Podium vs Sendbird
Converge Team
Side-by-side comparison for 2026
| Feature | Podium | Sendbird |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $399/mo | From $399/mo |
| Best For | Local businesses needing integrated messaging and payments | Developers building custom in-app messaging experiences |
| Standout Feature | Integrated payment collection through messaging | Comprehensive SDK with voice, video, and messaging |
| Free Plan | ✗ | ✓ |
| G2 Rating | 4.3 | 4.3 |
Podium and Sendbird target different aspects of customer communication. Podium serves local businesses with SMS marketing and customer engagement tools, while Sendbird provides chat APIs and SDKs for developers building in-app messaging experiences.
The fundamental difference lies in their approach: Podium offers ready-to-use business tools, while Sendbird provides building blocks for custom chat applications.
Feature Comparison
Podium provides complete SMS marketing campaigns, review management, payment collection, and lead capture tools. It's designed for non-technical users in local businesses like healthcare, automotive, and home services.
Sendbird offers chat APIs, SDKs, and UIKit components for building messaging into mobile apps and websites. It includes features like group chat, file sharing, moderation tools, and real-time translation.
These platforms serve entirely different use cases - Podium for business operations and Sendbird for product development.
Pricing Comparison
Podium starts at $89/month with custom pricing for larger operations, focusing on message volume and business features rather than technical usage metrics.
Sendbird offers a free tier for up to 100 monthly active users, then scales from $399/month to $999/month based on user count and features. Enterprise pricing available for larger implementations.
Podium's business-focused pricing suits operational needs, while Sendbird's user-based model aligns with product development and scaling applications.
Podium
Pros
- ✓ Strong local business focus
- ✓ Integrated payment processing
- ✓ Comprehensive review management
Cons
- ✗ Expensive pricing structure
- ✗ Limited international messaging
- ✗ Complex setup process
Sendbird
Pros
- ✓ Comprehensive SDK suite
- ✓ Excellent developer documentation
- ✓ Scalable infrastructure
Cons
- ✗ Expensive for small businesses
- ✗ Complex pricing structure
- ✗ Limited social media integrations
Verdict
Choose Podium if you need ready-made SMS marketing and customer engagement tools for local business operations. Choose Sendbird if you're building custom chat features into your application or platform.
Choose Podium if: You're a local business needing SMS marketing, customer engagement, and review management without technical complexity.
Choose Sendbird if: You're developing applications that need chat functionality and have technical resources for implementation.
Consider Converge at $49/month flat rate for businesses wanting unified customer communication without the complexity of developer tools or high-volume pricing tiers.
Looking for more options? Browse all 750+ platform comparisons, or see all Podium comparisons and all Sendbird comparisons.