10 Best Customizable Chat Software For Enterprises Of All Sizes!
Need a dedicated platform for hosting your workplace or enterprise-work conversations? Guess, you have come to the right spot, as when we are die-hard in offering the best self-hosted solutions!
Effective communication is the key to success for any enterprise in this tech-savvy and fast-paced digital era. When businesses are relying on basic messages for their workplace productivity, it is time to enhance the communication mode by switching to more options.
Because a customizable in-app chat platform can offer a range of features from single and group chats to audio and video calls to other personalized benefits that help enterprises streamline internal collaboration and productivity. But, there are plenty in the market that make it challenging to choose the right one.
Hence, to help simplify the process, we have curated the list of the top 10 customizable communication software that has been adorned by many enterprises, which we will see in the blog post below. So, let us not wait any longer and head straight to the:
Table of Contents
What is Custom In-App Messaging Software?
Chat software also known as an instant messaging application or a chat application is an app that helps users to communicate with each other in real time in web chat rooms. Also, a chat app can be used either on a web browser or a smartphone and helps users to send instant messages, audio, or voice calls(VoIP Phone) to anyone around the world, just like they would do in person.
And these days, businesses or organizations are using customizable chat SDKs to quickly build a personalized self-hosted chat solution so that they can include features they need, take full control of the app data, and host apps on their own premises.
Examples of some chat applications are FB, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Slack.
Examples of Tailored Messaging Applications
We saw how essential chat software has become in today’s era for everyone around, from businesses small to large enterprises. It is because of the plenitude of benefits that it offers and the verticals it caters to those benefits across. Therefore, below are some of the most common use cases of a chat application:
1. Healthcare: A messaging solution can help connect doctors, caregivers, medical staff, and patients virtually to leverage instant patient-care anywhere and anytime. From appointment scheduling to online consultations to sharing medical reports and prescriptions, patients can eliminate no-shows with the help of chat apps.
2. Education: Usually an online video chat platform can make learning interactive and engaging as it seamlessly connects teachers and students through the app’s different communication capabilities like text, voice, and video. Further, you may add seminars, webinars, conferences without any glitches.
3. Insurance: It is possible to simplify the claim process, settlement details, paying premium and coverage, downloading relevant documents with the help of a chat app as many insurance companies have made use of in-app communication strategies in their platform. Indeed, many chat solutions support third-party integrations to simplify claim processing.
4. Recruitment: Messaging apps are proven to be a helping hand in the recruitment sector by creating a more personalized experience for candidates. Further, candidates can seamlessly connect with HRs, and receive updates on their interview schedules, and HRs can book schedules for interviews and collect feedback.
5. Social/Dating: Chat applications in the dating sector can enhance user communication and engagement. As it helps users to find the perfect match, and connect with them to learn their yes-no’s, preferences, and interests with the help of instant messaging, voice, and video calls.
Thus, we saw how an instant messaging solution for enterprises can benefit if they render their services in these categories. With this information on hand, our next heading is why should a business need a chat app.
Also Read: The Best 10 Dating App Features In 2023 | Best Dating APIs in 2023
Why do you need customizable messaging software?
Well, there are several benefits of using business chat software or an enterprise chat solution, starting with:
1. Improved Collaboration: A chat service helps team members to communicate with each other effectively and supports utmost collaboration through options like file sharing, document sharing, and others. Further, a chat app records conversations and users can search their history for any inputs if required.
2. Plenty of Features: Right from 1-to-1 and group chats to video calling and audio messaging capabilities to push notifications and more, an in-app chat service offers features that are adored by many. Further, upon integrating a customizable chat solution, you can tailor features as you need.
3. Cost-effective Method: Using a custom chat platform alleviates the usage of phone calls, expensive hardware units, and travel expenses that was earlier the traditional approach for communicating with others.
4. Widespread Access: These days chat apps have proved to be a helping hand for remote work as teams who are spread across geographies can access chat software from anywhere and at any time with just an internet connection.
5. Dedicated Scalability: These days, real-time chat APIs come with a twin benefit of offering security and scalability when the user base grows. Along with these, they also ensure to provide ultra-low latencies at 99.999% SLA downtime, just like how MirrorFly’s scalable chat SDK offers for Android, iOS, and Web.
The above-mentioned points alone aren’t the benefits of using a secure instant messaging solution because there are plenty. And if you are interested in building one for your business, we would suggest you go ahead with chat APIs or SDKs rather than building chat software from scratch.
Because a chat SDK comes to you as a secure, scalable, and feature-rich option to build in-app chats in minutes. So, our next topic is, how a chat platform helps enterprises.
How does customizable chat software benefit enterprises?
So far, we have seen how a chat app is beneficial. In this section, we will see how chat software has become the most popular tool for enterprises who are looking to streamline their internal communication.
1. Improved Productivity:
A chat application can help teams to communicate with each other in real time by offering a platform for discussions and document sharing than in-person talks. Directly leading to increased efficiency and productivity.
2. Better Customer Service:
By instant messaging, audio, and video calling capabilities, enterprises can provide dedicated customer service. They can quickly resolve customer issues thus gaining loyalty and satisfaction. Plus, businesses can collect feedback via chat apps to improve their product or service.
3. Limitless Customizations:
These days, most of the chat apps offer limitless customizations like themes and UI kits, and some of the customizable chat server even allow businesses to take complete control of their call and chat features.
Thus, by implementing chat software, businesses can benefit a lot in their team’s communication and collaboration aspects thereby increasing productivity and service.
10 Top Customizable Messaging Solution Of 2024
Here is a list of the10 best customizable chat software for enterprises are MirrorFly, Apphitect, NextCloud, Mattermost, Chanty, Jitsi, Matrix.org, Zulip, Letschat, Wire and more. Each platform has its own unique set of features, pricing, and capabilities.
Let’s look at some of these listed platforms, check out their features and other details.
1. MirrorFly:
MirrorFly is one of the leading in-app communication providers of saas and self-hosted solutions that help developers to build highly interactive communication apps across the web and mobile for all major industries like healthcare, transportation, telecom, social/dating, gaming, fitness, fintech & more.
From offering over 150+ call and chat features like 1-to-1 and group chats, push notifications, group video calls, presence indicators and more to utmost scalability and low latency levels, our in-app communication APIs are the best in the market.
And when it comes to user privacy, we offer enterprise-grade security with strong E2E encryption protocols like AES, TLS, and SSL, and comply perfectly well with industry-regulatory standards. Above this, our self-hosted solution lets businesses build 100% customizable chat infrastructure or an on-premise chat solution for a one-time license cost. You can even hire a dedicated team of developers for integration and support.
Features:
- Real-time chats, voice, and video
- Customizable chats
- Group chats
- Multimedia sharing
- On-prem/cloud hosting
- Multi-platform chat
- Hire tech engineers
- GDPR, HIPAA compliant
Platforms:
Android, Mac, iOS, Windows, Linux
Location:
India, USA, Singapore, UAE.
Pricing:
SaaS: Monthly pricing
SaaP: Custom pricing/one-time license fee
2. Apphitect
If there is a provider in the market that offers complete customizations on in-app communication features, then it has to be Apphitect. It is one of the secure providers of video, voice, and chat SDKs that offer 100% customizations on all features to build Android, iOS, and Web apps. Further, their platform offers great scalability, 99.999% uptime SLA, high security, and latencies less than 100ms for a one-time license fee.
Plus, Apphitect’s white-label messaging SDK helps businesses to brand their chat apps using their logos, fonts, themes, and color to reflect their identity on all pages. And offer dedicated integration support to businesses if required.
Features:
- Instant messaging
- 100% customization
- White Label solution
- On-prem deployment
- Detailed analytics
- E2E encryption
Platforms:
iOS, Android, Web
Location:
UAE.
Pricing:
One-time license cost/Self-hosted solution
3. NextCloud
It is one of the best self-hosted collaboration tools that is built to protect user data through sturdy security protocols and scalability factors. Its by-products Nextcloud Files, Nextcloud at Home, Nextcloud at Enterprise, Nextcloud Talk, and similar are the industry’s best. Further, the firm ensures control of data to businesses using different authentication mechanisms like SAML, Kerberos, and LDAP.
Above this, it follows the concept of no-code or simply put less code development, and its sample codes are available on GitHub for developers.
Features:
- Private cloud storage
- Complete customization
- Third-party integration
- File sharing
- Calendar integration
- Video calls
Platforms:
Android, Mac, iOS, Windows, Linux, Ubuntu
Location:
Germany.
Pricing:
Basic: €36/user/year
Standard: €65/user/year
Premium: €95.50/user/year
4. Mattermost
One of the best open-source chat software that is available in the market is Mattermost, which is brought to businesses as the “Highly Trustable Enterprise Messaging Application“. To the max, what it goes by cannot be denied as being an exceptional self-hosted and customizable open-source platform, it offers rich features, and great security, and gives the flexibility to be deployed on private cloud servers.
This chat platform is available on GitHub and offers an exclusive suite of documentation to developers for docker installations. Plus, the platform supports migration from other providers to their services
Features:
- Group messaging
- Voice and video calls
- Workflow automation
- File sharing
Platforms:
Windows, mac, iOS, Linux, Android
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free and enterprise plan starting from $10/user/month
5. Chanty
Chanty is more than a collaboration tool. From offering self-hosted platforms to exclusive customizations to an AI-powered team chat, Chanty allows getting more things done together. Their interface is a very clean SaaS app that consists of features like private messages, channels, search options, screen sharing, audio and video calling, and a timeline.
Additionally, their video calling SDKs are a hit in the market that is used to create conference calls and webinars that enterprises of all sizes would need.
Features:
- Team chat software
- Task management
- Voice and video calls
- File sharing
- Third-party integrations
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Location:
All parts of the world.
Pricing:
Free plan available; business plan at $3/user/month.
6. Jitsi
A unique benefit of Jitsi is the existence of Jitsi Desktop for calls, chats, conferencing, file transfer, and other features, which do not exist in other peers. Being a 100% free and open-source self-hosted chat platform, Jitsi offers customizations and support to multiple platforms for user interactions. Their live chat has two projects in the name Jitsi Video Bridge and Jitsi Meet that are compatible with communication protocols like WebRTC for developing scalable and secure video conferences.
Further, it makes call recording, live streaming, and encoding/decoding of videos possible.
Features:
- Real-time chats
- Video conferencing
- Chat rooms
- White labeling
- Live streaming
- Video recording
Platforms:
Web, Android, iOS
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free
7. Matrix.org
This self-hosted chat platform is unique in its nature, because it acts as a decentralized conversation medium that helps to replicate the messages sent to the servers from all active participants. With these, their encryption protocols are quite strong as they make use of cryptographic algorithms like Olm and Megolm for building chat rooms, chatbots, and direct chats. Thanks to their RESTful APIs that make it possible!
Though there are several pros to using this chat software, one prime drawback is that this platform is not available in the cloud.
There you go with the seven best customizable chat software in the market to meet your business needs. Time’s off!
Features:
- Instant messaging
- Group chats
- Customizations
- Self-hosted solution
- Third-party integrations
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
UK.
Pricing:
Free
8. Zulip
Zulip is self-hosted and 100% open-source software built by a larger number of developers than any other chat software.
Its uniqueness in features is the key to its success. Through this, you can organise your chats on streams and never miss important things.
Streams are nothing but channels, but in Zulip, whenever you subscribe to a stream, you can focus on the subheadings that are most relevant while avoiding the irrelevant ones.
Zulip is available on all platforms. Let it be Android or iPhone, Windows or Mac; even on Linux, it’s available to download.
Features:
- Customizable chats
- Threads
- File sharing
- Integration support
- E2E encryption
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free and paid plan starts from $6.25/user/month
9. Letschat
This is a completely free, self-hosted platform suitable for small and intimate teams. Let’s Chat made its presence known back in 2012 and is now a backbone for running and organizing small teams with out-of-the-box features.
Its programming languages are backed by Node.js and MongoDB and are available on Android, iOS, and the web.
Unlike other providers, Let’s Chat cannot be used by larger teams or organisations due to its limited number of features. But it can be a diamond in the rough in search of gold for organizing small teams at no cost.
Features:
- Team chats
- File sharing
- Third-party integration
- Role and permissions
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free
10. Wire
Wire is the most secure communication platform trusted and used by the most security-demanding organizations.
Wire is well known for its security and compliance features that support the most critical infrastructure organizations in protecting their communication and data.
Most government communications are being passed through wire with end-to-end encryption protocols and advanced security features.
It’s available on Android, iOS, the web, and the desktop. Considering the pros of wire, any organization with critical user data should give it a chance.
Features:
- Customizable instant messenger
- Voice and video calls
- File sharing
- Self-destructing messages
- Multi-platform support
- Screen sharing
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
Europe.
Pricing:
Free and paid plan starts from $5/user/month
Bidding Byes!
To conclude, we cannot deny the fact that the search and demand for the best customizable chat software are ever-growing as businesses start to recognize its importance in streamlining communication and customer satisfaction. And, the above 10 providers that we discussed are a great option to start with if you are looking to integrate chats into your apps.
However, if you need features, customizations, white labeling, security, and the best pricing in a single package, then the only wise option would be to choose MirrorFly. As we come to the market as the #1 provider of self-hosted SDKs with 100% customizations on 150+ features, and more for a one-time license cost.
So, choosing wisely can help you deliver the best user engagement and experience possible.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What are the standard features of chat software?
A standard chat software will typically include real-time messaging, group chat, video and voice calling, file sharing, notifications, user presence status, emojis and reactions, customization options and security features like end-to-end encryption.
How much does chat software cost?
The cost of a chat software can vary widely depending on different criterias like the features your users need, the size of your development team, scale of your business. However, some of the chat software may be free to use, while few others would require a monthly or annual subscription fee.
How does a chat platform work?
When a user sends a message, the message is first sent to the server, which verifies the user’s identity and checks if the recipient is online. If the recipient is online, the server forwards the message to the recipient’s device in real-time. If the recipient is offline, the message is queued until the recipient comes online.
How to Choose the Right Chat Software?
The right chat software for your business will depend on the specific needs and requirements of your users. To choose the best one, you will need to consider the factors like messaging features, security encryptions, user interface and cost.
Which industries benefit from customizable chat software?
There are several industries that benefit from customizable chat software, such as
- Enterprises
- Healthcare
- Fitness and wellness apps
- Finance and banking
- Recruitment sectors
- IT projects
- On-demand services
What is enterprise chat?
Enterprise chat is a communication feature that lets you send and receive real-time messages within your organization using a dedicated app. Your employees and employers can chat internally for task allocation and status updates.
Plus, teams can communicate with various stakeholders like customers, vendors, partners, contract workers and more.
What is an example of chat software?
One example of chat software is Slack. Slack is a popular messaging platform commonly used in business and team environments for real-time communication, file sharing, and collaboration. Other chat platforms include:
- LiveChat
- Slack
- Zendesk
- LivePerson
- Tawk.to
- Freshdesk
- Freshchat
- Brevo
What is a chat provider?
A chat provider, often referred to as a chat service provider or messaging service provider, is a company or organization that offers solutions and services related to communication through chat, messaging, or instant messaging platforms.
Popular examples of chat service providers include companies like MirrorFly, LiveChat, Intercom, Zendesk Chat, and many others.
How do I build a business chat app?
Building a business chat app can be complex but here are the basic steps you should not miss during the development process.
- Study the competition and their features.
- Identify what makes your messaging app special.
- Set clear goals and plan your actions.
- Partner with a skilled IT vendor.
- Create and release a basic version of your app to gather user input.
- Advertise your product creatively.
- Keep improving your chat app based on user feedback.
What is a chat platform?
A chat platform is nothing but a chat app. It is an online space where users can have real-time conversations with each other. These apps are usually hosted on a server connected to the internet so that users from different locations can connect and collaborate easily.
What is the most popular chat platform?
As of the latest data from Datareportal, WhatsApp, Messenger (by Meta, formerly Facebook Messenger), Instagram, and WeChat are the leading messaging apps. Collectively, they boast over six billion active monthly users, making them the most widely used messaging platforms.
How do I develop a chat platform?
- Set Up Your App project
- Install a pre-built chat SDK
- Build the Chat Interface
- Connect Your Chat to the Server
- Improve Your Chat Based on User Feedback
Related Articles:
- Things You Should Know About Developing a Custom Mobile Chat App
- How to Build A Custom Chat Platform: A Full Guide [2024]
- How Does Voice Chat Application Help For Enterprises In 2024
- Why Should You Develop Your Chat App With Flutter?
Looking To Build Your Own Customizable Chat App?
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Need a dedicated platform for hosting your workplace or enterprise-work conversations? Guess, you have come to the right spot, as when we are die-hard in offering the best self-hosted solutions!
Effective communication is the key to success for any enterprise in this tech-savvy and fast-paced digital era. When businesses are relying on basic messages for their workplace productivity, it is time to enhance the communication mode by switching to more options.
Because a customizable in-app chat platform can offer a range of features from single and group chats to audio and video calls to other personalized benefits that help enterprises streamline internal collaboration and productivity. But, there are plenty in the market that make it challenging to choose the right one.
Hence, to help simplify the process, we have curated the list of the top 10 customizable communication software that has been adorned by many enterprises, which we will see in the blog post below. So, let us not wait any longer and head straight to the:
Table of Contents
What is Custom In-App Messaging Software?
Chat software also known as an instant messaging application or a chat application is an app that helps users to communicate with each other in real time in web chat rooms. Also, a chat app can be used either on a web browser or a smartphone and helps users to send instant messages, audio, or voice calls(VoIP Phone) to anyone around the world, just like they would do in person.
And these days, businesses or organizations are using customizable chat SDKs to quickly build a personalized self-hosted chat solution so that they can include features they need, take full control of the app data, and host apps on their own premises.
Examples of some chat applications are FB, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Slack.
Examples of Tailored Messaging Applications
We saw how essential chat software has become in today’s era for everyone around, from businesses small to large enterprises. It is because of the plenitude of benefits that it offers and the verticals it caters to those benefits across. Therefore, below are some of the most common use cases of a chat application:
1. Healthcare: A messaging solution can help connect doctors, caregivers, medical staff, and patients virtually to leverage instant patient-care anywhere and anytime. From appointment scheduling to online consultations to sharing medical reports and prescriptions, patients can eliminate no-shows with the help of chat apps.
2. Education: Usually an online video chat platform can make learning interactive and engaging as it seamlessly connects teachers and students through the app’s different communication capabilities like text, voice, and video. Further, you may add seminars, webinars, conferences without any glitches.
3. Insurance: It is possible to simplify the claim process, settlement details, paying premium and coverage, downloading relevant documents with the help of a chat app as many insurance companies have made use of in-app communication strategies in their platform. Indeed, many chat solutions support third-party integrations to simplify claim processing.
4. Recruitment: Messaging apps are proven to be a helping hand in the recruitment sector by creating a more personalized experience for candidates. Further, candidates can seamlessly connect with HRs, and receive updates on their interview schedules, and HRs can book schedules for interviews and collect feedback.
5. Social/Dating: Chat applications in the dating sector can enhance user communication and engagement. As it helps users to find the perfect match, and connect with them to learn their yes-no’s, preferences, and interests with the help of instant messaging, voice, and video calls.
Thus, we saw how an instant messaging solution for enterprises can benefit if they render their services in these categories. With this information on hand, our next heading is why should a business need a chat app.
Also Read: The Best 10 Dating App Features In 2023 | Best Dating APIs in 2023
Why do you need customizable messaging software?
Well, there are several benefits of using business chat software or an enterprise chat solution, starting with:
1. Improved Collaboration: A chat service helps team members to communicate with each other effectively and supports utmost collaboration through options like file sharing, document sharing, and others. Further, a chat app records conversations and users can search their history for any inputs if required.
2. Plenty of Features: Right from 1-to-1 and group chats to video calling and audio messaging capabilities to push notifications and more, an in-app chat service offers features that are adored by many. Further, upon integrating a customizable chat solution, you can tailor features as you need.
3. Cost-effective Method: Using a custom chat platform alleviates the usage of phone calls, expensive hardware units, and travel expenses that was earlier the traditional approach for communicating with others.
4. Widespread Access: These days chat apps have proved to be a helping hand for remote work as teams who are spread across geographies can access chat software from anywhere and at any time with just an internet connection.
5. Dedicated Scalability: These days, real-time chat APIs come with a twin benefit of offering security and scalability when the user base grows. Along with these, they also ensure to provide ultra-low latencies at 99.999% SLA downtime, just like how MirrorFly’s scalable chat SDK offers for Android, iOS, and Web.
The above-mentioned points alone aren’t the benefits of using a secure instant messaging solution because there are plenty. And if you are interested in building one for your business, we would suggest you go ahead with chat APIs or SDKs rather than building chat software from scratch.
Because a chat SDK comes to you as a secure, scalable, and feature-rich option to build in-app chats in minutes. So, our next topic is, how a chat platform helps enterprises.
How does customizable chat software benefit enterprises?
So far, we have seen how a chat app is beneficial. In this section, we will see how chat software has become the most popular tool for enterprises who are looking to streamline their internal communication.
1. Improved Productivity:
A chat application can help teams to communicate with each other in real time by offering a platform for discussions and document sharing than in-person talks. Directly leading to increased efficiency and productivity.
2. Better Customer Service:
By instant messaging, audio, and video calling capabilities, enterprises can provide dedicated customer service. They can quickly resolve customer issues thus gaining loyalty and satisfaction. Plus, businesses can collect feedback via chat apps to improve their product or service.
3. Limitless Customizations:
These days, most of the chat apps offer limitless customizations like themes and UI kits, and some of the customizable chat server even allow businesses to take complete control of their call and chat features.
Thus, by implementing chat software, businesses can benefit a lot in their team’s communication and collaboration aspects thereby increasing productivity and service.
10 Top Customizable Messaging Solution Of 2024
Here is a list of the10 best customizable chat software for enterprises are MirrorFly, Apphitect, NextCloud, Mattermost, Chanty, Jitsi, Matrix.org, Zulip, Letschat, Wire and more. Each platform has its own unique set of features, pricing, and capabilities.
Let’s look at some of these listed platforms, check out their features and other details.
1. MirrorFly:
MirrorFly is one of the leading in-app communication providers of saas and self-hosted solutions that help developers to build highly interactive communication apps across the web and mobile for all major industries like healthcare, transportation, telecom, social/dating, gaming, fitness, fintech & more.
From offering over 150+ call and chat features like 1-to-1 and group chats, push notifications, group video calls, presence indicators and more to utmost scalability and low latency levels, our in-app communication APIs are the best in the market.
And when it comes to user privacy, we offer enterprise-grade security with strong E2E encryption protocols like AES, TLS, and SSL, and comply perfectly well with industry-regulatory standards. Above this, our self-hosted solution lets businesses build 100% customizable chat infrastructure or an on-premise chat solution for a one-time license cost. You can even hire a dedicated team of developers for integration and support.
Features:
- Real-time chats, voice, and video
- Customizable chats
- Group chats
- Multimedia sharing
- On-prem/cloud hosting
- Multi-platform chat
- Hire tech engineers
- GDPR, HIPAA compliant
Platforms:
Android, Mac, iOS, Windows, Linux
Location:
India, USA, Singapore, UAE.
Pricing:
SaaS: Monthly pricing
SaaP: Custom pricing/one-time license fee
2. Apphitect
If there is a provider in the market that offers complete customizations on in-app communication features, then it has to be Apphitect. It is one of the secure providers of video, voice, and chat SDKs that offer 100% customizations on all features to build Android, iOS, and Web apps. Further, their platform offers great scalability, 99.999% uptime SLA, high security, and latencies less than 100ms for a one-time license fee.
Plus, Apphitect’s white-label messaging SDK helps businesses to brand their chat apps using their logos, fonts, themes, and color to reflect their identity on all pages. And offer dedicated integration support to businesses if required.
Features:
- Instant messaging
- 100% customization
- White Label solution
- On-prem deployment
- Detailed analytics
- E2E encryption
Platforms:
iOS, Android, Web
Location:
UAE.
Pricing:
One-time license cost/Self-hosted solution
3. NextCloud
It is one of the best self-hosted collaboration tools that is built to protect user data through sturdy security protocols and scalability factors. Its by-products Nextcloud Files, Nextcloud at Home, Nextcloud at Enterprise, Nextcloud Talk, and similar are the industry’s best. Further, the firm ensures control of data to businesses using different authentication mechanisms like SAML, Kerberos, and LDAP.
Above this, it follows the concept of no-code or simply put less code development, and its sample codes are available on GitHub for developers.
Features:
- Private cloud storage
- Complete customization
- Third-party integration
- File sharing
- Calendar integration
- Video calls
Platforms:
Android, Mac, iOS, Windows, Linux, Ubuntu
Location:
Germany.
Pricing:
Basic: €36/user/year
Standard: €65/user/year
Premium: €95.50/user/year
4. Mattermost
One of the best open-source chat software that is available in the market is Mattermost, which is brought to businesses as the “Highly Trustable Enterprise Messaging Application“. To the max, what it goes by cannot be denied as being an exceptional self-hosted and customizable open-source platform, it offers rich features, and great security, and gives the flexibility to be deployed on private cloud servers.
This chat platform is available on GitHub and offers an exclusive suite of documentation to developers for docker installations. Plus, the platform supports migration from other providers to their services
Features:
- Group messaging
- Voice and video calls
- Workflow automation
- File sharing
Platforms:
Windows, mac, iOS, Linux, Android
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free and enterprise plan starting from $10/user/month
5. Chanty
Chanty is more than a collaboration tool. From offering self-hosted platforms to exclusive customizations to an AI-powered team chat, Chanty allows getting more things done together. Their interface is a very clean SaaS app that consists of features like private messages, channels, search options, screen sharing, audio and video calling, and a timeline.
Additionally, their video calling SDKs are a hit in the market that is used to create conference calls and webinars that enterprises of all sizes would need.
Features:
- Team chat software
- Task management
- Voice and video calls
- File sharing
- Third-party integrations
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Location:
All parts of the world.
Pricing:
Free plan available; business plan at $3/user/month.
6. Jitsi
A unique benefit of Jitsi is the existence of Jitsi Desktop for calls, chats, conferencing, file transfer, and other features, which do not exist in other peers. Being a 100% free and open-source self-hosted chat platform, Jitsi offers customizations and support to multiple platforms for user interactions. Their live chat has two projects in the name Jitsi Video Bridge and Jitsi Meet that are compatible with communication protocols like WebRTC for developing scalable and secure video conferences.
Further, it makes call recording, live streaming, and encoding/decoding of videos possible.
Features:
- Real-time chats
- Video conferencing
- Chat rooms
- White labeling
- Live streaming
- Video recording
Platforms:
Web, Android, iOS
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free
7. Matrix.org
This self-hosted chat platform is unique in its nature, because it acts as a decentralized conversation medium that helps to replicate the messages sent to the servers from all active participants. With these, their encryption protocols are quite strong as they make use of cryptographic algorithms like Olm and Megolm for building chat rooms, chatbots, and direct chats. Thanks to their RESTful APIs that make it possible!
Though there are several pros to using this chat software, one prime drawback is that this platform is not available in the cloud.
There you go with the seven best customizable chat software in the market to meet your business needs. Time’s off!
Features:
- Instant messaging
- Group chats
- Customizations
- Self-hosted solution
- Third-party integrations
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
UK.
Pricing:
Free
8. Zulip
Zulip is self-hosted and 100% open-source software built by a larger number of developers than any other chat software.
Its uniqueness in features is the key to its success. Through this, you can organise your chats on streams and never miss important things.
Streams are nothing but channels, but in Zulip, whenever you subscribe to a stream, you can focus on the subheadings that are most relevant while avoiding the irrelevant ones.
Zulip is available on all platforms. Let it be Android or iPhone, Windows or Mac; even on Linux, it’s available to download.
Features:
- Customizable chats
- Threads
- File sharing
- Integration support
- E2E encryption
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free and paid plan starts from $6.25/user/month
9. Letschat
This is a completely free, self-hosted platform suitable for small and intimate teams. Let’s Chat made its presence known back in 2012 and is now a backbone for running and organizing small teams with out-of-the-box features.
Its programming languages are backed by Node.js and MongoDB and are available on Android, iOS, and the web.
Unlike other providers, Let’s Chat cannot be used by larger teams or organisations due to its limited number of features. But it can be a diamond in the rough in search of gold for organizing small teams at no cost.
Features:
- Team chats
- File sharing
- Third-party integration
- Role and permissions
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
USA.
Pricing:
Free
10. Wire
Wire is the most secure communication platform trusted and used by the most security-demanding organizations.
Wire is well known for its security and compliance features that support the most critical infrastructure organizations in protecting their communication and data.
Most government communications are being passed through wire with end-to-end encryption protocols and advanced security features.
It’s available on Android, iOS, the web, and the desktop. Considering the pros of wire, any organization with critical user data should give it a chance.
Features:
- Customizable instant messenger
- Voice and video calls
- File sharing
- Self-destructing messages
- Multi-platform support
- Screen sharing
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Location:
Europe.
Pricing:
Free and paid plan starts from $5/user/month
Bidding Byes!
To conclude, we cannot deny the fact that the search and demand for the best customizable chat software are ever-growing as businesses start to recognize its importance in streamlining communication and customer satisfaction. And, the above 10 providers that we discussed are a great option to start with if you are looking to integrate chats into your apps.
However, if you need features, customizations, white labeling, security, and the best pricing in a single package, then the only wise option would be to choose MirrorFly. As we come to the market as the #1 provider of self-hosted SDKs with 100% customizations on 150+ features, and more for a one-time license cost.
So, choosing wisely can help you deliver the best user engagement and experience possible.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What are the standard features of chat software?
A standard chat software will typically include real-time messaging, group chat, video and voice calling, file sharing, notifications, user presence status, emojis and reactions, customization options and security features like end-to-end encryption.
How much does chat software cost?
The cost of a chat software can vary widely depending on different criterias like the features your users need, the size of your development team, scale of your business. However, some of the chat software may be free to use, while few others would require a monthly or annual subscription fee.
How does a chat platform work?
When a user sends a message, the message is first sent to the server, which verifies the user’s identity and checks if the recipient is online. If the recipient is online, the server forwards the message to the recipient’s device in real-time. If the recipient is offline, the message is queued until the recipient comes online.
How to Choose the Right Chat Software?
The right chat software for your business will depend on the specific needs and requirements of your users. To choose the best one, you will need to consider the factors like messaging features, security encryptions, user interface and cost.
Which industries benefit from customizable chat software?
There are several industries that benefit from customizable chat software, such as
- Enterprises
- Healthcare
- Fitness and wellness apps
- Finance and banking
- Recruitment sectors
- IT projects
- On-demand services
What is enterprise chat?
Enterprise chat is a communication feature that lets you send and receive real-time messages within your organization using a dedicated app. Your employees and employers can chat internally for task allocation and status updates.
Plus, teams can communicate with various stakeholders like customers, vendors, partners, contract workers and more.
What is an example of chat software?
One example of chat software is Slack. Slack is a popular messaging platform commonly used in business and team environments for real-time communication, file sharing, and collaboration. Other chat platforms include:
- LiveChat
- Slack
- Zendesk
- LivePerson
- Tawk.to
- Freshdesk
- Freshchat
- Brevo
What is a chat provider?
A chat provider, often referred to as a chat service provider or messaging service provider, is a company or organization that offers solutions and services related to communication through chat, messaging, or instant messaging platforms.
Popular examples of chat service providers include companies like MirrorFly, LiveChat, Intercom, Zendesk Chat, and many others.
How do I build a business chat app?
Building a business chat app can be complex but here are the basic steps you should not miss during the development process.
- Study the competition and their features.
- Identify what makes your messaging app special.
- Set clear goals and plan your actions.
- Partner with a skilled IT vendor.
- Create and release a basic version of your app to gather user input.
- Advertise your product creatively.
- Keep improving your chat app based on user feedback.
What is a chat platform?
A chat platform is nothing but a chat app. It is an online space where users can have real-time conversations with each other. These apps are usually hosted on a server connected to the internet so that users from different locations can connect and collaborate easily.
What is the most popular chat platform?
As of the latest data from Datareportal, WhatsApp, Messenger (by Meta, formerly Facebook Messenger), Instagram, and WeChat are the leading messaging apps. Collectively, they boast over six billion active monthly users, making them the most widely used messaging platforms.
How do I develop a chat platform?
- Set Up Your App project
- Install a pre-built chat SDK
- Build the Chat Interface
- Connect Your Chat to the Server
- Improve Your Chat Based on User Feedback
Related Articles:
- Things You Should Know About Developing a Custom Mobile Chat App
- How to Build A Custom Chat Platform: A Full Guide [2024]
- How Does Voice Chat Application Help For Enterprises In 2024
- Why Should You Develop Your Chat App With Flutter?
Looking To Build Your Own Customizable Chat App?
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Hello team,
nice blog, What specific programming languages do chat software fully support?
Hello Della,
The most popular languages used to build an android chat app are Java or Kotlin. These languages are used in the development toolkit containing SDKs, emulators, and debuggers.
Hey Guys,
I’m running a business which is belongs to chat solution, so it must needed to have a proper chat server can you suggest me how do I select the right customizable chat software for my enterprise?
hellen kin,
Selecting the ideal customizable chat software for your enterprise involves assessing scalability, security, integration capabilities, user interface, and customization options. Prioritize solutions that align with your business needs and offer robust support and scalability.
Hello hi,
I’m Kishore padit, I’m just curious about the things which I had been went through that is by using this customizable chat software what kind of benefits can I have?
Hi Kishore,
Of course, you can have a lot of benefits by using this chat software, Customizable chat software offers benefits like tailored branding, improved user experience, integration with tools, enhanced security, scalability, and the ability to adapt to specific business needs, ultimately boosting customer engagement and satisfaction.
Hi team,
I just wonder about of this article, yes it was well written besides my doubt might be easy to you If I’m a Manager of some kind of organization can I customize a chat software to use for my internal team communication?
Hello,
Yes, Pranitha, you can customize chat software for your internal team communication else other purposes of your organization. Tailor features, security settings, and integrations to fit your team’s needs, fostering efficient collaboration and information sharing.
I’m running a business which is needed a chat software. Can my businesses benefit from customizable chat software, or is it primarily for larger enterprises?
hii,
now a days Customizable chat software benefits businesses of all sizes. It enhances customer support, streamlines internal communication, and adapts to your specific needs, regardless of your company’s size, making it valuable for both small businesses and larger enterprises.
Can you Explain me What kind of Characteristics I could see in customizable chat software?
hello Stella,
I’m ready to clarify which characteristic you can see from it, Customizable chat software exhibits several key characteristics:
Branding
Scalability
Integrations
User Management
Feature Customization
Security
Multichannel Support
Analytics
Customer Support
Updates and Maintenance
These characteristics make customizable chat software a versatile solution for diverse business needs and industries.
I’m overwhelmed by the valuable information about communication platforms. it helps me a lot to build a new customizable messaging API platform. grateful for this…
Team, nice article. Please keep writing more posts like this. For now can you people tell me what is the minimum cost for building a chat platform?
Thanks a ton Laura, for such kind words on my article, and surely we will meet soon with yet another interesting blog post. Well, to answer your question, the cost of building a chat app depends on factors like scalability levels, security aspects, number of users, features to include, and many others. Therefore, considering these, the market price of building a chat app can be somewhere between $30,000 to $110,000. However, if you wish to learn about our pricing to build a chat app, you may visit our pricing page or reach out to our experts.
Must say that it is a great article. Both articulation and thought process is amazing. But, I am just curious as to how do you create a customizable chat software so easily?
Thanks a lot PeeCee for such kind words. Really appreciate your compliment on my blog post. And to answer your question, creating a custom chat app is relatively easy with MirrorFly’s chat SDK. Our self-hosted solution allows developers to easily build a fully customizable chat application with the features they need and security they desire for a one-time license cost.
Additionally, they may take full control of our call and chat capabilities, and get the flexibility to host chat apps on their own servers.
With these, our self-hosted chat SDK is compatible with multiple platforms, including Android, iOS, and the Web, thus making the development process easier.
Hello, we are Looking for a web video call app to connect users for a two party call without dialing-A strictly data connection. Additionally, scheduling meetings and scheduling reminders would be a Plus. I think MirroFly Video Platform could be right choice for my organization, please share me pricing details ASAP
Thank you, for considering MirrorFly’s video chat API solution for your web video call app, we are sure that our video APIs can help you achieve your app’s needs. And coming over to your requirement on supporting group calls, we assure you that our video chat APIs are built with secure and scalable top-end messaging features that are new in the market.
I’m reaching out to you on behalf of my developers. We’re creating a room-based video chat software where there can be 100s of rooms and each room can have 500+ users. In each of these rooms, users may share their cams and can also speak without sharing cams. Please can you let me know if Mirrorfly video call app can work for us and what is the cost in this scenario?
Hi team,
your blog is well-written and informative. But, I have a doubt about which is the best customizable chat app provider also that would be helpful for my business
Really glad that you found my post to be informative. And to answer your question, MirrorFly is an ideal choice when it comes to choosing the best customizable chat SDK provider. Because we offer 100% customizations on 150+ call and chat capabilities and 100+ UI components so that you can build communication apps the way you need.
Hello,
Need to add chat in the existing app used for schools, and video conferencing for whole classrooms please let me know which chat software is suitable for us.
Hi,
Great to know about your e-learning app and your interest in our application. I am quite assured that our real-time white label chat API and SDK would be a great choice for your demands mostly for its unique customizable features wherein we offer over 150+ chat, voice and video calling features with extensible custom feature option which can be integrated into any existing or pre-built device or app easily.