The Best Live Chat Software in 2022

Best For

LiveChat is the best solution for ecommerce businesses that look to build lasting customer relationships.

What Is LiveChat?

LiveChat is the top live chat software for website stores and advanced customer service. It is a complete customer service platform dedicated to ecommerce that boosts conversions and provides site analytics.

This platform is the perfect alternative to time-consuming and expensive phone calls and emails, which take much longer than the immediate, problem-solving chat responses.

LiveChat offers aesthetically-pleasing chat applications that can be used on laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. It integrates with dozens of third-party platforms like CRM systems, Google Analytics, and all the top email marketing services. It’s fast, convenient, works on every device, and delivers an excellent user experience.

LiveChat Pricing

LiveChat has four plans:

• The Starter plan costs $16/user when billed annually ($19/user with month-to-month billing), and includes a 60-days chat history, basic widget customization, ticketing system, and data security. It’s perfect for small teams.
• The Team plan is $33/user billed annually ($39/user if you pay monthly) and is perfect for full-time support teams. It ups the previous plan with unlimited chat history, full widget customization, basic reporting, agent groups, and multiple branding.
• The Business plan comes in at $50/user billed annually ($59/user with month-to-month payments) and is excellent for growing businesses with a significant customer service team. It adds advanced reporting, staffing prediction, and work scheduler to the mix.
• Finally, the Enterprise plan has custom pricing and is ideal for large corporations like Fortune 500 companies. Some of the most notable perks that come with this plan include a dedicated account manager, product training, and HIPAA compliance.

LiveChat Best Features

• The platform’s chat widget can be customized to reflect your brand/website.
• You can use greetings to engage customers.
• Reports and analytics give insight into customer interactions.
• Over 170 custom integrations for a more comprehensive user experience.
• APIs enable powerful automation.
• Built-in ticketing system for teams that need more advanced solutions.
• Full chat history gives further insight into how your agents work.

What We Disliked About LiveChat

• The platform is somewhat pricey compared to rivals.
• You can ban visitors only by IP address.

LiveChat User Reviews

Some of the world’s biggest companies use LiveChat, so it’s no wonder that it has an excellent reputation with users.

The platform has been praised for its amount of features and how easy it makes customer support.

The most common complaint concerns the LiveChat mobile application, which seems to be far inferior to the web version.

What We Recommend LiveChat For

LiveChat is arguably the best WordPress chat plugin and works perfectly with ecommerce platforms and sites. We recommend the platform to organizations of all sizes, especially to businesses focusing on ecommerce.

Best For

HubSpot’s live chat tool is the best overall free live chat software and the top option for those already using Hubspot products.

What Is HubSpot Live Chat?

Hubspot’s live chat platform gives sales, marketing, and customer support teams a universal inbox to view, reply, and manage every customer interaction — all in one place.

The software allows companies to automatically connect website visitors with the right person on their team to increase lead conversion rates, close more deals, and provide better customer service.

HubSpot Live Chat Pricing

Hubspot’s live chat software is completely free; it comes with Hubspot’s Free, Starter, Professional, and Enterprise plans that cost $0, $50/month, $800/month, and $3,200/respectively.

HubSpot Live Chat Best Features

• Easy-to-use chatbot builder helps lighten the load and make it easier to conduct unlimited, personalized conversations at scale.
• Easily customize the look of the chat widget to match your brand.
• The live chat tool is also connected to HubSpot’s data-rich CRM, allowing websites to use the data collected to create targeted welcome messages for different web pages or diverse audience segments.
• Every conversation is automatically saved and stored in the conversation inbox to provide full context and a crystal clear view of every interaction.
• The software smoothly integrates with Facebook Messenger, Mailchimp, Shopify, Zapier, and Zendesk.
• Slack integration which lets agents get chat notifications and respond directly via Slack.
• Set up email capture so you can follow up on any chat requests you might have missed.

What We Disliked About Hubspot Live Chat

HubSpot Live Chat only works with the vendor’s CRM, so if you’re planning on integrating this tool with another CRM, then you’re out of luck.

HubSpot Live Chat User Reviews

Most users seem to enjoy the added benefit of having live chat software to their CRM system.

It makes managing a website easier, while the automation functionality saves time. Common complaints point to the automation’s inflexibility, such as inability to use the same messages across multiple chat flows — if you build a chat flow with questions, answers, and quick replies in one chatbot, you cannot reuse it for another.

What We Recommend HubSpot Live Chat For

Hubspot’s live chat is an excellent online chat for website owners who plan to use HubSpot’s marketing and CRM tools. It’s great for big companies looking for a website traffic monitoring tool, better customer service, and smaller companies looking to convert more leads.

Best For

Olark is the best live chat option for online sales and customer support that also works great as a WordPress chat plugin.

What Is Olark?

Olark is live chat software that makes it easier for website owners to gather customer feedback and answer real-time questions. It has built-in CRM, so all chat transcripts are saved and organized in a searchable database.

Olark Pricing

Olark has three price plans:

• Month-to-month plan at $19/agent with the option to cancel any time.
• One-year subscription at $15/agent/month.
• Two-year subscription at $12/agent/month.

Olark Best Features

• The Olark chat box for websites is fully customizable, so the look and feel can be updated as your brand evolves.
• The easy-to-configure live chat automation rules make it easier to engage more customers and speed up workflow.
• Olark has detailed live chat reports updated in real-time to monitor chat volume, customer satisfaction, and agent activity.
• The live chat transcripts are full of actionable product feedback and customer information.
• Olark also has unique form builders to collect information from customers before they initiate a chat.
• The platform has additional, specialized live chat features called PowerUps at an added cost.
• Olark easily integrates with third-party platforms like Google Analytics, WordPress, MailChimp, HelpScout, and ZenDesk.

What We Disliked About Olark

• No chatbot function.
• No mobile application.

Olark User Reviews

Most of the Olark customer reviews we found praise how affordable and easy-to-use the platform is. Users also appreciate its ability to integrate with CRM and helpdesk software to make customer support more effective.

The most common complaints mention that these integrations are limited and that the chatbox’s customization is inferior to that of rivals.

What We Recommend Olark For

We think Olark is best suited for small to medium-sized organizations. The platform’s data collection and consumer interaction tools are excellent for companies looking to capture more leads and improve customer support.

Best For

ChatBot is one of the best chat programs for websites looking to scale sales efforts without new hires and improve query resolution time.

What Is ChatBot?

ChatBot is an artificial intelligence-powered live chat platform that lets websites build and launch conversational chatbots for different scenarios without coding. ChatBot has beautiful, ready-to-use templates to power up marketing, supercharge sales, and optimize customer support.

ChatBot Pricing

ChatBot has four price tiers:

• The Starter Plan costs $50/month for 1,000 chats; it includes one active chatbot, all integrations, and basic reporting.
• The Team Plan is priced at $149/month for 5,000 chats; it comes with everything in the Starter Plan plus five active chatbots, advanced reporting, and team collaboration.
• The Business Plan will cost you $499/month. It ups the Standard Plan with unlimited chatbots, premium customer support, and security assistance.
• The Enterprise Plan has fixed-price contracts for big teams in large companies; it ups the ante with five active chatbots, a dedicated Account Manager, chatbot building, and custom integrations.

ChatBot Best Features

• Free, ready-to-use chatbot templates enable a quick setup.
• A fully customizable chat widget can match the look and feel of your brand.
• The drag-and-drop visual chatbot builder speeds up the customization process.
• Open API to integrate with third-party apps flexibly.
• Machine learning algorithms help deliver well-tailored responses.
• Human-like conversation capabilities make for better customer experience.
• Easy-to-understand metrics and reports give insight to users.

What We Disliked About ChatBot

• The machine learning capabilities could use improvement because ChatBot sometimes doesn’t understand specific phrases.
• The AI isn’t built to engage with customers with complex or complicated queries.
• It’s a little pricey.

ChatBot User Reviews

ChatBot has an excellent reputation with users; most of them have praised how easy the platform integrates into LiveChat and creates realistic responses to live chat support queries.

As mentioned in the previous section, some of the common complaints are that the AI can misidentify or misinterpret some phrases and questions.

What We Recommend ChatBot For

We recommend ChatBot for big and small organizations looking to improve team efficiency and customer query response times. It is excellent for growing companies who want to deliver better customer service around the clock and shorten wait times. It also caters well to established businesses looking for a solution to high-volume customer queries.

Best For

Pure Chat is the best overall live website chat software for small businesses and entrepreneurs and is perfect for companies looking to convert leads.

What Is Pure Chat?

Pure Chat is live website chat software that is easy to set up and intuitive to use.

It was designed to enable better conversations with website visitors in the moments that matter most. Pure Chat focuses on one thing and one thing only — live chat.

It’s the top choice for companies looking for a simple and easy live chat platform without the confusing bells and whistles.

Pure Chat Pricing

Pure Chat has two price plans:

• The Growth plan costs $39/month and supports a single website with a maximum of four chat agents (adding additional users will cost $13/month).
• The PRO plan is priced at $79 a month and supports an unlimited number of websites; it allows up to 10 users, adding extra agents coming in at $8/month.

Pure Best Features

• The platform allows unlimited chats.
• Advanced chat widget customization reflects your image and brand.
• Unlimited chat history transcripts deliver insight into customer-agent interactions.
• Comprehensive account stats and reports help you keep track of your team’s performance.
• Real-time visitor analytics and contact history give information about your customer base.
• Native iOS and Android apps enable use on the go.
• Seamless integration with over 1,000 other applications.

What We Disliked About Pure Chat

It doesn’t provide notifications for chat messages, so if you aren’t logged in and looking at the screen, you’ll likely miss some.

Pure Chat User Reviews

Pure Chat has a good reputation with customers who particularly value its website chat widget customization options. We couldn’t find anything negative worth mentioning outside of the standard minor functionality complaints.

What We Recommend Pure Chat For

We recommend Pure Chat for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It’s free, easy, quick to set up, and is the best option for online support teams who might not have the time and money to spend on a live chat widget.

Best For

Chaport is the best live chat software for startups and small businesses looking to build a customer database and get more leads.

What Is Chaport?

Chaport is a live website chat software that aims to make communication with customers as easy and enjoyable as chatting with friends.

The platform has a user-friendly interface with intuitive navigation and provides businesses an easy way to connect and get closer to customers and stay competitive.

Chaport allows websites to request visitor email addresses even if live chat agents are offline and contact prospects even after they’ve left the site.

Additionally, Chaport Live Chat has all the necessary tools to help startups meet the GDPR requirements for working in the European market.

Chaport Pricing

Chaport has transparent and straightforward plans:

• Free plan with essential features that allows a single operator.
• Pro plan for $9.80/operator/month that supports advanced features.

Chaport Best Features

• Visitors can see the multilingual chat widget in their native language.
• Group chats that allow agents to transfer and join chats.
• Advanced widget customization which allows for operator photos.
• Web-based application, desktop application, and mobile apps that let you talk to your customers from anywhere.
• Automatic email address request that helps with the building of a customer base.
• On-demand reports that let you see incoming and missed chats.
• Advanced integration with over 2,000 apps.
• Detailed website visitor information that delivers insight into your current and potential customers.

What We Disliked About Chaport

• The platform doesn’t have a chatbot.

Chaport User Reviews

Chaport has an outstanding reputation with its customers, with most users praising how easy it is to use and how it makes visitor site traffic more manageable.

The complaints that we found were users nitpicking about functionality and the platform’s UX design.

What We Recommend Chaport For

We recommend Charport for startups and small businesses because it allows websites to automatically collect visitor emails to gather a customer database and qualify new leads. Startups and small businesses can also use this live website chat platform to give fast responses to prospects, gain trust, and close more sales.

Best For

Sendinblue is the best live website chat solution for marketing and support, courtesy of its email marketing features.

What Is Sendinblue?

Sendinblue is a marketing and website support chat software platform designed to empower small and medium-sized businesses to build and grow relationships with their customers.

Sendinblue has the complete suite of tools to cover email marketing, live chat, text messaging, and more, making it the best live chat for business looking for an all-in-one customer relationship management platform.

Sendinblue Pricing

Sendinblue has three pricing plans in addition to the Free For Life package.

• The Lite plan starts at $25/month and is perfect for up-and-coming marketers. It includes features like A/B testing, advanced statistics, and email support.
• The Premium plan, priced at $65/month, is the best solution for marketing pros looking to crank things up a notch. It includes features like marketing automation, multi-user access, and telephone support.
• The Enterprise plan has custom pricing and is best for marketers with advanced needs.

Sendinblue Best Features

• Easy-to-use website chat widget
• You can integrate Sendinblue features into any tool or product.
• Real-time statistics deliver insight into each campaign.
• Advanced audience segmentation allows for targeted messages.
• All plans include GDPR compliance.
• Open, and click-through reports give information into your email performance.
• One shared inbox keeps users on top of things.

What We Disliked About Sendinblue

• If you’re looking for *just* live chat services, then Sendinblue is overkill.
• The API is a little difficult to understand.

Sendinblue User Reviews

Sendinblue has a reasonably good reputation with customers. Most of the happy users praise how easy the platform is to use.

The most common complaint we came across is, ironically, the lack of customer support from Sendinblue to its own customers.

What We Recommend Sendinblue For

The price plans suggest that this platform is made for small and large organizations, but we would recommend it to marketing companies who focus on email and SMS marketing.

Best For

Thanks to its integration options, LiveAgent is the best live chat for Squarespace websites and the best overall helpdesk support software.

What Is LiveAgent?

LiveAgent is an all-in-one client services platform that combines excellent live chat capabilities with ticketing and workflow automation to provide exceptional overall customer support. The helpdesk solution naturally connects to the live chat feature to proactively serve customers in a way that fits their needs.

It helps resolve queries quickly, boost productivity, and create a seamless customer experience from one platform to the next.

The live chat widget is the fastest available on the market and allows agents to see livechat typing before the message is sent. It lets websites connect with customers instantly and deliver the best possible customer experience.

LiveAgent Pricing

LiveAgent has three paid plans in addition to the free forever plan, which covers one email address, chat button, and phone number.

• The first is the $15/agent/month plan. It is a ticketing solutions package, rather than a live chat plan, and excludes live chat centers.
• The $29/agent/month plan adds the live chat option.
• The $39/agent/month plan includes all the product’s features.

LiveAgent Best Features

• Live chat and call center support allows for more comprehensive customer service.
• You can set up rules to automatically invite users to chat.
• You can view what your customers are typing in real-time.
• Website monitoring lets you watch your visitors as they explore your website.
• The video call capability boosts customer interactions.
• API and integrations with multiple platforms and website builders, including with Squarespace.
• iOS and Android apps allow use from anywhere.

What We Disliked About LiveAgent

• The lowest-priced tier doesn’t have live chat.
• The platform lacks customization.

LiveAgent User Reviews

LiveAgent has an excellent reputation with customers; it has five-star ratings on Trustpilot, GetApp, and G2. The positive reviews have praised LiveAgent as a comprehensive customer support tool and how the integration with other platforms has made daily customer service easier.

The most common complaints we came across were rudimentary and involved minor inconveniences like an outdated UI.

What We Recommend LiveAgent For

We would recommend LiveAgent for medium to large organizations that have to deal with multiple customer queries. The live chat app for website, paired with the helpdesk capabilities, makes it a good option for retail, travel, and gambling websites.

Best For

SnapEngage is the top web chat for enterprises looking to engage, qualify, and convert more leads.

What Is SnapEngage

SnapEngage is an award-winning conversational platform that provides live chat solutions for sales and customer support. The platform was built as a tool to create quality interactions between companies, customers, and sales prospects as efficiently and effectively as possible. The interface is easy to navigate, while the tools can be implemented without any technical expertise.

SnapEngage Pricing

SnapEngage has three price plans built for every stage of the customer journey:

• The Essentials plan starts from $16/user/month and has everything you need to get started.
• The Professional plan starts from $26/user/month and is the best option for a growing team.
• The Enterprise plan has custom pricing and is best for global organizations looking to take their engagement to the next level.

SnapEngage Best Features

• The platform is easy to set up and customize.
• Omnichannel solutions to connect with customers wherever they are.
• Seamless integration with CRM and helpdesk.
• Fully programmable chatbots streamline communication with website visitors.
• Robust out-of-the-box reporting and analytics tailored for sales and support.
• Easily customizable chat widget with intuitive design tools.
• Security and privacy features keep your business safe and compliant.

What We Disliked About SnapEngage

• There’s no free version.

SnapEngage User Reviews

SnapEngage has a generally good reputation with customers; the positive reviews praise how the platform communicates with website visitors and potential customers.

We didn’t find many complaints outside of the usual minor queries around functionality and the desire for more integrations.

What We Recommend SnapEngage For

SnapEngage caters to businesses across various industries, from travel and hospitality to health care and education. We recommend SnapEngage for medium to large-scale organizations, especially for those who need a WordPress live chat plugin.

Best For

Chatra is the best live chat platform for non-profits and startups because of its easy setup and competitive pricing.

What Is Chatra?

Chatra is one of the most functional and easy-to-use chat programs with live chat and chatbot capabilities. These useful tools are essential for delivering adequate customer support, collecting customer data for marketing, and closing more leads.

Chatra Pricing

Chatra has two plans:

• A Free plan that accommodates one user and has all the essential features.
• A Pro plan for $19/user/month with all the premium features.

Chatra Best Features

• The platform supports an unlimited number of chats simultaneously.
• Complete conversation history lets you monitor visitors and agents.
• The real-time website visitor list allows you to target specific customers.
• Collect website visitor contact information to build a base of potential customers.
• Chat widget customization lets you change the color of the button, widget texts, and notification sounds.
• iOS and Android mobile apps enable use on the go.
• The platform integrates with Google Analytics.

What We Disliked About Chatra

• The software supports fewer integrations than rivals.

Chatra User Reviews

Most of the positive Chatra reviews praise the software’s simple and easy setup. The free chat service has all the essential features that make it a favorite among many non-profits, startups, and small organizations.

We couldn’t find any negative reviews and complaints. Users, however, note that they would love more features in the free version.

What We Recommend Chantra For

We recommend Chatra for non-profits, startups, and small businesses. The free version has plenty of essential features and tools, which favors organizations that don’t necessarily have the budget for multiple users.