Better Messages Pricing
Better Messages is a free WordPress plugin — install it from WordPress.org and the AJAX version works right away. Real-time messaging via polling, chat rooms, file sharing, group chats, and 34+ integrations are all included at no cost, on any WordPress hosting.
To upgrade to the WebSocket version — instant push delivery, dramatically reduced WordPress server load, voice and video calls, Better Messages Cloud AI services (moderation, translation, transcription), end-to-end encryption, and the native iOS / Android mobile apps — buy a license. The WebSocket version is delivered as a separate plugin download from your Freemius account, and once activated it replaces the free version inside WordPress automatically. All your messages, threads, files, settings, and integrations stay intact through the swap.
Pricing summary#
| Plan | Monthly price | Annual price | Annual total | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJAX (Free) | $0 | $0 | $0 | unlimited |
| WebSocket | $14.99 / month | $11.99 / month | $143.88 / year | 1 site per license |
| WebSocket Self-Hosted | — | $25.00 / month | $299.99 / year | 1 site per license |
All paid plans are per-site licenses. The annual option is roughly 20 % cheaper than monthly. Self-hosted billing is annual only.
Get WebSocket License
Take engagement of your website users to the next level with realtime chat features, private video and audio call, group video calls and many other features.
Payments are processed through Freemius, the same checkout used by thousands of premium WordPress plugins. Credit and debit cards plus PayPal are accepted. Each paid license includes a 7-day money-back guarantee — see the refund policy for full terms.
Which plan should I pick?#
- AJAX (Free) — start here to evaluate the plugin on a real site. Messaging, chat rooms, file sharing, group chats, AI chat bots, and 34+ integrations all work out of the box. Upgrade to the WebSocket version when you're ready to add instant delivery, dramatically reduced WordPress server load, voice and video calls, Better Messages Cloud AI services, end-to-end encryption, and the native mobile apps.
- WebSocket (monthly) — same plugin, but messages arrive instantly. Pick this if you want to try the paid version risk-free for a month, or if your site's revenue is not yet ready to commit a year in advance.
- WebSocket (annual) — recommended for production sites. Same features as monthly, but ~20 % cheaper, and you don't have to think about renewals each month.
- WebSocket Self-Hosted — only relevant if you must run the WebSocket relay on your own infrastructure (GDPR Article 9, HIPAA-adjacent, jurisdictional sovereignty, internal corporate policy). Includes everything in the WebSocket plan plus the self-hosted relay build and a one-time installation service. Note: you also need to provide a dedicated cloud instance or VPS to host the relay on — that infrastructure is billed by your hosting provider separately and is not part of the $25/mo plan. Most sites do not need this.
What's included in each plan#
AJAX (Free) — $0#
Available on WordPress.org. Uses AJAX polling for message delivery — no separate server infrastructure required. Runs on any WordPress hosting, including shared hosts.
- Realtime chatting via AJAX polling
- Modern, mobile-friendly design
- Chat rooms — public or members-only
- File sharing with EXIF stripping and proxy-protected URLs
- Reworked email notifications
- Emoji selector
- Stickers and GIFs (GIPHY / KLIPY)
- Sound notifications
- On-site notifications
- Embedded link previews
- Multi-participant conversations
- Group messages
- Favorited messages
- Conversation subjects
- Threads muting
- Message formatting with markdown syntax (bold, italic, lists, code, blockquotes)
- Mass messaging tools for admins
- Edit, delete, and reply to messages
- Message reactions
- AI chat bots — OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, and Google Gemini (via the included AI add-on, using your own provider API key)
- White-label — no Better Messages branding shown to end users
- 34+ native integrations (BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, PeepSo, WooCommerce, Dokan, LearnDash, and many more)
- Voice messages — via the separate Voice Messages add-on (works on both versions)
- Email, forum, and help-center support
WebSocket — $14.99 / month, or $11.99 / month annually#
Everything in the AJAX plan, plus an instant WebSocket relay (hosted by us as part of the license) and the WebSocket-only features below.
- Instant messages delivery — sub-100 ms WebSocket push, not polling
- Dramatically reduced WordPress server load — AJAX polling fires a request from every active user to your WordPress REST API every few seconds. WebSocket offloads that traffic entirely to the Better Messages cloud relay — your WP server only handles initial page loads and database writes when messages are sent. Often the single biggest practical benefit for sites on shared hosting, entry-level VPS, or with many concurrent chatters
- Unlimited connections — no per-user or per-message caps
- HD video calls — one-on-one inside any thread
- HD audio calls — one-on-one inside any thread
- HD group video chats — multi-participant
- HD group audio chats — multi-participant
- Screen sharing during calls
- Web push notifications — browser push for desktop and mobile web
- End-to-end encryption — opt-in per thread, keys never leave the participant browsers
- Better Messages Cloud AI — content moderation, message translation, voice transcription (runs on our infrastructure, no third-party API key needed)
- Presence indicator — see who is online
- Additional on-site notifications
- User statuses (online, away, busy, custom)
- Typing indicator
- Message status (sent, delivered, read)
- Mini chats — popup chat from profiles and member directories
- Mini threads — inline mini-threads inside posts
- iOS mobile app (alpha) — App Store TestFlight build
- Android mobile app (alpha) — APK / Play Store build
- Your data is yours — you can export and migrate at any time
- Seamless plan change — upgrade or switch billing without re-installing
- Priority support
Email, forum, and help-center support (same channels as the free plan, prioritized).
WebSocket Self-Hosted — $25 / month billed annually#
Everything in the WebSocket plan, plus the relay runs on your own infrastructure.
Note: the self-hosted plan covers the relay build, the installation service, and the license — it does not include the server the relay runs on. You need to provide your own dedicated cloud instance or VPS (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode, AWS EC2, Google Cloud, your private datacenter, etc.), billed by your hosting provider separately.
- All WebSocket plan features
- Self-hosted relay build — the relay shipped as a deployable bundle
- Installation service — we set up the relay on the cloud instance or VPS you provide (one-time, included)
- Data transmitted through your servers only — no third-party relay, useful for GDPR Article 9 data, HIPAA-adjacent workloads, or jurisdictional rules about which servers may transit user data
- Dedicated cloud instance / VPS required — you supply the server, billed separately by your hosting provider (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode, AWS, etc.)
- Priority email, forum, and help-center support
Full feature comparison#
| Feature | AJAX (Free) | WebSocket | WebSocket Self-Hosted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $14.99 / mo, or $11.99 / mo annual | $25 / mo annual |
| Single-site license | unlimited installs | 1 | 1 |
| Relay infrastructure | not needed (AJAX uses your WP hosting) | included (we host the relay) | you provide a dedicated VPS / cloud instance, billed separately |
| Realtime chatting | yes (AJAX polling) | yes (instant push) | yes (instant push) |
| Chat rooms | yes | yes | yes |
| File sharing | yes | yes | yes |
| Voice messages add-on | works | works | works |
| Email notifications | yes | yes | yes |
| Emoji, stickers, GIFs | yes | yes | yes |
| Sound + on-site notifications | yes | yes | yes |
| Group messages and conversations | yes | yes | yes |
| Edit, delete, reply, react | yes | yes | yes |
| Markdown message formatting | yes | yes | yes |
| Mass messaging | yes | yes | yes |
| 34+ integrations | yes | yes | yes |
| AI chat bots (OpenAI / Anthropic / Gemini, your API key) | yes | yes | yes |
| White-label | yes | yes | yes |
| WordPress server load from messaging | scales with active users | minimal (relay handles it) | minimal (your relay handles it) |
| Instant WebSocket delivery | — | yes | yes |
| Unlimited connections | — | yes | yes |
| HD 1-on-1 voice + video calls | — | yes | yes |
| HD group voice + video calls | — | yes | yes |
| Screen sharing | — | yes | yes |
| Web push notifications | — | yes | yes |
| End-to-end encryption | — | yes | yes |
| Better Messages Cloud AI (moderation, translation, transcription) | — | yes | yes |
| Mini chat popups | — | yes | yes |
| Typing + presence + read status | — | yes | yes |
| iOS / Android mobile app | — | yes (alpha) | yes (alpha) |
| Priority support | — | yes | yes |
| Self-hosted WebSocket relay | — | — | yes |
| Installation service | — | — | yes (included) |
Add-ons#
- Voice Messages — record and send audio messages in conversations. Works on both the AJAX (free) version and the WebSocket version.
Frequently asked questions#
Is there a free version?#
Yes. The free version is published on WordPress.org under the slug bp-better-messages. It uses AJAX polling for realtime delivery and includes all the core messaging, chat-room, file-sharing, and integration features. No license required.
Why is the WebSocket version paid?#
The WebSocket version includes a hosted relay infrastructure (servers in multiple regions, TURN relays for calls, monitoring, scaling) plus access to the Better Messages Cloud AI services (moderation, translation, transcription). The subscription pays for that infrastructure and ongoing development.
Are prices per-site?#
Yes. Every paid plan is sold as a single-site license. If you have multiple sites, you need multiple licenses. Talk to support if you need a larger custom plan.
Do you provide staging licenses?#
Yes — staging licenses are available on annual plans only. They let you activate the same WebSocket license on a separate staging or development site alongside your production site, so you can test plugin updates and configuration changes without buying a second license. Monthly billing does not include a staging license. Contact support after your annual purchase to enable staging activation.
Can I switch between monthly and annual?#
Yes. Freemius lets you switch billing cycles from your account dashboard.
What happens if I cancel the WebSocket subscription?#
Your license expires. The plugin reverts to AJAX behavior — messages, threads, history, files, integration data, and AI chat bots stay intact, but WebSocket push, calls, Better Messages Cloud AI, the mobile apps, and the other WebSocket-only features stop working. You can reactivate at any time.
Is there a refund policy?#
Yes — 7-day money-back guarantee on first purchase. Refund requests are processed directly through the Freemius account dashboard. See the full refund policy for terms and eligibility details.
Does pricing scale with my user count?#
No. WebSocket version pricing is flat per site, regardless of how many users, messages, or concurrent connections you have. A site with 100,000 active users pays the same as one with 100. See no limits on connections or volume.
How does this compare to other realtime / chat-as-a-service platforms?#
The pricing model is fundamentally different. Most realtime / chat-as-a-service platforms — the SaaS providers that sell WebSocket pub/sub infrastructure as a building block — charge per concurrent connection, per monthly active user (MAU), or per delivered message, sometimes a combination of all three. Entry tiers start cheap, but the bill scales linearly (or worse) as your community grows. A WordPress site with a few thousand concurrent chatters can easily cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per month on those services, and even modest active communities routinely outgrow free tiers within weeks.
Better Messages WebSocket is flat-rate per site, regardless of size: $14.99/mo monthly, $11.99/mo billed annually. 100 concurrent users or 100,000 — same bill, same features, same performance. We can do this because the relay is purpose-built for messaging on WordPress (not a general-purpose pub/sub channel rented by anyone for anything), and we don't bill per delivered event.
And the comparison isn't apples-to-apples — those services usually sell only the WebSocket relay layer. The Better Messages WebSocket plan includes a lot more on top of WebSocket messaging:
- Voice and video call infrastructure — relay servers for peer-to-peer connections, fallback for users behind restrictive networks, and call signaling. Standalone realtime call services typically add a separate per-minute or per-participant bill.
- Group voice and video calls — multi-participant calls inside any conversation, with no per-minute charge regardless of session length or attendee count.
- Better Messages Cloud AI — content moderation, real-time message translation, and voice transcription, all running on our infrastructure with no separate API account, per-token billing, or third-party rate limits.
- Web push and mobile-app push delivery — included, with no separate push-as-a-service subscription.
Compared on like-for-like infrastructure (messaging + calls + AI + push), the savings widen significantly. If your community has growth ambitions, flat-rate pricing avoids the unpleasant surprise where success suddenly becomes expensive. See no limits on connections or volume for the full breakdown.
Will the WebSocket version reduce my WordPress server load?#
Yes — significantly, and this is often the biggest practical reason production sites upgrade. The AJAX (free) version uses polling: every active user fires a request to your WordPress REST API every few seconds to check for new messages. With many concurrent chatters this adds up to meaningful CPU and database load on your WP server, and grows linearly with active user count. The WebSocket version routes all messaging traffic to the Better Messages cloud relay instead — your WordPress server only handles initial page loads and the database write when a message is sent. For sites on shared hosting, entry-level VPS, or with hundreds of concurrent users, the load reduction is dramatic and often pays back the subscription cost in hosting savings alone.
Do I need the self-hosted plan?#
Only if you have strict data-sovereignty rules — GDPR Article 9 (special-category personal data), HIPAA-adjacent workflows, internal corporate policy forbidding third-party relays, or jurisdictional requirements about which servers user data may pass through. For the vast majority of community, marketplace, LMS, and membership sites, the standard WebSocket plan is the right pick. The cloud relay is blind to message content and is GDPR-compatible by default.
Also keep in mind that the self-hosted plan does not include hosting infrastructure. You need a dedicated cloud instance or VPS (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode, AWS, etc.) to run the relay on, billed separately by your hosting provider. Most teams underestimate this when comparing the $25/mo self-hosted price against the standard $11.99/mo WebSocket plan — by the time you add the hosting cost and the operational overhead of running it yourself, the standard plan is usually meaningfully cheaper unless you have a hard requirement that forces self-hosting.
What payment methods are accepted?#
Credit and debit cards and PayPal through the Freemius checkout. Wire transfer and invoicing are available for annual and self-hosted plans on request.
Where do I buy?#
You have three options, all using the same Freemius checkout:
- Right here on this page — click the Get WebSocket Version button above. The checkout opens in a secure overlay and you stay on this page through the purchase. Toggle between monthly and annual inside the modal.
- From the better-messages.com homepage — the same red button on the homepage triggers the same checkout.
- From the WordPress admin — after installing the free plugin, open Better Messages → Account → Upgrade.
All three routes land you on the same Freemius checkout, with the same prices and the same 7-day money-back guarantee.
Is there a lifetime license?#
No, for two reasons:
1. Hosted infrastructure costs money every day. The WebSocket version isn't just code — it includes the cloud WebSocket relay, TURN servers for voice and video calls, push-notification gateways, and Better Messages Cloud AI services (moderation, translation, transcription). Every active license keeps those servers running.
2. Continuous updates and support cost money every day. Better Messages has been actively developed since 2017. WordPress evolves, browsers change, the 34+ integrated plugins ship new versions, security patches go out regularly, new features land in every release, and customer support questions need real human answers. A one-time payment can't fund ongoing development and support indefinitely.
A lifetime model can work for finished products that ship once and walk away. It can't work for a plugin that is hosted, deeply integrated with the rest of the WordPress ecosystem, actively maintained, and supported. Plenty of plugin shops have sold lifetime deals, run out of runway, and either stopped updating, stopped supporting, or shut down — leaving "lifetime" customers stranded. We'd rather charge a fair subscription and stay around than over-promise and break it later.
If recurring billing is the friction point, the free AJAX version on WordPress.org has no expiration and no license — it works forever, no strings attached.
See also#
- What is Better Messages? — features overview and how the two versions differ
- Installation guide — how to install the plugin
- No limits on connections or volume — why the WebSocket plan stays flat-priced regardless of site size
- Integrations directory — the 34+ plugins Better Messages plugs into
- End-user license agreement — full license terms