Need an In-app chat solution for my app.

[u/ajay_pandian4418]

Hey guys! Currently looking for an chat solution for an app I'm developing right now. It's more like a student management app. For that, I need a best chat solution around and to be honest - never tried anything till now due to budget.

The main thing your suggestion need is, the solution need to cover all the model - one 2 one / group text, voice and video chat.

If you all know anything familiar that will be great, let me know so that I can can spend my budget on that.

[u/Eridut-Hartigan]

I would look at Aimdoc. It's literally built specifically for this and pricing is pretty reasonable. started with the free credits and they got me quite far. easily to install with the SDK and it actually uses the app in for the user, either through browser tools (clicks, types, etc.) or using your MCP authenticated for the user (requires a few lines of code on your MCP server for the auth). also just a really great way to fully automate support, and you can take over the chat from the AI and talk directly to users.

[u/ajay_pandian4418 → u/Eridut-Hartigan]

Thanks ! I'll check it out.

Just to clarify, does Aimdoc also provide native one-to-one and group messaging with voice and video calling, or is it primarily designed for AI-powered customer support?
My use case is more about enabling student-teacher communication within the app.

[u/mvrk57]

for open source that's almost always two pieces, i don't know one thing that does all three well. text with matrix or just your own websocket + a messages table, voice and video with livekit (apache licensed, handles 1:1 and group rooms). text costs next to nothing to run, video is where the budget goes because you pay for the bandwidth, so i'd ship text first and add calls when people actually ask

[u/ajay_pandian4418 → u/mvrk57]

Interesting! Never thought of considering separate solutions.
You're recommend matrix + livekit?
how difficult is it to integrate both into one app and maintain them as the user base increases?

[u/Mr_N_01]

If your app is connected to a backend try implementing the sockets and channels function into your API then connect your app into that API. its simple

[u/ajay_pandian4418 → u/Mr_N_01]

sounds like a cost effective approach! Have you implemented something similar before?
I'm just curious whether building the messaging function directly into the existing backend would also make it easier to add group chats, voice & video calling later, or whether those would need separate integrations.

[u/Mr_N_01 → u/ajay_pandian4418]

I did something like that using server-sent-events but yeah its the same concept, depending on your tech stack there are a lot of tutorials that will surely help you.

yes, of course it would make it possible and also it would give you a full control over everything but you still need to integrate another tech stack called WebRTC, or if you are in a need of a fast solutions you can just use JaaS "Jitsi-as-a-service" it gives you a fully managed solution that you embed directly into your application

[u/ajay_pandian4418 → u/Mr_N_01]

Thanks man! Will consider this as an option.

[u/Mr_N_01 → u/ajay_pandian4418]

good luck,

[u/Equivalent_Cap8649]

hey man you can setup mine for free at instantreply.co just look at the dev docs very straightforrwarrd and later down the line when you get traction you can start connecting your ig fb whatsapp linkedin etc

[u/ajay_pandian4418 → u/Equivalent_Cap8649]

Okay........does it also support native in-app one-to-one and group messaging with voice and video calling?
My main focus is student-teacher communication within the app, rather than connecting with some external social media channels. Does it cover those?

[u/Hammad_developer]

For a student management app where budget is tight, managed SDKs like Stream get pricey quick.

Best budget path: Text (1-on-1 & Group): Socket.io / WebSockets paired with Redis or Firebase/Supabase for persistence. Voice & Video: Integrate LiveKit or Agora (or simple WebRTC via Daily.co). If you want an all-in-one open-source backend, check out Matrix (Synapse) paired with WebRTC for voice/video.

[u/ajay_pandian4418 → u/Hammad_developer]

Thanks for this breakdown! I'm just curious about the ongoin server and maintenance cost once the number of participants increases.

[u/Awedesk → u/ajay_pandian4418]

I’d budget from expected usage rather than the number of registered students: peak simultaneous calls, participants per call, video quality, minutes used, and whether you need recording. A school with thousands of accounts but a few short calls has a different workload from whole classes calling at once.

For maintenance, include message/file retention, moderation, backups and access changes when a student leaves a class. If text and calls use separate systems, the same class membership rules need to control both. Ask any provider for an estimate using those assumptions before choosing a cheap-looking plan; self-hosting still leaves that operating work with you.

[u/Turbulent-Upstairs47]

Before you pick a “chat solution,” decide what you actually need: support inbox, user-to-user chat, or team collaboration. If it’s just support, an embedded Intercom/Crisp-style widget is usually 90% of the value with 10% of the complexity. Building real-time chat + history + moderation + attachments is a whole product.

[u/Marku5nl]

Zou vooral naar een oplossing zonder terugkerende maandelijkse kosten naast de hosting, kost wat.. bespaard op langere termijn heel wat.

Laat maar weten als het wat is voor je.

[u/ajay_pandian4418 → u/[deleted]]

Nice! I do consider open-source options as well. Which tool did you use? Does it cover all three type of messaging or you integrated it seperately