AI take on LiveChat
August 2026: LiveChat remains a focused, capable choice for revenue-minded web chat, though meaningful scale and automation push buyers into higher per-seat plans and add-ons.
Customer Support comparison · 2026
LiveChat vs Sendbird
Compare LiveChat and Sendbird as Customer Support tools on fit, pricing, and the capabilities that actually overlap in 2026. Pick LiveChat for teams answering pre-purchase product questions on an ecommerce storefront before the visitor abandons the cart and capturing and qualifying B2B leads from pricing and demo pages using URL-based routing. Pick Sendbird for teams embedding 1-to-1 buyer-and-seller chat inside a marketplace or e-commerce app and running courier, driver, and customer messaging for delivery and rideshare apps.
Updated Aug 22, 2026
Real-time website chat with Copilot AI assistance and sales-linked reporting
Starts at $25/month·Customer Support
AI customer experience platform with chat, messaging, and calls APIs for in-app conversations
Starts at $0/month·Customer Support
At a glance
LiveChatSendbird
CategoryCustomer SupportCustomer Support
PricingStarts at $25/monthStarts at $0/month
Free tierYesYes
PlatformsWebWeb
Suitable forTeams answering pre-purchase product questions on an ecommerce storefront before the visitor abandons the cart and capturing and qualifying B2B leads from pricing and demo pages using URL-based routingTeams embedding 1-to-1 buyer-and-seller chat inside a marketplace or e-commerce app and running courier, driver, and customer messaging for delivery and rideshare apps
CompanyText, Inc.Sendbird, Inc.
Founded20232013
How they differ
Shared Customer Support rubric, filled from each listing. Not a score.
Channels
LiveChatSendbird
Shared inboxYesNot published
Live chat widgetYesYes
EmailYesNot published
Phone / voiceNot publishedYes
Social channelsYesNot published
WhatsApp / SMSNot publishedNot published
Self-serve
LiveChatSendbird
Knowledge baseLimitedNot published
In-app help centerNot publishedNot published
AI answer agentYesYes
Bot flowsLimitedNot published
Community forumNot publishedLimited
Customer portalNot publishedNot published
Agent tools
LiveChatSendbird
TicketingNot publishedLimited
Macros / saved repliesLimitedNot published
Collision detectionNot publishedNot published
Internal notesNot publishedNot published
AI draft repliesYesNot published
Side conversationsNot publishedLimited
Ops
LiveChatSendbird
SLA policiesNot publishedYes
Routing rulesYesNot published
CSAT / surveysYesNot published
ReportingYesNot published
Multi-brandNot publishedNot published
Access
LiveChatSendbird
Public APIYesYes
Official SDKNot publishedYes
Self-serve signupYesNot published
Free trialYesNot published
Team workspaceYesNot published
SSO / SAMLNot publishedNot published
Mobile appsYesNot published
Browser extensionNot publishedNot published
Self-host / on-premNot publishedLimited
Commercial
LiveChatSendbird
Commercial licenseYesNot published
Usage-based pricingNoNot published
Invoice / PONot publishedNot published
SOC 2Not publishedLimited
GDPR / DPANot publishedNot published
Audit logNot publishedNot published
Role-based accessNot publishedNot published
Features
These listings describe different capabilities. What each one ships:
Only LiveChat
- Customizable website chat widget with themes, custom logo, CSS, and multiple languages
- Agent apps for web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android
- Copilot AI Assistant trained on LiveChat and Text product knowledge
- AI reply suggestions from imported knowledge sources
- AI chat summary, tag suggestions, and text enhancement (rephrase, summarize, grammar, expand)
- Insights that surface the most frequent chat topics
- Sentiment analysis (marked early access)
- Traffic tracking with per-plan visitor limits of 100, 400, 1000, or custom
Only Sendbird
- Private 1-to-1 chat and group channels for up to 100 members (300 in dedicated instances)
- Open channels with dynamic partitioning for millions of participants
- Supergroup channels for thousands of participants in a private group
- UIKit prebuilt UI components for in-app messaging
- Typing indicators, delivery receipts, read receipts, and presence
- Reactions, mentions, unread message counts, and pinned messages
- Push notifications with do-not-disturb and a push notifications tester
- File, image, audio, and video sharing with auto-thumbnail generation
Use cases
These listings describe different use cases. What each one ships:
Only LiveChat
- Answering pre-purchase product questions on an ecommerce storefront before the visitor abandons the cart
- Capturing and qualifying B2B leads from pricing and demo pages using URL-based routing
- Running proactive campaigns and pre-set greeting messages toward high-intent visitors
- Tying chat conversations to orders and revenue through the LiveChat sales tracker and achieved goals reports
- Consolidating Facebook Messenger, Apple
Only Sendbird
- Embedding 1-to-1 buyer-and-seller chat inside a marketplace or e-commerce app
- Running courier, driver, and customer messaging for delivery and rideshare apps
- Adding in-app support conversations to a banking or fintech product with HIPAA and SOC posture requirements
- Powering patient-to-clinician messaging in healthcare apps under a BAA
- Launching community open channels and Supergroup chats for live events or social products
- Moderating user-generated chat content with rules, tickets, and Hive image detection
- Sending in-app announcements and structured promotional messages to large user segments
- Deploying AI agents that handle customer service turns inside an existing chat surface
Plans
LiveChat
Starter $25/mo or $228/yr
Text Intelligence · Track up to 100 visitors · Recurring campaign · 60-day chat history · Basic widget customization · 24/7/365 Support
Team $59/mo or $588/yr
Everything in Starter, plus · Text Intelligence · Track up to 400 visitors · Unlimited campaigns · Unlimited chat history · Full widget customization · Basic reporting · Unlimited users
Business $89/mo or $948/yr
Everything in Team, plus · Text Intelligence · Track up to 1000 visitors · Work scheduler · Staffing prediction · On-demand reporting · Advanced reporting · Agent performance · SMS and Apple Messages for Business
Enterprise Custom/mo or Custom/yr
Everything in Business, plus · Text Intelligence · Customize tracking limit · Support from Expert · Dedicated onboarding · White label chat widget · Software engineer support · Single Sign-on (SSO) · HIPAA Compliance · Alternative payment terms · Professional services · Service level agreements (SLAs)
Sendbird
Free trial $0/mo or $0/yr
Experiment with chat · No overages allowed · All Pro features · No credit card required · Community support · Up to 1,000 MAUs · Up to 20 peak concurrent connections
Starter 5K $399/mo or $4188/yr
Get started with chat · Messaging essentials · Basic moderation · Ticketed support · Overages may apply · Platform offer: Business messaging with 30K free in-app messages ($122/month value included for free)
Pro 5K $599/mo or $5988/yr
Grow your business · All Starter features · Translation · Data export · Image moderation · Supergroup channel · Overages may apply · Platform offer: Business messaging with 30K free in-app messages ($122/month value included for free)
LiveChat strengths
- Customizable website chat widget with themes, custom logo, CSS, and multiple languages
- Agent apps for web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android
- Copilot AI Assistant trained on LiveChat and Text product knowledge
- AI reply suggestions from imported knowledge sources
- AI chat summary, tag suggestions, and text enhancement (rephrase, summarize, grammar, expand)
- Insights that surface the most frequent chat topics
- Sentiment analysis (marked early access)
- Traffic tracking with per-plan visitor limits of 100, 400, 1000, or custom
Watch-outs
- LiveChat plan limits come from the published pricing table.
- LiveChat packaging is recorded from the vendor pages available at analysis time.
Sendbird strengths
- Sendbird publishes concrete Chat pricing by MAU tier instead of quote-only pricing for small and mid volumes
- Sendbird's free trial includes all Pro features with no credit card and no overages allowed
- Sendbird UIKit reduces build time for common chat UI, with the vendor FAQ citing under 15 minutes to add chat
- Sendbird ships a moderation console with rule engine, tickets, logs, and Hive-powered image moderation rather than leaving moderation to the customer
- Sendbird lets Enterprise customers choose AWS regions across nine geographies and run private dedicated servers
- Sendbird covers SOC, ISO 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA with BAA for regulated buyers
- Sendbird bundles Business Messaging with 30K free in-app messages on paid Chat plans
Watch-outs
- Sendbird retains messages for only six months unless extended message retention is purchased on the Enterprise plan
- Sendbird caps Peak Concurrent Connections at 5% of the MAU limit on Starter and Pro, counts devices rather than users, and aggregates peak concurrent connections across every app in an organization
- Sendbird charges overage fees once an account passes its MAU tier, so costs can move with traffic spikes
- Data export, translation, image moderation, and Supergroup channels are withheld from the Sendbird Starter plan
- Standard Sendbird group channels are limited to 100 members, or 300 on dedicated instances, pushing larger rooms to Supergroup or open channels
- Vendor contradiction: the Sendbird pricing table lists the entry tier as a "Free trial" while the Sendbird FAQ states the Developer plan "is free and remains active as long as you log into the Sendbird dashboard once a year" — both statements appear on the same page
- Vendor contradiction: the Sendbird pricing cards show Starter at $399/month and Pro at $599/month billed monthly, while the FAQ price table for the same 5K MAU tiers is labelled as the June 2021 pricing list
- Sendbird's cancellation and upgrade guidance cites Terms of Service language that payments already made are non-refundable, and the FAQ references section 11 in one place and section 10 in another
LiveChat vs Sendbird verdict
Who each product is for, then labeled AI takes. Not a generic winner.
Bottom line
Pick LiveChat for teams answering pre-purchase product questions on an ecommerce storefront before the visitor abandons the cart and capturing and qualifying B2B leads from pricing and demo pages using URL-based routing. Pick Sendbird for teams embedding 1-to-1 buyer-and-seller chat inside a marketplace or e-commerce app and running courier, driver, and customer messaging for delivery and rideshare apps.
Who LiveChat is for
Teams answering pre-purchase product questions on an ecommerce storefront before the visitor abandons the cart and capturing and qualifying B2B leads from pricing and demo pages using URL-based routing
Real-time website chat with Copilot AI assistance and sales-linked reporting
Who Sendbird is for
Teams embedding 1-to-1 buyer-and-seller chat inside a marketplace or e-commerce app and running courier, driver, and customer messaging for delivery and rideshare apps
AI customer experience platform with chat, messaging, and calls APIs for in-app conversations
AI take on Sendbird
As of August 2026, Sendbird remains a capable chat platform with unusually deep moderation, but its pricing page needs tighter operational clarity.
LiveChat vs Sendbird FAQ
Common questions when choosing between LiveChat and Sendbird.
Is LiveChat or Sendbird the better Customer Support tool?
Pick LiveChat for teams answering pre-purchase product questions on an ecommerce storefront before the visitor abandons the cart and capturing and qualifying B2B leads from pricing and demo pages using URL-based routing. Pick Sendbird for teams embedding 1-to-1 buyer-and-seller chat inside a marketplace or e-commerce app and running courier, driver, and customer messaging for delivery and rideshare apps.
Which is cheaper, LiveChat or Sendbird?
LiveChat starts at $25/month. Sendbird starts at $0/month. Confirm current pricing on each vendor site.
Who should choose LiveChat?
Teams answering pre-purchase product questions on an ecommerce storefront before the visitor abandons the cart and capturing and qualifying B2B leads from pricing and demo pages using URL-based routing
Who should choose Sendbird?
Teams embedding 1-to-1 buyer-and-seller chat inside a marketplace or e-commerce app and running courier, driver, and customer messaging for delivery and rideshare apps
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