Live chat software allows companies and businesses to communicate with their customers much more efficiently compared to traditional methods such as phone calls and email. With live chat, customers can access an agent in minutes and have their issues addressed.
Every business has a duty to respond to customer questions and offer them much-needed support. If customers find it hard to access support, they may quickly ditch your company for your competitor.
The best live chat software makes it possible for customers to quickly access help. But not all live chat software available in the market is equal. In this post, we look at the best live chat software available for businesses to help you make an informed choice.
Without further ado, let’s dive straight in.
LiveChat
LiveChat is one of the best live chat software available on the market. It allows customers to easily and quickly connect to support staff on your website. It does this using an online chatbox. There are plenty of help desk platforms that have live chat solutions.
One of the major advantages of LiveChat is it has plenty of customization options. You can access all of your messages from different online sources on the user’s dashboard.
Here we cover everything you need to know about LiveChat to find if it is the perfect Live chat software for you. Let’s go!
Plans and pricing
Users have a choice of two basic price plans with LiveChat. They can also choose to pay their desired plans either on a monthly basis or annually. The starter plan will cost $21 per month. One of the significant benefits of this plan is that it comes with plenty of features. On the flip side, you only have 60 days of chat history. With the team plan, you will pay $33 per agent each month. Unlike with the starter plan, you have unlimited chat archiving on top of the many features.
Features
LiveChat offers a chat box that is highly versatile and filled with amazing features. For one, you can easily share files back and further with your customers. You can also use LiveChat on multiple websites and mobile apps. It will seamlessly integrate all the chats from unique sources. Thirdly, we liked you could send your customers pre-made surveys after each chat helping you improve your customer support.
Customer support
Livechat has excellent customer support. User’s get 24/7 customer support. The interesting feature is that Live chat uses its own platform to achieve this. There is also an online help center. Here customers can find well-detailed tutorials. These include screenshots to help you solve your problem easily.
Safety and security
LiveChat gives a lot of priority to user data safety and security. They protect chats using 256-bit encryption. If you are on the team plan, you can enable two-factor authentication. The downside is that you cannot use this feature on the standard plan.
Finally, users can increase security by limiting how many IP addresses can access the account at anyone time. Finally, customers are protected by automatically masking credit card numbers in the chats. They will not however be archived together with the rest of the chat history.
Ease of use
Anyone can use the LiveChat app. Its functionality is seamless. The interface has a similar design to Facebook Messenger. On the left-hand side of the window is a column where you can view all your chats. The center column is where you access all of your single chats. On the right-hand side is a detailed overview of the customer you are currently chatting with, such as whether they are a return customer or what pages on your website they have visited.
Pros
- A splendid choice for SMS to live chat.
- Offers users advanced reports.
Cons
- Quiet pricey.
- Lacks standard two-factor authentication.
Tidio
Tidio is a live chat software that offers its users a free and nondisruptive interface that is simple to understand and use. It offers benefits such as seeing what your customers are doing on your website, the sub-pages they visit, and how long they spend on each page. Tidio makes it easy to open a chat on either computer or mobile app, and your customers can subscribe to email newsletters. You can also inform your customers about any latest product updates or discounts.
Plans and pricing
With pacing and plans, Tidio stands out from other live chat software available on the market. Customers get a forever free plan. However, they can choose to include more features for a price. That said, there are additional plans. The communication plan for instance costs $15 per month. This is for 3 operatives. Users will pay an extra $10 for each additional operator. There is also the automation plan. This one has $15 per month, which allows for 5000 unique users per month.
Ease of use
Tidio is one of the simplest to use live chat software that you can find. Once you create an account, it guides you on the installation process through simple steps. You will choose the avatar, the language, and the color or the chat. The platform gives users hints on what they can do next.
There is the visitors section on the sidebar where you can view all your site visitors. You can also make use of automation features such as sending welcoming messages to visitors. While Tidio doesn’t offer the same number of integrations as LiveChat, users still have access to a decent amount. Some of these include Magento, Shopify, Salesforce, and WordPress. You also get email marketing platforms such as Get Response, Mail chimp, and Campaign monitor.
Features
Tidio has a modern widget that is simple and intuitive for anyone to use. On top of this, the app works great with mobile Responsible Web Design and Technology. Installing Tidio is quick and easy, and you will have it done in less than a minute. It requires all that is pasting a passcode. With the automation developer, you can cover several automated scenarios for an eCommerce store.
Customer support
Tidio has an excellent customer support and anyone can access a live agent 24/7. The agents are also highly competent and knowledgeable and do an outstanding job of helping you find the solutions to your problems. On top of that Tidio, has a great knowledge base of online help resources. Customers can easily find guides and tutorials on various features, allowing them to make the most of Tidio.
Security and safety
It encrypts all the chats and conversations using the 256 bit of SSL protocol. This includes all the customer email data and the business data. Tidio also makes use of the one-way hash algorithms. On top of that, Tidio live chat is GDPR compliant.
Pros
- Plenty of features.
- Great pricing.
- Simple to use interface.
Cons
- No ticketing system.
Olark
Olark is a popular live chat platform that enables customers to chat directly with web visitors. It is a clean and intuitive and easy-to-use platform that comes with more than just a real-time chat. It boasts solid integration, which makes it easy to build and manage customer relations.
You can easily see what your web visitors are doing on their screens. These are just some features that Olark offers customers. If you have been searching for the perfect live chat program for your website, read on to find out if Olark is the one for you.
Plans and piecing
Olark has a simple pricing plan. The free plan allows users to have up to 20 conversations. However, if you want more from your Olark account, simply consider their premium plan. This has the option of the monthly payment at $17, yearly payment at $15 per month, or two-year payment at $12 per month. With the subscription plan, you will have access to Olark’s core feature. You will pay $99 for visitor co-browsing, $29 for live chat translation, and $59 for the Non-Branded Chatbox. The Visitor insights costs between $45-$99.
Features
Olark offers customizable chatbox options such as shape, color, position, and appearance. Users also get an unlimited number of domains. Not forgetting the drag-and-drop custom form builder. Users can set up automated live chat messages and setting up responses for the more frequently asked questions.
Users also get access to real-time metrics and analytics. These include agent activity, chat volume, and even things like customer satisfaction. There are also summary reports sent via email. These can be daily, weekly, or monthly. There is also the add on features called power-ups. These include a co-browsing feature, a visitor insights feature, a live chat translation feature, and an add-on feature.
Ease of use
Olark is a simple to use platform. Visitors can start out by signing up if the free 14-day trial. If it satisfies you with the interface, you can either opt for the premium plan or the free plan. It is also simple to integrate with several CRM software such as Sugar CRM, Salesforce, and HubSpot, Bigcommerce, Mail chimp, WordPress, and Google Analytics. You can also integrate Olark with your system. You can do this with JavaScript API and Webhooks.
Safety and security
Users need a password to access Olark. SSL security protocol is standard on all plans. It encrypts all transcripts for storage. There are different levels of administration. At the admin level, every account has a single primary operator. With the operator level, there is a restriction on access and you can only view account transcripts and editing operator settings.
Customer support
There are two major ways through which Olark users can access customer support. The first is through the live chat feature on their website. Here customers can access 24/7 support view highly knowledgeable agents. You can also contact Olark via email. While not as fast as the customer support, you will get a timely response to your query. Lastly, you can access the knowledge center for more common questions.
Pros
- Plenty of smart features.
- Excellent customer service.
- Simple and intuitive.
Cons
- No customizations.
- No image sharing.
Intercom
One of the first things that strikes you with intercom is how simple and intuitive the interface is. It is one of the best designed live chat platforms on the market. One of the major factors that discourage businesses from using Intercom is the fact that the pricing is not straightforward. The price can skip up from one month to the next. The reason is that it charges you for leads. Other than the pricing issue, there are plenty of customers who can attest that Intercom is among the best live chat software you can find. Let’s inspect and see if it is the right live chat software for you.
Ease of use
You can use the Intercom chat wedge on both your mobile and desktop browsers. There are several live chat innovations. There is one for removing unfriendly pre-chat forms. You can do this by embedding a small email capture that you get from the chat itself. The interface is also well laid out and users can easily access useful site visitor information and customers.
Plans and pricing
It is important to state that Intercoms services and marketing are mainly centered on lead generation, customer support, and customer engagement. When you choose any of their 3 plans, which include the essential, pro, and premium, you will also need to choose either of the above options or an all in one option. Regardless of the type of payment plan you choose, you will essentially get either outbound messages or team inbox, or both.
Note also that the pricing will come down to the number of seats needed. A seat refers to each person who plans on communicating with customers. The base price requires 2 seats. Any additional seat will cost you$19 per month. This is in the essential plan. In the pro plan, it will cost you $39 per month.
Features
There are plenty of features with Intercom. Some of these include: The style chat widget allows you to add your own logo. You can also change the action colors and the entire background. In the premium plan, you can remove the branding. The team’s features allow each team to have its own space. Members can manage any conversations assigned to the group. You can also tag conversations and users manually. This makes it easy to find a specific previous conversation for reference.
Customer service
One of Intercom’s strong points is in its live chat feature. As soon as you hit the contact us button on their website, the live chat is automatically activated. Intercom has a great team of support agents. Users get access to a rich knowledge base of guides, tutorials, and FAQs, which they can use to familiarize themselves with the various aspects of Intercom.
Pros
- Easy to manage conversations.
- Switches to email if customers don’t get a response vial live chat.
- Simple and intuitive to use.
Cons
- Not the best inbox for email conversations.
LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a reliable live chat feature for both small and medium-size businesses. With live chat and email ticketing, users can remain on top of customer problems, which can help create a reliable following for your business. LiveAgent also comes with plenty of prominent features which include automated ticket routing and internal coordination tools. Is liveAgent the ideal live chat software for your business? Read on to find out.
Plans and pricing
One of the major benefits of choosing liveAgent is the free plan. It also comes with plenty of features despite not having to pay anything. Users get one live chat button, a call center for one phone number, and email ticketing for a single email address. There are also the paid plans.
These start at $15 per month for each agent. This also comes with an unlimited number of email accounts and with a ticketing plan. There is a ticket+chat plan. This costs $29 per agent. You can include a social media account, but this will cost $39 per month. There is also the all-inclusive plan which costs $39 per agent per month.
Features
You can place a chatbox on the mobile app or business website. You can also create several chat boxes and email addresses for multiple departments. LiveAgent has a simple ticketing system that is highly effective. By setting up auto-routing, you will not miss any support requests. This also allows you to limit the number of chats or phone calls presented to anyone agent at anyone time.
You get multiple live chat options. There are canned responses that enable you to quickly answer questions. You also get post-chat customer survey responses, allowing you to find out about the quality of your customer support. The live chat feature can also seamlessly integrate with Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The only downside is that it doesn’t support chat to SMS.
Ease of use
The interface is simple to use and allows for fast responses. The button at the top of the interface allows the agent to see how many customers are in queue on either phone, live chat or ticket. One significant thing about the interface is that users can open multiple tickets and live chats. This allows the agent to serve multiple customers at once, which speeds up the process.
Customer support
Customers can access support either via live chat, phone, or email. There are highly skilled and knowledgeable agents that are available 24/7 with LiveAgent. This means that customers can access help regardless of their location or time. Their customer support is top-notch and there are very few disappointments with LiveAgent. On top of this, there is a knowledge base with over 400 articles.
Pros
- Has a free plan.
- Features automatic ticket routing.
Cons
- Expensive plans for social media support.
- There is no chat to SMS.
Freshchat
Freshchart is a cloud-based live chat software that was initially designed to meet the needs of sales teams. Freshchat is known for making chats that more personal and helps the user adjust conversations to meet the need of the customer. You can create and send contextual messages and capture leads and quality resources.
Users can also collect valuable content information from third-party sources. It allows users several channels by which customers can get in touch. Not to mention that Freshchat neatly integrated with various messaging and health check platforms. Could this be the perfect live chat software for your business? Let’s find out more.
Plans and Pricing
Freshchat offers interested users a free trial through which they can test it out and see how it performs. There is also the sprout plan which is free. The blossom plan costs $15 per member per month. The garden plan costs $24 per member, per plan, and the estate plan costs 439 per member per plan.
The number of features increases with the larger plans. Users have a choice between three main add ons, which include:
- Acquisition and engagement.
- Freddy self-service.
- WhatsApp business.
The acquisition and engagement add ONS costs an extra $19 per month. The Freddy self-service costs $100 for 1000 Freddy sessions per month and the WhatsApp business add-on costs $49.
Features
Fresh chat offers its users plenty of features of benefits. Some of these include:
- Message channels.
- Web messenger.
- Bot.
- Smart plugs.
- Groups.
- Business hours.
- Push notifications.
- Team widget.
- Assignment rules.
- Desktop notifications.
- In-app campaigns.
Thanks to modern messenger 2.0 you can give your customers the experience of modern messaging. Freshchat also allows you to create targeted messages and send them to your customers before they even contact you. With the content-driven chat box feature, you can answer common questions instantly 24/7. Users have a choice of over 33 different languages, allowing them to communicate with their customer base in their native language.
Customer support
The FAQs section allows customers to access quick information. It is highly convenient and makes short and straightforward answers to queries. You can get in touch with the Freshchat customer support via phone or email. The downside however is that it can take time to access an agent to answer your questions.
Pros
- Has automated lead capture.
- Simple to use interface.
Cons
- Not the best and most responsive customer service.
Drift
Drift markets itself as a conversational marketing platform. While users can use Drift live chat for customer support, it is best suited for capturing and qualify if leads. Customers can even book meetings that connect them directly to business staff. By allowing you to set up a unique profile URL, customers can connect directly with you. The chat feature is significant, but sometimes the administrative pages and the various settings are slow to load. Let’s inspect Drift and find out if it is the perfect live chat software for you.
Without further ado!
Plans and piecing
Drift has a user-based pricing strategy which they refer to as ‘seats’. The price goes up with an increase in the number of users. If you have the same number of users each month, then the prices can remain pretty consistent. The free plan is brilliant when you are new to drift and you want to find out how the platform performs. There is also the standard plan which costs $50 per month. Any extra chat seats will cost you $20 per month.
Features
The style chat widget allows you to customize the colors, font, and even the widget icon. With the office hours feature, you can also set the live chat software to display when you are offline. The routing feature means you can also transfer chats to a new agent quickly and efficiently. On top of this, you can block users via their unique IP addresses.
One of the key features that we found with Drift is the long list of advanced features. This makes the live chat software the ideal choice for customers looking for more than just a chatting platform. Some of the features can go a long way into helping you increase the revenue to your business.
Customer service
We found the Drift live chat feature on their website to be extremely fast. But this was only because of the bot. It asked questions in a marketing way. We found this quite annoying. You can also reach an agent via email. While it took time to get a response, it gets your specific questions answered by an agent.
Users can also access the FAQs page where they can find answers to some common questions. Their blogs sections also contain guides and tutorials.
Pros
- Excellent lead generation features.
- Customers can book appointments with staff.
Cons
- Slow administrative application.
- Expensive if you have multiple teams.
Pure Chat
Pure Chat is a simple to set up live chat software. It prides itself on its simple interface and features. As soon as you visit the Pure Chat website, you will be sent to their pricing page. Here you can choose your desired plan and get started immediately. You have the option of choosing a free plan to familiarize yourself with pure chat. Let’s find out more about Pure Chat and why this live chat software could be the one for you.
Plans and pricing
Users have the option of 2 main pricing plans with Pure Chat. Growth at $39 per on the end enterprise at $79. The prices apply when you opt for a onetime annual payment. If you choose to pay monthly, you will pay $49 for the growth plan and $99 for the pro plan. While users do not get a free trial with pure chat, there is a free plan. This grants you 15 chats a month and 1 operator. You also get a 3 day chat history.
Ease of use
The software is clean and intuitive. You will not have any difficulty in accessing chats. You can also click any of the features with a simple click of a button. While Pure Chat has its downsides, the platform is one area where it excels. On top of that, Pure Chat is compatible with many devices from Android, Windows, Mac to Linux and iPad. This means customers can easily reach you regardless of the device that they are using.
Features
Pure Chat offers its client plenty of cool features such as:
- Chatbox assignment.
- Canned response.
- Hosted chat boxes.
- Visitor information.
- Transcriptions.
- SSL security.
- Proactive chats and triggers.
Customer support
You can connect to Pure Chat using their live chat software. Another option is via email. One of the major downsides that we found with the pure chat website is that it is not simple to access the contact us section. This can frustrate for someone looking to access quick help. Pure Chat also has a knowledge section with articles and guides. However, it is not as extensive as many others that we found. Many users have reported positive feedback from their live chat.
Pros
- Great pricing.
- Simple to use interface.
- Data reporting.
Cons
- attaching files to a chat.
- tagging a conversation.
Userlike
Userlike has not been around for a very long time. Despite this, it is quickly and rapidly growing in popularity among web and eCommerce store owners. Userlike also offers a free trial and allows users to test out its features before committing to their paid plans.
Some of the benefits of Userlike include Website chat, WhatsApp, customer messaging, and chatbox. As Userlike is a German-based company, customers enjoy protection by EU privacy laws. Let’s inspect Userlike and find out if it is the perfect live chat software for your business.
Plans and pricing
Users can opt for the free plan, which allows for unlimited chats for one agent. However, if you have a team, you can opt for the team plan which costs $35.17 per month or 29 euros. Users get 3 agents, 3 chat widgets, and integration. The corporation plan costs 99 euros or $120 dollars. It allows chats for 5 agents and offers customizations. The business plan costs 299 euros per month. You get 10 chat agent, 10 widgets and skill-based routing.
Ease of use
Part of what makes Userlike so popular is its easy and intuitive interface. It also comes with plenty of integrations. The interface has a simple structure. You might find some settings a bit complicated at first, and it will take some time for the software to become active. However, once you are past these steps everything else should work smoothly.
Features
The proactive chat lets you automatically respond to common customer questions. This allows customers to quickly and efficiently find solutions to common issues. Widget routers feature some intelligent components. This allows you to personalize chats based on individual customer behaviors. For instance, based on the webpages that they visit. The on-page guidance feature also allows you to guide your site visitors to the webpages that may contain the information they are interested in.
Customer service
Unfortunately, Userlike doesn’t offer the best customer service for its customers. There is no live chat feature and email support. Customers can also not raise a support ticket on their website. Userlike however allows customers to call in where they can access an agent. We found their agents to be highly knowledgeable.
Pros
- Chat rating.
- Pre and post-chat surveys.
- Free price plan.
- Plenty of widgets.
Cons
- There is no option to upload files.
- Their paid plans are costly compared to similar software in the market.
Chatfuel
The Chatfuel is a live chat software that allows users to create a live chat feature in Facebook messenger. It is one of the most popular live chat software in the world, perhaps owing to the popularity of Facebooking. Let’s find out if Chatfuel is the perfect live chat software for your needs.
Plans and pricing
With the free plan, you will access plenty of features. However, there is a catch. To use the free plan and all of its features, you will need to remain under 50 subscribers. The $15 per month plan gives you 500 subs. However, note that the price will increase with an increase in subscribers above 500. You will pay $20 for 1000 subs and $30 for 2000 subs. Finally, there is the premium plan. This allows you VIP support and a dedicated account manager.
Ease of use
The Chatfuel user interface is simple and clean, and anyone can use it. On the left side are various functions, while on the right side are the contacts of each section. There is also the visual flow builder that helps you build the platform. However, you can also choose to build with the block boulder.
Features
Chatfuel features an inbuilt live chat integration called chapeau. It also provides integrations for Webhooks, Zapier, Google sheet, and Integromat. Chatfuel also features several marketing features such as the Facebook website widget, landing pages, and Facebook ads. You also get custom URLs for your chatbox. Chatfuel users also have access to useful and reliable analytics feature to help track progress and gather useful information.
Customer support
Users can get access to tutorials on the Chatfuel website on how to build a chatbox. These are well structured, highly detailed, and easy to follow instructions. Chatfuel also has a huge Facebook following of well over 75,000 followers. This allows users to get fast and reliable information in case they have a question. Chatfuel has excellent customer support with a reliable team. In case you get stuck, you can reach an agent who will help you get past your hurdle.
Pros
- The ideal platform for beginners.
- The free Chatfuel function will still enable you to build a powerful chatbox.
- Can be used for the simple box and for complex bots.
Cons
- Not the best NLP.
- The free version features a watermark.
Acquire
Acquire lets you streamline customer conversations for onboarding, sales, and support. This live chat software lets you do this via audio, video, and screen share. On the downside, Acquire is not the best choice when looking for a live chat software with a comprehensive set of chatbox marketing tools. This thus means that Acquire.io is more of a niche live chat software. That said, let’s find out if Acquire is the perfect choice for you.
Plans and pricing
One downside of Acquire is that there is no free trial. On top of that, Acquire doesn’t have a clear pricing plan. It requires customers to contact them for a full disclosure of their pricing plans. Initially, Acquire had their main pricing plans.—basic, pro, and enterprise plans which they charged $300, $950. The enterprise tier featured a custom pricing plan and required customers to contact them first.
Features
The Acquire chat widget lets you chat with customers, customer user experience, and even sync your knowledge base. It also lets you start a call either through audio or video while also letting you chat using text and GIFs. There is also the VoIP calls and SMS feature which lets users integrate both SMS and VoIP to your customer service channels. On top of that, you can even connect agents and departments in Acquire. This will allow you to route your customers to the right place.
You can share screens and even share browsing with the co-browsing and screens share feature. This conveniently allows you to view and interact with your customers with no download requirements for your customers.
Other features include:
- Video calls.
- Unified agent view.
- Analytics.
- Knowledge base.
Ease of use
While there is not much training material on the Acquire software, this is a simple, easy, and intuitive while interface. Anyone can quickly get the hang of things within a few moments of using Acquire.
Customer support
Acquire doesn’t offer any live chat option on their website. There is also no training material and content, unlike in many of its competitors. That said, customers can make use of the online ticketing feature. Customers can also reach an agent via phone call or email.
Pros
- Inbuilt view and audio for live chat.
- Allows for the live call and video recordings.
- Features over 50 integrations.
Cons
- There is a lack of outbound marketing tools.
- Costlier than its direct competitors.
- Has a few marketing channels.
Podium
Podium markets itself as an interaction management platform for businesses. They launched the software in 2014 and have since gained rapid popularity. If you are searching for collaboration software for your business, then Podium might be just what you are looking for. Here we look at an in-depth view of Podium. It is pricing plans, strengths, and weaknesses, and some of its features to find out if Podium is the ideal live chat software. Without further ado, let’s find out.
Pricing
Podium offers a free demo which you can request through their website. You will need to sign in and as soon as you do, you get an email suggesting to view a 30-minute demonstration of how Podium works. It is a great way to get a thorough introduction on it to the software. On top of that Podium, apps are available for both desktop and mobile. You can also integrate the app with multiple other apps, including Salesforce and TireGuru.
Ease of use
The podium platform is relatively simple to use. Also, their customer support is always at hand in case you run into a few glitches or you need support.
Features
Podium allows you to receive all your messages in a single inbox whether your customers text you via Instagram google, on your website, Facebook. You will also see which messages have already been replied to and which ones still need a response.
The webchat feature requires that someone clicking on it and looking to ask questions will need to first type in their name and their phone number. It will then send them to the chat inbox where an agent will respond. This can prove a great way to generate leads.
The downside however is that for a customer looking to ask a simple question, this strategy can be off-putting. This then means that you may end up losing more customers that are not willing to give up their phone number or name just yet.
Customer support
The significant thing about signing up with Podium is that it will assign you a support representative who will handle all of your questions. They will also ensure you get all that you need. You can also contact Podium via web chat, phone, and email, or online form.
Pros
- It features a free version.
- All in one tool.
- Multiple features.
Cons
- Their priding is not very transparent.
Smartsupp
Smartsupp is a live chat software popular for its video recording feature. This allows you to track the movement of your website visitors and find out what they like to read and view on your site. It offers useful information that can better satisfy customer needs.
Smartsupp is available in multiple languages including Hungarian, Danish, Spanish, English, French, Czech, and even German. While it offers a free forever membership plan, you can also opt for its two premium pricing plans that come with extra features such as Google Analytics. Let’s inspect smartsupp and see if it’s really worth your time.
Plans and pricing
There is a free plan that also enables customers to enjoy an unlimited number of chats and agents. However, the free chat comes with its own limitations as far as features go. The standard plans cost $10 per agent per month. There is also the pro plan that comes with $23.75 per against per month. Both these plans come with extra features such and connecting to Google Analytics.
Features
Smartsupp comes with plenty of benefits and features, including real-time chatting. You get a notification as soon as a visitor sends a message. Screen recording lets you see the mouse click and movement of your site visitors. They record it on videos giving you useful data that can help generate more leads.
You don’t always need to be in front of the computer. You can answer customer queries anywhere, anytime via your mobile phone. Not only can you set up Smartsupp on any website, but there are also plenty of tutorials on integrating with various platforms. Auto messages let you boost sales by allowing you to send customized messages to your site visitors quickly and efficiently.
Ease of use
One of the striking features of Smartsupp live chat software is how easy it is to install and use. While integrating with other apps may prove a challenge to people who are just learning to use live chat, there are plenty of tutorials that guide you on how to do this on the Smartsupp website. The platform is simple, user-intuitive, and interactive to use.
Customer support
Smartsupp seems rather limited in its customer support. While there is a knowledge base on their website that contains tutorials on how to use Smartsupp, you can only contact the support team via email. This means there are no online ticketing, phone, or live chat feature.
Pros
- Visitor recording.
- Easy to use.
Cons
- Pay per agent.
Zendesk Live Chat
Zendesk is a customer relationship management software that has a built a name for itself around reliability and quality. It is a popular chatting tool that is utilized by some of the biggest now brands, such as Uber and Shopify and slack. That tells sits all about Zendesk reliability. Zendesk offers multiple tools and solutions to allow you to create a great relationship with your customers. Despite this, it is a great software for any size business, be it big or small.
Let’s inspect Zendesk and see what it’s all about.
Plans and Pricing
The Zendesk live chat pricing plans are diving into two. These are:
- Zendesk for service.
- Zendesk for sales.
With the Zendesk for service plans, there is the suite team costing $49 per agent per month, suite growth at $79 per agent per month, suite professional which is their most popular pricing plan at $99 per month. There are also the business plans which are the suite enterprise at $150 per agent per month and tailored plans that start at $215 per agent per m0onth. With the Zendesk for sales plans, there is the sell team plan at $19 per agent per month, sell professional at $49 per agent per month, and sell enterprise at $99 per agent per month.
Features
On the web and mobile apps, you can add embeddable and integrations that will help customize the live chat to your brand’s identity. Real-time conversations allow you to receive messages from different channels and have them all in the inbox. Rich emojis, GIFs, and images let you send quick and direct messages.
With the boost, you can automate responses, allowing you to send messages to common queries quickly and efficiently. Features such as tags, routing, reporting will allow you to efficiently deliver the best messages and organize your customer conversations. The live chat feature lets you boost sales, as customers are more likely to reach and contact you via live chat.
Ease of use
Zendesk live chat has a simple interface that is easy for anyone to understand and use. Even if you are using live chat for the first time, you can easily get to terms with the software. It easily integrates with third-party platforms which h include Magento, WordPress, Zopim, Salesforce, Wix.
Customer support
Zendesk customer support is highly efficient and reliable. You can speak to an agent by submitting an online ticket. You can also use the live chat or make phone calls. There’s a help center with tutorials and guides.
Pros
- Excellent customer support.
- Versatile software.
Cons
- User interface is not the best.
- Advanced plans come with a high price tag.
HubSpot live chat
HubSpot comprises several sales, marketing, and service tools that are designed around the same CRM. In 2018 they released their live chat. For those already using HubSpot and looking to add a live chat feature to their website, HubSpot live chat is an ideal place to start. All you will need to do is to add the integration for the HubSpot marketplace. Let’s inspect HubSpot live chat and find out if it is the perfect live chat software for you.
Plans and pricing
HubSpot CRM offers a free live chat which allows you to store up to 1 million contacts and also offers unlimited users. That said, customers can opt for upgrades that come with extra features such as the knowledge base, which is integrated with the HubSpot live chat. While the upgrades pricing chats on their website show the users stop at 50, it is possible to have over 50 users. With each upgrade, you get more features while also removing caps.
Features
The style chat widget allows you to edit the interface. There is also the remove branding feature which lets you remove the branding as soon as you switch over to any of the paid plans. Simply set the business hours where your business agents will be available to deal with customers via live chat.
You can also set the activities for off business hours. The routing feature allows you to direct chats to specific agents. For security, you can block users who are abusive. You can track user data by creating CRM contacts in your chats. These and plenty more features.
Ease of use
One of the great things about the HubSpot live chat is that it looks good both on desktop and on mobile. However, it is not the most user-friendly and intuitive live chat software. For instance, after a visitor presses the quick replay button and the conversion is not left open for free text messages, then the chat is ended automatically.
Customer support
HubSpot live chat offers a variety of ways to access customer support. First off, the help center is rich in blogs, and a knowledge base containing a pretty of articles and tutorials. You can also contact customer support and speak to an agent via phone call. The free plan only has the help center for support, but as you go higher in plans, you can access the live chat feature and email.
Pros
- Easily integrates with other HubSpot tools and contacts.
Cons
- Not the best live chat for beginners.
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is a SAAS software that markets itself as the first content-aware chat solution in the market. It does this by collecting information about your customers. All conversations are then guided by the information that has already been collected. This includes browsing history and activity. In this Zoho Desk review, we inspect the features, pricing, customers support, and ease of used to find out if Zoho Desk is worth considering. Let’s find out!
Plans and piecing
First off, there is the free plan. This allows you to try out the features before committing to the paid plans. That said, the Zoho Desk free plan allows you to 3 agent so it can be perfect for a small business. The standard plan cost $12 per month per agent and the enterprise plan costs $35 per agent per month. With both paid plans, you will have no limits to the number of agents. The higher the price plan, the more the features. All the paid plans allow a 15 day trails.
Features
While the enterprise plan has the most features, the free plan also comes with some cool features including multilingual email ticketing, help center, customer management system, and 24/5 email support. The multi-channel ticket management system allows social media, phone, email, and live chat to all be used for customer support. There is also the zia, which is an artificial intelligence system. This can speak to your customers and suggest relevant articles from the knowledge base.
Ease of use
The first thing that you see when you log in to Zoho Desk is your list of tickets. Other tabs take you to the knowledge base articles. When you open a ticket, you will see a button at the bottom of the page that says Apply Macro. You may click on it and get the message “macros aren’t created yet”. The downside is that there is no tutorial on how to create a macro. While it is easy to use the Zoho Desk platform, it is not as intuitive as many other software in the market.
Customer support
Zoho Desk is different compared to other similar software in that customers get different levels of support. It involves three tiers. The first tier is free but the next two tears will consist you 20% or 30% of your license fee. You can get live chat during business hours only with the free tier. With the other two tiers, you can access live chat and speak to agents 24/7.
Pros
- Comes with plenty of features.
- cheap priding per agent.
- Easy to integrate with other Zoho apps.
Cons
- The user interface is not as intuitive.
FAQ
What is the best free live chat software?
Many consider Zendesk as the best free live chat software in the market. This is thanks to the array of features and easy-to-use interface.
Is pure chat free?
Pure chat has two main payment plans. The growth plan and the pro plan priced at $39 and $79 per month. However, customers can try to put their 30-day free plan.
How can I improve my live chat?
Improving your empathy, avoiding passive statements, never ask for too much information at anyone time, and treating the customer will help improve your live chat.
Do customers like a live chat?
Customers prefer live chat to any other contact method for seeking support online. According to data, 46% prefer live chat compared to just 29% for email.
How much lives chat cost?
Live chat offers a free trial. That said, they have 4 main payment plans which include the starter, team, business, and enterprise plans.
Why do you need live chat?
Live chat helps to improve the customer experience for customers. It offers a great way to reach a support agent at the time the customer has questions and needs help.
What is live chat support?
Live chat support allows for text message-based communication between a customer and a support agent via the website.
What is the disadvantage of chat?
One major drawback of live chat software is that customers can run into issues with time zones if they try contacting during off business hours.
What is the advantage of chat?
For the business, live chat software’s helps to significantly decrease the support costs and increasing the average order value and sales.
How many chats can an agent handle in a day?
According to data, one agent can handle 100 chats during an 8 hours shift.
How does live chat software work?
It offers real-time service by allowing website visitors to access real-time support through a chat window. The site visitor types in the chat window and the agent types back and replies.
What is live chat system?
A live chat system allows customers to conveniently communicate in proper time with customer service representatives.