Chat as a Service (CAAS) Solutions
We are currently in closed-beta with our Qt/C++ based video application. Our users are requesting "text-chat" as a way to communicate with other users.
Knowing the litany of "Chat" products that are out there, I'm not a huge fan of redundancy in communication products. I figure this must be a SaaS that completes my goals. Furthermore, many of these products are "mobile first" (as in they require SMS verification to begin using their service).
Things I'm looking for:
- I'd prefer not to maintain servers
- Must have a RESTful API or C++ SDK (we are not developing for Android / iOS independently) and we are not building a website (ie. JS SDKs are not very useful)
- Ability to add and remove users programmatically when they create accounts on our service.
- Security (obviously)
- Would prefer not to warehouse messages or be able to access them
Things I've looked at:
Open Whisper Systems "Signal" Protocol.
Pros:
- Known standard for secure communications.
Cons:
- Signal "Text Secure Server" code is unwieldy and poorly documented (https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Server)
Twilio "Programmable Chat"
Pros:
- Dynamic REST APIs
- 3rd Party hosted (don't have any servers to maintain and scale)
Cons:
- Corporate Service hosting (I know Twilio is better than most)
Thoughts?
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