Most of what people send each other in a chat isn't really a sentence. Someone shares an event, and the date, location, and RSVP link should travel together. A group admin posts an announcement that deserves more than a wall of text. A friend drops a link that needs a clear next step attached, not just a bare URL. In a 1:1 or group conversation, all of that gets squeezed into plain text, because there's never been a way to send something more structured than a message bubble.
CometChat Cards fixes that. A card carries a block and renders natively, as images, buttons, and layouts, right inside the same 1:1 or group chat window a text message would appear in.
Why does this matter to me as a developer building chat experiences?
Every custom message type you've ever built for a chat app followed the same path: design the payload, write a renderer for it, wire up the actions, repeat for the next one. It doesn't scale past the first few designs, and every platform you support means doing it again.
CometChat Cards take that off your plate. Design a card once, visually, in the CometChat Dashboard, and every UI Kit that supports the format renders it the same way, no custom parsing required.
Key features and capabilities
Card Builder, a visual editor in the Dashboard.
Build cards from 20 elements across four groups: content (text, markdown, image, icon, avatar, badge, chip, code block), layout (row, column, grid, accordion, tabs, divider, spacer), interactive (button, icon button, link), and data (table, progress bar). Four elements, button, icon button, link, and chip, can carry an action, and there are nine kinds to choose from: open a URL, start a chat with a user or group, send a message, copy to clipboard, download a file, initiate a call, hit an API, or run a custom callback in your app.
Nine starter components.
Product Card, Order Confirmation, Order Tracking, Event Card, Announcement, Quick Reply Buttons, Feedback, Data Table, and Carousel come pre-assembled, so you're editing instead of building from a blank canvas.
Variables
Insert placeholders like {{user.name}} anywhere in a card's text or URL fields, and CometChat fills them in per recipient when the card sends.
Built into every UI Kit.
Card messages are rendered automatically across all CometChat UI Kits. When a card message appears in a conversation, the UI Kit detects it and displays the appropriate card interface without any additional setup.
No wiring required
Card messages are handled internally by the UI Kit, so they work out of the box in CometChatMessageList and other standard conversation views across all supported platforms.
Fallback text
Every card includes fallback text. If the card JSON is malformed or a client doesn't support cards yet, the UI Kit falls back to that text instead of showing nothing, so the message still says something.
Where this shows up
CometChat already builds for these industries. Card Builder's starter components map onto what's already happening in each one's 1:1 and group chats:
Marketplace
A buyer and seller are already negotiating a listing in 1:1 chat. A Product Card carries the photo, price, and condition inline instead of the buyer switching to a listing page, and an Order Confirmation card closes the loop once they agree.
On-demand services
Customer and provider are coordinating a job in real time. An Order Tracking card shows live status and ETA right in the thread, the same conversation where they're already discussing pickup details or a delivery photo.
Education
A teacher posts to a class group chat. An Announcement or Event Card carries a session time, a join link, and an RSVP button, instead of the group scrolling past three separate messages to piece it together.
Gaming
A clan or guild group chat gets patch notes, a Data Table of leaderboard standings, or a Carousel of upcoming tournaments, laid out the way a status update actually reads instead of a wall of patch numbers.
Marketplace
A buyer and seller are already negotiating a listing in 1:1 chat. A Product Card carries the photo, price, and condition inline instead of the buyer switching to a listing page, and an Order Confirmation card closes the loop once they agree.
On-demand services.
Customer and provider are coordinating a job in real time. An Order Tracking card shows live status and ETA right in the thread, the same conversation where they're already discussing pickup details or a delivery photo.
Education
A teacher posts to a class group chat. An Announcement or Event Card carries a session time, a join link, and an RSVP button, instead of the group scrolling past three separate messages to piece it together.
Gaming
A clan or guild group chat gets patch notes, a Data Table of leaderboard standings, or a Carousel of upcoming tournaments, laid out the way a status update actually reads instead of a wall of patch numbers.
Healthcare
A patient and provider are messaging 1:1. An Event Card carries an appointment time with a reschedule button attached, or a Feedback card collects a quick check-in after a visit, without either side leaving the thread.
Dating
Two matches are talking. Quick Reply Buttons turn a common question into a tap instead of a typed reply, and a Carousel can surface shared interests or icebreaker prompts inline.
Community and social.
A group admin drops an Event Card for a meetup with an RSVP action, or an Announcement card for a rule change, so it reads as distinct from the conversation instead of getting lost in it.
SaaS businesses
A workspace or support channel gets a Data Table showing open ticket status, or an Announcement card for a new feature, sent to a group the same way any other message would be, just structured.
Reference links
Nivedita Bharathy
Product Marketing Specialist , CometChat