Live chat has been around since the 70s. Wild right? But the “Talkomatic” of 1973 is a far cry from the brilliant live chat software solutions available today. But not all live chat software is the same. Before you grab the first live chat software solution that comes up in your Google search, check out this article for all the details on the features and pricing for 9 of the best live chat software solutions for 2023. Before we jump into the list, let’s take a look at some reasons your business needs to add live chat to your website.

11 Best Live Chat Software Solutions for 2023

Benefits of Live Chat Software

Live chat is one of the most cost-effective and time-effective ways to communicate with your customers and other website visitors. Not only can single agents handle several conversations simultaneously but customers are also able to continue what they’re doing on their computers while still getting the assistance they need. Plus, live chat conversations happen in real-time. This helps visitors get their questions answered quickly so they can complete their purchase and go about their day. 79% of live chat users love the medium because they get fast, timely responses, according to eConsultancy. Here are a few of the benefits you’ll enjoy by adding a live chat software solution to your website:

Faster resolution. According to SuperOffice, emails can take 12–17 hours to get a resolution, but the average response time for live chat is 2 minutes. More sales and conversions. Live chat can boost conversion rates by 40% and average order values by 10%. Greater customer satisfaction. Live chat has a satisfaction rate of 92%. Better customer loyalty and trust. 63% of customers who used live chat said they were more likely to come back to that website again and 62% said they were more likely to purchase from that website again, according to eMarketer.

How to Choose the Best Live Chat Software Solution

With all the live chat software solutions out there, how do you choose the best one for you, your business, and your customers? To get it right, there are a few things you’ll want to look at a couple of things: the type of live chat software, and the main features it includes.

Types of Live Chat Software

There are two basic types of live chat solutions. The first, stand-alone live chat solutions, offer only live chat and the features you need to use live chat with your website visitors. The second is an all-in-one customer service tool that has live chat as well as other customer service tools like support ticketing, social media integration, a knowledge base, and more. If you think you might want those features in the future, your best bet is to choose an all-in-one solution right from the start.

Main Features of Live Chat Software

There’s more to live chat software than chatting in real-time. To choose the best live chat software solution for you, you’ll want to make sure that it has the features that you need to help your agents and customers alike. Some live chat software solutions even include features that help you anticipate the needs of your website visitors so you can proactively engage with them.

In this section, we’re going to talk about a few key features to look for when choosing a live chat software.

Automated messages. Sending messages proactively can help you capture visitors before they leave your site based on their behavior. Canned responses. If you handle a lot of the same questions over and over, being able to save canned responses is a huge timesaver and ensures consistency in your answers. Contact forms. With forms, you can collect contact information before starting a live chat conversation. This is helpful if you get cut off or want to follow up with the visitor later or get permission to add visitors to your email marketing list. Broadcasts. If you want to make announcements about news or features to your website visitors, a live chat solution with broadcasting features is helpful. Ratings. Letting users rate their live chat experience can give you valuable insight into how your agents or chatbots are doing. Widget customization. Chances are, you want your live chat solution to blend in with your existing branding and website design. A live chat software that offers customization of your chat windows will help it feel like a cohesive part of your platform.

Now that you know more about the types of live chat platforms and features you might come across, let’s dive into our list of live chat solutions.

Best Live Chat Software Solutions

Here are 11 of the best live chat software solutions we’ve found for 2023.

What Is the Best Live Chat Software for You?

Live chat software is a must for today’s instant gratification world. Customers want instant solutions to their problems and if you’re not going to provide answers to their questions quickly, your competitors surely will. Fortunately, you now have 11 of the best live chat software solutions to choose from. Do yourself a favor and choose a live chat solution today. ProProfs has over 50 integrations to choose from, which means that you can add a free live chat tool and offer instant support to most of your favorite e-commerce and content management system apps. ProProfs Chat Key Features:

Welcome visitors with a chat invitation pop-up Customize operator greetings Add live chat to multiple domains Store all your chat history by connecting with a customer relationship tool Store leads in CRM platforms Build chatbots for 24/7 automation Create a support bundle with ProProf apps Track unlimited chat data and analyze summary reports

ProProfs Chat Pricing: ProfProfs Chat’s Essentials plan is billed annually at $29.99/month. For business plans, you can reach out to them via their website’s Pricing page. From the get-go, EBI.AI can help you solve 85% of your problems. Within minutes, you can have a live AI assistant on any of your devices. Within two weeks, you can get data on what your audience wants to see and how you can improve your services. EBI.AI Key Features:

Chat across a variety of channels anytime and anywhere Review expert analysis daily Brand and manage your AI assistant’s responses Connect your AI assistant with other business systems and integrations Add widgets to your chat window Access any AI service

EBI.AI Pricing: EBI.AI doesn’t publicize its prices. However, you can get the first two weeks for free by simply going to their website and clicking “Get Started” on their “Our Platform” page. You can also book a demo on their homepage. One of the Crisp features we really like is live-translate. With this feature, you can translate real-time conversations, replying to visitors using your own language, and automatically translating to the visitor’s language. Crisp Key Features:

Build advanced chatbot scenarios to automate customer onboarding Share files, images, and documents directly from the chat widget Connect the Crisp Live Chat to social networks like Messenger and Twitter Create personal and modern conversational experiences using GIFs and videos Users can access help articles and resolve issues directly from our Live Chat

Crisp Pricing: Crisp offers a free plan that comes with two seats. Paid plans start at $25/month/website. You can also download the HelpCrunch app on your mobile device and support clients from wherever you happen to be. HelpCrunch Key Features:

See what your customers are typing before they hit “Send” Automatically send chat rating to visitors after closing conversation Share files with your customers to speed-up support Manage customer conversations from all channels in one place See visitor’s personal and behavioral data (e.g last page) Automatically send chat transcripts after closing a conversation

HelpCrunch Pricing: HelpCrunch pricing is set up in two tiers: Live Chat and Live Chat + Emails. The Live Chat plan starts at $12/month/user when billed annually (Live Chat + Emails starts at $20/month/user when billed annually). There are, of course, the standard features like canned responses, automated messages, chat ratings, and more. But, LiveChat also allows you to send cards with images and buttons or even carousels of cards to users. LiveChat Key Features:

See what your customers are typing before they hit “Send” Add tags to your chats to give them context (and filter reports using those tags) Use filters to quickly find archived conversations Agents can work as a team and transfer chats when necessary Use eye-catchers to make the chat widget stand out on your website Add Chat Boosters to let customers complete actions that don’t involve talking to your team

LiveChat Pricing: LiveChat pricing starts at $20/month/agent when billed annually. While Olark’s customization settings are a bit limited, you can use attention grabbers to attract visitors’ attention and get reports on your team’s performance and customer satisfaction rates. Olark Key Features:

Easy-to-configure live chat automation rules Detailed live chat reports that update in real-time Full access to your complete transcript archive Custom chatbox forms to collect information from your visitors before a chat begins Start a conversation with anyone browsing your website Provide a personal experience for purchases, shopping, support, and other tasks with Visitor Co-browsing

Olark Pricing: Olark pricing starts at $29/month/agent when billed for 1 year. Intercom can help with capturing and converting leads, onboarding, engaging, supporting, and retaining customers, and offering self-service options. Intercom Key Features:

Automatically assign sales inquiries and support requests to the right teams and individual teammates Automatically qualify, prioritize, and route leads 24/7 with Custom Bots Offer 24/7 support and provide real-time answers to 33% of common questions with Resolution Bot Provide real-time support at scale with a collaborative inbox, automation, and proactive self-service Introduce customers to your product with guided experiences Welcome target accounts to your site and instantly connect them to sales

Intercom Pricing: The Start plan is priced at $74/month. You’ll pay extra for things like Product Tours, Advanced Lead Generation, Advanced Customer Engagement, and Advanced Support Automation. Zendesk offers a great selection of reports on customer satisfaction, site analytics, and agent performance, but to track them in real-time you’ll need an Enterprise subscription. Zendesk Chat Key Features:

Send targeted and behavior-based messages to customers Use pre-chat forms to ask visitors for their contact information before starting a chat Monitor website visitors and the pages they’re browsing Use chat ratings to gather feedback that will help you improve your performance Automate simple, time-consuming tasks with chatbots

Zendesk Chat Pricing: Zendesk offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month/agent. Help Scout has an integrated knowledge base that offers users a great self-service solution. In the chat widget, users can choose between “Ask” (live chat) and “Answer” (knowledge base) options. Help Scout Key Features:

Manage all your email, chat, and phone conversations in a shared inbox See who else is viewing or replying in real-time to avoid duplication of efforts Use the sidebar to see everything you need to know about the user Manage phone, email and chat conversations all from a single mailbox Trigger messages based on one or more conditions that you set

Help Scout Pricing: Help Scout’s pricing starts at $20/month/user when billed annually. Tidio also includes live visitor tracking and new visitor notifications that let your agents respond to activity as it happens on your site. Tidio Key Features:

Use browser, desktop, and mobile apps to provide customer service wherever you are Customize your chat widget to match your brand See who is browsing your website in real-time Automate chats with AI

Tidio Pricing: Tidio offers a free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month. Customization options are pretty limited, but Tawk doesn’t have limitations on how many agents you can have or how long your chat archive will be available. Tawk Key Features:

Deliver personalized and real-time customer service Monitor traffic on your website in real-time Initiate a chat with your website visitors and app users proactively Frictionless conversational eCommerce

Tawk Pricing: Tawk is a 100% free live chat software solution. Related Content:Top 9 Competitor Analysis Software Tools Every Marketer Should Kno…Top 13 Free SEO Tools to Help You Rank BetterWhat is Marketing Technology? – (+ How to Benefit from MarTe…