Customer support suite bundling shared inbox, knowledge base, CRM and AI agent
11 tools compared
Best Live Chat Software
Live chat software is a tool designed to facilitate real-time communication between businesses and their customers. These solutions provide features and functionalities tailored to improve customer service, support, and engagement through instant messaging on websites and mobile applications.
More about Live Chat Software
Key capabilities include:
- Real-Time Messaging
- Customer Support Integration
- Chatbots and Automation
- Multi-Channel Support
- Reporting and Analytics
- Customization Options
Live chat software enables businesses to provide immediate assistance, resolve customer queries, and enhance user experience on their digital platforms. By offering tools for real-time messaging, customer support integration, chatbots, and multi-channel support, these solutions help organizations improve customer satisfaction and drive engagement.
To qualify for the Live Chat Software category, a product must:
- Provide features and functionalities tailored to facilitate real-time communication between businesses and their customers.
- Offer tools for real-time messaging, customer support integration, chatbots, and multi-channel support.
- Support customization options to align with the business’s branding and operational needs.
The core value proposition is empowering businesses to enhance customer service and engagement through instant, real-time communication facilitated by live chat software.
Live Chat Software Compared
Compare the 10 most relevant Live Chat Software options on price, free trial and deployment.
| Product | Starting price | Free trial | Free plan | API | Deployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 SparrowDesk AI first customer service with human first platform | $16 | ✓ | – | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 Chatim Live chat and AI chatbot with no per seat or… | $9 | ✓ | – | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 Kayako AI-powered help desk software with per-resolution pricing for customer support… | $1 | – | – | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 Intercom AI-first customer service platform with Fin AI agent and unified… | $29 | ✓ | – | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 Tidio Live chat and Lyro AI chatbot platform for small business… | $24.17 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 Zendesk Customer service platform with ticketing, messaging and AI-powered support tools | $19 | ✓ | – | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 HubSpot Marketing Email marketing software with drag and drop design, AI writing… | $20 | – | ✓ | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 Olark Live chat with an AI website agent priced separately from… | $400 | ✓ | – | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 LiveChat Established live chat platform with published per agent tiers and… | $19 | ✓ | – | ✓ | Cloud Based |
 Can I Help | Free | – | ✓ | – | – |
Your product in this list? Sponsored top-5 positions in Live Chat Software from $19/month.
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11 Best Live Chat Software Options
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Crisp is a customer support platform rather than a chat widget alone, bundling a shared inbox, knowledge base, support CRM and analytics behind the conversation. Support arrives from both website and mobile applications into one place.
Including a knowledge base in the same product is the most useful part of that bundle. The purpose of documentation is making customers self sufficient, and when it sits in the same system as the conversations, the questions people actually ask can drive what gets documented next.
The AI agent is built in four explicit steps beginning with training, where Crisp learns about the product from public and private resources already in place and browses the customer's website automatically. Building from existing material rather than requiring a bespoke corpus is what makes AI support achievable for a small team.
Pricing is published per plan with seats included rather than charged individually. The Mini tier at 45 dollars a month is aimed at early stage companies and includes 4 seats, with additional seats around 5 dollars. The higher tier at 95 dollars a month is a full featured support platform including 10 seats, with additional seats around 25 dollars. The AI agent is included in the Crisp Plus plan.
Explore additional details
Explore various Keka features, compare the pricing plans, and unlock the potential of seamless operations by selecting the right software for your business.
Features
View all Crisp Features- Live chat from website and mobile apps
- Shared team inbox
- Knowledge base
- Support CRM
- Support analytics
- AI agent trained on existing resources
- Automatic website crawling for training
- Seats included per plan
- Campaign and messaging tools
- Integrations
Pricing
Crisp Caters to
- StartUps
- SMEs
- Agencies
- Enterprises
Live Chat Software Buyer's Guide
Comparing Live Chat Software is easier once you stop ranking features and start checking which product assumes your workflow. Below are the core capabilities, who benefits most, typical pricing, and what to test before committing.
What is Live Chat Software?
Live Chat Software helps teams organise the bookings, customer records and paperwork that live chat work depends on in one system. The real return is usually less rekeying and fewer version disputes rather than any single headline feature. The practical difference shows up in the awkward cases rather than the standard ones.
Key features to look for in Live Chat Software
Which of these matter depends on your process, but they are worth checking against any Live Chat Software shortlist.
- Records and profiles built around live chat work
- Scheduling and capacity planning
- Workflow stages matching how live chat operations actually run
- Invoicing and payment handling
- Document storage and compliance records
- Customer and contact communication
- Reporting on the measures that matter in live chat work
- Role based access for different staff types
Benefits of using Live Chat Software
Organisations running Live Chat Software that genuinely fits their workflow tend to see:
- Workflows that match live chat operations instead of a generic process
- Less adaptation of general purpose software to a specialist job
- Records and terminology that fit the field
- Compliance and record keeping handled in one place
- Reporting on measures that are actually relevant
Who uses Live Chat Software?
Live Chat Software is used by owners and managers in live chat work, administrative staff, and the frontline teams delivering it. What matters more than headcount is whether the product’s assumptions about your process are correct.
How to choose the right Live Chat Software
When comparing Live Chat Software, weigh these factors:
- How closely the workflow matches your own live chat operation
- Whether sector specific compliance requirements are covered
- The size of operation the product is genuinely designed for
- Data migration from whatever you use today
- How responsive the vendor is to requests specific to this field
Narrow to a few options and test on your own data. The eventual daily users should run the trial, because their friction determines whether a rollout sticks.
How much does Live Chat Software cost?
Live Chat Software is usually priced per user or per location each month, with tiers reflecting the size of the operation. Expect to pay more than for a general purpose tool, which is normal where the addressable market is small. Budget against where you expect to be, and read carefully which capabilities are gated above the tier you are quoted.
FAQs of Live Chat Software
Live Chat Software handles the day to day paperwork of live chat work, keeping customer records, scheduling and payment in one place.
General tools need adapting to live chat workflows and rarely cover the terminology or compliance involved, which is what Live Chat Software is built around.
Scale assumptions vary widely across Live Chat Software, so ask any vendor what a typical live chat customer of theirs actually looks like.
Live Chat Software vendors differ on migration, so confirm the import path for your current live chat records rather than assuming it is included.
Live Chat Software pricing is commonly per seat or per site and tiered by scale, so budget above what a general purpose live chat tool would cost.
Trial Live Chat Software against real live chat work rather than a vendor demo, and involve the staff who will use it daily.