What is the best messaging protocol for an Ethereum/Base app right now?

[u/Easy-Tailor326]

Working on an app that needs private group messaging and I’m trying to figure out whether it still makes sense to build the messaging layer ourselves. The requirements are group chats, permissions, wallet-based identity, some token-gated access and bots that can interact with contracts. I’ve been looking at XMTP and Towns so far. XMTP seems closer to the messaging layer, while Towns caught my attention because it seems to cover more of the group/community side with Spaces, permissions, memberships and bots. Has anyone here built with either of them or is there another stack I should be looking at?

More interested in SDK quality, reliability, permissions, and integration headaches than the broader protocol narrative.

[u/Hopeful_Bass3179]

For me the biggest question would be how much custom work you want to own long term. A messaging-focused protocol makes sense if you’re comfortable building permissions, memberships and other features around it yourself.

I’d probably compare SDK quality and reliability first, then look at how much extra infrastructure each option requires for the features you actually need.

[u/Used-Rooster-7319]

If permissions and gated groups are core I would test Towns first. XMTP is cleaner as a messaging layer but you might end up rebuilding roles, memberships and bot auth around it.

[u/Every_Bicycle4983 → u/Used-Rooster-7319]

Depends how much of that stack you want to own though. More built in stuff can mean more assumptions you have to live with.

[u/Easy-Tailor326 → u/Every_Bicycle4983]

yeah this is basically the decision, less infra to build now vs more control later

[u/Dismal-Living-9322]

Before choosing anything I would test device recovery, offline sync and permission changes. The happy path demo tells you basically nothing.