Sendbird pricing
Sendbird pricing, read plainly
What Sendbird publishes, what it leaves out, and what moving from the free plan to the first paid plan costs. Figures come from Sendbird's own pricing page.
Figures are from sendbird.com/pricing/chat, checked 2026-11-03. Sendbird changes plans and prices, so confirm there before you decide. Yearly totals are our arithmetic: the monthly price times 12.
// 01
The plans
| Plan | Price | MAU included | Peak concurrent connections | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer (free) | $0 | 1,000 | 20 | Not allowed |
| Starter | $399/mo, or $349/mo billed annually | 5,000 | 5% of MAU (250 at 5,000 MAU) | Charged past the MAU limit; the rate is not shown |
| Pro | $599/mo, or $499/mo billed annually | 5,000 | 5% of MAU (250 at 5,000 MAU) | Charged past the MAU limit; the rate is not shown |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom | Not stated | Not stated |
The page calls the free plan "Free trial" in its table and "Developer plan" in its FAQ, where it says the plan stays active as long as you log in to the dashboard once a year.
Messages per month are unlimited on every plan. A user counts toward MAU when they connect through the client SDK within 30 days, and concurrent connections count devices, not users: one person on two devices is two connections.
// 02
The free-to-paid cliff
There is no step in between. Past 1,000 MAU, or 20 devices online at once, you go from $0 to Starter at $399/mo. That is $4,788 a year on monthly billing or $4,188 billed annually. Pro is $7,188 or $5,988.
The free plan allows no overages, and the page does not say what happens when you hit the limit. Test it before launch day, not on it.
Starter's connection cap is 5% of MAU, so 5,000 MAU allows about 250 devices online at once. A chat that is busy all at once, such as a live event or a game launch, can reach that before it reaches the MAU limit.
// 03
What the page does not tell you
- The overage rate. The FAQ says you pay an overage fee after the MAU limit, and the page gives no number. Get it in writing.
- An uptime SLA. The page lists no percentage, only an API status page and guaranteed response times for support.
- Whether data export is included. The Pro plan card lists it, but the FAQ says it is an Enterprise add-on not available on Starter and Pro. The page contradicts itself, so ask which is true.
- Long retention. Messages are kept for six months, and extended retention is an Enterprise option.
- Which features sit on which plan. According to the plan card, Pro adds translation, data export, image moderation and supergroup channels on top of Starter.
// 04
Where GravEx Chat fits
GravEx Chat has no paid plan, so the comparison is short.
| Monthly active users | Sendbird, at its published prices | GravEx Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 | $0 | $0 |
| 1,001 to 5,000 | From $399/mo ($349/mo billed annually) | $0 |
| Over 5,000 | Starter or Pro plus an overage fee; the rate is not published | $0 |
Pricing sets no cap, but each app has safety limits and the engine has finite capacity. If you plan very large live rooms, read the benchmarks first and talk to us.
// 05
What the savings cost you
- No UI kit. Someone writes the chat screen, or your AI tool does.
- The official SDK is JavaScript and TypeScript. Native apps use the REST and WebSocket protocol directly.
- A 99.5% monthly target with no credits, one disk snapshot a day (so up to 24 hours of data can be lost in the worst case) and a single region, Seoul.
- A free service can change. Any paid plan or price change is announced at least 90 days ahead and a shutdown at least 180 days ahead, with export available the whole time.
// FAQ
Questions
- Is Sendbird free?
- Its Developer plan is free up to 1,000 MAU and 20 peak concurrent connections, with no overages. The first paid plan is Starter at $399 a month, or $349 a month billed annually.
- How much does Sendbird cost for 5,000 users?
- Starter and Pro both include 5,000 MAU: Starter is $399/mo or $349/mo billed annually, Pro is $599/mo or $499/mo. Past 5,000 an overage fee applies, and the rate is not on the pricing page.
- Is there a cheaper alternative?
- GravEx Chat is free with no MAU cap through pricing, as a headless API with the trade-offs listed on this page. Other vendors' free tiers and first paid plans are on the comparison page, with the date checked.
- Can I move from Sendbird to GravEx Chat?
- For web clients, yes. The Sendbird alternative page maps channels, users and webhooks to their GravEx Chat equivalents. There is no history importer and no UI kit.
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