We are currently in closed-beta with our Qt/C++ based video application. Our users are requesting "text-chat" as a way to
communicate with other users.<p>Knowing the litany of "Chat" products that are out there, I'm not a huge fan of redundancy in communication products. I figure this must be a SaaS that completes my goals. Furthermore, many of these products are "mobile first" (as in they require SMS verification to begin using their service).<p>Things I'm looking for:<p>- I'd prefer not to maintain servers<p>- Must have a RESTful API or C++ SDK (we are not developing for Android / iOS independently) and we are not building a website (ie. JS SDKs are not very useful)<p>- Ability to add and remove users programmatically when they create accounts on our service.<p>- Security (obviously)<p>- Would prefer not to warehouse messages or be able to access them<p>Things I've looked at:<p>Open Whisper Systems "Signal" Protocol.<p>Pros:<p>- Known standard for secure communications.<p>Cons:<p>- Signal "Text Secure Server" code is unwieldy and poorly documented (https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Server)<p>Twilio "Programmable Chat"<p>Pros:<p>- Dynamic REST APIs<p>- 3rd Party hosted (don't have any servers to maintain and scale)<p>Cons:<p>- Corporate Service hosting (I know Twilio is better than most)<p>Thoughts?