Live chat helps you to provide exceptional customer service by finding a solution to customers’ problems instantly. Your immediate response ultimately makes your client happy, and their gratification becomes the key to success for your business. In reality, no one wants to send a support email only to receive a response (that too automated) 2 days later or put on hold for so long. So, to run a successful online business, it’s required to implement an easy and simple way to communicate with your customers and users.
With Live chats, the website owners are likely to have the access to monitor the active users on the site. This is easy to keep track of and also initiate business marketing and promotions with ease. It can also create more conversations as you can respond to sales queries in real-time, eliminate buyer disputes, and provide a relieving human presence until customers are ready to pay for your products or services.
Out of a million chat apps available on the market, there are 600+ plugins that come as dedicated WordPress live chat plugins. Most of the plugins also come with multiple-language support which helps and automatically translates your conversation with your international users. Here we’d like to share some of the best live chat plugins which are very useful for your business websites. Let’s dive in!
| Plugin | Features | Link |
|---|---|---|
| LiveChat | Message sneak-peek, control all conversations from a single dashboard | Visit |
| Olark | Automation rules, set rules to hide and show the chatbox | Visit |
| Tidio Live Chat | Chat from the web dashboard, Visitor tagging, chatbot functionality | Visit |
| Zendesk Chat | Chat via a web dashboard, Automatic triggers to engage customers | Visit |
| Tawk.To | Unlimited agents and history storage, Chat via the web interface, Windows and Mac desktop apps, etc | Visit |
| Intercom | Automated messaging, Lead and customer profiles | Visit |
| Acquire | View answered and missed chats, Automate repetitive work with chatbots | Visit |
| Hubspot Live Chat | Automatic storage of chat conversations, You can adjust the colour, the name of your chatbot, avatar image, etc | Visit |
| WP Live Chat Support | Drag the chat box around the page, Desktop notifications | Visit |
| Formilla Live Chat | iOS and Android app available, Google Talk Support and real-time visitor monitoring | Visit |
| Chatbot | 24×7 availability with the possibility of lead generation. | Visit |
1. LiveChat
LiveChat is one of the most popular and easy to use premium live chat solutions with many unique features including special graphic elements that draw attention to the live chatbox. It has proactive chat invitations so your team can have personalized messages automatically sent to visitors. LiveChat also offers beautifully designed live chat support apps that you can use on your laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. That means you can chat with customers while on the go, without having to log in to your WordPress dashboard.
LiveChat integrates with dozens of other services like popular CRM software, Google Analytics, Zendesk, and you can select the pages of your site to include live chat widgets. Another best feature of LiveChat is speed. Their chat window loads extremely fast, works on all devices, and offers a much better user experience than most other live chat software.
Additional Features
- Each customer interaction is marked with colorful circles indicating how long the person has been waiting
- Message sneak-peek to see what a visitor is typing before they hit send
- You get to control all conversations from a single dashboard – even if you have LiveChat set on more than one site.
- Built-in ticketing support
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2. Olark
Olark is another premium live chat plugin that offers a detailed set of features. It has a clean, intuitive design and allows you to customize everything from the appearance of the chat window to the chat box position. Olark is easy to use, and adding it to a WordPress site is simple. Basically, you get a piece of code directly from Olark, which you can then copy and paste wherever you wish.
Olark supports multiple languages so you can select your preferred languages or use Olark API to change it into your language. It can be integrated with your favorite software such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, MailChimp and so on which helps you to develop the customer relationship. You can see which pages your customers been to and what they did on those pages. And once the talk is done, the customer can leave their feedback and rating.
Additional Features
- Automation rules to send custom messages based on users’ behavior
- You can set rules to hide and show the chatbox, automatically send messages, and assign chats to specific departments.
- File uploads and after chat transcripts
3. Tidio Live Chat
Tidio Live Chat is one of the simplest live chat plugins to have on your website – simply activate the plugin, and you’re ready to go. By adding this plugin to your WordPress site, you’ll get more than just live chat — you’ll also get access to other communication channels including chatbots, email marketing, and Messenger. Tidio offers most of its features for free, including up to three chat operators and 500 emails per month. If you need more than that, paid plans start at $10 per month.
The chat boxes come in three designs, which can be fully color customized to fit your branding. If you are unable to chat for any reason, offline messages are sent directly to your inbox. Similarly, you can continue the conversation via email if a visitor leaves the chat.
Additional Features
- Chat from the web dashboard or mobile apps
- You can also manage chats by installing a dedicated desktop, iOS, or Android app.
- Canned responses and chatbot functionality
- Visitor tagging
Also read: The Best CDN Services For WordPress
4. Zendesk Chat
Zendesk is a live chat solution that allows you to easily customize the live chat widget according to your requirements. It allows you to manage multiple live chat conversations through a single dashboard. The free version allows only one concurrent chat at a time and maintains chat records for only fourteen days. Further, only one member of your team can access the dashboard at a time in the free version. Many customization options are also not available in the free version.
Zendesk helps you to interact with your customers in real-time and helps them to complete a transaction. You can manage multiple transactions via the online dashboard as well as monitor visitors from there. The plugin is optimized for mobiles, works on all major browsers, and is available in 40 languages. You can also add information about your customers, improve workflow routing, and handle spam requests too.
Additional Features
- Chat via a web dashboard or native mobile apps
- Integrates with ticketing and social media to offer omnichannel support
- Automatic triggers to engage customers
5. Tawk.To
Tawk.To allow you to monitor the live chat and engage users on your site in real-time for free. You can personalize the widget look and get the colorful Attention Bubble to make the live chat stand out. You also can interact with visitors from all over the world, whether on desktop or mobile. It also lets you use any of the free iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OSX apps to connect with customers.
Tawk.To comes with a single, multi-purpose dashboard through which reps can access multiple websites and work in tandem with other reps while answering live chat requests. The only thing you need to do to get started with Tawk.To is create a free account. If you are specifically looking for a free live chat plugin, Tawk.to is definitely going to be one of your best options.
Additional Features
- Message “sneak peek” to see what visitors are typing before they hit send
- Chat via the web interface, Windows and Mac desktop apps, or native mobile apps for iOS and Android
- Unlimited agents and history storage.
6. Intercom
Intercom is a very robust platform that can do a lot for your business. It helps you capture leads, engage users, and enhance conversions. It offers messaging services with live chat widgets that you can automate with your own flows, add chatbots, and engage customers. Thus, it takes care of interaction management, automated workflows, product tours, data analysis, and more.
If you are just looking for a live chat software, Intercom may not be the best pick for you since you won’t be able to utilize its full potential. On the other hand, if you want your live chat support software to do all these tasks, then you’ll love Intercom.With prices starting at $38 per month (and going much higher), Intercom is definitely more focused towards businesses than individuals.
Additional Features
- Automated messaging based on visitor actions
- Lead and customer profiles
- Audience targeting and several integrations
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7. Acquire
Acquire is yet another live chat software that is suitable for all kinds of businesses– small, medium, and large. With the help of an Acquire extension to WordPress, you can easily connect with website visitors, qualify leads, and support customers in real-time.
It provides the best communication way to engage with customers through an easy-to-use web chat interface. You can also easily collect information 24×7 using forms. The good news is, the live chat software is totally multi-media friendly which makes it easy for you to share files, launch video chats, start an audio or video call, screen share, co-browse, and much more right from the messenger.
Additional Features
- Automate repetitive work with chatbots
- Calculate the engagement levels by tracking the busiest chat periods
- View answered and missed chats along with average wait times
- Personalize your messages by segmenting and sending proactive messages to customers based on visitor location, web pages, device type, visitor behavior, etc.
8. Hubspot Live Chat
HubSpot Live Chat is a free tool (HubSpot’s free forever CRM) with which you can easily customize your chat widget to match the look and feel of your brand. With this plugin, you get more than just live chat — you also get forms and pop-ups, CRM and contact management, email marketing, marketing automation, and reports and analytics. Plus HubSpot integrates with nearly 500 other tools.
The tool is fully integrated with a chatbot builder that you can start using for free without any coding. The plugin also allows you to add chatbots that function 24/7 to your site. Thus you can automate some of your support (e.g. use chatbots, rather than reps, to answer FAQs) and offer assistance to visitors even when your team is offline. And because HubSpot’s chatbot builder is seamlessly integrated with HubSpot’s free CRM, your bots can deliver friendlier, more personalized messages based on the information you already know about a contact.
Additional Features
- All your chat conversations are automatically stored in a universal inbox enriched with data.
- You can adjust the color, the name of your chatbot, avatar image, and placement on the page from HubSpot’s free CRM.
9. WP Live Chat Support
WP Live Chat Support by 3CX is a fully functional live chat plugin that comes with no third party connections or paid subscription. You can also choose to use WP Live Chat Support’s server instead which enables you to chat from your WordPress dashboard without adding any burden to your WordPress site’s server. Using this plugin, you can chat to not just one, but to many visitors at the same time. A direct conversation between agents and visitors happens via an easy to use interface.
The plugin provides a chat box that does not support any advertising or links. You get to choose from six themes for the chat box, and add animation effects. The chat box is responsive, comes with color options and can be dragged all over the page.
Additional Features
- Drag the chat box around the page.
- Desktop notifications.
- View missed chats
10. Formilla Live Chat
Though Formilla has a simple and minimalistic look, it is rich when it comes to its features. Their WordPress chat support plugin has chatbots, smart messages, real-time visitor monitoring, to name a few. The drawback is that all these features are available only to paying customers. It has a clean and easy-to-use interface. Formilla live chat software comes with real-time visitor monitoring feature. Also, Formilla offers some original ways of customizing the appearance of the chat box on your website.
Advanced users can customize the appearance of the WordPress live chat widget by editing the CSS code. All chatbots look very promising, but the process of training one takes time. You also need to already have some messages sent by your customers. This can be a problem for new users. If you’re planning on using bots, start with rule-based ones.
Additional Features
- iOS and Android app available to respond on the go.
- Google Talk Support and real time visitor monitoring
- Desktop Notifications
11. Chatbot
Chatbot for Website by Collect.chat Inc provides the easiest way to add chat widget to your website. With zero effort from your side, you could chat with customers 24/7 and improve customer communication. With Chatbot, you could convert visitors into customers within no time. You could also engage visitors and collect critical feedback with this plugin. Another benefit of the plugin is that it helps you to grow your email list and subscription base.
Additional Features:
- Allow contacts to set appointments
- Notify the sales team about hot leads
- Interact with each and every website visitor
- Automate your customer support 100%
Conclusion
That concludes our roundup of ten of the best live chat plugins for WordPress. As we mentioned in the beginning, WordPress chat plugins are a perfect tool for businesses of all sizes that want to be available to their customers at any time of day or night. All the plugins we presented offer many exciting live chat features such as Chatbot automatic messages, canned responses, widget customization, etc. If you’re still confused about which live chat plugin to choose, just write down the list of features you need, compare what different apps have to offer, and choose the best chat WordPress plugin for your needs.