Whether you’re a blogger or have a small business website, a chat plugin can help you engage and convert more prospects.
There are tons of chat plugins out there, which can be good and bad at the same time.
Good because there’s no shortage; bad because it makes picking the right one a bit tricky
In this post, we’ve reviewed the 7 Best WordPress Live Chat Plugins to help you make this purchase a cost-effective one.
Let’s dive in.
7 Best Live Chat Plugins for WordPress Website
1. LiveChat
LiveChat is a simple WordPress plugin helping businesses grow with effective chat features.
It’s easy to use, both for visitors and chat agents.
As a visitor lands on a site, they see a professional chat box at the bottom of the page.
The chat box greets them and can be accessed easily with a click of the mouse.
Visitors can easily interact with your chat agent and can leave feedback at the end.
Plus, the chat box features a share button, encouraging people to spread the word about your business on social media.
But, it’s the business end where LiveChat really stands out.
For instance, you can directly engage your prospects without waiting for them to reach out to you.
This helps make sure visitors leave your site with a positive experience.
Plus, it lets you personalize the chat window.
And, you can manage all your customer interactions within a single dashboard.
However, the notification system can be glitchy sometimes.
Pros
- Simple and effective
- Customizable
- Encourages shares
Cons
- Possible glitches in notifications
2. ChatBot
Artificial intelligence is a marketer’s best friend. Chatbots are a great example of that.
ChatBot, an AI-powered live chat software, can help you engage website visitors and improve customer satisfaction.
The tool lets you create your own automated chatbot with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
Plus, you get plenty of ready-made templates for different industries that you can customize according to your needs.
For instance, the lead generation template of ChatBot helps you generate leads automatically.
And, their sales template is perfect for helping prospects find the right products.
In addition, it seamlessly integrates with WordPress, and you can use it to manage all your e-commerce stores as well.
Pros
- 14-day free trial
- Integrates with WooCommerce
- Comes with different industry templates
- Mobile and desktop apps
Cons
- A bit expensive
3. Pure Chat
Pure Chat is the best free WordPress chat plugin out there with many reasons to love it.
One reason would be the eye-catching boxes you can build with the software.
Another good thing is that every element of your chat box is customizable.
You get unlimited colors to choose from, great animations, and even custom images.
Aesthetics aren’t the only plus point of Pure Chat though.
The WordPress plugin is also a powerful live chat management tool.
Its features include:
- Realtime analytics
- Visitor tracking (1)
- Contact tracking
- Multi-chat management
- Proactive chat triggers
Plus, you can choose the time you want the live chat function to be active.
When it’s offline, the chat box simply transforms into an opt-in form for your MailChimp email list.
Another cool thing is you get 15 chats per month on the free plan of Pure Chat.
The $39/month premium subscription includes 4 users and offers unlimited chats.
However, the WordPress plugin might slow down your site.
Pros
- Realtime analytics
- The free version gives 15 chats per month
- Beautiful live chat widget
Cons
- Might slow your site
4. TIDIO
Tidio is one of the simplest and most effective WordPress chat plugins out there.
Tidio offers Facebook messenger integration, so you can use the FB chat widget instead of the default one (it is connected to your brand’s Facebook page).
Just activate it and get started; it requires virtually no setup.
As for the customizability, there are three designs you can play around with.
This lets you customize your live chat box to suit your brand.
Plus, you can manage the Tidio chat tab from the WordPress dashboard.
Or, you can install their iOS, Android, or desktop app and manage your chats from there.
The cool thing is Tidio offers a free version that might be enough when you’re getting started.
The only restrictions are that only one agent can manage the chats, and there can only be one chat open at a time.
Pros
- Has a free version
- Easy and effective
- Customizable chat box
Cons
- Limited free version
5. Zendesk Chat
Zendesk Chat is a popular live chat software and can easily be installed directly from the WordPress plugin repository.
The tool offers one of the most attractive designs and layouts; you can customize these layouts to your heart’s content.
Plus, they have a dedicated Android and iPhone app if you want to respond to customers’ messages on the go.
In addition, the software lets you analyze your chat performances and understand your audience with actionable metrics.
The good thing is that Zendesk Chat’s free version offers unlimited chats.
But, you can only use one chat agent, who can only manage one chat at a time.
If your website is small or new, the free version might suffice.
But, of course, as your traffic grows, you’d want to invest in the paid plan, which is $14/month.
The premium version of Zendesk Chat comes with some cool features.
For instance, with the chat trigger feature, you can specify certain triggers to auto-launch the chat box.
However, the wide range of features in Zendesk Chat software might make it a little more complex than some other chat software.
Pros
- Comes with a free version
- Have a smartphone app for on-the-go chat management
- Chat trigger feature
Cons
- Can be a bit complex
6. Live Chat Unlimited
With Live Chat Unlimited, you can handle all your chats within the WordPress dashboard.
You can customize your chat boxes with two colors.
They’re simple yet effective.
But, there’s a feature that makes Live Chat Unlimited stand out:
It lets multiple operators answer the same query.
Plus, as the name suggests, it lets you manage unlimited chats at the same time.
And, if there’s no operator available, your prospect or customer can send their query via a contact form.
However, it’s not the most user-friendly chat plugin out there.
Pros
- Unlimited number of simultaneous chats
- Multiple operators can address the same query
- Effective
Cons
- Could’ve been more user-friendly
7. Smartsupp
Smartsupp is one of the more cost-effective options on our list.
The plugin tracks and records user interaction on your site, which can help you understand the most common triggers.
You can use the recording to analyze any loopholes in the user experience and continue making it better.
Smartsupp records the conversations that happen on your site. Based on that information, you can then reach out to those users later.
With Smartsupp, you can even track customer interaction in Google Analytics. This can help you track the performance of your customer support agents.
And, in addition to WordPress, the live chat plugin works with Shopify, Magento, and other eCommerce platforms.
The good thing is the chat plugin has a free plan that you can use forever, but with limitations. It only allows one chat agent.
You can also try the premium plan (which is $19.50 a month) by utilizing the 14-day trial.
However, the app might be a little slow in receiving messages, as compared to the plugin’s desktop version.
Pros
- Nice design and user-friendly interface
- Tracks and records sessions
- Works with different content management systems, including WordPress
Cons
- The app may be a little slow in receiving messages
Choosing the Best Live Chat WordPress Plugin
Here are a few important things to take into account while choosing a live chat plugin for your website.
Ease of use
You don’t want something that’s going to be difficult for you or your team to use. The plugin should be intuitive and easy to navigate.
Features
Needless to say, the plugin you’re going to use on your website should have everything you’re going to need.
For instance, you’d want to automate at least a few initial responses on your site. So, AI automation would be one of the first key features to consider.
Analytics
Analytics are important to have on a chat plugin since they can help you gauge your website’s performance.
Price
The price might not be the most important factor since you should be going after quality and features.
However, you also don’t want to overpay for a plugin and regret it later.
You want a chat plugin that’s worth your investment.
Our Verdict
If you have a small business website, the LiveChat plugin would be a great choice (1st one on our list).
The chat plugin has all the features you need to timely address prospects’ queries. Plus, it’s priced reasonably.
But, if you prefer to use more automation, the ChatBot plugin would be ideal for you.
It’s cost-effective and is easier to set up than most of its competitors.
We hope you liked the review and can now confidently pick the WordPress Live Chat Plugin for your website.