10 Best Live Chat Software Solutions Compared

You know how, in normal business transactions, you speak to your customers? Either face-to-face or over the phone? Well, now you can use live chat software that enables you to converse with your customers in a written/digital format.

In real-time, and with a customizable interface, you provide a chat environment that lets your consumer see your business’s best reputation. But if you’re not yet convinced, just take a look at the following statistics:

• 79% of consumers will not file a negative review for a company if they are offering a live chat support.
• 38% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company if they offer live chat support.
• 63% of consumers are more likely to stay with or buy again from a company if they offer live chat support.

The live chat software allows you to conduct business over a chat window, in ways that are super easy for your consumers to navigate. After all, if you provide your consumers with a smooth, comfortable chat experience, there’s a better chance to convert them to repeat customers.

What are the benefits of using a live chat software?

The benefits of live chat over any voice communication are huge. For your business, this is often a very low-cost solution to providing excellent customer service. You can have integrated brand messaging within the chat experience, so you are continually driving your business’s reputation forward while working directly with your consumer.

From a consumer’s point of view, live chat gives them a feeling of “instant gratification”. Just a button-click. No looking up numbers, dialing, or endless voicemail prompts. No worry about language barriers. Easy-to-obtain transcripts of the conversation provide backup for both sides of the exchange.

Quick Comparison of Live Chat Softwares

The below is a list of the best live chat softwares identified by AccuWebHosting.com thru ongoing exhaustive analysis. Please note, variable listing fees may affect the position on the list. This compensation, however, unequivocally does not influence our review process.

All these live chat softwares come with multiple website support, agent module options (web & desktop), canned responses, message sneak-peek, pre-chat & post-chat survey, offline messages, agent rating facility, visitor details, visitor tracking, chat transfers between agents, file sharing with website visitors, manual chat distribution, engagement features, SSL secured connection and visitor banning features.

Top 10 Best Live Chat Softwares

1. Chatra – Live chat & messenger tool to grow your business

Editor’s Ranking (9.9 out of 10)

Chatra is an easy-to-use, modern and affordable live chat software. It helps you assist the website visitors right away and build long-term relationships.

With Chatra you can effectively fight the cart abandonment and avoid costly delays. Their apps for Android and iOS allow you to help the visitors even when you are out of the office. Chatra integrates with the majority of the
CMS platforms.

Chatra stores all the important visitor info and chat history forever both for you and your visitors. Agents’ photos in the chat allow visitors to feel more connected that increases the conversion rate.

Works on several websites with one account. Allows to track the online visitors and send them messages proactively. Moreover, you can see what visitors are typing before they send the message. When you are offline, Chatra goes into the messenger mode that can get you new leads 24/7.

Features

• Offers a Free Live Chat Plan? – Yes, Free plan allows 1 agent online at a time and has all basic features for communication, including typos correction, mobile apps, Google Analytics integration.
• Multiple Website Support – Yes, place the same widget code on as many websites as you want.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – Chatra is hosted on their own servers; so you don’t have to manage anything additionally.
• Agent module options – Chatra agent dashboard is available for Browser, Desktop & Mobile devices.
• Canned responses – Yes. You can save replies to frequently asked questions and use them in future conversations.
• Message Sneak-peek (Typing insights)
  – You can view what the visitor is typing even before they send the message.
• Pre-Chat form – Yes, you can collect the visitor’s contact information (name, email and/or a phone number) via the pre-chat form.
• Offline messages – Yes, it’s called a messenger mode in Chatra. Visitors can leave messages and contact information, and you can reply to them from Chatra dashboard (and your message will be sent to the visitor’s email address) or by email. Also automatic triggers work in offline mode, so you
  can proactively engage visitors and get more messages even when you are not available.
• Agent rating facility – Yes
• Visitor details – Yes. You will see the name, email address and phone number. On the paid plan Chatra displays location, currently viewed pages, referrer URL, browser and OS.
• Visitor tracking – Yes, It is available on the paid plan. You can view the list of visitors who are currently online on your website and start the conversation manually.
• Chat transfers between agents – Yes, you can invite your colleague to the chat and either leave it or stay and chat with the visitor together.
• Chat tagging – No
• File sharing with website visitors – Yes, available on the paid plan.
• Intelligent chat distribution – No
• Manual chat distribution – Yes
• Work scheduler – Yes. You can set up your working schedule. Chatra will notify you when your workday begins and ends and change your status automatically. Available on the paid only.
• Ticketing System – No
• Statistics and Reporting – with premium version, you can monitor basic chat statistics. It shows how many conversations with how many visitors you had, the average response time and chat ratings.
• Ecommerce tracking – Yes, you can track events in Google Analytics. It sends the events automatically, no need for additional adjustments.
• Engagement features – The paid plan includes triggers and visitors online list that prevent
  visitors from leaving your website and minimize the chance of the cart abandonment.
• Live chat security features –
  • 256-bit SSL secured connection – Yes, chat connectivity is secured by 256-Bit SSL encryption.
  • Visitor banning – Yes. You can ban and unban disruptive visitors after they send you a message.
  • Credit Card Masking – No
  • Login with Social Media – No
  • IP based access restrictions – No
• Chat customization – Yes, you can customize the chat button in the settings or using API even on the free plan.
  • Targeted Chat – Yes, available on the free trial and the paid plan.
  • Shopping Cart Saver – Yes, via automatic triggers.
  • Shortcuts – No
  • Chat window css customization – No
  • Custom logo in chat window – No
  • Chat buttons and white label – No
• Administrative features –
  • Ongoing chat supervision, assigning user roles (admin or agent), reports, creating groups for different webpages (sales, billing, etc).
• Chat integration features–
  • Addons/Integrations – integrated with Slack, HelpScout, Front, Median Screenshare, Zapier, Omnidesk, and a bunch of platforms.
  • API – Offers extended API for power users and developers.
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Shopify Plugin – Yes
• Chat archives–
  • Chat history – Yes, Chatra keeps the chat history forever on both sides.
  • Email transcripts – Yes
• Premium features–
  • Video live chat – Not Available
  • Audio live chat – Not Available
  • Screen Sharing – Yes, via Median Screenshare app
  • Co-Browsing – Not Available
  • Visitor Screen Recording – Not Available
• Pricing–
  • Free Plan – Free forever plan allows 1 agent to be online at a time and includes all basic features for communication.
  • Premium Plan – starts at $15/month/agent and includes all meaningful features that help to increase the conversion rate and makes visitors feel more connected. Automatic discounts are available on the semi-annual and annual plans.

2. LiveAgent – Best Live Chat Software

Editor’s Ranking (9.4 out of 10)

LiveAgent is a fully-featured, multilingual help desk software that has a native live chat widget, unified ticket inbox, robust reporting features, fully customizable customer portals, and a built-in call center. The software has over 179 powerful features and over 40 integrations including premium social integrations such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Viber.

Features

• Does LiveAgent offer a free live chat plan? – Yes, LiveAgent offers a free live chat plan​.
• Multiple Website Support​ – Yes, there are no restrictions on the number of websites in the “all-inclusive plan’. However, the free plan is limited to only 1 chat.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – LiveAgent is a web-based application hosted on LiveAgent servers, but can also be purchased as a standalone solution. Learn more​.
• Agent module options – The Liveagent dashboard is accessible through your browser or through LiveAgent’s ​iOS and Android apps.
• Canned Responses – Yes. You can create and recall pre-made answers for frequent questions with one click.
• Message Sneak-peek – Yes, agents can view what your website visitors are typing before they even send their message, which enables your agents to help with customer queries even faster.
• Pre-Chat & Post-Chat Survey – Yes
• Offline messages – Yes. Messages left when you were offline will be automatically sent to your LiveAgent universal inbox in the form of an email ticket.
• Agent rating facility – Yes
• Visitor details – Yes. Name, email address, location, currently viewed pages
• Visitor tracking – Track your website visitors, their geolocation, and see which page they are currently viewing. On top of that, you can proactively invite visitors to chat, based on what they are currently looking at. This leads to higher satisfaction and more sales.
• Chat transfers between agents – Yes. You can transfer your chat to another agent or department.
• Chat tagging – Yes. Included in all plans
• File sharing with website visitors – Included in the plan
• Intelligent chat distribution – Yes.
• Manual chat distribution – Yes.
• Work scheduler – Yes, you can schedule business hours, and when you are offline, all received messages will be sent to your LiveAgent dashboard in the form of an email ticket.
• Ticketing System – Ticketing System is included in all plans.
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • Included in the plan – Tag reports, SLA compliance reports, SLA log reports, agent availability reports, agent reports, channel reports, department reports, time reports.
• Ecommerce tracking – No
• Engagement features – Yes, LiveAgent offers proactive chats.
• Live chat security features –
  • 256-bit SSL secured connection – Yes.
  • Visitor banning – Yes.
  • Credit Card Masking – Yes.
  • Login with Social Media – No.
  • IP based access restrictions – Yes.
• Chat customization – The following chat customization features are available in LiveAgent:
  • Chat window translation – Multi-language button support is available but no translation is offered.
  • A reactive or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window CSS customization
  • Custom logo in the chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label
• Administrative features –
  • There are no additional administrative features or costs. LiveAgent has 24/7 support, available to help you out for free.
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – LiveAgent can be easily integrated with many 3rd party addons like CS.Cart, GetResponse, Slack, Nicereply and ​many more.
  • API – Offers REST APIs
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Joomla Plugin – Yes
  • Drupal Plugin – Yes
• Chat archives –
  • Chat history – Yes, LiveAgent offers an ​unlimited chat history search in all paid plans. After your chat communication isconcluded, the chat transcript will be automatically sent to your email account.
  • Email transcripts – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – Yes
  • Audio live chat – Yes
  • Screen Sharing – No
  • Co-Browsing – No
  • Visitor Screen Recording – No
  • Auto Langauge Translation – No
  • Chatbot – No

Pricing

• LiveAgent offers 4 plans​:
  • The forever free plan: Limited live chat, ticketing, email, call center, and knowledge base functionality with an unlimited number of agents.
  • Ticket plan: Starting at $15/mo. Provides unlimited ticket and email history, with additional agent seats that can be purchased at $15/mo.
  • Ticket + chat plan: Starting at $29/mo. Provides unlimited ticket and email history as well as unlimited live chat buttons. Additional agent seats can be purchased at $29/mo.
  • All-inclusive plan: Starting at $39/mo. Provides ​all features included in the “Ticket + Chat” plan in addition to all of our premium features such as social media integrations with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Viber. Additional agent seats can be purchased at $39/mo.
• You can test LiveAgent’s help desk solution with a free 14-day trial​​, no credit card required.

3. Comm100 – Provider of Video Live Chat Software

Editor’s Ranking (9.1 out of 10)

Comm100 is a full-featured live chat solution without the big price tag of some of its competitors. Unlike some of the others, this is a hosted solution. This assures you greater access to a wealth of functions.

However, to get the full set of great features, you’ll need their highest plan. If you go with one of the lower tiers, you might not be happy with the interface.

Features

• Multiple Website Support – Yes, Comm100 customer experience software can be installed on multiple websites.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – Both Options are available. You can host Comm100 chat on their hosted server as well as standalone installation is also available.
• Agent module options – Comm100 agent module is available for Browser, Desktop & Mobile devices for all the plans.
• Canned Responses – Yes. You can create and recall pre-made answers for the popular question. You can also view reports of how many times a canned message is used.
• Message Sneak-peek – An agent can view what visitor is typing even though the visitor does not send it over.
• Pre-Chat & Post-Chat Survey – Yes
• Offline messages – Yes. you can configure an email account to take offline messages when agents are not online.
• Agent rating facility – Yes
• Visitor details – Yes. Agent can view details like Visitor name, email address, location, currently viewed pages.
• Visitor tracking – Yes. You can track unlimited visitors with there geolocation, how visitor found you, and much more.
• Chat transfers between agents – Yes. a chat can be transferred to another agent or department.
• Chat tagging – Available with all the plans
• File sharing with website visitors – All plans include File sharing over chat.
• Intelligent chat distribution – Yes.
• Manual chat distribution – Yes.
• Work scheduler – Not Available, but, if no agents are online then you can take an offline message which will be sent to pre-configured email account.
• Ticketing System – Included within the multichannel plan
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • All the Plan includes email reports, response time, chat duration, satisfaction rating, real-time monitor on chat volume, visitor experience, agent performance and department performance
• Ecommerce tracking – Yes, only available with their Enterprise plan
• Engagement features –
  • All plan includes automated greeting messages, proactive chats, mobile chat window.
• Comm100 chat security features –
  • 256-bit SSL secured connection – Chat connectivity is secured by SSL connection.
  • Visitor banning – Yes. You can ban visitor by visitor id or IP.
  • Credit Card Masking – Yes, only with Enterprise plans.
  • Login with Social Media – Yes. Visitor can login with Social media account.
  • IP based access restrictions – Yes. IP based access restriction is available with Business and Enterprise Plans.
• Chat customization – All these features are available with $49 per seat and higher plan.
  • Chat window translation
  • Popup or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window css customization
  • Custom logo in chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label
  • Hide chat widget when you are not online or take a message
  • Max Queue Length – Available with all the plans
  • Remove Comm100 branding logo with Business and enterprise plans
• Administrative features –
  • $49 per seat plan includes – Unlimited department and groups, Auto chat routing by department, Visitor monitoring, Multibrand support, Chat reports.
  • Enterprise Plan Includes – All the features of above plan plus Call channels, Video calls, Advanced social channels, Credit card masking and much more.
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – Comm100 can be easily integrated with many 3rd party addons SalesForce, ZenDesk, Avaya and many more.
  • API – Offers extended APIs for developers.
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Drupal Plugin – Yes
  • Magento Plugin – Yes
• Chat archives –
  • Chat history – Yes, 24 months with Team plan, 30 months with Business plan and 36 months with . You can also export chat
    transcript to your local system.
  • Email transcripts – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – Yes, It is available in Business and Enterprise plans
  • Audio live chat – Yes. It is available in Business and Enterprise plans
  • Screen Sharing – Yes, as an addon with additional cost.
  • Co-Browsing – Yes, as an addon with additional cost.
  • Visitor Screen Recording – Not available
  • Social Media Integration- Yes.
  • Auto Chat Translation – Regardless of visitor first langauge, chat will be translated to agent selected langauge.

Pricing

• They provide 3 tier plan with main difference centered around premium features
• Team plan offers the most basic features at cost of $29/month/agent. Discounts available with annual signups and volume.
• Business plan includes everything in Team plan plus additional features like translator, customizable post-chat survey, creating groups of agents, analytics, and integration with many CRM’s at cost of $49/month/agent. Discounts available with annual signups and volume.
• Enterprise plan includes all the features of Team plan and Business plan with many additional features. Contact support for the pricing.
• All prices mentioned above are per agent. You can create unlimited agents, but if you’ve 10 agents license, only 10 agents can remain active at a time.
• They provide free service for 15 days with Business plan features.

4. LiveChatInc – Best Live Chat Software for Enterprise

Editor’s Ranking (9.3 out of 10)

LiveChatInc is among one of the best live chat software that we’ve seen. It includes agent’s monitoring, foreign language support, and excellent customization tools. Make your own surveys to gather statistics from your consumer’s viewpoint.

Features

• Multiple Website Support – Yes, place your live chat on multiple websites.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – Hosted chat software. LiveChatInc is fully hosted on their servers; so you do not need to manage anything additional.
• Agent module options – Live chat agent module is available for Browser,Desktop & Mobile devices.
• Canned Responses – Yes. You can store & recall a pre-made answer to a popular question.
• Message Sneak-peek – Everything that a visitor is typing in the chat window is visible even if they don’t send it over.
• Pre-Chat & Post-Chat Survey – Yes
• Offline messages – Yes. Message left when you were
  offline will be automatically saved as a ticket.
• Agent rating facility – Yes
• Visitor details – Yes. Name, email address,
  location, currently viewed pages and more.
• Visitor tracking – Monitor up to 100 visitors on
  your live chat at any given time.
• Chat transfers between agents – Yes. You can
  transfer your chat to other agents.
• Chat tagging – Available with $30 per seat and higher plans.
• File sharing with website visitors – Available with
  $30 per seat and higher plans.
• Intelligent chat distribution – Yes.
• Manual chat distribution – Yes.
• Work scheduler – Available with $59/seat and
  higher plans.
• Ticketing System – Included with all the plans.
  (Features included are – Ticket management, tickets from chats, tickets
  from email, after-hours ticket form.)
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • $39 per seat plan includes – Daily Summary, Live Chat Dashboard,
    access reporting via API, basic chat statistics, ticket statistics,
    tag-based reports, interactive reports and group statistics.
  • $59 per seat plan includes – Basic features plus staff predictions,
    agent activity, first response time & average response time.
• Ecommerce tracking – Yes, you can setup goal and
  track your ecommerce activity.
• Engagement features –
  • All plan includes automated greeting messages, proactive chats, mobile chat window and eye-catcher for visitors.
• Live chat security features –
  • 256-bit SSL secured connection – Chat connectivity is secured by SSL connection.
  • Visitor banning – Yes. You can ban and unban disruptive visitors.
  • Credit Card Masking – Yes
  • Login with Social Media – Yes
  • IP based access restrictions – included with $59 per seat and higher plans.
• Chat customization – All these features are
  available with $36 per seat and higher plan.
  • Chat window translation
  • Popup or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window css customization
  • Custom logo in chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label
• Administrative features –
  • $29 per seat plan includes – Ongoing chat supervision, assigning user roles (administrative or agent)
  • $39 per seat and higher plan includes – Basic features group organization (sales, billing, etc…), inactivity timeout configuration.
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – LiveChatInc. can be easily integrated with
    100+ 3rd party addons like Hubspot, Mailchimp, Teamviewer and much more.
  • API – Offers extended APIs
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Magento Plugin – Yes
• Chat archives –
  • Chat history – Yes, offers 60 days chat archival with the basic plan.
  • Email transcripts – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – Not available
  • Audio live chat – Not available
  • Screen Sharing – Remotely access your visitor’s screen. Available through Addons.
  • Co-Browsing – Available through Addons. Additional charge may apply.
  • Visitor Screen Recording – Available through Addons. Additional charge may apply.
  • Integrate using Zapier – You can connect LiveChat to a number of different services using Zapier.

Pricing

• LiveChatInc’s plans, pricing & features are as following:
  • Starter plan – $19 per seat/month – All the basic features with minimal setup for individuals and startups.
  • Regular Plan – $36 per seat/month – Starter plan features + full chat history, reports and unlimited greetings
  • Team Plan – $39 per seat/month – Regular plan features + Full customization and flexibility to run on multiple websites
  • Enterprise Plan – $59 per seat/month – Team plan features + Enterprise-grade analytics and security for high-volume teams
  • Enterprise Plus Plan – $149 per seat/month – Enterprise plan features + For businesses requiring individual approach

  The annual plans are $19 (starter/small business), $36
  (unlimited chats, advanced customization, reporting), $39 (agent
  groups, multiple brands), $59 (scheduling), and customized pricing
  (increased support and security).

• All prices mentioned above are per agent. You can create unlimited agents, but if you’ve 5 agents license, only 5 agents can remain active at a time.
• The differences are centered around the amount of history, grouping, branding, and scheduling you require.
• You can also sign up for a 30 days free trial.

5. Zendesk – Simple & Customizable Live Chat for SME

Editor’s Ranking (8.5 out of 10)

Owned by Zendesk, Zendesk Chat is an inexpensive option for those who aren’t looking for a huge number of features. Customizable via templates, obviously integrates with Zendesk, as well as Salesforce, Magento, and WordPress.

Extremely quick and easy to set up. And inexpensive, too. Operator experience is pretty good, the customer experience is a bit cumbersome unless you tweak some of their default requirements.

Zendesk Live Chat Features

• Offers a Free Live Chat Plan? – Yes, the Lite plan is completely free and offers 1 agent, 1 concurrent chat, live chat rating, 14 days of chat archival and other popular features.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – Hosted chat software. ZenDesk is fully hosted on their servers; so you do not have to manage anything additional.
• Chat tagging – Available with all the plans
• Intelligent chat distribution – Yes.
• Work scheduler – Available with $29/seat and higher plans.
• Ticketing System – Available as an add-on module.
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • $29 per seat plan includes – Chat and agent report by organization, weekly and monthly email reports, response time, chat duration, satisfaction rating, business goals.
  • $59 per seat plan includes – All the features of above plan plus real-time monitor on chat volume, visitor experience, and agent performance to identify potential problems and quickly remedy the situation.
• Ecommerce tracking – Yes, you can setup goal and
  track your ecommerce activity.
• ZenDesk chat security features –
  • Credit Card Masking – Yes
  • Login with Social Media – Yes
  • IP based access restrictions – included with $59 per seat plans.
• Chat customization – All these features are available with $14 per seat and higher plan.
  • Chat window translation
  • Popup or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window css customization
  • Custom logo in chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label
  • Hide chat widget when you are not online or take a message
  • Remove the Zendesk branding with their Enterprise plan.
• Administrative features –
  • $14 per seat plan includes – assigning user roles (administrative or agent), can create up to 2 departments, supervise chat with internal chat window.
  • $29 per seat plan includes – Basic features plus unlimited department and groups, Operating hours, Auto chat routing.
  • $59 per seat and higher plan includes – All the features of above plan plus skill based routing, agent roles to provide them access.
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – ZenDesk can be easily integrated with many 3rd party addons Zoho, Salesforce, Weebly and much more.
  • API – Offers extended APIs
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Magento Plugin – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – Not available
  • Audio live chat – Not available
  • Screen Sharing – Not available
  • Co-Browsing – Available through Addons. Additional charge may apply
  • Visitor Screen Recording – Not available

Pricing

• 3 tiers of plans – each with monthly cost and discount for annual billing.
• The paid plans varies from $14/Month/Agent (Team plan), $29 USD/Month/Agent (Professional plan), $59/Month/Agent (Enterprise plan).
• All prices mentioned above are per agent. You can not create unlimited agents as it depends on the number of licenses purchased.
• The differences are centered around the amount of history, management, reports.
• Free Live Chat Plan? – The Lite plan is completely free and offers 1 agent, 1 concurrent chat, live chat rating, 14 days of chat archival and other popular features.

6. SmartSupp – Free Live Chat Software for Website

Editor’s Ranking (8.2out of 10)

Based out of the Czech Republic, SmartSupp is a good choice for businesses in Europe. Record and track mouse movements and clicks. Automated, conditional messaging allows you to tailor-make scripts.

Clean, uncluttered and intuitive, this chat window is very easy to navigate. Works with WordPress, Shopify, Magento, and others.

SmartSupp Free Live Chat Software Features

• Offers a Free Live Chat Plan? – Yes, the Free plan is completely free and offers Unlimited agent, unlimited concurrent chat, Custom chat box design, 14 days of chat archival and 1000 visitor recording per month
• Multiple Website Support – Yes, place your Smartsupp Live chat on multiple websites.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – Hosted chat software. Smartsupp is fully hosted on their servers; so you do not have to manage anything additional.
• Agent module options – Smartsupp agent module is available for Browser, Desktop & Mobile devices.
• Canned Responses – Yes. You can store & recall a pre-made answer to a popular question.
• Message Sneak-peek – Everything that a visitor is typing in the chat window is visible even if they don’t send it over.
• Pre-Chat & Post-Chat Survey – Yes
• Offline messages – Yes. Message left when you were offline will be automatically sent to configured email id.
• Agent rating facility – Yes
• Visitor details – Yes. Name, email address, location, currently viewed pages, browser type and operating system.
• Visitor tracking – Monitor visitors on your Smartsupp chat at any given time.
• Chat transfers between agents – Yes. You can transfer your chat to other agents.
• Chat tagging – Available with Pro plan.
• File sharing with website visitors – Unknown
• Intelligent chat distribution – No.
• Manual chat distribution – Yes.
• Work scheduler – Available with Standard and higher plans.
• Ticketing System – Not Available
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • $8 per seat plan includes – Google analytics report, chat history, agent rating
  • $19 per seat plan includes – All the features of above plan plus See detailed statistics of chat activity and performance of every agent (1st response time, number of missed chats, average rating and much more).
• Ecommerce tracking – No.
• Engagement features –
  • All plan includes automated greeting messages, proactive chats, mobile chat window, email notification, sound and visual notification.
• Smartsupp chat security features –
  • 256-bit SSL secured connection – Chat connectivity is secured by SSL connection.
  • Visitor banning – Yes. You can ban and unban disruptive visitors.
  • Credit Card Masking – N/A
  • Login with Social Media – N/A
  • IP based access restrictions – N/A.
• Chat customization – All these features are available with $8 per seat and higher plan.
  • Chat window translation
  • Popup or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window css customization
  • Custom logo in chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label
  • Hide chat widget when you are not online or take a message
• Administrative features –
  • $8 per seat plan includes – assigning user roles (administrative or agent), create departments and groups, operating hours, automatic message as per page view
  • $19 per seat plan includes – Standard features plus chat activity and performance of every agent (1st response time, number of missed chats, average rating, High load distribution.
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – Smartsupp can be easily integrated with many 3rd party addons Binargon, Rocketoo, Soteshop and much more.
  • API – Offers extended APIs
  • Shopify Plugin – Yes
  • Shoper Plugin – Yes
  • Open2B Plugin – Yes
• Chat archives –
  • Chat history – Yes, offers 14 days chat archival with the Free plan and unlimited chat archival with all the paid plans.
  • Email transcripts – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Visitor Screen Recording – Yes, available with all paid plans
  • Video live chat – Not available
  • Audio live chat – Not available
  • Screen Sharing – Not available
  • Co-Browsing – Not available

Pricing

• They have a 3 tier plan and the basic plan is free.
• Basic plan is for lifetime with unlimited agents and unlimited chats with the most basic features.
• Standard plan includes additional features like unlimited chat history, video recording feature, automatic message, Google analytics at just $10/month/agent and unlimited chats. Discounts available
  with annual signups.
• Pro Plan includes all the feature of Basic and Standard plan, in addition it also includes features like creating groups of agents, statistics, high load dashboard at just $23.75/month/agent and
  unlimited chats. Discounts available with annual signups.

7. PureChat – 100% Free Live Chat Software for Business

Editor’s Ranking (8.0 out of 10)

PureChat is a free live chat software with unlimited agents and chats with all the basic features included. The PureChat app is available for iOS (Apple) and Android. Custom colors and agent photo bring the personal feel to the experience. It also captures and stores all of your visitor information with unlimited contacts. Integrates seamlessly with social media other e-com services.

With a simple, intuitive interface, you and your customer will find PureChat a breeze to use. The box is unobtrusive and scalable.

Features

• Offers a Free Live Chat Plan? – Yes, PureChat free plan is completely free and offers Unlimited agents, unlimited concurrent chats, unlimited chat history transcripts, canned responses, chat notifications, mobile
  application, agent roles and much more.
• Multiple Website Support – Yes, you can use on 3 website with free plan and upgrade to a paid plan for unlimited websites.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – PureChat is a Hosted chat software, so you do not have to worry about installation.
• Agent module options – PureChat agent module is available for Browser, & Mobile devices.
• Canned Responses – Yes. You can create canned response shortcuts for pre-made answer to common question.
• Message Sneak-peek – Everything that a visitor is typing in the chat window is visible even if they don’t send it over.
• Pre-Chat & Post-Chat Survey – Yes
• Offline messages – Yes. Message left when agents are offline will be automatically sent to a pre-configured email.
• Agent rating facility – Yes
• Visitor details – Yes. Name, email address, location, currently viewed pages and more.
• Visitor tracking – Monitor upto 25 visitors on your website with PureChat at any given time but the embeddedfeature is only available with paid plan.
• Chat transfers between agents – Yes. You can transfer your chat to other agents.
• Chat tagging – Yes
• File sharing with website visitors – Yes, agents and visitors can share files with each other which helps to resolve the issue.
• Intelligent chat distribution – No.
• Manual chat distribution – Yes.
• Work scheduler – Yes.
• Ticketing System – No.
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • You can check chat volume, average chat duration, first response time, user satisfaction, missed chat and offline messages. When agents are not available, it will take the information and forward to a preconfigured
    email account.
• Ecommerce tracking – No
• Engagement features –
  • PureChat software includes automated greeting messages, proactive chats, mobile chat window and trigger based actions for visitors.
• Live chat security features –
  • 256-bit SSL secured connection – Chat connectivity is secured by SSL connection.
  • Visitor banning – Yes. You can ban and unban disruptive visitors by their IP.
  • Credit Card Masking – No.
  • Login with Social Media – No.
  • IP based access restrictions – No
• Chat customization
  • Chat window translation
  • Popup or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window css customization
  • Custom logo in chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label is available.
  • Upgrade to paid plan to remove branding
• Administrative features –
  • assigning user roles (administrative, power users or agent), creating departments, showing online and offline status, creating and managing triggers
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – PureChat can be easily integrated with many 3rd party addons like Zapier, Infusionsoft, axosoft etc.
  • API – Offers extended APIs
  • Java Script – Yes, Java Script Api available.
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Magento Plugin – No
  • Opencart Plugin – No
• Chat archives –
  • Chat history – Yes, offers 30 days chat archival.
  • Email transcripts – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – No
  • Audio live chat – No
  • Screen Sharing – No
  • Auto Chat Translation – No
  • Co-Browsing – No
  • Visitor Screen Recording – No

Pricing

• They have Two tiers of plans and are differentiated by features.
• Free Plan – You get a whole lot of features for that!
• If you want to remove branding, get SMS notifications, visitor tracking and many other feature, then you will need to upgrade to Pro plan which cost $79 USD/Month.

8. ClickDesk – Live Support Software

Editor’s Ranking (8.0 out of 10)

ClickDesk is really an all-in-one solution for live chat, video conference, and helpdesk. As expected, this one requires more of a commitment and might be more than a small business really needs.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for some of those other features, this is a good way to get them all.

Features

• Offers a Free Live Chat Plan? – Yes, ClickDesk free plan is completely free with 10 agents, 30 chats and 25 tickets per month. It includes basic customization, and audio calling feature.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – ClickDesk is a Hosted chat software and no installation is required.
• Chat tagging – Yes, with paid plans
• Intelligent chat distribution – No.
• Work scheduler – Yes.
• Ticketing System – Yes.
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • You can check chat volume, average chat duration, first response time, user satisfaction, missed chat and offline messages. When agents are not available, it will take the information and forward to a preconfigured
    email account.
• Ecommerce tracking – No
• Live chat security features –
  • Credit Card Masking – No.
  • Login with Social Media – Yes Facebook and Twitter.
  • IP based access restrictions – No
• Chat customization
  • Chat window translation
  • Popup or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window css customization
  • Custom logo in chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label is available with Enterprise plan.
  • Upgrade to Enterprise paid plan to remove branding
• Administrative features –
  • assigning user roles (administrative, power users or agent), creating departments, showing online and offline status, creating and managing triggers.
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – ClickDesk can be easily integrated with many 3rd party addons like Infusionsoft, Hootsuite, Chargify, Agile CRM etc.
  • API – Offers extended APIs
  • Java Script – Yes.
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Unbounce Plugin – Yes
  • CS Cart Plugin – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – Yes, with Pro and Enterprise plans
  • Audio live chat – Yes
  • Screen Sharing – No
  • Auto Chat Translation – Yes, with Pro and Enterprise plans
  • Co-Browsing – No
  • Visitor Screen Recording – No

Pricing

• Free Plan is free for lifetime with 10 agents, 30 chats/month and 25 tickets. Even with Free Plan, you can customize basic settings and get Audio Live Chat feature.
• The Lite plan starts at $14.99/Month/agent.
• The Pro plan is $24.99/Month/agent (includes Video Chat, surveys, the developer API, and analytics features).
• The Enterprise plan cost $39.99/month/agent and you get all the features with unlimited access.
• ClickDesk also provides Team Plans as a combo upto 15 agents.
• Discounts are available for long-term contracts.

9. Userlike – Live Chat and Customer Messaging for Your Business

Editor’s Ranking (9.2 out of 10)

Userlike​ is free software for live chat and messaging support great for every size business looking to enhance their customer support. With Userlike, you can chat with your customers right from your website and via popular messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp​, Telegram and SMS.

Hosted in Germany, Userlike makes data privacy a top priority and is 100% GDPR compliant.

Their software is user-friendly, easy to navigate and implementing the widget takes only a couple of minutes.

Features

• Does Userlike offer a free live chat plan? – Yes, you can get started with a 14-day free trial and continue with the free plan that includes unlimited chats.
• Multiple Website Support – Yes, you can integrate the Chat Widget on multiple websites.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – Userlike is a SaaS provider and can’t be used on premises. All personal data is saved and used exclusively in Userlike’s data center provider’s servers in Germany.
• Agent module options – Userlike is available for browsers on desktop as well as mobile.
• Canned Responses – Yes, you can use Userlike’s already created canned responses or create your own unique to your company.
• Message Sneak-peek – Yes, agents can see what visitors are typing before they send the message.
• Pre-Chat & Post-Chat Survey – Yes
• Offline messages – Yes. Visitors can message you when you’re offline on your website as well as via Facebook Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. You can find your offline messages in the Message Center and Dashboard.
• Agent rating facility – Yes
• Visitor details – Yes. Agents can view details like visitor’s name, email address, location and more.
• Visitor tracking – Yes, if enabled, it can be used within the widget.
• Chat transfers between agents – Yes.
• Chat tagging – Yes
• File sharing with website visitors – Yes, agents can send files to visitors and visitors can also send them to agents.
• Intelligent chat distribution – Yes, visitors will be routed to a chat agent they’ve previously chatted with.
• Manual chat distribution – Yes, currently only with conversations that come outside of service hours.
• Work scheduler – Service times only determine your widget’s offline behavior, but operators who are online will take precedence.
• Ticketing System – No, but you can integrate Userlike with business tools that allow you to create tickets based on your incoming chat inquiries.
• Statistics and Reporting – Yes, these features are available starting in the Corporate plan.
• Ecommerce tracking – Yes, you can create goals to measure web page hits during a chat or track events in Google Analytics.
• Engagement features – Users can set proactive chat that triggers after a defined amount of time that a visitor spends on a page.
• Live chat security features –
  • Secured connection – Yes, encrypted via TLS 1.2
  • Visitor banning – Yes
  • Credit card masking – Yes
  • Login with Social Media – No
  • IP based access restrictions – No
• Chat customization –
  • Targeted Chat​ – Yes, features like proactive mode, hide widget, widget integration only on specific pages, and widget router are available.
  • Shopping Cart Saver​ – Not available
  • Shortcuts – Yes
  • Chat window css customization​ – Not available. However, appearance can be customized in the backend.
  • Custom logo in chat window​ – Yes
  • Chat buttons and white label​ – Yes
• Administrative features – Assigning users roles (admin or agent), feedback survey reports
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – You can easily integrate Userlike with various business tools including Helpscout, Pipedrive, Slack,
    Zendesk and more.
  • API – Yes, API access is available in the Business plan.
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes, a ​free WordPress plugin​ is available
  • Drupal Plugin – Not available
  • Magento Plugin – Yes
• Chat archives –
  • Chat history – Yes. With the free plan, you can see your previous 5 chats of the past 14 days. With all premium plans, there is no limit to accessing your chat history.
  • Email transcripts – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – Not available
  • Audio live chat – No, but sending voice recordings is possible.
  • Screen Sharing – Not available
  • Co-Browsing – Not available
  • Visitor Screen Recording – Not available
  • Social Media Integration – Not available
  • Auto Langauge Translation – Yes, translations are created automatically with DeepL.

Pricing

• Userlike offers 5 ​pricing levels​ that are billed monthly or discounted for annual subscriptions.
• Free plan​ includes unlimited chats, 1 Operator with 1 chat slot and 1 chat widget.
• Team plan​ -$29/month- offers users unlimited chats with 3 Operators, 3 Chat Widgets, integration with other business tools, like Helpscout and Slack, as well as basic customization of the Chat Widget.
• Corporate plan ​-$99/month- includes 5 Operators, 5 Chat Widgets, chat analytics and full customization of the Chat Widget, as well as integrations and unlimited chats.
• Business plan​ -$299/month- includes 10 Operators, 10 Chat Widgets, skill-based routing​, API access, advanced website integration, as well as the features from the corporate plan.
• Userlike also offers a Flex Plan with unlimited Operators, widgets, API access, professional onboarding, as well as a dedicated account manager. Please contact for details.
• All prices above are included with Userlike’s yearly plan, billed annually.

10. Tawk.to – 100% Free live chat application for website

Editor’s Ranking (8.0 out of 10)

Tawk.to Free system that lets you chat and monitor the sessions. Fast, reliable, and easy to use with unlimited agents. With 1880+ emoji and 27 language support, it is one of the best free live chat software available in the market.

Features

• Offers a Free Live Chat Plan? – Yes, Tawk.to chat software is completely free with unlimited agents and unlimited chat option.
• Hosted chat or standalone installation – Tawk is a Hosted chat software, so you do not have to worry about installation.
• Chat tagging – Yes
• Intelligent chat distribution – No.
• Work scheduler – Yes
• Ticketing System – Yes, visitors can create a ticket.
• Statistics and Reporting –
  • You can check chat volume, average chat duration, first response time, user satisfaction, missed chat and offline messages, tickets and their response time. You can also forward the copy of a ticket to a preconfigured email account.
• Ecommerce tracking – No
• Live chat security features –
  • Credit Card Masking – No, currently in beta.
  • Login with Social Media – It is in the pipeline and will be added soon. There is no ETA on it.
  • IP based access restrictions – No
• Chat customization
  • Chat window translation
  • Popup or embedded live chat window
  • Themes selection
  • Chat window css customization
  • Custom logo in chat window
  • Chat buttons and white label is available with additional $9/month.
• Administrative features –
  • assigning user roles (administrative or agent), creating departments, showing online and offline status, creating and managing triggers
• Chat integration features –
  • Addons / Integrations – Tawk can be easily integrated with 25+ 3rd party addons like Cayzu Help Desk, CloudFlare App, ShopTill-e and much more.
  • API – Offers extended APIs
  • Java Script – Yes, Java Script Api available.
  • WordPress Plugin – Yes
  • Magento Plugin – Yes
  • Opencart Plugin – Yes
• Premium features –
  • Video live chat – Currently in Beta, will be available with $29/month addon
  • Audio live chat – Currently in Beta, will be available with $29/month addon
  • Screen Sharing – Currently in Beta, will be available with $29/month addon
  • Auto Chat Translation – Currently in Beta testing, will be available soon.
  • Co-Browsing – No
  • Visitor Screen Recording – No

Pricing

• Free. And you get a whole lot for that!
• If you want to remove branding & looking for White Label Chat software, you will need to pay $9 USD/Month.

Things to remember while choosing live chat software

Make sure you can track and report all chat experiences. Analytics that tell you who’s using your system: why, when and where. Who are your repeat customers? How long does each session last? Use the data to maximize the
benefits to your bottom line.

Pick and choose who can chat, when they can chat, and what happens when you’re not available. Proactively invite customers to chat, make them feel wanted.

Understand what features you’re paying for, how much you’re paying, and ensure your system is right-sized for today and scalable for tomorrow. Many plans offer free trials – don’t be afraid to experiment.

Infographics: Top 12 Must-Have LiveChat Features[Quick Visual Guide]

Best Live Chat Software with Screen Sharing Feature

Screen sharing is an advanced feature which allows you to see and access the entire screen (not limited to the browser) of the other party. You can easily control, make changes and use the other screen as their wisdom.
Read our blog post about the most popular live chat with screen sharing sharing.–>

Our Methodology

Administrator tools allow your developers to customize the experience to your business. Put your business’s reputation and mission statement right up front where it can be seen with every chat experience. Integrate with
other software, perhaps some of you already use. This enables a seamless experience for your operators.

Help and support are always available – to make sure your questions are answered, and that you achieve the full uptime your business deserves.

Best of all, treat your customers to a one-on-one experience that will leave them wanting more.

Conclusion

Live Chat brings a richness to your business that other forms of communication lack. Your customers will feel that they are important to you, as you provide instant service. Take advantage of customizations to show off your brand at the same time. And with a full menu of options, you can buy just the amount of service you need. So you can stick to your budget while providing excellent customer service. And that’s a win for everyone!