If you’re looking for the best alternative to LiveChat, it can mean you’ve outgrown it and need a more advanced solution. Or it’s overkill for your needs.
When comparing LiveChat alternatives for business, you should consider a couple of aspects.
First, the size of your company and your pocket. Second, your needs and goals, i.e., what you want to achieve with the software. Once you do this, you’ll be able to narrow down the choice to two or three options.
Then, review the software’s features and their pros and cons to find a truly ideal replacement.
Here’s a list of the best LiveChat alternatives:
Scroll down to see a handy comparison table or click on the list above to jump straight to the review.
Connect with your customers with a free LiveChat alternative
If you want to explore other customer service tools and areas, check out these articles:
Human interaction is all that matters now—and 82% of U.S. and 74% of non-U.S. consumers want more of it in the future. That’s why using the right technology in customer service is important to make customer communication seamless across platforms. Also, adding live chat that aligns with your business goals to a website can reduce cart abandonment by 25%.
If LiveChat does not fit your bill for any reason, check out the available alternatives below. We included our live chat software in this comparison to encourage you to try it and leave us a review. We’d love to know what you think.
Best LiveChat alternatives: comparison table
| LiveChat alternative | Rating (out of 5) | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tidio | G2: 4.7 Capterra: 4.8 | ✅ | Small and medium businesses |
| LiveAgent | G2: 4.5 Capterra: 4.6 | ✅ | Businesses with a strong social media presence |
| Crisp | G2: 4.4 Capterra: 4.6 | ✅ | Internal collaboration within organization |
| Pure Chat | G2: 4.5 Capterra: 4.6 | ❌ | Supporting the entire customer journey |
| Olark | G2: 4.5 Capterra: 4.5 | ❌ | Small support teams |
| Acquire | G2: 4.2 Capterra: 4 | ❌ | Omni-channel communication and data security |
| Intercom | G2: 4.4 Capterra: 4 | ❌ | Large companies with multiple departments |
| HelpCrunch | G2: 4.7 Capterra: 4.8 | ❌ | Conversational marketing in large companies |
| Drift | G2: 4.4 Capterra: 4.5 | ❌ | Companies with unique needs |
| Zendesk | G2: 4.3 Capterra: 4.4 | ❌ | Handling large volumes of requests in enterprises |
1. Tidio
Tidio is a great alternative for LiveChat as it offers a free option. You can decide anytime to switch to paid plans. They are suitable for any ecommerce business that serves large volumes of customers and orders.
Tidio works great for different types of customers. It helps you analyze customer behavior and offer proactive customer service. Thanks to features like welcome messages in offline mode or canned responses, it makes your day-to-day workload lighter.
User reviews:
Main features:
- Customizable Tidio widget. Match it to your website and branding.
- Tidio pre-chat surveys. Collect more leads with visitor info you need.
- Real-time typing preview. Prepare your responses before customers send their messages.
- Site visitors’ list. Preview what customers are browsing and use Tidio to start chatting proactively.
- Useful Integrations. Integrate Tidio live chat with major CRMs, Instagram, Facebook
- Tidio mobile app. Respond to customers on the go.
- Tidio chatbots option. Automate routine tasks and reduce the customer wait time.
Pricing:
- Forever free plan
- Communicator $19/mo
- Chatbots $49/mo
2. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is also one of the best alternatives to LiveChat, especially for mid-sized ecommerce businesses with a strong social media presence. It has complex multi-channel help desk software to make customer support more accessible.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Social media customer service. Boost customer engagement and monitor the voice of the customer on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, and Viber from LiveAgent’s dashboard.
- Ticketing system. Resolve inquiries faster thanks to a centralized system.
- Spam filter. Protect your company’s and your customer’s data from phishing attacks, viruses, malware, and scams.
Cons:
- Fewer integrations with other business tools (e.g., CRMs) to boost its effectiveness and usability.
- App’s interface could be more intuitive.
Pricing:
- Free plan for one agent
- Ticket: $15/agent/mo
- Ticket+Chat: $29/agent/mo
- All-inclusive: $39/agent/mo
- 14-day trial period
3. Crisp
In comparison with LiveChat, Crisp provides a complete customer service platform, rather than just live chat software. So if you’re looking for an all-in-one consumer support, sales, and marketing tool to build customer relationships, Crisp may be the best LiveChat alternative for you. It even offers video chat to make the interactions more human.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Slack integration. Reply to your emails, chat messages, and many more from a multichannel shared inbox right in your Slack
- Marketing automation. Improve conversion with chat and send email messages at the right time.
- LiveTranslate. Automatically translate your chat messages in real-time to connect with your global clients.
Cons:
- Lack of features that could improve conversions (e.g., pop-ups).
- Some users complain about limited widget customization options.
Pricing:
- Free for 2 seats
- Pro: $25/mo per website and 4 seats
- Unlimited: $95/mo per website and unlimited seats
- 14-day trial period
4. Pure Chat
Pure Chat is a Live Chat alternative that supports the entire customer journey to help mid-sized teams deliver good customer service and improve sales. Apart from the live chat functionality, Pure chat offers website visitor information and contact history to help you build a solid customer experience strategy.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Unlimited chats. Chat with customers without limitations and access all core live chat tools.
- Customized live chat widget. Control how your chat widget looks and functions on both desktop and mobile devices.
- Mobile Apps. Manage your business on the go with iOS and Android mobile apps.
Cons:
- Some users report issues with unexpected app shutdowns which results in missed chats.
Pricing:
- Growth Plan: $49/mo for 4 operators (extra operator $13/mo)
- Pro Plan: $99/mo for 10 operators (extra operator $8/mo)
- 30-day trial period
5. Olark
Olark is a user-friendly LiveChat alternative for chatting with customers and organizing your data. Thanks to actionable insights from pre-chat forms and surveys, it helps small teams increase sales and close deals.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Transcripts archive. Save conversations into a searchable database, review chat transcripts, and increase consumer satisfaction.
- Triggered messaging. Automatically send custom messages like welcome messages and special offers at a chosen time.
- Live chat analytics. Get reports on important chat metrics and customer feedback. Integrate with Google Analytics for a deeper understanding.
Cons:
- The dashboard can get cumbersome when you deal with multiple customers at the same time.
- No shared seats—can get pricey for large teams.
Pricing:
- $29/mo per seat
- Add-ons (e.g., chat translation or co-browsing) priced between $29 and $99/mo
- 14-day trial period
6. Acquire
Acquire can be a great alternative to LiveChat if you’re looking to connect with customers via live chat, chatbots, video, voice, email, or SMS—all from one digital platform. With features like co-browsing, you can provide excellent customer care to the most demanding customers worldwide.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Enterprise-grade data security. Build consumer trust by complying with the highest security standards (SOC2 Trust Service Principles, HIPAA, GDPR, its principles, and PCI-DSS).
- All-in-one dashboard. See all chats and interactions in one view to qualify and resolve issues faster and help agents multitask.
- Multimedia-friendly. Share files, launch video or voice calls, screen share, co-browse without third-party software.
Cons:
- No mobile app.
- Co-browsing can be slow.
Pricing:
- Three plans for mid-size and enterprise-level companies
- Contact support for a quote
7. Intercom
Intercom is a customer messaging platform suitable for large companies with multiple consumer-facing departments. It offers features like team inbox and custom bots to enable smooth collaboration between teams.
But if you’re looking for a cheaper LiveChat alternative, you’ll be disappointed—all the advanced Intercom features come at a price.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Collaborative inbox. Ease collaboration between team members to resolve complex queries.
- Support ticketing workflows. Categorize, track, and interact with conversations thanks to custom data attributes.
- Routing bots in Messenger. Prioritize conversations and send them to the right team.
- Reporting dashboards. Monitor your team’s workload and effectiveness and see which issues take up the most time.
Cons:
- Complicated pricing plans make it hard to compare your options.
- Reports for qualifying users could be more thorough.
Pricing:
- Starter from $67/mo (when billed annually) for very small businesses
- Other pricing plans with conversational features available upon request
- 14-day trial period
8. HelpCrunch
HelpCrunch is a customer communication platform combining ecommerce live chat, email marketing automation, and sales. This LiveChat alternative helps you keep all communication in one place and provide a unified customer experience without switching between different tools.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Multi-channel customer support. Assist customers via chat, email, and self-service (through a knowledge base) to improve customer success metrics’ scores.
- Customizable chat widget. Reflect your brand voice with custom CSS styling and agents’ avatars.
- Help Desk software. Increase productivity with tagging, assigning, and merging conversations.
Cons:
- Some new users complain about the customer onboarding process.
- FB messenger integration is new so there might be occasional bugs.
Pricing:
- Standard Plan: $15 per month per team member
- Premium Plan: $25/mo per team member
- Enterprise Plan pricing available upon request
9. Drift
Drift is a conversational marketing and sales platform, and live chat software is only one of its components. It’s a good LiveChat alternative solution for global enterprises and companies with complex product lines and unique needs. Each Drift user gets a customer success manager to overlook their account.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Enhance customer segmentation. Set up criteria for conversation routing within the web chat app, e.g., to connect customers with a dedicated sales rep.
- Conversation ratings. Ask for a rating after a conversation is over.
- Internal notes. Communicate with teammates right from within the conversation.
Cons:
- It can be more flexible with enabling/disabling features instead of making them default.
- Some users find the dashboard confusing to use.
Pricing:
- Three paid plans available
- Contact customer support for a quote
10. Zendesk
Zendesk is another LiveChat alternative suitable for enterprises with the right budget. One of the biggest advantages of this software solution is a smooth integration with the rest of Zendesk products. The company is customer-oriented, and their software helps your support team focus on customer needs.
User reviews:
Pros:
- Chat routing and queue management. Decide how agents are notified of incoming messages and in what order chat requests are sorted.
- API access. Choose and customize API actions to develop custom capabilities and chat solutions.
- Advanced workflow management features. Deliver quality customer service when your business is growing.
Cons:
- Difficult setup.
- Adoption of new features can sometimes be problematic, too.
Pricing:
- Plans start at $19 for basic support
- Contact support for a tailored quote
Key takeaways
Once more, here’s our list of top 10 LiveChat alternatives:
If you’re not sure which one to choose, we recommend getting in touch with each SaaS customer service team to discuss the details or read user reviews to learn more.
Connect with your customers with a free LiveChat alternative
