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What is a Chat API?

Mike Ranellone on March 31, 2021

A chat API (application programming interface) is a modular software component hosted in the cloud that makes it easy for developers to add in-app ...
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Filip Babic • Edited

Chat APIs have been one of the most challenging and exciting projects I've worked on.

This is a really nice overview of what Chat APIs offer and how we build them! :]

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Stephen H

Totally agree!

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Sacha Arbonel

Super interesting Mike! This blog post made me realize that standards for Chats are high now, so building on top of a ready-made Chat API makes sense when I see all those features we have to cover as a small/solo team to satisfy expectations of the users of your app

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Ben Golden

Email was once something you did yourself, you had to hire at least a person, and eventually a team to maintain servers, experts in exchange or other SMTP queueing software, maintain industry relations so you are hitting the inbox, etc. Then one day services like SendGrid, Mailjet, and Sparkpost came along and made us all realize that was an absurd model, paying a SaaS provider for email is infinitely more effecient.

The same transformation is underway now, but with Chat. If you're building Chat yourself, you're making your life much harder and more expensive than it needs to be. Join the evolution.

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ian douglas

Couldn't agree more!

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Lucas Correia

Really nice read!

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Scott Lasica

Great article Mike!

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Nick Parsons

Great post!

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Todd Norton

Great article Mike!

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Abirami Elangovan

Hi Mike,
I found this article really cool with plenty of insights and information about Chat API. The need for in-app chat among businesses is huge, as customers expect real-time communication.
Finding the best chat API that supports our vision and integrates with the system is a kind of art.
If anyone is looking for the best chat API, here is my suggestion based on my personal experience: MirrorFly, Appitect, Stream.

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Stephen H

Very concise and informative read, thanks Mike.

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MerelC

Great read, thanks Mike!

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ian douglas

Great article. Utilizing SaaS platforms is so much more convenient than building your own infrastructure!

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Grant Steinke

Awesome read!

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Francesco Mastrogiacomo

As always, a pleasure to read your posts.

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Zach Painter

Super informative read, and a great overview of what's possible with Stream's Chat API!

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Zachery Converse

Love it 🤘

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Dominique

It's incredible how flexible this chat API is! Thanks for the thorough explanation Mike!