Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the
shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in live chat software
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 16 tools, reviewed
#1 Smartsupp
Chat and AI shopping assistant for small stores · Czech Republic · smartsupp.com
EU vendor Ecommerce focus Mira AI agent
Smartsupp is popular with small shops across central Europe for good reason.
- Pricing: Flat monthly tiers. Free plan for one operator and 25 conversations a month, then plans from $17 a month billed annually with a set number of operators each. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: European ecommerce shops
- Strengths: Live chat; Mira AI agent; Automation workflows.
Where it falls short
The product is aimed at small retailers, so routing, reporting and team management are simple.
Wrong for
B2B software companies and larger support teams should look at LiveChat or Chatwoot.
Visit Smartsupp →
#2 Zoho SalesIQ
Visitor tracking and sales chat from Zoho · India · zoho.com
Lead scoring Zoho CRM link Low cost
SalesIQ treats chat as a lead-generation tool. It tracks visitors across sessions, scores them on pages viewed and actions taken, identifies returning companies, and lets operators or bots start a conversation when a high-value visitor lands on the pricing page.
- Pricing: Per operator / month. Free plan with three operators and 100 chats a month, then per-operator tiers billed annually. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: B2B sales teams on Zoho CRM
- Strengths: Visitor tracking and scoring; Proactive triggers; Zobot chatbot builder.
Where it falls short
The operator interface is cluttered and takes time to learn.
Wrong for
Support-focused teams and online stores should look at Crisp or Tidio.
Visit Zoho SalesIQ →
#3 Comm100
Compliance-minded chat for regulated sectors · Canada · comm100.com
Compliance Regulated sectors Enterprise orientation
Comm100 sells chat to organizations where security reviews decide the purchase: universities, credit unions, healthcare providers and government agencies. It offers data masking for card numbers, secure forms, audit trails, audio and video chat, and hosting options designed to satisfy procurement questionnaires.
- Pricing: Per agent / month. Operator seats from $31 a month billed annually, with enterprise plans quoted; 30-day trial. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Education, finance and public sector
- Strengths: Live chat; AI chatbot; Chat routing.
Where it falls short
Prices start higher than most competitors, and the product is geared toward larger contact centers, so small companies pay for controls they do not need.
Wrong for
Small stores and startups should look at Crisp, Tidio or tawk.to.
Visit Comm100 →
#4 LiveChat
Operator-focused chat for sales and support teams · Poland · livechat.com
Operator speed Visitor tracking Large marketplace
LiveChat has been built for over two decades around one person: the operator juggling several conversations.
- Pricing: Per seat / month. Seats billed per operator from $19 a month on annual terms, with higher tiers for routing and reporting. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Businesses staffing chat all day
- Strengths: Real-time visitor list; Canned responses; Chat routing and groups.
Where it falls short
Everything costs per operator, and the bill for a team of ten on a middle tier is several times what Crisp charges for a whole workspace.
Wrong for
Very small sites with little chat traffic should start on tawk.to or Crisp's free plan.
Visit LiveChat →
#5 Crisp
All-in-one messaging inbox with flat workspace pricing · France · crisp.chat
Flat pricing EU vendor Shared inbox
Crisp packs a remarkable amount into a flat workspace price: a well-designed chat widget, a shared inbox for email and social channels, a multilingual knowledge base, co-browsing, a status page and an AI agent that answers from your articles.
- Pricing: Flat per workspace. Free plan with two seats, then flat monthly prices per workspace from $45 with four seats included. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Small teams wanting chat plus inbox
- Strengths: Website chat widget; Shared inbox with email; Knowledge base.
Where it falls short
Operator tooling is less refined than LiveChat's: routing rules and reporting are simpler, and very busy teams may miss concurrency controls.
Wrong for
Large chat teams with dedicated operators and demanding reporting should look at LiveChat or Comm100.
Visit Crisp →
#6 Tidio
Chat and Lyro AI agent for small online stores · United States · tidio.com
AI agent Ecommerce plugins Volume pricing
Tidio makes a small store's chat look staffed around the clock.
- Pricing: Per conversation volume. Plans sized by billable conversations, entry around $24 a month billed annually. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Shopify and WordPress stores
- Strengths: Live chat widget; Lyro AI agent; Flows automation.
Where it falls short
The free plan that made Tidio popular has been replaced by a trial, and conversation-based billing means costs rise with every traffic spike or campaign.
Wrong for
Software companies and B2B sellers needing deep CRM links should look at LiveChat or Zoho SalesIQ.
Visit Tidio →
#7 Intercom
Messenger with an AI agent at the front · United States · intercom.com
In-app Messenger Fin AI Premium pricing
For chat inside a software product, Intercom's Messenger is still the benchmark.
- Pricing: Per seat + per outcome. Seat fees for human operators plus a charge per AI outcome, with the useful automation in tiers well above entry level. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: SaaS products with in-app chat
- Strengths: Web and mobile Messenger; Fin AI agent; Product tours.
Where it falls short
Intercom is expensive for simple website chat: seats in the upper tiers cost several times LiveChat's, and each AI resolution is billed separately.
Wrong for
Small stores and local businesses wanting a simple website widget should choose Tidio, Crisp or tawk.to.
Visit Intercom →
#8 Zendesk
Messaging channel inside the Zendesk Suite · United States · zendesk.com
Suite bundle Unified workspace Not standalone
Zendesk replaced its old Zopim-based chat with a messaging system in which conversations persist, so a customer can leave the site and pick up later in the same thread.
- Pricing: Per agent / month. Included in Zendesk Suite plans billed per agent (the entry Support plan has no messaging), with a few AI agent resolutions per agent each month and extra resolutions billed individually. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Existing Zendesk support teams
- Strengths: Web and mobile messaging widget; Persistent conversation history; AI agents.
Where it falls short
Messaging is sold as part of the Suite rather than as a cheap standalone widget, so companies that only want chat pay for a help desk too.
Wrong for
Businesses wanting chat for selling rather than support should look at LiveChat or Zoho SalesIQ.
Visit Zendesk →
#9 tawk.to
Free chat widget with unlimited operators · United States · tawk.to
Free forever Unlimited operators Hired agents option
tawk.to gives away what other vendors charge for: unlimited operators, unlimited chat history, a ticketing inbox, a knowledge base and mobile apps.
- Pricing: Free + paid add-ons. Free for chat, ticketing and knowledge base. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Small sites with no chat budget
- Strengths: Live chat widget; Unlimited operators; Ticketing.
Where it falls short
The interface feels dated and busy, and operator tooling is less efficient than LiveChat or Crisp. Integrations are limited, often requiring Zapier or webhooks.
Wrong for
Sales teams needing CRM syncing and detailed attribution should pay for LiveChat or Zoho SalesIQ.
Visit tawk.to →
#10 Chatwoot
Open-source omnichannel chat and inbox · United States · chatwoot.com
Open source Self-hosted Omnichannel
Chatwoot is an open-source alternative to closed chat platforms, with a website widget, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and other channels in one shared inbox.
- Pricing: Open source + per agent cloud. Free to self-host. Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Teams needing self-hosted chat
- Strengths: Website live chat; Email, WhatsApp and social channels; Captain AI agent.
Where it falls short
Self-hosting means your team owns upgrades, backups, scaling and email delivery. The cloud free tier is narrow, with two agents and limited history.
Wrong for
Businesses without technical staff should choose a hosted tool such as Crisp or LiveChat.
Visit Chatwoot →
#11 Freshchat
Messaging and chat from the Freshworks suite · United States · freshworks.com
Free tier Freddy AI Freshworks bundle
Freshchat handles modern, asynchronous messaging across web, mobile apps, WhatsApp and Instagram, with conversations that persist when the visitor leaves. Intelligent assignment balances load across agents, and the Freddy AI agent answers from knowledge articles before a human steps in.
- Pricing: Per agent / month. Free tier for up to 10 agents, then per-agent paid plans from $19 billed annually, with Freddy AI sessions in paid packs. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams using Freshdesk or Freshsales
- Strengths: Web and mobile chat; Freddy AI agent; WhatsApp and social messaging.
Where it falls short
On its own, Freshchat is less focused than LiveChat or Crisp, and Freshworks increasingly steers buyers toward bundled plans.
Wrong for
Businesses not using other Freshworks products may prefer LiveChat or Crisp.
Visit Freshchat →
#12 LiveAgent
Chat, tickets and calls in one budget package · Slovakia · liveagent.com
Budget Call center included EU vendor
LiveAgent combines chat, email ticketing, a call center, social channels and a customer portal in one package at prices well below comparable bundles. Its chat widget is lightweight and loads quickly, and the universal inbox shows every channel in one queue.
- Pricing: Per agent / month. Per agent per month on annual billing: $15 for the small-business plan, $29 to add the call center and SLA rules, $49 for social channels such as WhatsApp and Instagram, $69 for enterprise. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Budget teams needing chat plus phone
- Strengths: Live chat widget; Universal inbox; Call center.
Where it falls short
The interface is dense and looks dated, with many settings that take time to find. AI features are behind the leaders. Integrations are numerous but often shallow.
Wrong for
Teams wanting a clean, chat-only experience should use LiveChat or Crisp.
Visit LiveAgent →
#13 Gorgias
Ecommerce help desk with chat wired into the store · United States · gorgias.com
Shopify-native Order actions Ticket-based billing
Gorgias treats a chat as a store transaction waiting to happen. When a shopper opens the widget, the agent sees their Shopify orders, shipping status and lifetime spend beside the conversation and can cancel, refund or swap an item without switching tabs.
- Pricing: Per ticket volume. Monthly plans sized by billable tickets rather than agents, with chats counting toward the allowance, overage charged per ticket and the AI Agent charged per resolved conversation. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Shopify stores with a support team
- Strengths: Website chat widget; Order lookup, edit and refund in chat; Shared inbox for email and social.
Where it falls short
Every chat counts as a billable ticket, so a busy widget during a sale can push a store into overage fast, and AI interactions add a second meter.
Wrong for
A software company, agency or any business without an online store, or a store answering thousands of low-value chats a month.
Visit Gorgias →
#14 Trengo
Dutch shared inbox for WhatsApp, chat and email · Netherlands · trengo.com
WhatsApp-first EU vendor Omnichannel
In the Netherlands, Belgium and much of southern Europe, customers who start on the website chat often want to finish on WhatsApp, and Trengo is built for exactly that switch.
- Pricing: User bundle + conversation allowance. Published plans in euros, from €299 a month billed annually for ten users and 500 conversations a month, plus a per-conversation surcharge whenever the AI handles a chat. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: European teams whose customers prefer WhatsApp
- Strengths: Website chat widget; WhatsApp Business API inbox; Email, Instagram and Facebook channels.
Where it falls short
Plans are bundles of seats and conversations, so a small team paying only for web chat ends up buying far more than it uses.
Wrong for
A US company whose customers never use WhatsApp, or a store that only needs a cheap web widget.
Visit Trengo →
#15 Olark
Website chat with an AI agent and human seats · United States · olark.com
Human-first Seat pricing Long track record
Olark has been around since 2009 and built its name on a clean console for people answering people.
- Pricing: Flat AI plan + per agent. A flat AI website agent plan at $400 a month billed annually, including one human seat, with extra seats at $29 per agent a month. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Universities, nonprofits and lean B2B teams
- Strengths: AI agent trained on site content; Human handoff from the AI agent; Customizable chat widget.
Where it falls short
The flat AI plan costs $400 a month on annual billing, steep for a small site that only needs a widget.
Wrong for
A store that wants an AI agent resolving order questions from Shopify data, or a team working WhatsApp and social messages in one place.
Visit Olark →
#16 Help Scout
Shared inbox and help desk with Beacon chat widget · United States · helpscout.com
Email-first Per-user pricing Docs in widget
Help Scout's Beacon widget shows a visitor relevant help articles first and offers chat only if those do not answer the question, which suits a small support team that cannot staff chat all day.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free plan for up to five users and 100 contacts a month. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Email-heavy support teams adding chat
- Strengths: Beacon chat and contact widget; Article suggestions before chat; Shared inbox for email.
Where it falls short
Operator tooling for real-time chat is basic: little visitor tracking, proactive messages simpler than LiveChat's targeted greetings, and modest concurrency controls.
Wrong for
A sales team using chat to convert visitors on pricing pages, or a store handling hundreds of simultaneous chats at peak.
Visit Help Scout →
Questions and answers
What is the best live chat software in 2026?
Smartsupp ranks first of 16, best for european ecommerce shops. Zoho SalesIQ is second (b2B sales teams on Zoho CRM) and Comm100 third (education, finance and public sector). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
Is free live chat software good enough for a business?
For a small site with modest traffic, often yes. tawk.to is free with unlimited operators and chats, and Crisp, Smartsupp, Zoho SalesIQ and Freshchat have free tiers.
Should we use a chatbot or real people on live chat?
Most businesses do best with both. An AI agent or rules bot can answer order status, shipping, opening hours and plan questions instantly at any hour, and collect contact details when nobody is online.
How many chats can one operator handle at once?
Experienced operators commonly handle two to four simultaneous chats when questions are routine and canned replies are well written; complex sales or technical chats drop that to one or two.
Does live chat actually increase sales?
It can, mainly by catching visitors with a specific doubt at the moment of purchase: sizing, delivery dates, compatibility, contract terms. The effect is largest on high-consideration purchases and pricing pages, and smallest on cheap impulse items.
Will a live chat widget slow down our website?
Every third-party script adds some weight. Most modern widgets load asynchronously after the page content, so the visible impact is small, but heavy widgets with many features can affect page-speed scores on mobile.
Is live chat GDPR compliant?
The tool can support compliance, but the obligation is yours.
Can live chat connect to WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger?
Most tools here pull WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram direct messages into the same operator inbox, usually on paid tiers; Trengo was built around WhatsApp from the start.
What is the difference between live chat software and a help desk?
Live chat handles real-time conversations with website visitors while they browse. A help desk manages requests over time, with tickets, deadlines, queues and a knowledge base.
Can we self-host live chat software?
Yes. Chatwoot is open source and can run on your own servers with no license fee, covering web chat, email and messaging channels in one inbox.
What should a small store pay for live chat?
A small online store with one or two operators can run capable live chat for between nothing and roughly $50 a month.
