Why Use APIs to Build In-App Chat?

Shalini P
Applozic
Published in
3 min readJun 2, 2021
When you think of including any element to your mobile/website, there are two ways to do it: either you develop it yourself, or you buy it. Let’s look at how APIs simplify the whole process.

Technology has never been as dynamic as it is in today’s time and age. The faster-than-ever technology innovations have also transformed our personal and business communications. Live chats have become the first choice of communication live chats:

● Offer fast interactions

● Allow chat participants to multitask

● Allow easy communication from anywhere in the world

With live chats taking the business communications center stage, businesses across the world are including them in their communication practices. Though live chats enhance real-time experiences, it’s more about the speed and efficacy with which the businesses will sail through this transition.

Live chats make it a cakewalk to engage customers and win their trust.

User experience researchers have found that 41% of online customers want businesses to have an in-app chat option on their websites.

The primary reason behind this shift is the fact that users prefer typing more than speaking. Since typing is a more convenient mode of communication, customers want an in-app chat option almost everywhere, right from online shopping, technical support, customer service, and more.

Why Live Chat APIs?

If you want to succeed with messaging then there’s no better way of doing it than by using APIs. APIs are in fact one of the greatest contributors to the fast-paced growth in the chat world today. Not just the in-app chats, in fact, APIs have facilitated the overall technical transformation of many businesses in the past decade. Forbes has been reporting on it, and TechCrunch says APIs are the next big wave of SaaS.

Let’s understand the reason by taking the contrasting path: building a live chat software from scratch. Here are a few points that you’ll need to figure out before creating a live chat software ground-up:

● How long will it take me to make the chat software available to my end users?

● What am I going to do about data security?

● How will I ensure my chat software will be scalable?

● How much will it cost me?

● How much will it cost me if I want it faster?

When you read the last question, that’s when you start wondering, “how long will it take to build an in-app chat software from scratch?”

Not to be pedantic, but it’s going to take a lot of time, and yes, there will be many reworks, and there will be a lot of money in terms of talent acquisition and man-hours.

This is where APIs come to the rescue. APIs play a vital role in making in-app chat integration faster, better, and more efficient. As a matter of fact, there’s a complete blog on why you should use APIs to launch an in-app live chat option on your website. It will help you make an informed decision and clarify a lot of doubts that must be clouding your decision.

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Shalini P
Applozic
Writer for

7+ years in B2B SaaS as a Content Creator & Strategist | Sharing everything I have learnt about Apps, Products (Management) and the people behind their success.