# Bird vs Stream

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Stream

| Attribute | Bird | Stream |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 72.5 (30% (low)) | 73 (62% (medium)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Multi-channel communications platform enabling email, SMS, voice, WhatsApp, and real-time messaging through a single API designed for developers and AI agents. | Platform providing real-time chat messaging, video calling, livestreaming, activity feeds, and AI moderation APIs with SDKs for building multi-modal applications at scale. |
| features.capabilities | `{"rcs":true,"sms":true,"email":true,"voice":true,"two_way":true,"whatsapp":true,"verify_otp":true,"global_coverage":"global","deliverability_tools":true,"usage_pricing_transparent":true}` | `{"chat":true,"video":true,"voice":true,"two_way":true,"global_coverage":"global","usage_pricing_transparent":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 1 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Datadog"}]` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"1000 emails/month, no credit card required","features":["1 webhook endpoint","1 sending domain","Shared sending IP"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"emails":"1000/month","daily_cap":"50/day"}},{"free":false,"name":"Startup","summary":"$15/month for 50K emails or $30/month for 100K","features":["1 webhook endpoint","10 sending domains","Shared sending IP"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":15,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"emails":"50000-100000/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Growth","summary":"From $80/month at 100K emails. Per-message rate declines to $0.42 per 1000 at 2.5M volume","features":["10 webhook endpoints","1000 sending domains","Dedicated IPs available as add-on"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1000,"unit":"email"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.8,"currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"emails":"100000-2500000/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing for 2.5M+ monthly emails","features":["Negotiated per-message rates","Multi-year invoiced billing","Overage cap lifted by agreement"],"commitment":"annual","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"emails":"2500000+/month"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Dedicated IP","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":24.95,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier with 1000 emails/month. Startup from $15/month. Growth from $80/month with volume-based pricing declining to $0.42 per 1000 emails.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://bird.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T13:21:15.007Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.8,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Build","summary":"Free","features":["All Chat features","Community Support","No credit card required"],"description":"Free tier for makers","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mau":"1,000","channels":"up to 500K","message_storage":"up to 5M messages","concurrent_connections":"100"}},{"free":false,"name":"Start","summary":"$399/mo billed annually, $499/mo monthly","features":["Advanced Moderation & Filters","Global EDGE Network","Offline Support","Data Export"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":399,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Robust Chat features","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mau":"10,000","channels":"up to 1M","message_storage":"up to 10M messages","concurrent_connections":"500"}},{"free":false,"name":"Elevate","summary":"$599/mo billed annually, $675/mo monthly","features":["All Start features","Multi Tenancy/Teams","Advanced Search","HIPAA","Message Translations"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":599,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Start features plus multi-tenancy and advanced capabilities","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mau":"10,000","concurrent_connections":"500"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Contact for pricing","features":["Scale to millions of users","AI Moderation","99.999% SLA","Dedicated Servers","Shared Slack Channel","Onboarding Services","Migration Guarantee","24/7 Support","SAML/SSO","Datadog Integration"],"description":"Enterprise-grade service with volume discounts and premium support","contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"MAU Overage","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"user"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.09,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Concurrent Connections Overage","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"concurrent"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.99,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Stored Message Overage","components":[{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"messages"},"kind":"metered","amount":6,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"From $399/mo billed annually. Free tier available.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://getstream.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-04T08:34:00.374Z","startingPrice":{"amount":399,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | high |
| pricing.starting_gbp | 0.8 | 399 |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.999 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |

## Capabilities (Communication APIs)

| Capability | Bird | Stream |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Channels** |  |  |
| SMS | ✓ | - |
| Voice | ✓ | ✓ |
| WhatsApp | ✓ | - |
| RCS | ✓ | - |
| Transactional email | ✓ | - |
| Video / real-time | - | ✓ |
| In-app chat | - | ✓ |
| Verify / OTP / 2FA | ✓ | - |
| **Messaging** |  |  |
| Two-way messaging | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Reach** |  |  |
| Geographic coverage | Global | Global |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Email deliverability tools | ✓ | - |
| **Commercial** |  |  |
| Published per-unit pricing | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-08-07T00:01:07.268Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*