Neuron

Neuron is a San Francisco-based UX design agency with strong credentials in enterprise collaboration and communication tools. I’ve seen them deeply engage in mapping messaging flow-architectures: channels, DMs, threads, reactions, attachments—so the UX doesn’t feel built for chat, but built around chat. They emphasize message architecture (how many messages load, how threads collapse), user mental models, and scale. Their hand-off includes component libraries for message bubbles, thread state, read/unread logic—making them a strong fit for a Discord-style product.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: approx ~$120–200/hr

• Employees: ~60–120

• Location: USA (San Francisco)
  
  

Ramotion

Ramotion is a polish-centric design agency that also understands the complexity behind chat flows and collaborative apps. Their strength lies in UI clarity, micro-interaction design (message send animations, delivery states, unread badges) and building flows that feel fluid. For a chat platform aiming to mirror Discord’s responsiveness and intuitiveness, Ramotion’s craftsmanship stands out. They also build design systems ready for dev integration—so the chat UI doesn’t become an afterthought but core to your product.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$100–150/hr

• Employees: ~50–100

• Location: USA (San Francisco)
  
  

Eleken

Eleken works exclusively in the SaaS space and brings consistent UX flow design to messaging and collaboration modules. Their focus on clarity, speed and modularity is valuable when you’re building threads, live status, and reactions. I appreciate how they tackle rapid iteration, designing chat modules with role-based permissions (admin, member, guest) and crafting micro-copy for states like “No messages yet”, “You’ve been mentioned”, etc. For a chat system with many roles (like Discord’s server/moderator model), Eleken can help build the UX scaffolding cleanly.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$50–100/hr

• Employees: ~30–50

• Location: Ukraine / Remote
  
  

MetaLab

MetaLab is a design studio adept at high-stakes collaboration tools—messaging among them. Their strategic design approach is useful when chat is not just a feature but a central product. They map user ecosystems (super-admin, channel owner, member) and design flows accordingly: onboarding channels, thread archiving, invite/link flows, reaction tracking. If your chat platform aims for breakout adoption like Discord, MetaLab’s emphasis on UX narrative, brand voice and interaction polish is beneficial.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$150–300+/hr

• Employees: ~150+

• Location: Canada / Global
  
  

Work & Co

Work & Co pairs design system discipline with product scale—useful for chat platforms with thousands of users and real-time loads. They design for performance, state management, and complex flows like voice/video integrations, message editing/deletion, thread hovers, notifications. I admire how they treat chat flows as live systems not just static apps—and they build component libraries for message lists, sidebars, unread states and search. If you’re building a chat tool aiming to scale massively, Work & Co is a strong bet.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$175–250+/hr

• Employees: ~400+

• Location: USA / Europe / Brazil
  
  

WANDR

WANDR is noted for tackling complex multi-module SaaS systems, including chat and collaboration. Their design process includes thread states, mention design, message grouping, onboarding to channels. For Discord-style chat, where UI must support voice channels, thread collapsing and member lists, WANDR handles architecture and UX nuance well. Their approach also leans into analytics: how many users start threads vs DMs, how many messages are unread, how notifications drive re-engagement.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$120–180/hr

• Employees: ~30–70

• Location: USA (Los Angeles)
  
  

Ustwo

Ustwo brings deep product design mastery to chat flows—understanding that chat isn’t just message exchange, but an ecosystem of roles, context, history, filters and extensions. They’re strong when you want nuanced flows: invites, moderation, pinned messages, archived threads, bot integration, reactions. For a product aiming to compete with Discord’s flexibility and community features, ustwo handles both UX detail (hover states, voice/mute icons) and system complexity (permissions, moderation flows).

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$120–180/hr

• Employees: ~200+

• Location: UK / EU / USA
  
  

Cyber-Duck

Cyber-Duck is a UX and digital transformation agency with strong process discipline and capability in high-performance interfaces. When chat flows involve collaborative features (thread locking, permissions, attachments, role hierarchy), Cyber-Duck’s experience with complex software helps. They design flows that anticipate user behavior, edge cases, accessibility (keyboard nav in chat, large member lists), and they build for scalability—essential for live chat engines with variable load and cross-platform presence.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$90–160/hr

• Employees: ~90+

• Location: UK / Europe / Global
  
  

Phenomenon Studio

Phenomenon Studio is a UX/UI agency that emphasizes structural clarity and user flow – which is vital in chat experiences where context shifts fast. Their process begins with mapping the conversation architecture, then building modular chat components: message list, attachments, retries, error states, typing indicator, presence badges. For a chat product with multiple user types, threads, DMs, channels, and attachments (much like Discord), Phenomenon Studio ensures the UX won’t fracture as usage grows.

Quick Points:

• Hourly Rate: ~$75–130/hr

• Employees: ~40–80

• Location: USA (Remote/Global)