Comparing chat SDKs
Looking for a Sendbird, Stream or CometChat alternative? Start with calling.
Most chat SDKs do messaging well. Where they differ is calling, pricing and how much of your stack they ask you to run. Here is what poolse does on each point, so you can hold it up against whatever else you are evaluating.
What to check in any chat and calling SDK
| Question | poolse |
|---|---|
| Is the price published? | Yes. Free, $59 and $249 a month, by monthly active users, on the pricing page. No sales call. |
| Is calling a separate product or bill? | No. Voice and video minutes are included in every plan, Free included. |
| Do calls ring a closed, locked phone? | Yes. VoIP push with CallKit on iOS and a full-screen call notification on Android, through @poolse/native. |
| Group calls and drop-in rooms? | Up to 16 people, voice or video. Phone-style calls that ring, and Meet-style rooms in the browser. |
| Ready-made UI? | React (@poolse/react-ui) and React Native (@poolse/react-native) components, themeable. |
| Headless option? | Hooks in @poolse/react and a typed TypeScript client in @poolse/sdk; a REST API for everything else. |
| Can I read the SDK source? | Yes. Source-available under the poolse SDK License, free to use and modify in apps built on poolse. |
| Who sends push notifications? | poolse does, with your own APNs key and Firebase service account. Chat, missed-call and read-sync pushes. |
| Webhooks? | Signed with HMAC-SHA256, retried six times over about 15 hours, replayable. |
| Whose user ids? | Yours. Users are keyed on your external_id, and your backend mints their tokens. |
| Encryption? | Message bodies encrypted at rest with a per-workspace key. Not end-to-end. |
| Where is data hosted? | Servers and database in Frankfurt, Germany; attachments in Cloudflare R2, or in your own bucket. |
| Can attachments live in my own bucket? | Yes, on every plan: any S3-compatible bucket, files never pass through poolse. |
| Self-hosting? | Not available. |
| Phone numbers, SIP, recording? | Not available. |
Where poolse fits best
- Apps where calling matters. WhatsApp-style calls between your users that ring with the app closed, without building PushKit, CallKit, the Android call service, a push server and a media server. See VoIP calling for React Native.
- React, Next.js, React Native and Expo teams. Drop-in components for both, sharing one provider and one set of hooks.
- Teams that want to know the bill. Three plans, priced by monthly active users, with call minutes included. See pricing.
Where to look elsewhere
- Calling phone numbers, SMS, SIP trunks or contact-centre features.
- Recording, transcription or broadcast-style live streams.
- A hard requirement for end-to-end encryption or self-hosting.
- Activity feeds, message search or built-in content moderation.
Moving over
Your backend creates poolse users from your own user ids and mints their tokens, and can create conversations on a user's behalf over the REST API. On the client, wrap the app in PoolseProvider and swap in ConversationView or the hooks. Webhooks can copy every new message to your backend from day one. The integration guide walks through it.
Comparison questions
Is poolse a Sendbird alternative?
For most in-app chat and calling use cases, yes: conversations, threads, reactions, attachments, read receipts, typing, presence, push notifications, webhooks, and voice and video calls that ring closed phones, with React and React Native UI. Pricing is published per monthly active user with calls included.
Is poolse a Stream (GetStream) Chat alternative?
If you need chat with ready-made React or React Native components, plus calling in the same SDK and the same bill, yes. poolse has no activity feeds or built-in content moderation; moderation runs in your backend from webhooks.
Is poolse a CometChat alternative?
Yes for chat plus voice and video calling in React and React Native apps, including ringing on locked phones through CallKit and the Android call screen.
Is poolse a Twilio Conversations or Agora alternative?
For app-to-app chat and calling, yes. poolse does not call phone numbers, connect to SIP, send SMS, record calls or run large live broadcasts, so for those keep a telephony or streaming provider.
Can I migrate from another chat provider?
Your backend creates poolse users from your own user ids, and can create conversations on a user’s behalf with a token it mints for them. The UI swaps for the poolse components or hooks. Messages are sent by the users themselves, so history cannot be back-dated into poolse; most teams keep the old history read-only or start fresh.
Is poolse free to try?
Yes. The Free plan has 1,000 monthly active users, unlimited messages, and 100 voice and 50 video call minutes a month, with no time limit and no card.
Ship chat and calling this week.
Free for your first 1,000 monthly active users, with call minutes to try it on real phones.