About the Customer
Lovehoney Group is a global leader in sexual wellness and lifestyle brands, empowering millions of people to explore sexual health in a safe, positive, and stigma-free way. Operating across multiple markets, their portfolio emphasizes inclusive, secure, and innovative digital experiences.
Their flagship app, Vybe, connects communities and couples, helping people maintain meaningful relationships across distance. For Lovehoney Group, privacy and security are not optional features—they are central to the brand promise of creating digital spaces where people can connect confidently and without judgment.
The Challenge: Balancing Safety, Privacy, and Scale
As Vybe’s community grew rapidly, Lovehoney Group faced several challenges:
Protecting privacy in a sensitive space – They needed private, anonymous invite-based chats that would allow trusted partners to connect, while keeping users safe from unwanted contact.
Stronger security without friction
End-to-end encryption was a must, but without forcing users through complex signups, identity management, or password fatigue.
Scalable architecture
Their legacy XMPP-based chat system was difficult to maintain and struggled with spikes in traffic as their user base crossed 60,000+ monthly active users.
Predictable, fair pricing
With usage clustering at peak times, concurrency-based pricing risked spiraling out of control.
Consistent, brand-aligned experience
Communication needed to feel seamless and caring, in line with Lovehoney’s mission of safe connection and wellbeing.
How Lovehoney Used CometChat
Lovehoney Group partnered with CometChat to overhaul Vybe’s communication architecture. Together, they created a chat experience that is private, encrypted, and scalable, while staying effortless for users.
Replacing XMPP with CometChat
By moving to CometChat’s modern APIs and UI kits, Lovehoney eliminated manual roster management and ensured that only paired users could connect.
Private invites made simple
Secure, one-click invites enabled users to join personal conversations instantly, without the risk of discovery by strangers.
Presence and status out-of-the-box
CometChat natively handled online/offline visibility, removing the complexity of XMPP hacks.
Voice & video integrated with chat
CometChat natively handled online/offline visibility, removing the complexity of XMPP hacks.
Sealed integration for end-to-end encryption
CometChat powered real-time chat, voice, and video while Seald’s SDK added a security-first encryption layer, integrated directly into the workflow; no extra accounts or passwords required.
Dedicated collaboration channel
A Slack workspace between Lovehoney Group, CometChat, and Seald ensured smooth coordination, fast troubleshooting, and quick iteration during implementation.
As Gerald Bauer, Director of Digital Topics at Lovehoney, put it:
“Our team is small. Having CometChat’s engineers right there to guide us meant we could move fast without second-guessing every decision.”
Impact: Safe, Scalable, and Future-Ready
The results of this partnership were transformative:
Enhanced Security
Vybe now offers fully end-to-end encrypted chats, voice, and video, giving users peace of mind in one of the most sensitive online spaces.
Seamless User Experience
A single secure invite link grants access to private chats, with no extra accounts or friction.
Operational Efficiency
With CometChat’s architecture and Seald’s SDK, integration was simplified, supported by coordinated project management.
Predictable Costs
Moving to CometChat’s flexible, credit-based “daily chat user” pricing aligned expenses with real usage, avoiding concurrency pitfalls.
Scalability with Confidence
The platform now easily supports tens of thousands of monthly active users, with headroom to grow beyond 100,000.
Brand-Consistent Experience
Every interaction reflects Lovehoney Group’s promise of safety, care, and inclusivity, strengthening trust and loyalty across their global customer base.
With CometChat, Lovehoney Group turned Vybe into a secure, scalable platform where users can connect with confidence. By combining privacy, ease of use, and reliable performance, they’ve built a trusted digital space that reflects their brand promise and supports future growth.
