Live Chat Software
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Intercom creates modern Customer Service software that aims to redefine how businesses support their customers. The platform connects businesses directly to customers using powerful messaging and automation. According to the vendor, Intercom enables teams to scale support without…
Genesys Cloud CX (formerly PureCloud, Genesys Cloud) is a contact center application optimized for automatic call distribution, interactive voice response, email, social media, chat, and text/SMS. It is also a VoIP interconnect service provider.
Drift is presented as a human-centric, AI-powered buyer engagement platform, a platform that automatically listens, understands and learns from buyers to provide individualized and human experiences at every touchpoint of the buying journey. The platform helps businesses translate…
Khoros Care enables brands to serve their customers on their preferred digital channels, reducing costs and increasing customer satisfaction and revenue. It Offers:Web chat & messaging gives customers convenient, efficient channels to engage brands, while giving brands a single…
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Click2Magic helps businesses of all forms and sizes engage their website visitors with its live chat facility. Not just only live chat, but it also allows business owners to assess qualified leads and helps them convert into the potential customer base. This real-time customer engaging…
All-in-one software for better customer communication HelpCrunch toolset includes: Live chatEmail marketing automationSimple HelpdeskIt's a perfect solution for customer support, sales & marketing teams at SaaS, E-commerce, and any other online businesses. Acquire, convert more…
Helpshift is a help desk software deployed as an in-application SDK to provide users with in-app service.
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Vision Helpdesk, which started in 2005 as a simple help desk software has evolved into three customer service and IT support management tools. Help Desk Software - A multi-channel help desk software that allows users to manage customer communication across various channels like…
Tawk.to headquartered in Las Vegas offers a live chat tool, allowing users to monitor and chat with the visitors on a website, within a mobile app or from a customizable chat page.
Dixa, headquartered in Copenhagen, offers their VoIP and call center software, featuring browser based phone, email, and live chat, intelligent skill-based call routing and other agent management tools, queue management and prioritization, and other features designed to provide scalable…
Atlassian has discontinued Stride. Users are being migrated to Slack.
Provide Support has been a live chat and website monitoring software provider since 2003. The vendor says more than 30000 customers use their live help software globally. The vendor also says they are serving businesses and organizations from a variety of industries such as E-Commerce,…
Arena.im is a live chat, live blog, and content wall solution that can be embedded on a website, from the company of the same name headquartered in San Francisco. The solution avails an in-built customer data platform that enables users to activate individual marketing with centralized…
JivoChat is a combined live chat, VoIP, and business messenging service that integrates with email, Facebook, or other tools via API to provide a means to conduct omnichannel communication with customers.
Comm100 is a global provider of omnichannel communication software for education, government and commercial organizations of all sizes. Comm100 helps organizations to provide the optimal balance of human-bot engagement through configurable live chat, AI-powered bots and automation,…
HelpWire is a remote desktop service that provides remote control tools for on-demand support of PCs, laptops, and workstations. It streamlines IT support, boosting productivity for customer support teams regardless of size. Technicians can access clients' computers for swifter issue…
Pure Chat is a live chat tool with a free version for limited usage or paid versions with unlimited chat, developed by the company of the same name in Scottsdale, Arizona, and acquired late in 2020 by Ruby. Pure Chat is now a Ruby brand.
LiveHelpNow is a configurable live chat and/or help desk platform featuring ticket management, live chat and email support, call support, a knowledgebase, analytics, and more.
Glia (formerly Salemove) creates customer engagement solutions that enable companies to provide an in-person customer experience online. Through its all-in-one platforms, companies are able to identify high-value website visitors, communicate through live chat, audio, and video, and…
Help.com is a cloud-base live chat solution. The vendor says its in-depth reporting gives businesses an inside look at what is driving their customer experience. This solution includes custom on-boarding and training as well as a custom built chat box widget that is designed around…
Indian software company Tenmiles offers HappyFox Chat, a live chat tool with a free edition, that is available as a standalone product, or integrated with the company's help desk software: HappyFox.
eAssistance Pro was a Live Chat Software for websites that provides unlimited live chat support to online customers. It allows organizations to get connected with their visitors, resolve their queries and offer them instant support. The product has been discontinued.
ChatBeacon (formerly SightMax) is a live chat tool from SmartMax Software headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Swiss company unblu offers their eponymous live chat tool that features co-browsing, document sharing, and more.
Wix Answers is a customer support solution that aims to consolidate all support channels in one place—a ticketing system, knowledge management, call center, live chat and built-in analytics. Wix Answers provides:A single view for all real-time and offline support channelsNo more…
Learn More About Live Chat Software
What is Live Chat Software?
Live Chat Software allows website operators to interact directly with visitors on their websites in real-time, typically through some combination of instant messaging/chat, video, and survey forms. With live chat software maintaining the spotlight, many live chat vendors are also branching into “webchat” which can take live chat conversations into other modes of communication, namely SMS/text messaging. This is a great development for organizations looking to work with only one vendor to manage both website chat and text-based chat.
The two major use cases for these tools are sales qualification and customer support. The majority of leading live chat software functions both as live chat for lead generation and live chat support software.
At minimum, live chat software should include the following capabilities:Live Chat Software Features & Capabilities
- Real-time messaging
- Canned responses and greetings
- Notifications
- Chat transfer
- Ticket forms
- Chat history and transcripts
- Customization tools for branding, agent profiles, languages, etc.
- Chat reports
- Encrypted messaging
- Access restriction
- Visitor banning
- Single sign-on
- Compliance
More advanced features include:
- Pre-built AI bots to handle conversations without a human agent
- Customized AI bots for the same purpose
- Intuitive FAQs
- Unified inboxes
- Integrations with scheduling and client management applications like Freshdesk, Google Calendar, Zapier, etc.
- iOS and Android versions
Live Chat Software Key Use Cases: Sales & Support
Using live chat software, salespeople can answer prospects' questions or initiate a consultative conversation--at a key point in the buyer's journey, when the prospect is already engaged with the website or free trial (for online software products). They can also collect the prospect's contact information to follow up based on the prospect's readiness/likelihood to buy, for example trying to set up a call vs. entering them into a marketing nurture drip sequence.
Used by support or customer success teams, live chat software allows customers who have questions or problems to connect with an individual agent and receive a response in real-time, without having to call in and navigate an automated phone tree or submit a support ticket. (Although sometimes the agent on the other end of the live chat will end up submitting a support ticket for them.)
Like social customer service tools, proponents of live chat support consider it to be a better customer service experience, because recognition is immediate, there's a personal connection, and help can be delivered in context of the website or application. Also, issues addressed via IM are kept more informal than filing a help desk ticket, and more discreet than a social support case.
Live chat point solutions for the support use case are lighter-weight and easier to implement than a full help desk, but using an integrated live chat/help desk solution has its advantages, since the customer interaction history can be stored in one unified record, and tickets can be created/routed directly from the chat interface.
Live Chat Software Comparison
To compare different live chat tools, consider these factors for each product offering:
- Automation: This will not be applicable for all use cases, but you should determine whether the live chat software you are considering supports automated messages or not, should you choose to utilize them. Automated messaging can save your agents time and route people to the appropriate resources to keep your support team and sales agents from handling requests that do not need human assistance.
- Integrations: Choose live chat software that integrates with your existing sales engagement and CRM tools. Do not assume that any given live chat platform supports the other tools you'd like to import data into. This is likely one of the most important factors to consider. If a tool doesn't already have an integration designed for the tools you'd like, it should at least give you the option to set one up.
- Security: Users often share personal information via live chat programs, so invest in tools that are transparent about the security features of their software. You also want to make sure that it complies with both your local and international cybersecurity regulations.
Start a Live Chat software comparison
Pricing
Unlike a lot of SaaS tools, live chat software options do not proliferate free versions. However, a few tools like Gist and Freshchat feature totally free starter options. You can expect pricing tiers to be differentiated by the size of your contact list and the number of account managers. Paid plans can start as low as $16/mo with enterprise plans starting at $79/mo on the lower end. Enterprises looking into live chat software should keep in mind that many live chat vendors do not offer pre-designed plans for larger organizations and require that you reach out to them for a quote and estimate of what your account may actually cost.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is live chat software?
How much is live chat software?
While most live chat software is only available as paid plans, Gist and Freshchat have free versions available. Enterprises will get the most out of paid plans, as free plans do not typically support advanced features that the nature of their operations require.
Paid plans can start as low as $16/mo to as high as $100/mo. This pricing is usually by number of "seats", or agents you would like to have utilizing the software at any given time. So be mindful of your team size when budgeting for live chat software.