Do you find yourself dealing with an inundated inbox, extended waiting periods, and sluggish responses? Could these be the factors that are disturbing your peace? We comprehend the immense frustration businesses feel when faced with a never-ending stream of customer grievances.
However, what is the answer?
Is there a correlation between free live chat software and low quality? Absolutely not! Utilizing free live chat software can allow your startup or small business to provide exceptional customer support.
Just because software is free, it doesn’t mean that customer service will be of low quality. Businesses can rely on free software provided by live chat vendors to enhance the quality of customer service and make lead generation more efficient.
The main objective of this blog is to offer a complete evaluation of the best 21 website live chat software solutions that are available for free. Furthermore, we will analyze the differences between free and paid live chat software and supply recommendations to help you choose the most suitable software for your business.
Let’s begin!
What is Free Live Chat Software?
Live chat software is a communication tool that many customers use to connect with your business in real-time. This tool effectively engages customers and enhances their website journey. Through a chat widget, customers can immediately connect with support agents without having to wait for a phone call to be answered or an email to be responded to.
There is a variety of live chat software available on the market, both free and paid. Free live chat software enables the addition of a chat widget to your website at no cost. Comparatively, the features provided by free live chat software are often restricted compared to the paid plans they offer. Nevertheless, certain live chat software providers do offer a forever-free-plan that encompasses all premium features.
Why Add Free Live Chat Software to Your Website?
Missing out on live chat software can be a blunder for your business because 86% of customers prefer interacting with human support agents. Live chat software can provide numerous benefits to your business, some of which are mentioned below.
1. Improved Customer Experience (CX)
Utilizing live chat enables your customers to conveniently and expeditiously communicate with your business, avoiding the need for phone calls or emails. Consequently, this can enhance the speed and efficiency of problem-solving or addressing their concerns.
Customers also find it convenient to chat with a representative on your website without having to switch to another form of communication.
2. Increased Sales & Conversions
By offering real-time assistance through live chat, you can effectively communicate with potential customers who may be unsure about making a purchase or have inquiries regarding your products or services. This approach not only helps to alleviate their concerns but also enhances the probability of them making a purchase.
By thinking systematically, you can rephrase the given text without adding or removing any information while maintaining the same meaning. Utilizing live chat can also assist in boosting sales and conversions as it allows for offering personalized recommendations, product demos, and discounts or promotions.
3. Reduced Support Costs
By providing free live chat support, you can decrease the necessity for time-consuming and costly phone or email support.
Live chat enables your support team to handle multiple chats at the same time, thereby enhancing efficiency and lowering staffing expenses.
4. Improved Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
If your business provides customers with a positive experience, they are more likely to come back and suggest your products or services to others. Utilizing live chat can assist in offering prompt solutions and excellent customer service, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Furthermore, the utilization of live chat enables you to acquire instantaneous customer feedback, aiding you in the identification of areas requiring improvement and facilitating the implementation of necessary changes to enhance customer satisfaction.
What Differentiates Paid & Free Live Chat Software?
Different aspects distinguish paid and free live chat software, such as the number of operators, type of integrations, customizations, and the quantity of templates.
1. No. of Operators
Free live chat software usually provides only one operator, which can restrict a business’s capability to effectively manage customer inquiries. Conversely, paid live chat software permits multiple operators to handle customer inquiries concurrently. This attribute greatly enhances response times and customer service, particularly for businesses that receive a large number of questions.
2. Integration Options
Paid live chat software frequently includes a broader selection of integrations with various software, including customer relationship management (CRM) tools, help desk software, and e-commerce platforms. This facilitates businesses in optimizing their workflow and delivering a smooth customer experience. With integrations, processes can be automated, minimizing manual labor, and enabling agents to concentrate on more intricate matters.
By integrating with other software, businesses can effectively collect and analyze customer data, resulting in improved customer experiences through personalized interactions.
3. Customizations
Paid live chat software typically provides a greater variety of customization options compared to free software. Companies have the ability to personalize the design of the chat window, include customized fields to gather specific information, and tailor automated chat responses to align with their brand identity.
Businesses have the ability to personalize the chat experience through various customization options, enabling them to create a distinctive brand representation and effectively engage customers. These customizations may comprise branding colors, logos, fonts, and messages, enabling businesses to differentiate themselves from competitors.
4. Reports & Analytics
Paid live chat software offers more comprehensive analytics than free software. In addition to basic metrics like chat ratings and CSAT scores, paid alternatives provide in-depth insights into agent performance and customer behavior. This includes metrics such as time spent on a page and engagement tracking on announcements.
Businesses can enhance their customer support strategies and make more informed decisions by accessing more comprehensive data.
Free live chat software offers basic chat functions, but businesses seeking more advanced features and functionality may consider a paid version. Ultimately, the decision between paid or free live chat software depends on a business’s specific requirements and financial resources.
What Are the Best Free Live Chat Software?
Here are our top 21 selections of the finest free chat software that offers live functionality to assist in promoting sales growth.
1. ProProfs Chat
ProProfs Chat is a sophisticated live chat software that is free of charge, enabling real-time communication with your customers. The software offers various features, such as canned responses and automated chatbots, to facilitate effective customer engagement.
By providing detailed reports, ProProfs Chat allows you to gain insights into your operators’ performance utilizing metrics such as average response time, CSAT scores, and chat ratings. The Chat SDK offered by ProProfs Chat makes it convenient to incorporate it into your Android or iOS app. The greatest advantage is that you can effortlessly integrate this live chat software into your website within minutes, without needing any coding skills.
Key Features:
Utilize an unlimited number of domains to implement live chat on all the websites and domains belonging to your company. Offer support in over 70 languages. Enhance the live typing feature to monitor your visitors’ input. Employ chatbots to automatically address customer inquiries.
ProProfs Chat provides a FOREVER-FREE plan for a single operator and a team plan for $19.99, allowing you to chat like a pro with a live chat free trial.
2. Tidio
Tidio is a live chat software that is free to use and can be customized to effectively interact with customers and address their concerns. By utilizing this tool, you can provide round-the-clock support to your customers, ensuring that their inquiries are promptly attended to. One noteworthy aspect of Tidio is its mobile application, enabling operators to conveniently communicate with customers while on the move.
With Tidio, you have the capability to integrate with well-known platforms such as Wix, Shopify, and WordPress. Additionally, you can obtain comprehensive reports on operator performance, including metrics like chat duration and customer satisfaction ratings.
Key Features:
- Seamlessly integrate with popular platforms.
- Offer a dedicated mobile app to chat with customers.
- Use canned responses to answer repetitive questions.
- Preview what your customers are typing to respond faster.
The pricing begins at $0 per month, however, it is restricted to a maximum of 50 conversations per month.
3. Tawk.to
Tawk enables businesses to interact with visitors on their website, providing support, addressing inquiries, and converting potential customers into sales. The platform aims to enhance customer engagement and support for companies, featuring a user-friendly and customizable chat widget that can be seamlessly integrated into any website.
Tawk is a free platform that offers advanced features, enabling businesses to enhance customer support, boost conversions, and obtain valuable insights into their website visitors’ behavior. It is a popular choice for small and medium-sized businesses due to its easy setup and user-friendly interface.
Key Features:
- Share knowledge base articles directly in the chat window.
- Categorize and allocate chats to team members.
- Monitor chat history and track team progress.
- Utilize canned messages for consistent replies.
The pricing begins at $0 and remains free forever.
4. Freshchat
Freshchat is a live chat software that is both powerful and intuitive, enabling you to have real-time, seamless, and engaging conversations with customers. It offers a range of features such as customizable chat widgets, automated chatbots, and targeted messaging, all designed to enhance customer interactions.
In terms of tracking performance, the software provides comprehensive reports and analytics that allow you to monitor metrics such as response time, customer satisfaction ratings, and chat volume. Moreover, Freshchat seamlessly integrates with popular CRMs, enabling you to have a holistic view of customer interactions and facilitate the delivery of personalized customer experiences.
Key Features:
- Provide multilingual assistance in over 30 languages.
- Proactively engage customers through messaging.
- Develop self-service solutions using informative FAQs.
- Proactively engage your customers through targeted messaging.
The pricing begins at zero dollars, with the exception of canned responses.
5. JivoChat
JivoChat provides a range of features that improve customer communication and support, such as chatbots, social media integration, and team collaboration. It is compatible with well-known platforms such as WordPress, Shopify, and Magento.
JivoChat is a solution that is user-friendly and effective for businesses aiming to enhance their online customer engagement. The platform also offers in-depth analytics and reports that aid in measuring the effectiveness of support strategies.
Key Features:
- Organize chats with color coding for easy reference.
- Trigger personalized messages based on user actions.
- Centralize conversations and track their progress from a single dashboard.
- Provide customers with instant answers using canned responses.
The pricing begins at $0 per month, but it offers limited features and does not include pre-chat buttons.
6. HubSpot
HubSpot Live Chat, a potent tool for customer communication, empowers you to interact with individuals visiting your website. This live chat software, offered for free, equips you with various features, such as canned responses, chatbots, and tailored greetings, to simplify your customer support activities.
Additionally, the tool seamlessly integrates with HubSpot CRM, enabling you to manage all of your customer interactions from one platform. The software also offers in-depth chat analytics, providing insights into your agents’ performance through metrics such as chat volume, response time, and customer satisfaction scores.
Key Features:
- Automate your customer support with chatbots.
- Integrate with Slack to receive real-time chat notifications.
- Personalize your live chat widget with unique branding options.
- Direct customized welcome messages to visitors based on their page activities.
The pricing begins at $0 per month, although it comes with limited features.
7. Userlike
Userlike is a chat software that lets you interact with your customers in real-time, improving customer support and increasing sales. By using Userlike, you can effortlessly incorporate a live chat widget into your website and begin chatting with visitors immediately. Furthermore, the platform offers various practical features such as chatbots, file sharing, and visitor tracking.
In addition, Userlike effortlessly integrates with different well-known CRMs, help desk tools, and social media platforms. The intuitive interface enables you to personalize the appearance of your chat widget and effortlessly handle chats from various channels.
Key Features:
- Utilize pre-written responses to provide instant answers.
- Gather customer feedback through post-chat surveys.
- Use chatbots to provide automated support around the clock.
- Share chat transcripts with team members to enhance service quality.
Pricing: Commences at $0 per month, providing limited features without chatbots.
8. SmartsUpp
Designed to assist businesses in real-time interaction with website visitors, Smartsupp is robust and easy-to-use live chat software. It provides an array of capabilities such as chat customization, chat history, and visitor tracking, allowing businesses to effectively engage with their customers.
Smartsupp enables you to obtain comprehensive reports on your team’s performance, which include chat volume, response time, and customer satisfaction ratings. Moreover, this software effortlessly integrates with well-known CRM and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WordPress, and Magento, simplifying customer data management.
Key Features:
- Offer 24×7 customer support on your website.
- Utilize chatbots to automate repetitive tasks.
- Enable screen sharing to offer real-time support to visitors.
- Customize your chat widget to reflect your brand style.
The pricing begins at $0 per month, offering limited features without a chatbot or advanced routing.
9. 3CX
3CX Live Chat is a communication solution accessible through the web that enables you to establish connections with visitors to your website, enhance customer satisfaction, and generate additional leads. The software provides a variety of features including immediate chat, video and voice calls, pre-set responses, the ability to transfer chats between agents and departments, and integration with other communication channels.
3CX Live Chat is a potent tool that can be tailored to individual preferences, requiring minimal effort to install and operate. It also provides extensive performance analysis through detailed reports. In sum, this tool greatly enhances customer service, facilitates lead generation, and boosts online conversions.
Key Features:
Enable your prospects to engage in conversations with agents using the 3CX Talk link. Provide live product suggestions to your customers. Link your Whatsapp and Facebook accounts to respond directly through 3CX. Enhance chat and call reports to assess the performance of your agents.
The pricing starts at $0.
10. Zendesk
With Zendesk, businesses can effectively interact with customers on various channels including chat, email, and social media, making it a potent live chat software. It allows personalized assistance and support to be provided to customers, ultimately enhancing their overall experience.
The software provides various capabilities such as chatbots, proactive engagement, and customization choices to ensure a smooth customer experience. Detailed analytics and reporting allow you to monitor chat volume and track your team’s performance. Additionally, you can efficiently manage customer data by integrating Zendesk with your CRM tool.
Key Features:
- Automate responses to FAQs with chatbots.
- Use the mobile app to connect with customers anytime, anywhere.
- Optimize the group messaging feature to connect with multiple stakeholders.
- Leverage in-depth reports to track your operators’ performance.
The cost begins at $49 per month and a free trial is offered.
11. Pure Chat
Pure Chat is an all-inclusive software for live chat that is created with the purpose of aiding businesses in establishing connections with their customers. Through the utilization of this tool, you can offer individualized assistance, address frequently asked questions, and promptly resolve any issues.
Pure Chat provides a diverse array of features to enhance your customer support process, such as personalized chat widgets, pre-written responses, and chat records. You can utilize this tool to monitor various chat statistics, such as chat volume, response time, and customer satisfaction ratings.
Key Features:
- Access unlimited chat history and transcript storage.
- Provide round-the-clock customer support.
- Offer multilingual support to cater to a global audience.
- Personalize interactions by tracking customer behavior.
The pricing begins at $49 per month and there is a free trial option for 30 days.
12. Olark
You have the ability to interact with customers, offer assistance, and obtain input by using Olark. This platform is extremely flexible and enables you to design personalized chat interactions that represent your brand. Additionally, this tool is user-friendly and straightforward, which means it is suitable for businesses of any size.
Olark provides businesses with reliable and effective software for enhancing customer communication and support. It offers robust analytics and reporting features that offer valuable insights into customer interactions.
Key Features:
1. Customize chat widgets to align with your brand and website aesthetics. 2. Engage in real-time, personalized conversations with visitors to your website. 3. Transform website visitors into potential leads by employing chat interactions tailored to their needs. 4. Obtain valuable information about customer preferences through comprehensive chat transcripts.
The pricing begins at $20 per user per month, and a free trial option is also available.
Live Chat Software Options for Ecommerce Shops in 2023
1) Gorgias: 4.6 ? (488 reviews)
The Gorgias platform is equipped with various features that cater to the needs of ecommerce businesses. These features include live chat, chatbots, a self-service portal, a ticketing system, omnichannel customer support, and data analytics. The live chat solution provided by Gorgias offers a wide range of automation features, macros, and rules that aim to simplify and customize the customer support process for both customers and support agents.
With Gorgias, you have the capability to generate and automate responses to commonly asked customer questions (FAQs) such as inquiries about order location. This feature enables you to automatically resolve up to 30% of customer support tickets. In addition, you can enhance your customer service approach by utilizing precise and perceptive data analytics.
Standout Ecommerce Features
- Connect to leading ecommerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento and display extensive customer data next to each ticket
- Offer automated order management and frequently asked questions in the live chat widget
- Set up chat campaigns that pop up and greet visitors with a page-specific message, letting your customer service team act like a proactive sales team
- Create custom auto-responses, templates, and macros that allow for swift responses to frequently asked questions
- Easily track support agent metrics such as ticket volume, first response time, and resolutions time
- A responsive mobile app for support on the go
Who It’s Best For
Gorgias offers a variety of plans and affordable pricing, making it a great solution for ecommerce businesses of all sizes, from small to medium-sized as well as larger brands. Additionally, the live chat app integrates smoothly with Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento.
Because Gorgias’s live chat solution is only a single aspect of a comprehensive customer support system, it serves as an ideal choice for individuals in search of a fully functional customer service solution.
2. LiveChat
LiveChat is a popular and comprehensive live chat support option. This platform provides essential live chat features such as branding and customization, automatic notifications for customer chat requests, tagging, file-sharing, and archiving capabilities. Additionally, LiveChat offers an integration store where beneficial plugins for your chat window can be found.
Standout Ecommerce Features
- Add tags to chat conversations for improved sorting and analytics
- Push longer conversations and more complex issues to a customer support ticket
- Request feedback from customers in the form of a survey response at the conclusion of their live chat
- Share files such as screenshots and documents between customers and support agents
- Add integrations, add-ons, and APIs into your chat window from LiveChat’s integrations store
Who It’s Best For
If you have a medium or large customer support team, the per-agent fee structure may not be economically efficient for your business. However, if you are seeking a comprehensive live chat solution and can provide a valid reason for paying at least $16 per month per agent, then LiveChat is worth considering.
3. Intercom
Intercom is a platform for customer communications that provides tools for support, engagement, and marketing, including live chat. With Intercom’s Messenger tool, businesses can create chatbots to reach specific audience segments and efficiently direct tickets needing human assistance to the right channels.
Standout Ecommerce Features
- See conversations across all channels in a single inbox
- Trigger automatic chat messages when customers meet certain criteria
- Direct customers to your knowledge base or self-service center using chatbots or apps
- Automatically route more complex tickets to a live chat agent
- Integrate Intercom with 300+ different tools and platforms, including Salesforce, Slack, and Hubspot
Who It’s Best For
Intercom caters to businesses of all sizes, ranging from startups to big corporations, and explores various applications in ecommerce, finance, education, and healthcare sectors.
4. Drift
Drift, similar to other live chat solutions, provides automated chatbots and live chat features. What distinguishes Drift is its specific focus on B2B and SaaS organizations, along with its customer support approach that relies on data.
Drift’s Visitor Intelligence software integrates information from your business software (CRM, sales, and marketing tools, etc.) as well as databases such as Clearbit and Crunchbase in order to recognize web visitors and enhance the customization of interactions. Additionally, Drift provides chatbots that utilize AI and machine learning to mimic the effectiveness and performance of your top sales and customer service representatives.
Standout Ecommerce Features
- Connect customers using AI-powered chatbots that that tailor their conversations depending on the web visitor
- Eliminate forms for high-value buyers and direct them to the right rep or account manager
- Automatically collect and analyze rich data on leads and customers who visit your site
- Create templates that enable swift response to commonly asked questions
- Integrate the Drift platform with a wide range of other tools and platforms
Who It’s Best For
The main target audience for Drift is B2B companies and ecommerce stores. However, a plan tailored to startups is also available. For those interested in using AI and machine learning in live chat customer engagement, Drift could be an excellent choice.
Features your live chat software should have
When selecting a chat widget for your ecommerce website, make sure to choose a solution that includes the following features, as not all live chat options are the same.
- Automation and dynamic templates: You should be able to automate a variety of daily tasks, like greeting customers, gathering names and product info, or sending follow-up surveys. Automated chatbots, for example, can initiate live chats with customers that meet certain criteria. Look for Macros, or templated messages and replies, to help your live chat agents work quickly and efficiently.
- Proactive capabilities: Live chat is useful for more than just receiving incoming queries. The right tool will let you reach out to customers, including with automation, to offer support and discounts codes at key moments in the customer journey. This is one of the biggest ways live chat can help your team boost sales.
- Real-time analytics: Live chat support solutions that offer real-time analytics enable you to gauge the performance of your customer support reps via metrics such as first response time, wait time, and customer satisfaction ratings.
- Branding customization: The ability to add customized branding elements to your chat window, such as your company logo or tagline, can give your ecommerce website a more memorable and professional touch.
- Multiple integrations: The best live chat apps are able to integrate with other apps on your store such as social media messaging apps and delivery tracking apps for a more interconnected and seamless customer service experience. The most important is your ecommerce platform: Your choice may depend on whether you use Shopify, BigCommerce, WordPress, Woocommerce.
- Part of a comprehensive customer service platform: Many live chat solutions are packaged as part of a larger customer service platform that includes features such as phone support and a help desk with a ticketing system. If you’d like to provide your customers with plenty of support options and optimize your CS team’s internal workflows, look for all-in-one platforms.
- File and screenshot sharing: The ability to share images, video, screenshots, and other files, like user guides or receipts, can make the process of assisting a customer via live chat faster and more efficient.
- Multiple pricing plans: A variety of premium plans and free plans, so the app is affordable but grows alongside your brand.
- Audio and/or visual notifications: Audio and/or visual notifications can be used to notify customers when an agent has submitted a response, prompting them to navigate back to the live chat window if they have opened another window during the chat or have otherwise become distracted.
- Chatbots and live chat options (and the ability to switch between them): By integrating both chatbots and live chat into your ecommerce store, you can automatically resolve most issues while still giving customers the option to connect with a live agent for more complex issues. Having chatbots on your website also allows you to offer 24/7 customer support, and 64% of customers say that 24/7 support is the best feature of chatbots.
