A successful online business requires certain tools and supports from others to grow. There is a need to have access to tools that will aid you to communicate with your users. These tools ensure you understand your user’s needs to better serve them and also scale your business.
One way you can achieve this is through live chat software. Customers are increasingly becoming impatient as they require you to answer their questions and queries immediately. This is where live chat shines best as you can reply to your customer’s questions immediately in seconds.
Top media and E-commerce companies are now prioritizing live chat software over email.
How Live Chat Works
Live chat is a simple line of code that is added to your website and pops up to show texts where users can type in their questions or queries and you can reply from the other end. These days, installing live chats is quite easy. All you have to do is copy some lines of code and add them to the code base of your website.
Live chat software can improve customer relations tremendously as reports have shown that customer satisfaction with the software is more than 83%.
Live chat software can interact with many customers at once while also reviewing the history of conversation and the user’s behaviour.
Also, as Artificial intelligence, and natural language processing becomes increasingly popular, chatbots can now be used to interact with customers even while you are away.
In this write-up, we are going to review the 19 best live chat software tools. This software is ranked based on ease of use, integration of other software, pricing, and help desk features.
Let’s take a look at the 19 best live chat software.
1.CHATFUEL
This software is said to be the leading cahoot for the Facebook Messenger app. It best for decreasing the cost of converting leads improve sales.
It is designed to interact with the user 24/7. It achieves this by automating some pre-planned answers using questions that are asked frequently by users.
Features
- It can Clone messages and send them to any individual or group.
- It can reply to keywords and questions automatically.
- Reply to users who comment on your Facebook page automatically.
- Measure the amount of open, sent, and clicked messages.
- Monitor visitors’ activities and look for support from chat agents where necessary.
- Allows you to embed a Facebook messenger into your website.
- The chatbot can respond to the same question with different answers.
Pricing
Chat fuel offers a free plan where you can subscribe to up to 5,000 subscribers. They also offer a Pro plan which costs $15 every month and allows up to 5,000 subscribers.
Drift
Drift is a live chat software designed to build relationships with customers and buyers to drive sales. They are well known as leaders in conversational marketing.
With their standard live chat tool, you can use the routing features to connect clients with the right person at the right time.
Drift makes it possible to give your top visitors VIP treatment by giving them quick access to your sales team. They also ensure you don’t miss any messages by sending notifications. You can also arrange for a meeting with your VIP visitors in case you are not available to chat.
Features
- Drift playbooks can be used to book meetings and convert visitors to your website to paying customers.
- It can help you to measure the performance of your sales and support teams by providing data such as several interactions, conversion metrics, and response time.
- It offers a functional mobile app to allow agents to record and share live chats, and track views.
- It comes with an instant notification when your customers view your websites.
- You can automatically book meetings with autoresponse streams of your chatbots.
- You can also use the chat-to-call feature to try to convert them to customers.
Pricing
It is a free plan that provides the basic features needed. It also comes with Essential and Premium plans that cost $400 and $1500 respectively for one month.
All in all, Drift is a wonderful chat tool that ensures instant and more creative ways to engage with your customers.
Smartsupp
Smartsupp is great to live chat assistance that is well suited for eCommerce businesses to communicate with their customers.
You can Customize the window to include the image of a customer support person to show a human is behind every chat. It offers detailed information about the user in the web dashboard to track customer’s behavior.
It has both iOS and Android mobile apps for your support staff to stay connected with clients. You can also create an automated message to respond to customers’ queries.
Features
- Measure customer’s chat ratings and conversion rates using Google analytics.
- You can integrate other features using e-commerce platforms like Shopper and Webnode.
- Create automated messages for instant customers reply.
- Customizable dashboard for viewing client data.
Pricing
There is a free version for individual and small businesses with up to 3 users though with limited features. The standard and Pro plan costs $10 and $19 monthly.
Pure Chat
Pure chat gives you enough free trial duration to try out the software. The chatbot comes with an AI feature for scheduling appointments, receiving payments, and generating leads.
You can get insights from customer’s data and Leverage them for better customer relations.
It also integrates well with other applications like Hubspot, Axosoft, Google Analytics, and many more.
Features
- Easy to set up with an intuitive user interface.
- You can easily embed a live chat widget.
- Utilize a trigger-based chat function to sell your products and services to customers.
- Customizable chat widget.
- It comes with a free version with AI functions.
Pricing
There is a free plan for first-timers for 30-days. They also offer both Growth and Pro plans which cost $39 and $79 per month.
LivePerson
One feature that stands out in this software is AI-Enabled customer Support. It also supports multi-language support for different countries.
You can also run email campaigns and newsletters with the lead generation bot. The AI-enabled chatbot saves every customer’s information to aid improve customer relations and service.
Features
- Customizable messages to suit different customers and different scenarios to reduce the need to answer frequently asked questions.
- Powerful mobile app to stay connected to the customers.
- The After Hours Bot is designed to make sure you answer the questions of your customers
- Personalizable chat window.
Pricing
The pricing plan is based on the bid.
Comm100
Comm100 is an award-winning digital platform that offers live chat software as one of its products. It lets you control your live chats with users on either the web or through an app.
Features
- Auto-translation, audio & video chat, auto-translate, co-browsing.
- It comes with a desktop, mobile, and Web app for the agents.
- It is multilingual.
- You can leave offline messages
- You can share files and images within the live chat.
- You can conduct both a pre-chat and post-chat survey.
- Ban unwanted visitors from the live chat.
- You can access multiple chat operators at once.
- You also get free training on how to integrate the software into your website.
- Customizable chat windows and buttons are present.
Pricing
They offer a free plan with limited features to try out the software. It comes with three paid plans. The team plan costs $29 for each agent every month. The business plan costs $49 for each agent every month. The enterprise plan usually varies and is dependent on the bid and ask price.
Podium
A podium is a messaging tool for customers best suited for local businesses and also include Webchat features. It can help small businesses to collect text payments, chat with customers, manage reviews, and also collect payments.
Features
- Send and receive messages from Facebook messenger, Google and others.
- Receive and send messages to customers.
- Receive payments through text.
- Collect customer information.
- Teamchat allows the team to get more done.
- Videochat allows you to connect quickly with customers.
Pricing
You can quote the pricing you want as it is customizable.
Olark
Olark is a good option for businesses looking to improve their user experience using the insights from customers’ data.
Olark stores the transcripts and notes of your chats with customers in your customer relationship management tool. This way, you can organize your customer’s data and make better decisions to improve customer’s experience.
The pre-Christmas form can be used to gain more insights into the customer’s needs before chatting with them. You can also suggest products to customers with automated messages as well as take offline messages from your users through emails when you are not able to use chat messages.
Features
- Automated messaging to increase engagement.
- The live chat analytics can be used to monitor the responsiveness of agents, customer satisfaction, and make better business decisions.
- Integrate third-party software like Nutshell and Salesforce.
- Give chats to agents based on the customer’s requirements.
- Customer’s buying history can be used to know the products more suited for the customers.
Pricing
It comes with only one plan which costs $19 a month.
Hubspot Live Chat
Hubspot Live chat is a part of Hubspot marketing tools. It is a free live chat SOFTWARE and a great option for local businesses looking for a versatile tool. You can also have access to customer data to gain insights on how to improve customer satisfaction.
The recorded transcripts can be used to study the customer’s behavior, the performance of agents u, and training. The information extracted can be to deliver better quality service and improved customer experience.
Features
- Integration with slack for efficient communication.
- Assign working hours so customers can know when you will be available.
- Personalized experience with integration with Hubspot CRM.
- Email capture in case of missing conversations.
- Outlook and Gmail integration for access to email templates and contact.
- Hubspot mobile app to chat with customers.
- Assign tasks to agents and track progress from the dashboard.
- Create chatbots instantly to allow you to answer FAQs and book meetings.
Pricing
Hubspot live chat is available to everyone for free.
Tidio Chat
Tidio chat is arguably one of the best live chat tools available in the market. They offer some awesome features for better customer support and experience.
This platform also mixes email, live chat, and messenger giving more options to the customers for better communication.
Additionally, its email notification feature enables you to easily track your missed live chat messages and reply to them through emails.
Tidio Chat also helps you weed out spam and useless messages through an IP-based ban on users. You can also stay connected to your real customers even when you are not in the office through its native iOS and Android apps.
Features
- You can transfer the live chat to another operator based on what the user requires.
- Enables user data management through third-party integration.
- Instant response to FAQs through automated response.
- Measure operator’s performance with chat analytics.
- Engage in an insightful chat with your customers based on user behaviour.
Pricing
There is a free plan which allows up to 3 users with unlimited chats. There is also a paid plan with starting price of $10 for each user every month.
Zendesk Chat
Zendesk chat used to be known as Zopim or Zendesk is better suited for large teams who work remotely. It has an excellent internal help desk solution.
An exceptional feature of this software is the proactive engagement of the chatbot. The Al-enabled feature allows it to send messages faster and to a larger audience.
It can also collect data from users for improved customer experience.
Features
- Customizable dashboard as it suits your business.
- Open API for easy integration with a third-party app.
- Create automatic workflow.
- Explore enables you to build a customized report to provide you with insights.
- Agents can add reference notes to the ticket for other agents picking the tickets.
Pricing
Zendesk chat offers a free trial that new users must use first before trying out other paid plans.
SnapEngage chatbot
SnapEngage multichannel solution for a better customer experience. Their solution includes a chatbot and the capacity for users to share their screens.
It is very reliable and improves collaboration with your team members within and outside your department for better customer service and lead generation.
Features
- SnapEngage is the first live chat platform to be compliant with healthcare policies. It is well suited for healthcare facilities to connect with their patients.
- Customizable buttons, fonts, background, chat forms, etc to help you achieve your goals.
- This software is security compliant with double-layer encryption and limits access to data through permissions and audit logs.
- Easy integration with other software like salesforce.
- Provides unlimited conversations.
- Chat support with Facebook, Twitter, SMS, etc.
Pricing
It offers a paid plan starting at $16 each month and can go as high as $40.
LiveAgent cover
This software has the best feature for ticketing with an AI solution. It allows you to communicate with your customers in their preferred channels. Agents can also use the customized automated feature to send personalized messages.
You can collect customer’s details through contact forms. It also allows you to respond to your customer’s messages and comments on your social media.
Features
- A customized community forum for your customers to drop feedback and increase your knowledge base.
- Cloud-based call centers which does not have a limit on the number of users.
- Video chat for face-to-face interaction with your users.
- A.I enabled customer’s tickets which are assigned to agents based on some set of rules.
- Knowledge-based software for building search-driven websites.
- Integration with third-party applications.
Pricing
There offer a 14-day free trial though with limited features. Its paid plan has a price range of $15 to $39 each month.
Chaport
This is a live chat widget that can be installed on your website. It stands out in managing live chat tasks with just a window.
It comes with an attractive UI which also makes it easy for you to better manage your chats and emails. You can chat with many users at once increasing efficiency.
You can also change the colour, photos, and fonts of the widget. This software supports about 29 languages which can be changed when you change the widget.
You can also communicate with your customers with the mobile app so you don’t miss out on any opportunity.
Features
- Supports multiple languages to serve customers from different countries.
- Mobile app for android and iOS.
- Send customized messages to your users.
- Integration with a third-party app.
- Information gathering for better customer relations and services.
- Compatible with mobile and desktop.
Pricing
It has a paid plan which costs $9.80 per agent for each month. There is also a free plan with access to all the necessary features.
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is Best suited for businesses with a WordPress site. It is designed to focus on the customer’s needs. It allows customers to create a ticket using live conversation to resolve customer’s problems.
You can choose to give your ticket to experts for better customer service. You can convert missed chat into tickets by setting a wait time.
Features
- You can set responses to FAQs so you don’t waste time.
- You can make a separate widget for different communities and applications.
- Get feedback from customers and measure it to optimize your support team.
- View and manage customer’s information.
- Webform for customers to drop their queries.
Pricing
It offers a free trial, especially for new users.
They also offer paid plans for users ranging from $10 up to $30 each month.
Acquire.io
This is arguably the most popular live chat software. It integrates extensively with more than 40 top chat services such as messenger, Twitter and Skype. You can also automate response requests and reroute messages to human agents when the bots get stuck.
You can share the screen with your customer’s browser for better customer support and gives you the option to block sensitive information like passwords. You can also guide your customers with highlighters and markers
Features
- Video Chat with customers to better answer their queries.
- Data encryption to prevent theft.
- Customizable chatbot, responses, and messages.
- Integrate support channel with email service for a wider view of customer interaction.
Pricing
They operate a request-based pricing model.
Intercom
Intercom is an innovative live chat for marketing, sales, and your support teams. The modern UI gives typing indicators, easy navigation, with emojis and GIFs.
You can Customize your messages across all platforms and also the web. Intercom is used by top brands like Shopify, Y Combinator, and Atlassian. It gives the sales team the Leverage to work with the support team.
You can use the mobile app for screen sharing, book meetings, and communicate via voice or video call.
Features
- Harvest data on user’s chat history to improve engagement.
- Different bots for sales and marketing and better customer support.
- Give the queries and requests to the right team members.
- Measure lead generation and conversion.
- Measure team’s performance to reward top performers.
- Integration with their party apps like salesforce for better performance.
Pricing
Their paid plan comes with a price range of $39 to as high as $999 a month.
JivoChat is an international live chat software that originated in Russia. There has a large client base. The UI design is innovative. There has an app for android iOS, Mac, and also Windows operating systems.
It is designed for companies who are looking for cost-effective chat solutions that come with phone support.
Features
- Integration with Zapier allows you to plug into your favourite helpdesk.
- Offers phone support.
- Offers multiple channel communications.
- It offers support across different departments.
- It supports multiple languages.
- Users can fill in contact forms offline.
- The chats are colour-coded.
- Users can rate the services of agents.
- You can customize your activity dashboard, widget or logo to your taste.
- Agents can chat with one another.
- It also offers automatic, responses, triggers, and notifications.
Pricing
They offer a basic plan which is free and comes with unlimited chats for 5 agents. The pro plan costs about $13 each month.
Unlimited chats for up to 5 agents. Each plan is paid annually.
Freshchat
Live chat software by Freshworks is designed for large businesses and is best suited for organizations whose business model is mainly B2B. It offers a scalable, and automated live chat solution providing data security.
Their customer support tools integrate well with other tools for a better user experience. You can choose your best agents to handle key client accounts and portfolios thereby preventing your not-so-experienced reps from poor interaction with key clients which can lead to a reduction in revenue.
Features
- It comes with an intelligent chat routing.
- Integrate well with third-party software.
- Translate to different languages while chatting.
- Data encryption to protect client’s data.
- Automation using AI to save time and effort.
Pricing
Freshchat offers a free plan with limited features. Freshchat paid plans to include:
Blossom is meant for small teams and cost $15 per user per month, Garden is designed for growing teams which costs $29 per user each month, Estate is meant for big teams which cost $45 each month, and Forest is designed for large enterprise and businesses which cost$69 for each user a month.
Things to look out for when searching for live chat software for your business
Different businesses require different things. The goal of some businesses may be to grow the relationship with their existing clients while others may be to generate new leads.
Here is a list of features to look out for when purchasing live chat software.
Integration with third-party software
Integration with other software can help solve some challenges and task the software won’t be able to handle.
Compatibility with different devices
Users use different kinds of devices when accessing the Internet. So, it is important to ensure that the software is compatible with all these platforms.
Automated Responses
This can help to reduce the amount of repeated workload available for you and your team to better concentrate on a more important task.
Smart Triggers
This helps to identify those visitors that frequently visit your website so you can prioritize converting them to regular customers.
Analytics
This is very important as it helps to measure the performance of your strategy, know your weak points and make adequate changes. You can also measure chat time, history, and many more.
They are also other features to look out for such as file transfer, offline forms, and data security. When selecting live chat software, you should consider the ones with the features that are important for your business.
CONCLUSION
Quick responses to customer’s questions are sure to increase their trust in your business which is the reason live chat tools are so important these days.
When selecting live chat software, ensure you go through the features and ensure they fit your needs. For example, if your run a small business with low revenue, it is advisable to you use free live chat software such as Hubspot.
If you run a large business with large revenue then a premium tool like Live Chat might work well for you.