I've had very good service, shifting and longevity with Shimano and Wipperman chains. My only experience with SRAM was mediocre but it was on a beater bike and got more abuse than the others so it's not a fair comparison. I've never used a KMC branded chain but, since they apparently make a lot of Shimano chains, I've probably used them in reality.

Wipperman makes a wide variety of chains just like KMC, Shimano and SRAM and their lower lines are not that expensive but do work well. Most of the difference is in appearance.