Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots vs rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress

Better Messages is the most feature-rich realtime private messaging system for WordPress, with native integrations for BuddyPress, BuddyBoss Platform, Ultimate Member, PeepSo and any other WordPress powered websites. Transform your WordPress site into a powerful communication platform with private messaging, chat rooms, video and audio calls, group video chats, AI chat bots, and native mobile apps. Whether you’re building a private or public community, social network, intranet, chat-rooms site, marketplace, membership site, dating platform, or creator economy site – Better Messages provides enterprise-level messaging features with an easy-to-use interface. Try Better Messages: Live Demo — fully functional demo site Documentation & Knowledge Base — setup guides, features, FAQ All Integrations — every supported plugin and theme Pricing — free vs WebSocket version comparison Blog & Tutorials — guides, walkthroughs, integration deep-dives For developers: REST API Reference — every endpoint and parameter PHP Hooks — actions, filters, helper functions JavaScript Hooks — frontend events and customization API Changelog — every release and bug fix Roadmap — upcoming features and votes Popular use cases: Better Messages is widely used to power messaging for: Private communities — paid and members-only community platforms, mastermind groups, alumni networks, course cohorts, coaching circles, role-restricted messaging, group chats, AI Chat Bots for onboarding and FAQs, end-to-end encryption for sensitive conversations Public communities and social networks — open social platforms, hobby and interest communities, BuddyPress / BuddyBoss / PeepSo / FluentCommunity-powered sites, private messaging, group conversations, chat rooms, mini chat widgets that follow users across the site Intranet and corporate websites — internal employee communication, team and department channels, role-restricted access by WordPress role, file sharing, voice and video calls for remote teams, self-hosted plan for sites with data-sovereignty requirements Chat rooms websites — sites built around real-time chat rooms as the primary feature, public and private rooms, topic-based discussion, guest access for unregistered visitors, AJAX or WebSocket delivery Dating and matchmaking sites — private 1-on-1 chat, photo and video attachments, voice and video calls, profile-to-profile chat buttons on member directories, guest chat for browsing visitors, end-to-end encryption for private conversations Creator economy and fan platforms — paid messaging with per-message and per-call billing via GamiPress or MyCRED, private video calls, mass messaging to fans, always-on mini chat widgets Premium and monetized DM platforms — charge per direct message or per call with per-role pricing, balance display, role-restricted messaging, AI Content Moderation to filter spam and scam attempts Coaching and mentorship platforms — client-to-coach DMs, scheduled video calls, voice messages, file sharing, course chat rooms via LMS integrations Online stores (WooCommerce) — pre-sales chat on product pages, post-purchase order support, cart-context-aware messages, embedded inbox in My Account Multi-vendor marketplaces and classifieds — buyer-to-seller chat on every listing, per-listing threads, guest chat for unregistered visitors Online courses (LMS) — course chat rooms, instructor-to-student DMs, group conversations for cohort-based courses Forums and Q&A communities — Private Message link on every reply, follow-up chat for thread participants Real estate and listings sites — agent inquiry messaging, property-context chat threads, guest chat for browsing visitors Live events and webinars — event lobby chat rooms, guest access for non-registered attendees, group voice and video calls for AMAs, pinned messages with event agendas Booking and appointment platforms — guest-to-host messaging on listings and bookings, file sharing for documents, voice and video calls before check-in Crypto and Web3 communities — token-gated chat rooms via membership plugin and WordPress roles, AMA group calls, AI knowledge bots for whitepaper questions, mobile apps for on-the-go engagement “Better Messages” plugin is formerly called “BP Better Messages“. Translate Better Messages to your language Core Messaging Features: AJAX or WebSocket powered realtime conversations Private one-to-one conversations Group conversations with unlimited participants Chat Rooms with guest access support Messages for BuddyPress Groups, PeepSo Groups, Ultimate Member Groups, FluentCommunity Groups Subjects for conversations Search across all messages Mark messages as favorite Pin important messages to conversation top Pin favorite conversations to list top Filter conversations list to show only unread conversations Reply to specific messages Edit sent messages (with edit indicator) Delete messages Forward messages to other conversations Mute conversation notifications Message draft autosave with recovery AI & Automation: AI Chat Bots powered by OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude) and Google Gemini AI Chat Bots in group conversations with mention-based responses Conversation summarization and scheduled digests with AI Token usage tracking with cost estimation Voice message transcription powered by Better Messages Cloud AI or OpenAI Web Search capability for AI bots File Search tool for AI bots Image generation with AI PDF file support for AI conversations Media & Content: File sharing with resumable uploads and ability to protect files from direct access (images, videos, documents) Client-side image and video optimization for cross-browser compatibility and saving storage space (format conversion, quality control, metadata stripping) Voice Messages (available as addon) Embedded links with thumbnails and descriptions oEmbed support for YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, SoundCloud, Flickr and 20+ services Emoji selector Built-in sticker packs with role-based access and per-locale support GIF integration with GIPHY and Klipy providers Inline sticker suggestions while typing Markdown text formatting support Notifications: Email notifications for unread messages (customizable templates) Unsubscribe link support in emails Sound notifications for new messages On-site toast notifications anywhere on your website Moderation & Security: AI Content Moderation with two providers: Better Messages Moderation AI — included with WebSocket license at no additional cost, no third-party API keys required. Powered by Better Messages Cloud with extended categories, custom rules, and conversation context awareness OpenAI Moderation API — free to use, requires an OpenAI API key Custom moderation rules — define your own rules in plain text Conversation context awareness — detect patterns split across multiple messages Choose between “Flag Only” (recommended) or “Hold for Review” moderation actions Pre-Moderated Messages – review messages before delivery Report messages feature Bad words filter with customizable blacklist Block user feature Role-based access control User whitelist/blacklist for moderation Engagement Features: Reactions to messages Mentions (@username) Mass messaging from WP Admin with scheduling, file attachments, and background processing Suggested conversations for new users Mini Widgets: Embed conversation entry points anywhere on your site without using shortcodes Five widgets: Friends, Groups, Users, AI Bots, Chat Rooms Two display styles: Classic Bar or Floating Bubble (with chat heads) Three placement surfaces: bottom bar, side panel, mobile tab bar Per-widget icon picker, search box, role restrictions, and “Hide Tab When Empty” toggle Users widget with three display modes (all / by role / hand-picked) and sorting by last activity or registration date Customizable order of tabs in mini widgets, side panel and mobile view Customization: Modern, fully customizable design Easy color customization via WP Customizer Custom notification sounds RTL layout support White label solution Fully translatable Auto-delete old messages option Privacy & GDPR: Dedicated Privacy & GDPR settings page All message data stored on your own server AI moderation (when enabled) sends message content for analysis — Better Messages Cloud does not store any data, review OpenAI’s data policy if using OpenAI provider WordPress personal data export and erasure support (Tools → Export/Erase Personal Data) Suggested privacy policy text that adapts based on enabled features Self-hosted emoji images option — no external CDN requests Privacy-friendly video embeds — YouTube, Vimeo load only after user clicks No cookies set, no analytics or tracking scripts Privacy & GDPR documentation This is not a complete list of features – Better Messages has many more small features and options that are not listed here. We are constantly adding new features and improvements based on user feedback. Compatible plugins & themes — 35+ native integrations: Better Messages works on any WordPress site out of the box. If your site already runs a community plugin, an LMS, a marketplace, or a directory, Better Messages plugs into it directly — inheriting members, profiles, groups, courses, listings, and posts so chat surfaces appear in the right places without setup. Community & Membership Platforms — replaces the built-in messenger and inherits members, profiles, friends, and groups: BuddyPress BuddyBoss Platform — including BuddyBoss Theme and ReadyLaunch PeepSo Ultimate Member FluentCommunity — including Spaces and Courses SureDash ProfileGrid UsersWP WP User Manager Learning Management Systems (LMS) — course chat rooms, instructor messaging, and student-to-student conversations: LearnDash — including Instructor Role add-on LearnPress Tutor LMS MasterStudy LMS FluentCommunity Courses E-commerce — WooCommerce — pre-sales and order support chat for online stores: WooCommerce — Contact buttons on product, cart, checkout, and order pages. Cart contents are auto-posted into the conversation as a rich message so your support agent immediately sees what the customer is looking at, order pages post a structured order context card. Plain product URLs pasted into any chat are expanded into rich product cards. Embedded inbox lives inside WooCommerce My Account. HPOS-compatible, block-theme-compatible, works with guest checkout. Available on both the free and WebSocket versions — the WebSocket version opens chats as a popup mini-widget overlay instead of navigating away. Marketplaces & Multi-Vendor — buyer-to-vendor chat on top of WooCommerce, with per-vendor opt-in and contact buttons on vendor stores, product pages, and order details: Dokan Marketplace MultiVendorX WCFM WC Vendors Listings, Directories & Classifieds — contact buttons on every listing, with per-listing threads: HivePress Directorist GeoDirectory Classified Listing Motors – Car Dealer, Classifieds & Listing WP Job Manager Real Estate Themes — agent and inquiry messaging on property listings: Houzez RealHomes Forums — Private Message link on every reply: wpForo bbPress Gamification, Points & Paid Access — charge per message or call with per-role pricing and balance display: GamiPress MyCRED Automation & Page Builders: Uncanny Automator — triggers and actions for chat events AutomatorWP — triggers and actions for chat events Crocoblock JetEngine Profile Builder — profile and chat shortcodes for JetEngine listings Push & PWA: OneSignal — web push notifications Progressify PWA — install-to-home-screen prompts on the messenger Universal Shortcode Builder — add chat to anything else: Don’t see your plugin or theme in the list? Better Messages ships a visual Shortcode Builder at WP Admin → Better Messages → Shortcodes that lets you drop a Live Chat Button onto any custom post type, directory, marketplace listing, agent profile, or page builder block — without writing PHP. Point it at a sample post, choose how the target user is resolved (post author, postmeta-stored user ID, or a fixed inbox), set a thread strategy and label, and copy the generated shortcode. The same shortcode then works for every post of the same shape, with automatic per-post threading and an optional in-chat banner. Paste it into Gutenberg, Elementor, Bricks, Divi, or directly into a theme template. Full list of integrations Feel free to report any incompatibility or request more integrations — that is very important and helps improve Better Messages! WebSocket version: WebSocket version is a paid option, you can get license key on our website. We use our dedicated servers to implement WebSocket communications between your site and users. Our servers are completely private and do not store or track any private data — all messages remain in your database. Performance & Reliability: Significantly reduces the load on your server (up to 200x fewer requests) Instant message delivery in realtime Works with any hosting including shared hosting No limits on concurrent connections or monthly active users Video & Audio Calls: HD Video Calls (1-to-1) HD Audio Calls (1-to-1) Group Video Chats (up to 32 participants) Group Audio Chats (up to 50 participants) Screen Sharing in calls and group chats Mobile Apps (Alpha): iOS Mobile App (build your own branded app) – Alpha Android Mobile App (build your own branded app) – Alpha Push notifications for calls and messages VoIP notifications for incoming calls Note: Mobile apps are currently in alpha stage. Core functionality works, but some features may be limited or under development. Realtime Features: Messages Delivery Status (sent, delivered, seen) Typing, voice recording and file uploading activity indicators Online/Offline presence indicator User statuses (Online, Away, Do Not Disturb) Mini Chats – chat windows anywhere on your site Mini Conversations widget – list and continue recent threads from any page Online-only filter and online-first ordering for the Users mini widget Better Messages Cloud AI: Automatic message translation in 1-to-1 conversations — 53 languages, auto-detection AI Content Moderation — 23 categories, custom rules, conversation context awareness Voice message transcription — 99+ languages with auto-detection No third-party API keys required — included with WebSocket license at no additional cost Security & Encryption: Optional End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) — can be enabled at the website level and per conversation, messages and files encrypted in users’ browsers with AES-256-GCM, server never sees plaintext Local browser encryption (AES256) for offline message storage Web Push Notifications (works even when the browser is closed) All data encrypted in transit, so we can’t read it on our servers Support: Priority email support Regular updates and new features Why WebSockets are a game-changer? Get WebSocket version license key | Terms of Use Languages RTL layout is built into the plugin. You can translate plugin to your language with LocoTranslate or participate in plugin translation.

rtMedia is the only complete media solution for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress, and is WordPress.com VIP compatible. Built with a mobile-first approach, it works on mobile/tablet devices (like iPhone/iPad, Android). Live Demos If you’re in a hurry, you can skip the long list of features in subsequent sections and just explore live demos! rtMedia Demo Video Tour Since rtMedia has many features video doesn’t include all features: rtMedia Features WordPress Integration – Display media on WordPress author pages ( eg: http://demo.rtmedia.io/author/admin/media/ ) BuddyPress Integration – Find a new media tab under BuddyPress Profiles & Groups. BuddyPress Activity Stream – Attach media to activity status updates just like Facebook. Albums – Organise media into manageable collections. BuddyPress Group albums support collaboration. Responsive – Album Slideshow (Lightbox), video player, uploads work on mobiles & tablets. Support for swipe gestures. Privacy – Control who can see media files, albums and BuddyPress activities. Templating system – Completely customise rtMedia by modifying the template files. Just copy over the template folder to your theme. Featured Media – This can be used for facebook-style cover photo on profiles. rtMedia Uploader – Use [rtmedia_uploader] shortcode or template tag, to show drag-n-drop uploader in any WordPress area (post, page, custom-post, etc). rtMedia Gallery – Display media gallery anywhere on your site using [rtmedia_gallery] shortcode or template tag. Upload-Terms – This feature is useful to set terms of services page on website during user upload media on website. Audio/Video Conversion You can use the GoDAM Plugin for Audio/Video transcoding. rtMedia Premium Features Instagram-Effects – Users can apply Instagram like filters to photos. Photo-Tagging – Users can tag their friends/other users in photos. Photo-Watermark – rtMedia Photo Watermark feature let you watermarked or copyright your uploaded photos.) Membership – It provides membership functionality in your site. Social-Sync – It allows you to import media from your Facebook account. myCRED-Points – It allows you to integrate rtMedia with myCRED and award virtual points for various rtMedia activities, like media upload, likes, deleted, albums creation, playlist, etc. Playlists – This feature is used to create a playlist for uploaded music file with rtMedia. Favorites – This feature allows users to create their own list of favorite media. Moderation – This feature is for reporting media if user find offensive. Custom-Attributes – This feature is for categorizing media using attributes defined by site owner when uploading. Docs-and-Other-files – This feature allows uploading for doc, pdf and other file types such as zip, tar, etc. Default-Albums – This feature allows the creation of multiple default albums for rtMedia uploads. Podcast-Feed – Read rtMedia uploads from iTunes as well as any RSS feed-reader/podcasting software. Restrictions – Site admin can set limits in terms of total size & file count. bbPress-Attachments – Attach media files to bbPress forum topics and replies. WordPress-Sitewide-Gallery – Site admin can create and upload media into WordPress album. WordPress-Comment-Attachments – Allow users to upload a media file in WordPress comment attachment box. Social-Sharing – Share uploaded media on social network sites like Facebook, twitter, linkedin, Google+. This addon integrate with rtSocial plugin. Sidebar-Widgets – This feature provide widgets to upload media and display gallery for rtMedia plugin. 5-Star-Ratings – User can rate the media files from 1 to 5 star. Edit-Mp3-Info-(ID3 Tags) – Allow user to edit MP3 FIle Audio tags (ID 3 tags). Sorting – Sort uploaded media based on file size, ascending/descending title, upload date of media. Bulk-Edit – Allow users to move files from one album to another, change attributes, change privacy, delete files in bulk. BuddyPress-Profile-Picture – Allow users to set their profile picture from existing uploaded media file. Album-Cover-Art – Allow users to set album cover from uploaded image. Direct-Download-Link – This feature provide a download button for all the uploaded media. Upload-by-URL – Allow users to upload media using absolute URL. Likes – This feature let you know who liked media. User can also see which media file he/she liked under user profile. Activity-URL-Preview – This feature provides a preview of the URL that is shared and shows up on BuddyPress activity. View-Counter – Enable view count for all the uploaded media. Shortcode-Generator – The shortcode generator button added in WordPress post and page editor for all the rtMedia shortcodes. Album-Privacy – Set album privacy when user create new albums or edit album. BuddyPress-Group-Media-Control – Allow group owner to provide media upload feature for their group. Set-Custom-Thumbnail-for-Audio/Video – Allow media owner to change the thumbnail of uploaded audio/video files. rtMedia-SEO – Generate XML sitemap of all the public media files uploaded via rtMedia plugin, also compatible with Yoast-SEO plugin if you are already using on your site. Important Links Project Homepage Documentation FAQ Support GitHub – Please mention your wordpress.org username when sending pull requests. Sponsors Henry Wright has kindly sponsored the Featured Media feature. 优素映像 (Yousu Image) has sponsored the latest Like feature which doesn’t depend on BuddyPress, any more. Richard Ellis has sponsored the profile picture along with the link back to the profile in the media pop ups. Translation rtMedia includes full translation support. Head over to the translation project to contribute your translations. If you don’t see the language of your choice, let us know in the support forum, we’ll add it. Dutch translation by [carry2web] (https://profiles.wordpress.org/carry2web) Italian translation by [Paolo] Dutch translation by rjpj Polish translation by Polski_Ziom Spanish translation by Andrés Felipe and [d3ne] Solvak translation by igid26 Italian translation by [Yukiko.Kawa] Persian translation by mahdiar German translation by [hannes.muc] (Note: Credits are given for translations that are at least 50% complete.) Credits rtMedia uses the following projects/sources for some functionality MediaElement.js for html5 audio/video player Magnific Popup for responsive lightbox getID3 gets us some ID tags for the media Foundation for the media grid and layout Backbone.js for an MVC architecture for the frontend