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HCL Connections vs Sendbird comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.2
Users achieved ROI from HCL Connections in nine months by encouraging daily use and eliminating redundant features like chat.
Sentiment score
6.1
Sendbird streamlined operations, reduced costs, and enhanced user engagement, boosting business performance without a custom chat infrastructure.
The main return was not something of direct cost tracking on my own side, but more on the time saved, the faster response, and the reduced pressure on agents.
SDR and Workflow Automation Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I have seen a return on investment, including saved money, saved time, and the requirement of very few resources or employees to implement Sendbird chat.
Senior Software Professional at Merkle INC
It allowed us to focus on validating business workflows and user experience instead of troubleshooting core messaging functionality.
Software Engineer in Test at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
HCL Connections' customer service varies, with mixed reviews on support responsiveness and challenges in reaching knowledgeable staff.
Sentiment score
5.4
Sendbird's customer service is helpful and knowledgeable, but response times vary, especially with technical or multi-SDK issues.
The resolution to some problems that involved multiple SDKs came in a little later and required a lot of effort from my end to get the solution out.
Vice President, Technology (Mobile Architecture & Platform Lead) at Playfora
The team was responsive and helpful in addressing technical questions.
Software Engineer in Test at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Customer support is great; whenever I require support from Sendbird team, I receive a response within 24 hours.
Senior Software Professional at Merkle INC
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
HCL Connections offers high scalability with effective IBM WebSphere support, despite Solr search limitations and manageable storage challenges.
Sentiment score
6.2
Sendbird scales effectively, supporting millions of messages and thousands of users, despite some SDK limits and documentation challenges.
It has very good connection management which helps a large number of concurrent users to connect and use the chatbot and also helps to maintain traffic spikes.
Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Chats still came in real time, and agents could manage multiple conversations without the system slowing down.
SDR and Workflow Automation Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The scalability is quite effective.
Junior Software Developer at Weavers Web Solutions Private Limited
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
HCL Connections is stable on WebSphere but needs tuning for performance; IBM support addresses occasional instability effectively.
Sentiment score
7.0
Users find Sendbird stable with minor issues, strong support, scalable for high chat volumes, and effective AI capabilities.
Conversations loaded properly, messages delivered in real time, and the system generally stayed responsive even when chat volumes increased significantly.
SDR and Workflow Automation Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The chatbot availability is approximately 99% and even if some services are down, it does not affect the chatbot availability.
Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Sendbird was a stable and reliable platform throughout my experience.
Software Engineer in Test at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

HCL Connections needs better document management, interface customization, third-party integration, collaboration, and cloud stability for improved usability.
Sendbird needs documentation, SDK stability improvements, and enhanced features for better integration, support, and user experience.
With AI-driven development happening, I would say include more AI-driven development or include more options on different libraries and languages.
Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
More flexibility in configuring unread count behavior, along with clearer documentation and debugging tools for these scenarios, would make it easier for developers and QA teams to validate and troubleshoot messaging workflows.
Software Engineer in Test at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
The documentation for integrating with the Flutter framework is lacking detailed information.
Junior Software Developer at Weavers Web Solutions Private Limited
 

Setup Cost

HCL Connections pricing varies widely, offers discounts, flexible licensing, and competitive pricing compared to Jive or SharePoint.
Sendbird is often considered expensive, with limited trial users and starting plans at $399, influencing purchasing decisions.
overall it is an expensive product as compared to other peers
Vice President, Technology (Mobile Architecture & Platform Lead) at Playfora
The subscription cost is quite high, which prevents us from subscribing before the project completion and user testing.
Junior Software Developer at Weavers Web Solutions Private Limited
Compared to other chat providers, Sendbird is not that expensive to integrate.
Senior Software Professional at Merkle INC
 

Valuable Features

HCL Connections enhances collaboration with file sharing, tool integration, expert profiles, mobile access, and efficient content management.
Sendbird enhances communication through real-time messaging, easy integration, scalability, and diverse features, boosting efficiency and user engagement.
Features similar to WhatsApp, such as online and offline statuses, message reactions, and replies, add significant value.
Junior Software Developer at Weavers Web Solutions Private Limited
On average, I save two weeks per project compared to building custom chatbots.
Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Having the full history in one place makes a very big difference because agents can quickly understand what has already happened and continue helping customers without making them repeat themselves.
SDR and Workflow Automation Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL Connections
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (5th)
Sendbird
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (9th), AI Customer Experience Personalization (1st), AI Customer Support (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Enterprise Social Software category, the mindshare of HCL Connections is 2.6%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sendbird is 1.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Social Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sendbird1.9%
HCL Connections2.6%
Other95.5%
Enterprise Social Software
 

Featured Reviews

Hasnain Zahid - PeerSpot reviewer
Talent acquisition & development specialist at Software Productivity Strategists, Inc. (SPS)
A stable tool useful to manage marketing-related activities
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. Sometimes, the portal hangs because I find that if I am on a web page, I have to log out, and then I have to log in to the portal again. Since I see that the portal hangs at times, I have to move from one side of the portal to the next, making me feel that some things are scattered in the product. I attended a meeting with IBM recently, and they are improving a few of the things, in my opinion. The concerns that I have related to the product are being improved since I think many other users have reported issues similar to the ones I faced.
Shadrach Godwish Chukwu - PeerSpot reviewer
SDR and Workflow Automation Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Organized real-time customer chats have improved support efficiency and response handling
One thing I found unique about Sendbird is how smooth the real-time chat feels. It does not feel delayed or clunky. Conversations flow naturally, as though you are talking to someone in real time. If I could improve one thing, I would add more built-in analytics around conversations, such as clearer insights on response times, common issues, and agent performance. That would make it much easier to optimize support without relying on external tools. One improvement I see for Sendbird would be more flexibility in customizing the chat interface, especially around how conversations are displayed for agents. Sometimes, when handling multiple chats, having better layout controls or quick filters would make it much easier to stay organized. I also would appreciate more built-in analytics inside the platform itself, such as clearer breakdowns of response times, chat resolution rates, and common customer issues. Right now, you often need external tools to get that level of insights. Overall, it works very well, but those improvements would make the day-to-day support work much smoother and much more efficient.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Performing Arts
8%
Construction Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Media Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Connections?
The support is an area where the product can improve. My company faces some support-related issues because whenever we create or generate a ticket, it takes two days for the product's support team ...
What is your primary use case for HCL Connections?
I use HCL Connections for marketing purposes. The IBM product in our company already provides us with direct links to the marketing and HR sides.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sendbird?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing indicates that pricing was expensive, but Sendbird was kind enough to give us some discount initially, while overall it is an expensive product...
What needs improvement with Sendbird?
To improve Sendbird, my suggestion is to not launch products in Beta; live stream was launched in Beta. Their teams could be better in sync, as I had a very bad bug wherein all three SDKs had a pro...
What is your primary use case for Sendbird?
My main use case for Sendbird is to give chat functionality to our users and also a live stream feature in the app. A specific example of how my users interact with the chat or live stream features...
 

Also Known As

IBM Connections, Lotus Connections
Sendbird Calls, Sendbird Desk
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Yamato Financial Co. Ltd., University of Zurich, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., Telus, Rabobank, Christian Brothers Services, Grupo Financiero Banorte, The Loft Group, Dow Water & Process Solutions, JGC Corporation, College of Medicine, Swansea University, solvito GmbH, Loft Group, Hamm-Reno Group GmbH, Geno SA
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Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Connections vs. Sendbird and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
904,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.