One of the crucial aspects of any business is providing customer support. Some customers may have extremely high expectations when it comes to the level of support they receive. For instance, a real-time response from an actual person is often anticipated by many customers. There is a wide range of excellent live chat software options available to assist you in achieving this.
In this article, we will gather some of the top live chat software solutions for 2023. The order of the list is not specific, hence we advise you to explore each one to determine if it meets your requirements.
20 of the best live chat software solutions for 2023
1. LiveChat
LiveChat’s default window appearance is impressive and does not block the remainder of the website. Additionally, you have ample opportunities for customization with LiveChat. The following is a selection of the features and options that LiveChat provides.
- There’s a connective experience with your other social platforms, management tools, and messaging apps (such as Apple Business Chat, Salesforce, and much more).
- You can add the chat widget to your site in a flash. If you’re a WordPress user, there’s also a plugin to connect everything up.
- You’re able to personalize the chat experience through customized greetings. These react based on time on site, geolocation, and more.
- You can take a look at incoming messages too, then prepare a response before they finish.
2. JivoChat
JivoChat’s range of offerings goes beyond live chat, but its most impressive feature is undoubtedly its versatility across various devices and user-friendly interface.
Here’s what JivoChat offers: it has a powerful backend and a sleek user interface.
- There’s a centralized widget to help manage multiple chats at once, complete with color coding.
- You can get a sneak-peek at an incoming message, which gives you time to prepare a response (including a canned one).
- You’re able to view customer relationship manager (CRM) info, click sources, customer locations, and much more at a glance.
3. Tidio
Tidio focuses on converting users and is especially important for businesses like ecommerce stores that require a live chat solution.
Tidio’s main focus allows it to provide a reliable range of features and functionality to ensure customer satisfaction and eagerness to purchase from your business.
- There’s comprehensive analytics to help you learn who accesses your live chat.
- Tidio’s artificial intelligence (AI) lets you monitor and analyze your chat results.
- There’s a live list of visitors, complete with the pages they are looking at. This gives you some preparation time for potential incoming questions or queries.
4. Olark
Olark is an exceptional live chat software solution abundant with a multitude of features, making it a highly sought-after and valuable option for achieving scalable live chat.
Although we cannot provide a comprehensive overview of Olark’s offerings, we are able to provide a brief summary.
- There are plenty of customization options that look just fantastic.
- You’re able to set up automation rules to help you engage with more users. For example, you can create automatic greetings, redirect chats, and more.
- You can access live chat transcripts to improve your customer support further. Combined with the built-in analytics, you’ll have all of the most relevant information to boost your customer service.
5. Smartsupp
Despite being an alternative to other major live chat providers, Smartsupp can stand out because of its distinct features.
At first glance, the primary characteristics and functionality of this system seem comparable to those of other solutions.
- There’s support for multichannel integration, including email, Facebook Messenger, and more.
- You have a lot of customization options to help embed Smartsupp’s chat window into your site.
- You can see a live overview of your visitors onsite, including how long they have been with you and their journey.
6. HubSpot
It is highly likely that HubSpot is included in your business’ workflow, however, were you aware that this widely-used CRM also provides live chat capabilities?
Thanks to its seamless integration with the broader HubSpot ecosystem, this live chat software solution stands out as one of the best. Here is what the live chat provides you with:
- You’re able to log chats and connect them to specific customers within HubSpot CRM.
- There’s a comprehensive automation and routing system within HubSpot that lets you work more efficiently.
- With integrations from third-party apps such as Slack, you can manage and respond to chats within those apps.
- For WordPress users, the free HubSpot WordPress plugin lets you set up live chat from your WordPress dashboard.
7. Intercom
Intercom’s Business Messenger offers basic live chat features, but it can also be expanded to handle the entirety of your customer support operations.
There are numerous options available on the platform to effectively control the live chat experience.
- You can combine live agents and bots to offer the right response to users.
- There’s a centralized inbox that holds all customer data, chat history, and more for easy access.
- Intercom also lets you message customers before they finish typing using proactive messaging.
8. LiveAgent
It is easy to understand why LiveAgent has one of the highest ratings on Capterra, as it is a comprehensive customer service platform.
The platform’s live chat feature is exceptional, covering all standard aspects and beyond.
- There’s no limit on how many tickets and chats you can keep in the history, which will help with long-term customers.
- You have good-looking chat invitations, complete with full customization options.
- The LiveAgent dashboard gives you some valuable tools to help prioritize agents and issue some “breathing” time. It provides advanced chat re-routing options, and more.
- You’re also able to use the built-in analytics and reports to see where your users come from in real time.
9. Zendesk
Most individuals in search of top-notch live chat software are likely to discover Zendesk, which not only provides comprehensive customer service tools but also excels in its live chat feature.
If you want to outperform your competition, Zendesk provides various features and functionality that can assist you in exceeding their performance.
- You’ll be able to stay connected to the chat regardless of the platform. For example, you can transfer the conversation from the website to WhatsApp.
- There’s lots of functionality to implement bots and AI to help keep your customer service efficient and optimal.
- While you have a straightforward way to add chat widgets to your site, WordPress users can also use the dedicated Zendesk plugin.
10. ClickDesk
ClickDesk, which is our final recommendation for the best live chat software solutions, may not have all the extravagant features, yet it is capable of providing nearly all the necessary tools to effectively handle customer support through live chat.
There isn’t much to boast about on paper. You receive all the usual features one would anticipate:
- A clutter-free live chat window that you’re able to customize to your needs.
- The option to conduct live chat through text or video.
- The ability to integrate all of of your social media channels into the dashboard.
- Speaking of which, the agent dashboard is minimalist
11. LiveZilla
You can either choose the free version or the Pro Plan, which requires a one-time payment of $155.
LiveZilla is a web chat tool that stands out due to its distinctive features including support for multiple websites, screen sharing capabilities, real-time translation, and a comprehensive global knowledge base.
Main characteristics:
- Real-time visitor monitoring tells you where your visitors are from, what site referred them, or the keywords they used to find your site for a complete behavior profile.
- Qualify leads based on their activity and reach out with the right messaging relevant to their needs.
- Integrate emails and messages from customers on other sites (like Facebook or Twitter) with your tickets to centralize all communications with leads.
12. Freechat
The price stays free indefinitely.
FreeChat is a tool that consolidates various popular messaging platforms into a single live chat popup, simplifying the management of customer interactions for both you and your business.
Features that are essential or important.
Installation and setup can be done without the need for coding.
- Comes up with fully customizable design options to match your brand and website integration
The website protection ensures compliance with GDPR regulations and maintains a high level of security.
- Mobile-friendly and responsive design
13. Freshdesk
Getting started is free for up to 10 agents. For the Growth plan, it costs $15 per month per agent, for the Pro plan, it costs $49 per month per agent, and for the Enterprise plan, it costs $79 per month per agent.
Freshdesk is a software that offers omnichannel live chat and self-service features.
Features that are essential or important.
- Chat campaigns help you engage with leads at the right moment and collect information to qualify them.
- Manage all communications with your visitors from all channels in one place to ensure you have a complete history of every interaction and touchpoint a lead has with your business.
- Easily collaborate with other reps by inviting them to view chat conversations and tickets.
- Canned responses and ticket automation get customers the answers they need faster and save your team’s time.
14. Userlike
No cost is associated with the product.
Userlike is an exceptional software, unlike any other, that brings together live chat, customer messaging, and service automation all in one platform.
The unified messaging solution provides a single inbox for managing customer messages across various platforms such as website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, and others. Userlike additionally offers advanced automation capabilities like AI chatbots, intelligent FAQs, and adaptive contact forms.
Highlighted Features:
- Media and file sharing, voice messages, live translations, audio/video calls and more support you in building long-term customer relationships.
- Generate leads with an advanced website chat that lets visitors start a chat directly on the website or choose one of their favorite
messaging apps. - Create AI-powered chatbots, smart FAQ pages and interactive contact forms to allow customers to help themselves 24/7.
15. Drift
Please get in touch for pricing information.
Drift possesses an AI chatbot of excellent quality that aids in identifying appropriate leads and engaging with them according to their buyer behavior.
Some of the main characteristics are:
- AI chatbots replicate the behaviors of sales development reps and conduct live chat conversations with your leads to automate and save time.
- Build custom bots to pre-qualify leads and send personalized outreach based on the touchpoints people have engaged with.
- Drift Prospector automatically prioritizes accounts to help you focus on the most qualified leads.
- Continue the conversation with chat-to-call or chat-to-zoom.
16. Zendesk Chat
The cost is $49 per month per agent for Suite Team, $70 per month per agent for Suite Growth, $99 per month per agent for Suite Professional, and enterprise pricing can be obtained by contacting us.
Zendesk Chat is an adaptable online chat tool that seamlessly integrates with your Zendesk software as well as other software like Shopify and WordPress.
Highlighted characteristics:
- AI-powered chatbots answer questions and send targeted behavioral triggers to customers via web chat to help you increase your chances of conversion.
- Customizable pre-chat forms ask visitors for crucial information to help you qualify leads and get a complete customer profile before rep conversation.
17. Zoho Desk
The cost is $0 for three agents (Free), $14 per month per agent (Standard), $23 per month per agent (Professional), and $40 per month per agent (Enterprise).
Wherever your contacts are, Zoho Desk offers an embeddable chat widget to help you interact with them.
The main characteristics are:
- Customized chatbots can engage with visitors, answer qualifying questions, and add them to your CRM.
- Bots can transfer prospects to the right sales rep along with all relevant information to give them the history they need to help.
- Click to call within live chat windows to communicate with prospects instantly on another channel.
18. HelpCrunch
The cost for each team member is $12 per month for the Basic package and starts from $20 per month for the Pro package. Please get in touch with us to inquire about the pricing for enterprise usage.
HelpCrunch is a customer communication platform that provides a web chat app for sales and customer service, allowing you to personalize it according to your website design and branding.
Important features:
- Chat forms pre-qualify leads and collect information to help you understand who visitors are so you can approach them with the most relevant information.
- Create automated email follow-ups when chats end to reach out to leads based on their behavior history and share relevant information.
- Reps can manage five separate conversations at once from one tool to increase productivity.
- Localization, file sharing, chat transcripts, and multi-channel messaging are also available.
19. Pure Chat
Cost: No charge for the 30-day trial period, $39 per month for the Growth option, and $70 per month for the PRO option.
You can utilize Pure Chat to generate a personalized web chat widget for both desktop and mobile, as it is a live chat software.
Features that are essential or particularly important
- Canned responses to quickly answer FAQs
- Past conversations are transcribed and saved in your chat history for easy access and reference so you can track leads throughout their entire interaction with your business.
20. Smith.ai
Price: $10/chat (A la carte), $140/mo (20 live chats), $300/mo (50 live chats), $600/mo (120 live chats)
Smith.ai is a software that serves as a virtual receptionist and lead intake tool, equipped with a web chat feature that is perfect for capturing, communicating with, and evaluating leads through live chat interactions.
Features that are essential or important.
- Create custom lead criteria that chatbots use to qualify leads and learn from customer interactions to refine your intake funnel.
- Transcripts of conversations are saved in your email and CRM to give you a full history of customer interactions.
- The tool can integrate with your CRM to make contact and lead intake easy and to complete your workflows.
- If you’re an ecommerce business, integrate Smith.ai with your billing software to manage payment collection.
