| Features | ConnectyCube | Sendbird | Applozic | Layer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol | XMPP | WebSocket | MQTT | Push Protocol |
| Platforms | iOS(Objective-C and Swift), Android(Java and Kotlin), Web(JS), ReactNative, NativeScript, Cordova | iOS, Android, JS, .Net, Unity | iOS, Android, Xamarin, ReactNative, NativeScript, Ionic/Phonegap/Cordova | iOS, Android, Web |
| Videocalling | -WebRTC peer-to-peer -Server-side calls via SFU server |
No | No | No |
| Push notifications | -Multiple APNS certificates support -GCM/FCM |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Moderation Tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Chatbots | Yes | Custom plan only | Yes | Yes |
| Video Recording | -Client-side recording -Server-side recording (available with SFU solution) |
No | No | No |
| Screen sharing | Yes | No | No | No |
| Contact List | Yes | Yes | Yes | Followers |
| Blacklist | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Attachments | Any attachment types are allowed | Yes | Yes | Any attachment types are allowed |
| Data export | -Via Dashboard as CSV -Retrieve via API |
Premium feature available for Custom plan customers only | -Export as excel -Webhook for real time data transfer |
Available only for Enterprise customers in JSON format |
| Several chat admins in a group | Group owner and admin roles | No | Group admin and moderator roles | No |
| Pinned messages | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Self- destructing messages | Yes | No | No | No |
| Chat between users from multiple apps | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Free version | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Almost every successful website or app has chat feature integrated. It has become a standard for healthcare, business, finance and marketplace apps and websites as well as MMORPG games to have a chat feature. Chat functionality is also widely used by dating websites and social networks and gains more popularity day by day.
Wondering which platform to use for integrating chat functionality in your app?
Let’s compare the features provided by the following platforms for you to take an informed decision: ConnectyCube, Sendbird, Applozic and Layer.
Short overview
Here is a short overview of features which might be interesting to you when considering available options:
Further we will compare the product features by the following key areas:
- User authentication
- Instant messaging
- Videocalling
- Push notifications
- Moderation tools
- Chatbots
- GDPR compliance
User Authentication
ConnectyCube platform has the following user authentication options:
- Email and password
- Login and password
- Social providers (Facebook, Twitter)
- Firebase phone authentication
- External authentication via Custom Identity Provider (your own backend)
Sendbird provides user authentication via userID and AccessToken generated when the user is signed up.
Applozic uses authentication via userID (unique identifier like email, phone number or uuid from your own database).
Layer does not provide user authentication and you need to maintain a separate server for user authentication.
Instant Messaging
ConnectyCube platform is fully customizable and offers a wide range of features for your app implementation. You can choose those you need and combine them in any set you require.
Sendbird, Applozic and Layer provide some features for your choice as well.
Let’s compare the ones available:
| Features | ConnectyCube | Sendbird | Applozic | Layer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact list | Yes | Yes | Yes | User can follow/unfollow other users |
| Privacy list (blacklist) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom parameters (for messages) | Yes | Yes | There are some customisation options | Custom message types |
| Custom parameters (for chats) | Yes | Yes | There are some customisation options | No |
| Sent/ delivered/ read statuses | Yes | Only read receipts for group channels only | Sent/ delivered/ received statuses | Yes |
| Typing status | Yes | For group channels only | Yes | Yes |
| Unread messages count | Yes | For group channels only | Yes | Yes |
| Self- destructing messages | Yes | No | No | No |
| Attachments | Any attachment types are allowed | Yes | Yes | Any attachment types are allowed |
| Several chat admins in a group | Group owner and admin roles | No | Group admin and moderator roles | No |
| Pinned messages | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Chat between users from multiple apps | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Online/offline user statuses | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Videocalling
ConnectyCube supports audio/video calls peer-to-peer and conference calls via SFU server (the last one is a paid additional service). On Free tier you can try our 1-1 calls. Pro account owners can use group calls for up to 4 users.
Sendbird and Layer companies do not support audio/video calls.
Applozic has discontinued support of audio/video calls recently and you need to use third-party solutions to add this functionality.
Push Notifications
ConnectyCube supports both APNS (universal/VoIP) and FCM push notifications. It has also the following push notification options:
- Offline push notifications (push sent to a user if the message is sent to him and he is offline).
- Scheduled push notification events (push notifications you can set in your app to be triggered in case of a certain event (birthday, important update, etc.). You can configure these push notifications to be sent according to your needs (to certain platform users, by user tags, at a scheduled date, for a certain period, etc.).
- Broadcast push notifications (push notifications sent via Dashboard to all application users/user with certain tags/all users except those with a certain tag).
It is possible to disable push notifications for particular dialogs if you need.
In Dashboard you can also select a template for offline push notifications (select one of the ready templates or set a custom one) as well as enable mutable content option and disable or select a sound for iOS push notifications.
You can use also silent push notifications if you need. For that purpose you can find content-available checkbox in Dashboard.
Sendbird supports offline push notifications. It allows also disabling push notifications for particular dialogs and snooze them for a certain period (do not disturb option). It is possible to select one of the two templates available for offline pushes.
Applozic supports offline push notifications and allows the following options:
- Enable notification with sound.
- Enable notification without sound.
- Disable notification.
Layer delivers silent push notifications by default. However, you can set push notifications to be shown to users as well. It is also possible to send user-specific push notifications.
Moderation Tools
ConnectyCube Moderation Tool (Trust & Safety tool) provides the following chat moderation options:
- Masking offensive words (it is possible to upload a ready bad words dictionary you have or make the settings manually).
- User ban in case of frequent abuse (you can ban a user for a certain period or forever).
- Masking emails or phone numbers (if you have a real estate chat, for example, and need to prevent users from switching to other means of communication).
- As an option you can assign group chat admins who will be able to delete abusive messages from chat.
- Admin messages (messages sent by admins via API)
Sendbird offers the following moderation options:
- User ban/muting.
- Admin announcement messages (messages sent by admins via API).
- Freeze a chat channel.
- Profanity filters (masking offensive words).
- Spam flood protection (limiting a number of messages a user can send in the channel per second).
Applozic provides message profanity filter (masking offensive words). You can also use group admins (has full access to the group) and moderators (can add/remove users and update group info) to manage groups.
Layer does not provide moderation tools.
Chatbots
ConnectyCube provides JavaScript SDK you can use to control chatbots behavior and use them in your app. Chatbots will be almost like any other user in your app. They can have profile photos, names, they can send messages and upload files, and they can be added to and removed from group chats. You can check documentation for more details.
Sendbird allows using chatbots to custom plan customers only.
Applozic allows setting bot role to users in Dashboard, but we could not find any implementation tips.
Layer also has Bot identity type, but does not provide any documentation for their implementation.
GDPR Compliance
ConnectyCube has implemented a set of features to ensure own GDPR compliance and help its customers to comply as well. Those include data export (via dashboard and API), account deletion, restricting data processing, profile editing, age check, consent box for receiving newsletters and marketing emails, collected data anonymisation, etc. You can check the detailed information here.
Sendbird provides data transfer possibility to custom plan customers only. They have taken some further measures and redesign which are not disclosed.
Applozic provides only information about data export option available on the platform. Besides this feature, the only information available is that if you are EU citizen, you can email them to exercise your rights. Also they have a Data Processing Agreement available for download.
Layer indicates on its website only that they comply with GDPR requirements, but does not provide any particulars.
We hope that the above information will help you to take an informed decision and choose the platform which suits you best.
If you still have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
We will be glad to assist you.
