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Sendbird vs Knock(2026)

Sendbird is better for teams that need best for chat-heavy apps. Knock is the stronger choice if best-in-class notification workflows. Sendbird is freemium (from $399/month) and Knock is freemium (from $100/month).

Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.

By Bikram Nath

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Sendbird logo

Sendbird

freemium

Sendbird provides in-app chat, messaging, video calls, and push notification APIs for mobile and web applications.

Starting at $399/month

Visit Sendbird
Knock logo

Knock

freemium

Knock is a notification delivery platform for product teams to build and manage complex notification workflows across channels.

Starting at $100/month

Visit Knock

How Do Sendbird and Knock Compare on Features?

FeatureSendbirdKnock
Pricing modelfreemiumfreemium
Starting price$399/month$100/month
In-app chat API✓—
Push notifications✓—
Video & voice calls✓—
Moderation tools✓—
AI chatbot✓—
UIKit components✓—
Multi-channel workflows—✓
In-app feeds—✓
Digest notifications—✓
Preferences API—✓
Template management—✓
Real-time delivery—✓

Sendbird Pros and Cons vs Knock

S

Sendbird

+Best for chat-heavy apps
+Prebuilt UIKit
+Video calls included
+Reliable scale
−Very expensive
−Overkill for simple notifications
−Long contracts
K

Knock

+Best-in-class notification workflows
+In-app notification component
+User preferences built-in
+Good docs
−Expensive vs DIY
−Less known than Twilio
−Limited free tier

Should You Use Sendbird or Knock?

For most teams, Sendbird is the better default: it offers best for chat-heavy apps and is freemium (from $399/month). Choose Knock instead if best-in-class notification workflows matters more than very expensive. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value best for chat-heavy apps or best-in-class notification workflows more.

Choose Sendbird if…

  • •Best for chat-heavy apps
  • •Prebuilt UIKit
  • •Video calls included

Choose Knock if…

  • •Best-in-class notification workflows
  • •In-app notification component
  • •User preferences built-in

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