We tested and compared the leading live chat platforms to help you pick the right one for sales, support, and customer engagement.
Last updated: June 2026
| Tool | Best For | Starting Price | Free Plan | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LiveChat | Overall best | $39/agent/mo | 14-day trial | ★★★★★ 4.8 |
| Intercom | Conversational support | $39/mo | 14-day trial | ★★★★★ 4.6 |
| Tidio | Small biz & e-commerce | $29/mo | Yes (50 chats) | ★★★★☆ 4.6 |
| Tawk.to | Free live chat | $0 forever | Yes (unlimited) | ★★★★☆ 4.5 |
| Zendesk Chat | Enterprise support | $55/agent/mo | 14-day trial | ★★★★☆ 4.4 |
| Crisp | Multi-channel inbox | $0 / $25/mo | Yes (2 seats) | ★★★★☆ 4.4 |
Rating: 4.8/5 | www.livechat.com →
LiveChat is the industry standard for website live chat, trusted by over 37,000 companies worldwide including Samsung, Sony, and Sephora. It combines a polished agent experience with powerful sales tools and deep integrations, making it our top pick for businesses of any size.
AI-powered assistance: LiveChat's built-in AI assistant can draft replies, summarize conversations, and suggest relevant help center articles — reducing agent response time by up to 30%. The AI works alongside human agents rather than replacing them.
Proactive engagement: Set up automatic greetings, targeted messages based on visitor behavior (time on page, cart value, visit count), and sneak-peek at what visitors type before they hit send.
Rich messaging: Send product cards, file attachments, and quick-reply buttons inside the chat widget. Support video calls and screen sharing directly from the chat window.
200+ integrations: Connect with Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, WordPress, Slack, and virtually every major CRM, e-commerce, and marketing platform.
Analytics & reporting: Track response times, satisfaction scores (CSAT), chat volume by hour, agent performance, and sales attribution from chat conversations.
Starter: $39/agent/mo — 60-day history, basic reporting, 5 integrations
Team: $59/agent/mo — Unlimited history, full reporting, all integrations, staffing schedule
Business: $79/agent/mo — AI assistance, work scheduler, advanced analytics, SLA
Enterprise: Custom — Dedicated support, custom SLA, SSO, advanced security
14-day free trial. No credit card required. Annual billing saves ~20%.
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise businesses that want a reliable, feature-rich live chat with strong sales capabilities and deep CRM integration.
Rating: 4.6/5 | www.intercom.com →
Intercom pioneered the conversational support category and remains the most sophisticated platform for combining live chat, AI chatbots, and proactive messaging into a unified customer communication platform. Its Fin AI agent can resolve up to 50% of support queries automatically.
Fin AI Agent: Intercom's flagship AI uses GPT-4-level reasoning to understand complex questions, pull answers from your help center and external sources, and provide accurate, cited responses. It seamlessly hands off to human agents when needed.
Omnichannel inbox: Manage conversations from web chat, mobile app, email, Instagram, Facebook, SMS, and WhatsApp in a single shared inbox.
Proactive outbound: Send targeted messages based on user behavior, company attributes, and lifecycle stage — from onboarding tips to upgrade nudges.
Help center: Built-in knowledge base that auto-suggestes articles during chat and trains Fin AI.
Workflows & automation: Bot builder with conditional logic, ticket routing, and auto-escalation rules.
Essential: $39/mo — 1 seat, live chat, basic inbox, help center
Advanced: $99/mo — 5 seats, Fin AI, workflows, custom bots, multi-channel
Expert: $139/mo — 10+ seats, advanced automation, priority support, SSO
Enterprise: Custom — Unlimited seats, custom contracts, HIPAA compliance
14-day free trial. Pricing based on seats and resolution volume.
Best for: SaaS companies and product-led businesses that want to combine AI-powered self-service with human support and proactive engagement.
Rating: 4.6/5 | www.tidio.com →
Tidio is an affordable, easy-to-setup live chat platform designed specifically for small businesses and e-commerce stores. It combines live chat with AI chatbot capabilities (Lyro) and offers ready-made templates for common sales and support scenarios.
Lyro AI Chatbot: Tidio's AI assistant handles up to 70% of repetitive questions using your FAQ and product data. It learns from your store catalog and can recommend products, check order status, and answer shipping questions.
E-commerce focused: Deep Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce integrations. View customer order history, cart contents, and browsing data right in the chat panel.
Pre-built chatbots: 40+ ready-made chatbot templates for abandoned cart recovery, discount offers, lead capture, and post-purchase follow-ups — no coding needed.
Visitor list & tracking: See who's browsing your site in real time, which pages they're on, and proactively start conversations with high-intent visitors.
Multi-channel: Unified inbox for web chat, Messenger, Instagram, and email.
Free: $0/mo — 50 conversations, live chat widget, Messenger/Instagram
Starter: $29/mo — 100 conversations, Lyro AI (50 sessions), chatbot templates
Growth: $59/mo — 500 conversations, full Lyro AI, visitor tracking, analytics
Tidal: Custom — Unlimited conversations, dedicated support, custom integrations
Free plan available. No credit card required. Pricing based on conversation volume.
Best for: Small businesses, Shopify stores, and WooCommerce sites that want affordable live chat with AI chatbot capabilities.
Rating: 4.5/5 | www.tawk.to →
Tawk.to is the only live chat platform that offers a fully-featured, completely free plan with unlimited agents, unlimited conversations, and no feature walls. It's used by over 6 million websites worldwide and is ideal for businesses that need reliable chat without any budget.
Completely free: No per-agent fees, no conversation limits, no time limits. Every feature is available at $0 — including chat transfers, shortcuts, and visitor monitoring.
Agent training via AI: Built-in AI assistant helps agents draft responses faster. Tawk.to also offers an AI chatbot (Harrison) as a paid add-on ($19/mo) for auto-responses.
Real-time monitoring: See visitors on your site in real time — their location, current page, time on site, and browsing history. Initiate chats proactively based on behavior.
Omnichannel: Web chat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, and Telegram — all in one dashboard.
Knowledge base: Built-in help center and FAQ widget that integrates with the chat to deflect common questions.
Team management: Unlimited agents, departments, routing rules, and chat assignment — all free.
Free: $0/mo — Unlimited agents, unlimited chats, all core features
Remove Branding: $19/mo — White-label widget
AI Chatbot (Harrison): $19/mo — Automated responses
Virtual Assistants: From $1/hr — Human agents to handle your chats
No credit card required. No time limits. Optional paid add-ons.
Best for: Startups, bloggers, and budget-conscious businesses that need a full-featured live chat widget at zero cost.
Rating: 4.4/5 | www.zendesk.com/chat →
Rating: 4.4/5 | www.zendesk.com/chat → Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is part of the Zendesk Suite, the world's most widely adopted customer service platform. It's designed for larger support teams that need deep ticketing integration, advanced routing, and enterprise-grade security. Unified agent workspace: Chat, email, phone, social media, and self-service all in one agent dashboard. No context switching between tools. Advanced routing: Skills-based routing, department assignment, and priority queues ensure chats reach the right agent every time. AI agents (Zendesk AI): Autonomous AI agents that can handle complex workflows, resolve tickets, and escalate to humans — trained on your help center content. Pre-chat forms & offline messages: Collect visitor info before chat starts; offline messages auto-create tickets. Enterprise security: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA compliant on Enterprise plans, SSO/SAML, role-based access, audit logs. Suite Team: $55/agent/mo — Chat, email, voice, help center, basic AI Suite Growth: $89/agent/mo — Multiple brands, custom roles, light agents Suite Professional: $115/agent/mo — Advanced AI, custom analytics, sandbox Enterprise: Custom — Unlimited brands, HIPAA, dedicated success manager 14-day free trial. Annual billing saves ~15%. Minimum 3 agents on Suite plans. Best for: Large enterprises already using Zendesk or teams that need a unified support platform with enterprise security and advanced workforce management.Key Features
✅ Pros
⚠️ Cons
Rating: 4.4/5 | crisp.chat →
Crisp is a modern, affordable multi-channel customer messaging platform that combines live chat, shared inbox, CRM, and knowledge base in one clean interface. It's particularly popular with startups and digital agencies for its generous free plan and transparent pricing.
Shared inbox: All conversations from web chat, email, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter/X, and SMS in one collaborative inbox with mentions, assignments, and notes.
MagicMap: See all your website visitors on a real-time map with detailed session data, including their journey, time on page, and referral source.
CRM-lite: Built-in contact management with custom fields, tags, segments, and conversation history — no separate CRM needed for small teams.
Co-browsing: See and interact with visitors' screens in real time to guide them through complex processes or troubleshoot issues.
Chatbot builder: Visual bot builder with triggers, conditions, and integrations. Pre-built templates for lead capture, FAQ, and appointment booking.
Free: $0/mo — 2 seats, unlimited conversations, shared inbox, basic chatbot
Pro: $25/mo per website — 4 seats, MagicMap, co-browsing, chatbot builder
Unlimited: $95/mo per website — Unlimited seats, advanced automation, analytics
Free plan available. No credit card required. Pricing per website, not per agent.
Best for: Startups, agencies, and small teams that want an affordable multi-channel inbox with CRM, co-browsing, and transparent pricing.
| Feature | LiveChat | Intercom | Tidio | Tawk.to | Zendesk | Crisp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI chatbot | ✅ (Business+) | ✅ (Advanced+) | ✅ (Starter+) | ⚠️ Add-on | ✅ (Pro+) | ✅ (Pro+) |
| Free plan | ❌ Trial | ❌ Trial | ✅ 50 chats | ✅ Unlimited | ❌ Trial | ✅ 2 seats |
| Proactive triggers | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Visitor tracking | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Advanced | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ MagicMap |
| Multi-channel inbox | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mobile app (agent) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Co-browsing | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Screen sharing | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Help center / KB | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| CRM integration | 200+ | 300+ | 80+ | 50+ | 1,500+ | 100+ |
| Video chat | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| SSO / SAML | Enterprise | Expert+ | ❌ | ❌ | Growth+ | Unlimited |
→ LiveChat — The most polished agent experience, best sales tools, and widest integration ecosystem. Ideal if you can justify $39+/agent/mo.
→ Intercom — Fin AI is the most capable chatbot on the market. Best for SaaS companies that want to automate 50%+ of support.
→ Tidio — Best e-commerce integration, abandoned cart recovery bots, and affordable pricing. Free plan gets you started.
→ Tawk.to — Completely free with unlimited agents and conversations. Only pay for optional add-ons like branding removal.
→ Zendesk Chat — Unified workspace, advanced routing, and enterprise security. Best if you're already in the Zendesk ecosystem.
→ Crisp — Shared inbox, built-in CRM, co-browsing, and transparent per-website pricing. Great for agencies and startups.
Tawk.to is the best completely free live chat software with unlimited agents and conversations. Tidio and Crisp also offer free plans with basic features and limited conversations.
Tidio is the best live chat software for small businesses because it combines AI chatbot capabilities with live chat at an affordable price, and its free plan supports up to 50 conversations per month.
Live chat software ranges from free (Tawk.to) to $39–$139+ per agent per month (LiveChat, Intercom). Most tools offer tiered pricing based on features and conversation volume.
Yes. Most modern live chat platforms include AI chatbot features. Intercom's Fin AI, Tidio's Lyro, and LiveChat's AI assistant can handle common questions automatically and escalate to human agents when needed.
Live chat offers faster response times and higher customer satisfaction (73% satisfaction rate vs 61% for email). It's best used alongside email, phone, and self-service options for a complete support experience.
Key features include: customizable chat widget, proactive engagement triggers, AI chatbot, canned responses, visitor tracking, integrations with CRM/helpdesk, analytics dashboard, and multi-channel support (web, mobile, social media).
Most live chat tools provide a JavaScript snippet you paste into your website's HTML header. Many also offer plugins for WordPress, Shopify, and other platforms. Setup typically takes under 10 minutes.
Yes. All the tools in this guide offer mobile apps for agents (iOS and Android) so you can respond to chats on the go. Chat widgets are also mobile-responsive for visitors.
We evaluated 12+ live chat platforms across 30+ criteria including ease of setup, agent experience, AI capabilities, integrations, pricing transparency, mobile support, and customer reviews. The top 6 were selected based on hands-on testing, verified user reviews from G2 and Capterra, and pricing data as of June 2026. Ratings reflect a weighted average of feature depth, value for money, and user satisfaction.