Delivering excellent customer support can make or break your online business. Research shows that 73% of customers point to friendly, knowledgeable and prompt support as one of the most crucial factors influencing their purchasing decisions.
One of the best ways to provide great support is through live chat. Live chat software lets your support agents have real-time, personalized text conversations with visitors right on your website. This leads to:
- Increased sales conversions
- Higher customer satisfaction
- Lower support costs
- Valuable visitor insights
But choosing the right live chat app for your WordPress site can be overwhelming given the many options. In this guide, we compare the top 7 WordPress live chat plugins based on features, integrations, ease of use and pricing.
Best WordPress Live Chat Plugins Compared
| Plugin | Key Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Chaport | Chatbots, email integration, multi-channel support, custom widgets | Free plan. Premium plans start at $15/agent/month |
| LiveChat | Ticketing system, iOS/Android apps, chat transfers, canned responses | Free trial. Paid plans start at $16/agent/month |
| Tidio | Visitor tracking, chatbots, desktop/mobile apps, canned responses | Free plan. Premium plans from €39/month |
| Zendesk Chat | Real-time visitor monitoring, omni-channel, CRM integrations | Free 1 agent plan. Scalable paid plans start $14/agent/month |
| Intercom | Chatbots, lead management, email marketing, iOS/Android apps | Plans start at $49/month |
| Drift | Lead conversion tools, chat-to-call, chatbots, real-time reporting | Free plan. Scalable paid plans from $200/month |
| Brevo | Lite live chat, lead generation tools, email marketing | Free plan. Paid plans from $25/month |
1. Chaport – Best for Chatbots and Email Integration
Chaport is one of the most feature-rich WordPress live chat plugins. It comes with an excellent free plan and very reasonable pricing for upgrading.
Some notable capabilities include:
- Intuitive drag-and-drop widget builder to customize chat box design without coding
- Chatbots and FAQ bots reduce workload by automating conversations
- Seamless email integration ensures no queries slip through the cracks
- Visitor tracking helps agents initiate proactive outreach
- Mobile apps allow anytime, anywhere access
Chaport integrates easily with WordPress, Facebook, Telegram, Viber and more. It comes with excellent analytical reporting to help understand chat metrics.
Pricing is very competitive with plans starting from $15 per month per agent. They offer a forever free plan with basic features as well which makes it great for getting started.
2. LiveChat – Most Complete Customer Support Suite
LiveChat is undoubtedly the most fully-loaded WordPress live chat plugin out there. It comes packed with features including:
- Omni-channel customer communication (chat, email, messaging apps, social media)
- Mobile live chat apps for continuous conversations on the go
- Canned responses for quicker replies to common queries
- Robust chatbot creation platform with dialogue authoring and custom scenarios
- Visitor engagement tools such as surveys, contact forms and callback requests
- Agent collaboration features like shared inbox, chat transfers and four eyes browse
LiveChat seamlessly integrates with all significant WordPress page builders and ecommerce platforms. It comes with an excellent reporting dashboard covering chat metrics, customer satisfaction, agent activity and more.
Pricing is simple and transparent at $16 per month per agent billed monthly or $13 per agent if billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.
3. Tidio – Great Free Plan
Tidio strikes an excellent balance between features and affordability. Its capabilities include:
- Real-time visitor tracking to understand browsing behavior
- Top-notch security through SSL encryption
- Customizable chat widgets match brand identity
- Canned responses speed up replying to FAQs
- Mobile and desktop apps provide continuity across devices
- Omni-channel support via website, Facebook, email, WhatsApp
Tidio offers a very generous free plan supporting unlimited chat sessions for up to 100 visitors per month. This is perfect for smaller websites to test it out initially.
Paid plans start from a reasonable €39 per month. Overall Tidio hits a sweet spot between essential features and pricing.
4. Zendesk Chat – Great for Real-Time Visitor Insights
Zendesk Chat is brought by the well-known Zendesk brand. It is part of their larger customer service software suite. But the standalone chat tool itself packs quite a punch. Some useful capabilities:
- Visitor intelligence dashboard with real-time monitoring of on-site activity
- Smart chat routing based on browsing behavior and past interactions
- Omni-channel customer communication with contextual data sharing between channels
- Seamless CRM integrations with the likes of Salesforce, HubSpot
- Mobile SDKs allow embedding chat in iOS and Android apps
Zendesk Chat offers a very functional free plan with 1 agent and unlimited messaging. Paid plans start from a reasonable $14 per agent per month.
5. Intercom – Ideal for Contextual Lead Conversations
While priced higher, Intercom justifies it with powerful conversational marketing capabilities. It allows you to:
- Track visitor engagement with your website in real-time
- Segment users based on behavior and engage contextually
- Design specialized chatbots to qualify leads
- Convert visitors into contacts right from chat
- Enable sales teams to self-serve custom reports
Intercom is straightforward to set up across various channels and touchpoints. It can significantly increase your sales qualified leads through targeted chat conversations.
Plans start at $49 per month for manage contacts and have a 14-day free trial period.
Choosing the Right WordPress Live Chat Software
With an abundance of capable live chat apps, choose one tailor-made to your needs and budget. Here are some factors to consider:
1. Define Your Goals
What results do you want to drive by implementing live chat? Typical goals include:
- Better qualified leads
- Increased sales conversions
- Improved resolution times
- Lower operational costs
- Enhanced customer satisfaction
Align features like chatbots, visitor tracking and omni-channel support accordingly.
2. Evaluate Your Traffic Volume
The number of monthly visitors and chat sessions expected will impact software selection. While plugins like Chaport and Tidio work for most site sizes, Intercom and Drift suit enterprise-scale traffic better. Scalability is key.
3. Consider Your Site Platform
If you run an advanced WordPress site with customized integrations, review plugin compatibility carefully before opting for a solution.
4. Define Operational Workflows
Will a shared, pooled inbox suit your workflow better or personal agent inboxes? Do you require features like four eyes browse, chat transfers, visitor monitoring? Understand needs upfront.
5. Prepare Your Team
Train staff on best practices for chat etiquette, conversation templates, prompt resolutions. Recruit specialized agents for sales or tech support conversations.
With clear goals and sufficient groundwork, your chosen WordPress live chat plugin will deliver fantastic results!
