12 Free Live Chat Applications That Are the Best for your Website

Joanne Thompson

• 13 min read
12 Free Live Chat Applications That Are the Best for your Website

Customers who shop online lack the patience to wait long periods of time for customer support services, which can be extremely frustrating. It should come as no surprise that live chat is the support channel that is preferred by the overwhelming majority of customers (79 percent).

Live chat is an excellent tool for online customer support services because it combines the ability to interact with customers in real time with the capacity to offer them instant assistance. Believe me when I say the patience of customers is a precious commodity.

According to a report by Forrester, one customer out of every five has stated that they are willing to stop using a product or service because of slow response times via live chat.

The use of live chat on your website is absolutely necessary if you want to keep your customers and boost your sales.

After that, you'll add one to your website, so what exactly is the catch?

The problem is that there are a great many live chat software solutions on the market, and the vast majority of them are prohibitively expensive, particularly for smaller businesses.

But there are also live chat software solutions that don't require any coding and are free. Within this post, we have compiled a list of the 12 best free live chat software solutions that are available for websites.

What exactly is meant by "Live Chat Support"?

Live chat is a channel for customer support that enables customers to have text-based online conversations with support teams. Live chat is also known as "web chat." Customers can get immediate responses to any questions they have about a product or service that they are interested in purchasing from a company that integrates live chat boxes into their website.

Depending on the preferences of the company or the hours of operation, live chat support may be conducted either with an artificial intelligence or a real person through a small chat box.

A company's website or one of its mobile messaging apps (such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or SMS) can be used to provide live chat support for customers.

The "live" component of this channel of back-and-forth conversation is one of the reasons why customers prefer using it. Customers can typically receive support in real time through live chat, in contrast to other support channels such as email support.

Live chat, on the other hand, provides the opportunity for instant responses, in contrast to email support.

And if there's one thing that all visitors to a website appreciate, it's a quick response to their questions.

However, you must not fall for the hype surrounding speed. According to the statistics provided by livechat, 95 percent of customers place a higher priority on the quality of support than they do on speed.

This indicates that customers care more about whether or not you are able to solve their problem than how quickly you respond to them. The question now is, what should we take away from this? Make available helpful solutions in a condensed period of time through the use of live chat support.

You Should Have Knowledge of These Benefits of Live Chat

The creation of loyal customers for a brand and the expansion of existing businesses can be greatly aided by the spread of positive word of mouth. What does it have to do with live chat, I can almost hear you asking? It would appear that consumers enjoy reminiscing about their interactions with live chat agents.

The results of a study conducted by Kayako regarding live chat indicate that 29 percent of customers shared a positive live chat experience.

In addition, the following are some of the advantages of making use of live chat as your primary support channel:

  • Live chat accommodates the ever-evolving requirements of the customer. Texting is much more popular than making phone calls these days. Are you taken aback by that information? Me, neither.
  • It is not difficult to get to at all.
  • It helps customers immediately continue their work by providing solutions to their problems quickly and allowing them to do so.
  • Support via live chat is provided in a manner that is more conversational than support via email.
  • Live chat on the checkout page can help reduce the number of customers who abandon their carts.

Best Free Live Chat Software Solutions

Tidio Live Chat

Tidio is a live chat software solution that can be implemented on websites. It gives you the ability to communicate in real time with site visitors. Tidio gives you the ability to create chatbots, much like HubSpot does, so that you can automate your messages.

It also comes equipped with a plethora of additional features, such as pre-written responses for the purpose of providing prompt responses and an integrated shared inbox.

Tidio is compatible with a wide range of software, including Shopify, WordPress, and Wix, and can be integrated with all of them. Tidio provides users with both paid premium plans and a free basic plan. Because it allows for these things, its free plan is ideal for micro and small businesses.

Only up to three chat operators and chatbots may engage in unlimited conversation with each of the month's one hundred individual visitors.

The fact that you are allowed to send up to 500 automated emails per month with Tidio's free plan is worth mentioning. Tidio is able to support customer relationship management systems (CRMs) and email automation tools, allowing you to deliver a personalized customer support experience to your clients.

Pros:

  • Excellent customer support
  • Interface that is both clean and customizable
  • A speedy set up

Cons:

  • Does not permit the use of multiple triggers with a single bot
  • There are no settings on the site that allow you to change the position of the chatbox


FreeChat by Popupsmart

Freechat is a live chat application that is totally free to use and does not need any coding to operate. The fact that you can add live chat to your website without causing a slowdown in the speed of your website is the best feature that it offers.

Exceptional Characteristics Include:

  • Your website's design can be perfectly matched to the design of the live chat window and button thanks to the live chat platform's sleek and contemporary design aesthetics.
  • Extremely user-friendly and can be set up in just a few minutes on your website.
  • Your live chat can accommodate multiple channels from various social media platforms.
  • You won't need to rely on pricey software solutions if you take advantage of this free live chat software solution. It will allow you to provide your customers with instant responses while also increasing customer retention.

Pros:

  • Extremely user-friendly and simple to set up on your site.
  • Ideal for use in smaller businesses.
  • Using your messaging apps, such as WhatsApp Business or Instagram, you can respond to customer messages even when you're away from your desk.

Cons:

  • It would not be adequate for businesses with a medium to large customer base. In that case, I recommend that you go with a paid live chat software like Intercom; alternatively, you can continue looking through our list to find a service that is more appropriate for the size of your company.

HubSpot's Free Live Chat

HubSpot's CRM includes live chat software that enables incoming chats to be logged to clients' contact profiles. Your team will be able to look up common complaints from customers and provide a variety of solutions thanks to this.

If you are already using HubSpot's CRM, you will find that this free live chat solution is ideal for your needs. If you are not currently utilizing its CRM, you can sign up for free and install its customized live chat widget on your website. If you have any questions, you can contact the company.

Pros:

  • Private labeling
  • Bots
  • Greetings that are specific to the audience
  • Prefabricated answers.
  • The chatbot builder that HubSpot offers makes it possible for your live chat to remain active even outside of normal business hours.

Cons:

  • Without paying for an upgrade, customization is somewhat restricted.
  • If you upgrade, on the other hand, you'll be able to change the color of your chat widget and get rid of the HubSpot branding.

Respond.io

Respond.io is a business messaging platform that gives your customers the ability to communicate with you through any channel of their choosing. Customers can send you messages through the Respond.io live chat feature that is available on both your website and your social media pages.

This live chat software gives your team a comprehensive view of your customer base from every angle possible. You will be able to acquire a more precise understanding of each customer profile if you make use of omnichannel chat history, contact import, and real-time analytics.

The "Smart Replies" feature included in Respond.io is part of an artificial intelligence component that helps guide chatbot responses. The use of smart replies enables faster communication and the troubleshooting of recurring issues based on questions that are asked repeatedly.

Pros:

The live chat software offered by Respond.io is available in both free and paid plans. The following are included in the forever free plan:

  • 5 team members
  • Up to one hundred contacts
  • Unrestricted number of messages
  • All channels

Cons:

  • Compared to the absence of a mobile app and the restriction to desktop use, there are some features that are absent.

Tawk.to

Tawk.to is a free live chat software solution that can be implemented on your website with the help of a small snippet of JavaScript. It can function on your website, inside of your mobile app, or from a page that you can customize.

You are able to monitor the activity of customers in real time and see which member of your team responded to a particular customer. The live chat software offered by Tawk.to comes packed with additional features as well:

  • Messages that are localized so that you can communicate with customers from other countries in your mother tongue
  • Tawk.to enables you to communicate with clients directly from your mobile device by providing you with apps for both the iOS and Android operating systems.
  • Canned messages

Pros:

  • Keep an eye on the user's location, activity, and the places they click, among other things.
  • Browser-based, eliminating the need to download and install any additional software.
  • A wide variety of options for personalization

Cons:

  • Inconsistent notifications
  • Some users may find it challenging to integrate the service with their websites and to set it up.

Smartsupp

Smartsupp is a good choice as an option if you are looking for multichannel management in one location. With this live chat software, you will be able to respond to your customers' Facebook messages, email inquiries, and chats all from the same location.

It also comes as a mobile app, so you can chat with your customers even when you're not at your desk. The fact that Smartsupp has a file-sharing function that lets users send a photo or document by dragging and dropping it is one of the reasons we like the service.

In addition to that, it features a chatbot that is capable of composing and sending personalized messages to customers. The video recording feature of Smartsupp is another notable aspect of this software, as it documents the activities of site visitors.

There is a plan that is free forever as well as paid plans. What is included in the free plan:

  • 3 agents (The employees of the customer service team who respond to chats are known as live chat agents.)
  • Uncountable amounts of websites are available.
  • There are 3 chatbots.
  • Every one of the essential components

Pros:

  • The capacity to send an email in the event that a user disconnects from the chat session
  • Friendly interaction with users
  • Screen recordings of user sessions are saved.
  • Offers a Mobile Application

Cons:

  • It has been brought to our attention by a number of users that the Android app may, on occasion, fail to display notifications.
  • In the free version, there is no option to schedule office hours.

Crisp.Chat

Crisp.Chat is a live chat software that, thanks to its shared inbox function, centralizes all of your various communication channels. You have the ability to construct chatbot scenarios, make GIFs and video previews, and share files with others.

Additionally, Crisp.Chat enables you to connect your live chat with social networks such as Twitter and Messenger. The fact that they provide a feature known as CrispyBird, which is a game designed to keep your customers entertained while they wait for a response from you, is what drew our attention to the company.

In addition to these features, LiveTranslate will translate any messages you type as they are typed.

There are both free and paid versions of this live chat software. The Forever Free plan is ideal for individuals who only need a basic live chat to communicate with their clients or customers on their personal websites.

Pros:

  • Automatic translation function
  • Offers a Mobile Application
  • Great sync between web, desktop, and mobile apps

Cons:

  • There is no way to have multiple conversations with the same client at the same time.
  • The free plan only keeps 30 days' worth of message history.
  • Integrations with services such as PipeDrive caused problems for some users and did not function properly for others.

JivoChat

JivoChat is the best-rated mobile customer support app available on the App Store. It enables support teams to manage chats from a variety of platforms, such as websites, emails, Telegram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, among others. Other cool features that JivoChat provides include the following:

  • Chats that are color-coded
  • Message sneak-peek
  • Automatic responses
  • The use of hotkeys for proactive chat

The free basic version is restricted to the first five agents, but it has no such restrictions when it comes to websites or chats.

Pros:

  • Under certain circumstances, the website will supply visitor information (such as the location, name, and email address of the visitor).
  • Calling back functionality
  • The capability to view what users have typed in before they send their message.

Cons:

  • Inability to contact customers who state their intention to leave the chat and then do so
  • Insufficient capabilities for SMS
  • Users may find that the frequency with which the chat box appears on the webpage to be a source of annoyance.

Chatra

The live chat software known as Chatra gives you the ability to immediately start a conversation with any visitor that happens to be viewing your website. Customers will be able to gauge when you are responding to their inquiries thanks to the read receipts and typing indicators that come standard.

One feature that deserves mention is the offline chat widget that Chatra provides. Customers can be informed that your team is currently busy and that they will hear back from them soon through offline chat widgets.

Chatra offers both an always free plan and paid plans that cost money and come with additional features.

Pros:

  • The mobile app performs very well.
  • Connects you with customers via your email and Facebook, amongst other channels.
  • Adding Chatra to your website is a straightforward and speedy process.
  • The free version is excellent for use by smaller companies.

Cons:

  • There may be moments of lag in the chat.
  • messages do not support HTML formatting.
  • The inability to manually send chat transcripts is a limitation.

OnWebChat

OnWebChat is a live chat service that aims to improve the level of satisfaction experienced by your customers. File sharing, keyboard shortcuts, and typing insights are some of the features that are included.

A customer knowledge base can be maintained, and real-time monitoring of customers can be performed. Only an Android app is available for use while on the move.

What is included in the onWebChat free plan:

  • 100 conversations a month
  • Chat logs covering the past year
  • Shortcuts, speech to text, and visitor monitoring are included.

Take into account the fact that only a limited number of people have tested and reviewed this tool. You should still give it a shot, however, if you think their deals and features are appealing to you.

Userlike

Userlike offers a free live chat software option in addition to paid plans for more advanced features. There is one seat and one widget allotted to you with the free plan. Its live chat window for the web and mobile devices has a variety of features, including support for images and videos, feedback options, and the ability to tag conversations.

You'll be able to better organize conversations as well as tag them with relevant topics if you use conversation tagging. Another beneficial feature is the ability to pre-produce responses for frequently asked questions by using canned messages.

Pros:

  • Live chat capabilities on multiple platforms, including Messenger, WhatsApp, and more.
  • Options for integration with a variety of other applications, including Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Slack
  • The most effective user interface

Cons:

  • Chat sessions that were broken up
  • After you have closed the chat window, the operator will not be able to send the message back to the user.
  • There is no mobile app.

MyLiveChat

Agents are able to participate in multiple chat sessions at the same time using MyLiveChat. Sessions are managed in their own individual room tabs.

You can add your company logo and an agent photo to the visitor popup messenger, which is a cool feature that allows you to match the live chat to the image of your company's brand.

MyLiveChat also includes a feature that will check your spelling to ensure that there are no typos. One of the most impressive features is the proactive chat, which lets you start a one-on-one conversation with people who are visiting your website.

The following are additional features:

  • The indicator for typing
  • File transfer
  • Firewall support
  • Geolocation
  • Multi-language support
  • Pre-written responses

Pros:

  • Simple to put into action
  • Establish working hours to determine your availability.

Cons:

  • There is no bot function for producing automatic responses.
  • insufficient in terms of product onboarding
  • The free version does not allow for the customization of the chat button.
  • Support for customers that is unhelpful.

So, can you recommend the top free live chat software that I should use for my website?

The trustworthiness of your company can significantly benefit from the addition of a live chat support feature to its website. However, if you are just starting out in business or have a small business, the majority of well-established live chat software can become a burden on your budget. This is especially true in the beginning stages of a business.

There is no cause for alarm. Even if you only have access to free software, you can still provide your customers with real-time support. Either Tawk.to or Tidio is the one you should sign up for in my opinion. Both have been validated, and a large number of website proprietors use them.

FreeChat is another excellent alternative to consider, particularly if your company places a greater emphasis on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp business.

Investing in a robust paid service such as Intercom, Zendesk, or Pure Chat is something I would recommend for websites that receive a higher volume of traffic.

And with that, we have come to the end of our rundown of the best free live chat software that you can incorporate into your website.