growth—budget carefully

UI kits require customization for unique designs

Voice/video quality depends on user network conditions

Enterprise features require higher tier plans

Tips for Success

Start with UI kits: Don't build custom UI initially. UI kits accelerate launch; customize after validating product-market fit.

Plan for scale costs: Model your expected MAU growth and budget accordingly. Communication costs scale with success.

Implement moderation early: User-generated communication requires safety measures. Configure moderation before launching to users.

Test across platforms: Verify chat and calling work well on all platforms you support. Cross-platform consistency matters for user experience.

Use webhooks for analytics: Pipe chat events to your analytics system. Communication data reveals engagement patterns.

Getting Started

Sign up for CometChat's free tier and access the dashboard. Create an application and obtain your API credentials. The free tier supports development and testing without cost commitment.

Choose your platform SDK and follow the quickstart guide. CometChat provides sample applications demonstrating integration patterns. Start with the UI kit for fastest time to working chat.

Test thoroughly before launching to users. Verify message delivery, push notifications, and calling functionality. Then scale gradually while monitoring costs and user feedback.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does integration take?

Basic chat integration with UI kits can ship in 1-2 days. Custom implementations with specific requirements take 1-2 weeks. The documentation and sample apps accelerate the learning curve.

Is CometChat HIPAA compliant?

Yes, CometChat offers HIPAA-compliant configurations for healthcare applications. This requires enterprise plans with additional security measures and Business Associate Agreements.

Can I customize the UI completely?

UI kits are customizable but maintain certain structural patterns. For completely unique designs, use the underlying SDK directly and build custom interfaces—more work but complete control.

How does pricing work at scale?

Monthly Active Users (MAU) drive core pricing. Voice and video minutes incur usage charges. Contact sales for high-volume applications to negotiate custom pricing that fits your business model.

What platforms are supported?

CometChat supports web (React, Angular, Vue), mobile (iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter), and custom integrations via REST API. Most modern development stacks are covered.

How reliable is message delivery?

CometChat maintains high delivery reliability with message queuing and retry mechanisms. Messages persist even when recipients are offline, delivering when they reconnect.

Final Verdict

CometChat solves a hard problem well: adding real-time communication to applications without building infrastructure from scratch. The combination of chat, voice, and video in one platform simplifies integration compared to stitching together multiple services.

For development teams needing in-app messaging, CometChat offers a mature solution with comprehensive SDKs, helpful UI kits, and predictable pricing. The free tier allows thorough testing before committing resources to integration.

Rating: 4.4/5