Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Chat by Stream VS Buffer

Compare Chat by Stream VS Buffer and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Chat by Stream logo Chat by Stream

Build and ship in app messaging in a few hours

Buffer logo Buffer

Buffer makes it super easy to share any page you're reading. Keep your Buffer topped up and we automagically share them for you through the day.
  • Chat by Stream Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-08
  • Buffer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-19

Chat by Stream features and specs

  • Scalability
    Chat by Stream is designed to handle large volumes of messages and users, making it suitable for applications with rapid growth or high traffic.
  • Customizability
    The API offers robust customization options, enabling developers to tailor chat functionalities to meet specific project requirements and UI/UX design.
  • Rich Features
    It comes with a wide range of built-in features like message threading, reactions, and typing indicators, enhancing user engagement.
  • Developer-Friendly
    Comprehensive documentation and SDKs for multiple platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, React) make it easier for developers to integrate and implement chat functionalities.
  • Performance
    Chat by Stream offers low-latency messaging and optimized performance that ensures smooth real-time communication.
  • Security
    Provides end-to-end encryption, along with compliance with data protection standards to safeguard user information.
  • Support
    Offers extensive support including detailed guides, a troubleshooting section, and responsive customer service.

Possible disadvantages of Chat by Stream

  • Cost
    Pricing can become high for larger applications or projects with a significant number of users, making it potentially prohibitive for startups or small businesses.
  • Complexity
    The extensive customization options and features can result in a steep learning curve for developers who are new to the platform.
  • Dependency
    Relying on a third-party service for critical functionality means that outages or changes in the service can impact your application.
  • Limited Offline Support
    Features might not work as efficiently or be fully available in offline scenarios, which could be limiting for certain applications.
  • Integration Time
    Although the platform is developer-friendly, integrating and fine-tuning the chat features to fit perfectly within an application can still be time-consuming.

Buffer features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Buffer offers a clean, user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to navigate and schedule social media posts.
  • Multi-Platform Support
    Buffer supports a wide range of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, allowing users to manage multiple accounts from one place.
  • Post Scheduling
    Users can schedule posts in advance, helping them maintain a consistent posting schedule without having to be online all the time.
  • Analytics and Reporting
    Buffer provides detailed analytics and reporting tools that help users track the performance of their posts and make data-driven decisions.
  • Collaborative Features
    Buffer offers collaboration tools for teams, allowing multiple members to contribute to social media management efforts.
  • Custom Scheduling
    Users can create custom posting schedules specific to each platform, optimizing their content for the best times to post.
  • Content Suggestions
    Buffer provides content suggestions, helping users find and share relevant content to keep their audience engaged.
  • Customer Support
    Buffer has a reliable customer support system, including live chat, email support, and extensive online resources.

Possible disadvantages of Buffer

  • Limited Free Plan
    The free plan offers limited features and only allows for basic functionality, which may not meet the needs of businesses seeking more advanced tools.
  • Cost
    While Buffer offers several pricing tiers, some users may find the cost of the more advanced plans to be relatively high.
  • Instagram Direct Posting Limitations
    Buffer's direct posting for Instagram has certain limitations due to API restrictions, requiring users to use push notifications for some posts.
  • No Native Support for Some Platforms
    Certain social media platforms, like TikTok, are not natively supported by Buffer, limiting its versatility for those looking to manage all their social media in one place.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to competitors, Buffer may lack some advanced features and integrations such as detailed sentiment analysis or advanced automation.
  • Reporting Complexity
    The analytics and reporting features, while useful, can sometimes be complex and hard to interpret for novice users.
  • No Comprehensive CRM Integration
    Buffer lacks robust integrations with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, which can be a drawback for businesses looking to merge their social media strategy with customer relationship data.

Analysis of Chat by Stream

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Chat by Stream is a good option for anyone looking to implement a robust chat functionality within their applications. It is particularly well-regarded for its ease of integration, scalability, and wide array of features.

Why this product is good

  • Chat by Stream is considered a powerful and flexible chat solution because it offers a variety of features such as real-time messaging, scalability, and customizable UI components. It supports multiple platforms, including web and mobile, and offers excellent performance and reliability. Additionally, it provides strong developer documentation and robust SDKs, making it easier to integrate and customize according to specific needs.

Recommended for

  • Businesses needing scalable real-time chat systems
  • Developers looking for easy-to-integrate chat SDKs
  • Applications requiring customizable chat experiences
  • Organizations wanting reliable customer support chat solutions
  • Gaming platforms that require seamless in-game chat

Analysis of Buffer

Overall verdict

  • Buffer is a good choice for those looking for a reliable and user-friendly social media management tool. It is particularly well-suited for users who prefer a minimalist approach but still require the essential features needed to manage multiple social media accounts efficiently.

Why this product is good

  • Buffer is highly regarded for its simplicity and ease of use, making it an excellent tool for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses that want to manage their social media presence effectively. It offers a range of features including post scheduling, analytics, and team collaboration tools, which help streamline social media marketing efforts. Many users appreciate its intuitive interface and straightforward functionality.

Recommended for

    Buffer is recommended for small to medium-sized businesses, digital marketers, social media managers, and individuals who need to manage multiple social media accounts. It's also well-suited for teams looking for collaboration tools to improve their social media marketing workflow.

Chat by Stream videos

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Buffer videos

Hootsuite VS Buffer VS Later 2019 | 3 Best Social Media Schedulers

More videos:

  • Review - Hootsuite vs Buffer (Social Media Management)
  • Review - Buffer Review (Social Media Management Tool)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Chat by Stream and Buffer)
Communication
100 100%
0% 0
Social Media Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Prototyping
100 100%
0% 0
Social Media Marketing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Chat by Stream and Buffer

Chat by Stream Reviews

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Buffer Reviews

  1. FaizaAdeel
    · Owner at Peacock.collection111 ·
    My SMM partner

    I love working with buffer its feature of scheduling makes me free for whole month. Best and easy tool to use.

    👍 Pros:    Unlimited scheduling and good speed
    👎 Cons:    Some accounts does not connect easily like pintrest

15 best Agorapulse alternatives for agencies and marketers
Buffer’s powerful analytics tools also provide valuable insights into post performance, engagement metrics, and audience demographics, allowing users to optimize their social media strategy.
Top 7 Agorapulse Alternatives You Should Consider in 2024
Overall, Buffer is an excellent Agorapulse alternative for small businesses and solopreneurs seeking an affordable social media marketing platform with solid content planning and publishing tools. If you’ve already tried it and it didn’t fit your needs, check out these 9 Buffer alternatives we found useful.
Source: planable.io
5 Best Taplio Alternatives to Consider Using in 2024
Known for its remarkable commitment to transparency and operating with a fully remote team, Buffer embodies values like gratitude, continuous improvement, no-ego collaboration, optimism, and reflection.
Source: authoredup.com
10 Alternative Tools That Surpass AgoraPulse
Buffer helps users expand their reach and their audience organically. Driven by high values, Buffer provides intuitive marketing tools for companies looking to broaden their horizons.
Source: coschedule.com
ContentCal Alternatives: 10 Social Media Solutions That Outshine It
Buffer is one of the oldest social media tools on the market. This ContentCal alternative offers users a suite of tools to help them with tasks such as scheduling posts, analyzing performance, and managing engagement.
Source: planable.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Buffer should be more popular than Chat by Stream. It has been mentiond 58 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Chat by Stream mentions (20)

  • How to Add Real-Time Chat to Your AWS-Based Application
    If you are a developer or product manager looking to integrate a chat API into your application, this blog is for you. We will create a fully functional chat app with broadcast, direct message, and bot response functionalities using AWS services and test it using Postman. We will also check the out-of-the-box solutions. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Building a RAG-Powered AI Customer Support Chatbot with Stream and OpenAI
    Const express = require('express') Const embed = express.Router().use(express.json(), express.urlencoded({ extended: false })); Const { RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter } = require('langchain/text_splitter'); Const { CheerioWebBaseLoader } = require('@langchain/community/document_loaders/web/cheerio'); Const { supabase, openai } = require("../utils"); Async function storeEmbeddings() { const loader = new... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • The 3 Best Python Frameworks To Build UIs for AI Apps
    Computer vision: In this category, you can build AI apps for text and image classification in a chat messaging app, video classification in a conferencing app like Zoom, and Text-to-video generation. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Enhancing Your Stream Chat with Elasticsearch for Advanced Full-Text Search
    Stream Chat is a solution that provides scalable, real-time messaging infrastructure. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • How to Create an AI Assistant: A Dev’s Guide
    To simplify this process for developers, we've built a generic approach for connecting our Chat API to external LLM providers. Our approach uses a single backend server (NodeJS or Python), which can manage the lifecycle of agents and handle the connection to external providers. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

Buffer mentions (58)

  • Mastering Crowdfunding for Open Source Projects
    Promotion is key—don't wait for people to find your campaign. Actively share updates on social media, write blog posts, and engage with industry influencers. Transparency with your backers through regular progress reports builds trust and encourages long-term support. Platforms like GitHub Sponsors offer built-in transparency tools to connect with your backers directly. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Thriving in the Startup Ecosystem: Overcoming Common Challenges
    👉 Work-life balance: While the startup grind is often intense, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial for long-term success and employee well-being. Effective time management, clear communication, and self-care are essential to thriving in this fast-paced environment. Companies like Buffer have been vocal about their commitment to employee well-being, offering unlimited vacation time and remote work... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • I'm looking for practical Rust exercises
    For example look at buffer.com. Create simple web app where user will write a post, select target social networks to publish and time of publishing (like 8 hours from now). Source: over 1 year ago
  • No surf musician?
    I use buffer to post to IG / Tiktok without visiting them. It works fairly well, although not perfect, but they seem to be working on it pretty consistently. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Buffer vs Later 2023: Choosing the Right Social Media Management Tool
    Socialjobnow.com has published a comparison between Buffer and Later, two popular social media management tools used by businesses to schedule and automate their social media posts. The article provides an in-depth analysis of each tool's features, pricing, and benefits, offering valuable insights for businesses looking to optimize their social media strategy. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Chat by Stream and Buffer, you can also consider the following products

SendBird - SendBird is messaging-as-a-service.

Hootsuite - Enhance your social media management with Hootsuite, the leading social media dashboard. Manage multiple networks and profiles and measure your campaign results.

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

SproutSocial - Sprout Social is a social media management tool created to help businesses find new customers & grow their social media presence. Try it for free.

Pusher - Pusher is a hosted API for quickly, easily and securely adding scalable realtime functionality via WebSockets to web and mobile apps.

AgoraPulse - An easy social media management tool that works with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube. Start your free trial today!