It is not an easy task to find the optimal live chat software for your business. The choices available vary from basic live chat applications to comprehensive customer support platforms designed for intricate sales procedures.
What exactly does the term “best live chat software” imply? What may be ideal for one company might be too intricate or insufficient for another. The live chat service industry is highly competitive, offering marketers a variety of appealing features. Incorporating a live chat feature into your website, regardless of the industry, is certainly advantageous.
This evaluation of the top live chat software providers will assist you in identifying the service that is most suitable for your business requirements and financial constraints.
Who should use live chat?
A webchat software is a useful tool for various types of businesses, including ecommerce shops, B2Bs, SaaS companies, and start-ups. It enables them to connect with customers and increase conversions, making it a valuable asset for business growth.
The ability to communicate with website visitors in real time is what makes live chat so beneficial. It’s as if each of your visitors has their own dedicated customer support agent.
Even with small teams, great webchat experiences for customers can be provided thanks to automated chatbots.
The 16 best live chat software
In this analysis, we will examine the leading live chat tools available and identify the businesses we believe they are best suited for.
1. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) live chat software
Brevo Conversations is an excellent option for live chat software due to its intuitive, dependable, and resilient nature. Companies of any scale can make use of Conversations because of its user-friendly interface. The setup process is as straightforward as copying and pasting. Subsequently, the chatbot flows can be designed effortlessly and rapidly using the drag-and-drop editor.
Not only does Brevo Conversations support live chat on your website, but it also enables you to manage messages from your business’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, consolidating all your real-time customer communications in one place!
2. Chatra
For improved customer service, the platform simplifies communication by consolidating conversations from popular channels such as email, messenger, and website into a more efficient and well-structured format.
Chatra allows you to have real-time conversations with website visitors or automate interactions with triggered messages, providing the opportunity to respond at your preferred speed. By doing so, both you and your support team can alleviate the pressure while simultaneously improving the customer experience.
One more excellent feature is the capacity to focus on visitors on particular pages, such as a product page. This allows you to assist them in making real-time choices and enhance your conversion rates.
Additionally, Chatra is compatible with popular ecommerce platforms and enables you to view the items that visitors have added to their cart. Consequently, you can assist them in selecting the appropriate size, the optimal shipping method, and addressing any other queries regarding the checkout process. Consequently, not only does this lead to satisfied customers, but it also creates possibilities for upselling.
3. LiveChat
LiveChat is marketed as a customer support service that supports various channels including Facebook, SMS, email, WhatsApp, and Apple Business Chat in addition to its website chat window. It also provides integration with numerous tools and is compatible with the majority of ecommerce platforms.
LiveChat is suitable for larger teams of representatives who are in need of a webchat software to cater to a high volume of website visitors and customers. It offers various features such as a ticketing system, notifications, chat routing, team management tools, and a sales goal tracker, among others.
LiveChat’s distinctive feature as a live chat solution lies in its capability to incorporate clickable buttons, quick replies, and cards and carousels within the chat window. Incorporating these elements significantly enhances customer satisfaction by promoting more interactive and beneficial chat conversations for visitors.
LiveChat’s automation features are not completely satisfactory, as adding another app is necessary if you wish to incorporate chatbots. ChatBot, developed by the same company, seamlessly integrates with LiveChat; however, it is a separate purchase and requires a separate setup process.
4. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a comprehensive live chat software that offers more than just chatting options. It includes a ticketing system, a built-in call center, a knowledge base builder, and a customer access portal. These extra features enable visitors and customers to help themselves by accessing FAQs and checking the status of their support tickets, eliminating the need to contact a team member.
LiveAgent provides a website chat software that allows customization options, video chat, and multilingual chat boxes. Additionally, it enables users to establish chat assignment rules to ensure customer inquiries are addressed by the most suitable agent.
LiveAgent utilizes AI to trigger proactive chat invitations when your chat agents become available, allowing them to promptly follow up with visitors on a particular page in real time.
For a monthly fee of $39 per platform, LiveAgent seamlessly connects with various communication channels including Slack, Twitter, Viber, forums, and Facebook, consolidating all help desk inquiries in one place.
5. Zendesk
Zendesk’s customer service live chat, which is produced by the same company as Zendesk Sell – a Sales CRM platform, is ideal for companies aiming to expand due to its emphasis on AI and automation, ticketing system, and reporting features.
It caters to larger teams by providing routing, collaboration tools, and knowledge management in order to ensure the quickest response times feasible.
Zendesk centralizes conversations from messaging platforms, social media, website, email, and voice communication in one agent workspace. This integration also extends to chatbots, referred to as Answer Bot, which can be utilized on all mentioned channels. Additionally, diverse workflows can be set up for the bot to adhere to when interacting with customers, depending on the situation.
Additionally, the business chat software offers various features to alleviate the burden associated with customer service. These include the ability to establish a help center, establish a knowledge base, or develop a community forum, all of which enable customers to find solutions independently.
6. Gorgias
Gorgias is marketed as a webchat software designed specifically for ecommerce purposes. It provides comprehensive customer reporting and tracks sales. Gorgias merges live chat with a ticket help desk software, aiming to enhance customer support and boost sales. By integrating with Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce, you can instantly update customer orders and refunds while engaging in chat conversations.
By integrating conversations from Facebook, Instagram, emails, and SMS, Gorgias streamlines communication into a single, cohesive live chat application. Additionally, it enables users to swiftly respond to comments made on Instagram advertisements and social media posts, thereby expediting the conversion procedure.
Gorgias is unique in terms of its pricing as it does not depend on the number of agents and instead offers plans that include unlimited chat users.
Although automations such as immediate responses and self-service situations are offered, they come at an additional cost to the monthly plans, which begin at $75 per month when combined with the Basic plan.
7. Freshchat
Freshchat is an expansive customer service solution, designed for larger teams and intricate organizations that operate both online and offline. It consists of distinct offerings, namely Support Desk, Messaging, Contact Center, and Customer Success. These products can be obtained individually or as a comprehensive package through the Omnichannel Suite.
Freshchat, an app for live chat, utilizes AI to power a chatbot that automates tasks. The chatbot is capable of comprehending the meaning behind questions and providing immediate responses, effectively captivating website visitors until they are transferred to a live agent.
You have the option to activate a help widget on specific pages to provide assistance or deliver resources. Additionally, you can customize it and offer contextual support based on the visitor’s location on your website.
8. Tidio
Tidio is a live chat software that integrates chatbots with live chat to provide customer service. It is designed for small businesses, emphasizing sales and customer satisfaction. It offers plugins for well-known platforms such as Shopify, Wix, and WordPress.
Tidio enables the connection of email, Messenger, Instagram, and website chat. It additionally allows email collection for future communication. The quick reply feature allows support agents to save time by reusing answers for commonly asked questions. Moreover, there are automation templates and a drag-and-drop editor available for constructing chatbot workflows.
9. Intercom
It provides several features for SaaS businesses including live chat, chatbots, product tours, app integration (such as scheduling a Google Meet meeting), and help desk tools. Additionally, it keeps a convenient record of customer history for future reference during chats.
In-app messages provided by Intercom’s live chat make it incredibly convenient to automate customer engagement instantly. By utilizing features like promotional banners, proactive outreach on specific pages, and broadcasting outbound messages, announcing a new feature or grabbing attention towards a product becomes a hassle-free process.
The ability to provide self-support enables the sending of help articles or pre-made answers as a response to specific questions. Moreover, the resolution chatbot presents visitors with multiple choices and directs them through an automated assistance service. This is an excellent customer support feature that aids in enhancing the user experience.
10. Olark
Olark offers a user-friendly live chat software designed to assist small teams in efficiently managing customer support by providing team management tools, such as shared canned responses and chat distribution.
The automations based on location and browsing behavior come in handy for promptly addressing inquiries and resolving problems. Another useful feature is the custom chatbox forms, which prompt the visitor with predetermined questions to gather more information about their needs before initiating a chat conversation.
The Olark chat widget for websites offers various customization options, such as design and language. In addition, the reporting feature is highly advanced, providing valuable insights on activity to assist in staff scheduling and conversation organization based on topics. Moreover, the platform provides chat transcripts that enable users to search through chat history and gather insights.
Olark stands out for its live chat widget, which can be easily accessed using only a keyboard and is compatible with screen readers. Moreover, it provides support for large text. This feature can grant a competitive edge if your website receives frequent visits from individuals with disabilities.
11. Drift
Drift, similar to other live chat solutions, provides automated chatbots and live chat features. What distinguishes Drift is its emphasis on catering to B2B and SaaS organizations and its data-oriented approach to customer support.
By merging data from various business software, such as CRM and sales and marketing tools, as well as databases like Clearbit and Crunchbase, Drift’s Visitor Intelligence software can recognize web visitors and enhance customized interactions. Moreover, Drift provides AI-powered chatbots that mimic the efficiency and competence of your best salespeople and customer service representatives.
While Drift is mainly targeted towards B2B companies and ecommerce stores, they also provide a plan specifically catered towards startups. It is a suitable option for individuals seeking to leverage AI and machine learning features to engage with customers through live chat.
12. Tawk.to
Tawk.to, which is claimed to be the most extensively used live chat software globally, is specifically designed to cater to live chat customer support. However, it lacks advanced functionalities like AI chatbots. Instead, it provides a simple live chat window that enables seamless communication between visitors of your website and chat agents.
Although Tawk.to may not be as extensive as the other options on our list, it distinguishes itself by being entirely free to download and utilize. This aspect makes it an excellent choice for those who wish to explore live chat for their customer support team without having to make any initial financial commitments.
Tawk.to is a perfect option for small businesses that desire to provide simple live chat support, without the need for an expensive subscription. However, larger companies may find a more suitable alternative in a more extensive and advanced solution.
13. Freshdesk
Freshdesk, previously referred to as Freshchat, provides a solution that combines chatbots with the capability to connect customers to a live support representative. This straightforward and user-friendly solution encompasses all the essential features needed in a live chat application, such as automated chat routing, chat transcripts, file sharing, the option to generate tickets from chats, and more.
Smaller businesses looking to try out live chat customer support at an affordable price will find the free version of Freshdesk to be perfect. On the other hand, larger companies dealing with a higher volume of tickets may benefit from Freshdesk’s paid plans.
14. Olark
Ideal for smaller companies with a limited number of support agents, Olark is a live chat tool that focuses on the essential features. Nevertheless, Olark also provides additional benefits such as triggered messaging, custom pre-chat forms, and offline messaging.
The free version of Olark is a suitable option, particularly for small stores that have just one live chat support agent. Although the paid version of Olark does provide certain advantageous features for bigger companies, there are more cost-effective alternatives worth considering.
15. Zoho SalesIQ
Zoho SalesIQ is a customer engagement tool designed to cater to marketing, sales, lead generation, and support teams, offering live chat functionality. Along with custom chatbots, robust monitoring and reporting features are included, enabling effortless switching between live chat and other important support channels. The centralized dashboard facilitates easy tracking of live agents’ performance.
Zoho SalesIQ targets a wide range of businesses, such as finance, ecommerce, travel, real estate, education, and restaurants. While the free version retains essential features, the paid versions are reasonably priced compared to other comprehensive platforms. It is an excellent option for startups and small businesses seeking cost-effective customer support tools.
16. LivePerson
LivePerson is a communication platform empowered by artificial intelligence that aims to enhance the audience experience for businesses and government organizations. The Conversational Cloud serves as a centralized hub for addressing inquiries, interacting with customers through live chat, and providing assistance on various channels chosen by the customers.
At present, LivePerson promotes its solution to various industries including retail, banking, travel, real estate, insurance, DeFi, government, education, and automotive.
Features your live chat software should have
When selecting a chat widget for your ecommerce website, it is important to choose a solution that offers the following features as not all live chat solutions are of equal quality.
- 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 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 .
The benefits of live chat software for business
You may be curious about the significance of live chat among various digital marketing tools. Primarily, it serves as a means of customer support and direct communication. By promptly connecting with visitors on a website, it enhances customer engagement, elevates the customer experience, and ultimately drives sales either directly or indirectly.
A tool for real-time chatting.
- streamlines customer support;
- can answer inquiries outside office hours thanks to automation;
- can offer self-help resources to decrease team members’ workload;
- lets you contact leads without an email signup form ;
- enables you to initiate direct contact proactively;
- keeps a customer on the site for longer and even converts them;
- delivers better user experience thanks to real-time support, a targeted approach, and personalization;
- gathers customer insights for continuous improvement.
