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5 Best Free Live Chat Software to Grow Your Business

The way businesses communicate with their customers is evolving. It is becoming increasingly important to have the right live chat software. This software makes it easy to provide better customer service through automation. 

Fortunately, there’s a variety of live chat apps available to help businesses stay connected with their customers. The best part is some of them are free, so you might not have to break the bank to give your business a boost. 

This article will discuss the top five best free live chat software for businesses in 2023. We will explore the importance of these tools, the types available, and things you should consider when choosing a live chat app. 

The Importance of Live Chat Software

Live chat software plays a key role in today’s world of online communication. It is a great way to interact with customers in real time, both online and offline. This can help businesses better understand their customers in a more personable way and build relationships that can lead to more sales. 

After all, it is the consumers’ support that drives a business. Happy customers mean everything to a brand’s reputation. Companies can use live chat software to enhance customer service, answer questions, and make sales pitches effectively. 

The ability to respond quickly and accurately to customer inquiries helps to create a better overall customer experience. Additionally, customers like the idea of live chat. 52% of customers favor companies that offer live chat assistance

Live chat software also helps businesses increase efficiency by automating the customer service process and providing in-depth data about consumer interactions. This information is used to better advertising methods and increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. 

A good live chat system also helps to generate more leads and combat website abandonment by reducing the number of visitors who leave a site without completing a purchase. In essence, having a live chat tool can make running your business easier. 

Best Free Live Chat Software for Businesses in 2023

There are many live chat apps on the market. They present different price plans to help accommodate various budgets. Plenty of them offer free trials. However, this list comprises live chatting apps that don’t just provide a free trial—they’re actually free. 

These live chatting apps offer free forever plans. It should be noted that there are limitations to free plans. Nevertheless, a free plan is ideal if you want to try things out for a bit with no commitment. 

1. Chatway

Chatway is a game-changing live chat software that offers businesses a competitive edge in customer engagement. Boasting an array of features designed to streamline interactions and foster meaningful connections, Chatway is the ideal choice for companies looking to enhance their online presence and provide outstanding customer support.

Chatway live chat widget on website

Features include:

  • Real-time messaging
  • Customizable chat widgets
  • Chat transcripts
  • File and image sharing
  • Agent availability status
  • Agent assignment

Pros

  • Free to use
  • Excellent customer service
  • Available on mobile and desktop

Pricing: Chatway is available for free. Try it here!

2. LiveAgent

This live chat app is an online help desk ideal for small to midsize businesses. It provides quick performance and support. LiveAgent is not merely a live chat software. The widget is also a powerful CRM that assists you in managing your customer and contact information. Additionally, if you want a robust live chat for Wix, this is a great option. 

Features with Limitations

  • A superior ticket management system
  • One chat button
  • A single incoming and outgoing email account
  • Agent collision detection 
  • Customer portal
  • Chat overview

Pros

  • Access to sophisticated, real-time chat capabilities.
  • Interact with customers on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

Cons

  • If you’re not using the free option, unlocking all the features is pricy. 

Pricing

Price plans for yearly payments are from $9 to $49 with a 14-day free trial. Monthly payments are slightly more expensive. 

3. Tido Chat

Tidio Chat is an ideal live chat software solution for businesses. It includes customizable features and multilingual support for more than 140 languages. This cloud-based system is easily integrated into any website. This tool is a great live chat for Shopify and Wix users. You can easily create pop-ups for these platforms and many others. 

Features with Limitations

  • Customizable widget
  • Ticketing system
  • Social media and email integration
  • Automated customer surveys

Pros

  • Compatible with mobile devices.
  • Users can leave offline messages.
  • Instant alert for pending messages. 
  • AI reply assistance.

Cons

  • You only get basic analytics with the free plan.

Pricing

The pricing plans for Tido start at $20 per month with a seven-day free trial to test out all features. However, there is a free forever plan with limitations on some features. 

Graphical user interface, application, Teams

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4. Chaty

Chaty is a highly favored and user-friendly chat plugin and chat app that helps businesses interact with their customers on popular platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Line, Waze, Instagram, and TikTok. While Chaty doesn’t provide a live chat feature directly on your website, it offers a chat widget with robust features that lets you start a chat with your customers via channels like WhatsApp, Line, Slack, etc – directly from your website.

Features with Limitations

  • Multiple communication options
  • The chat app works with any website
  • Supports custom channels so buyers can access your business on any platform, whether it is supported or not
  • Boost attention to your website with targeting and trigger features
  • Embedded chat pop-ups

Pros

  • The software integrates with more than 20 social media platforms.  
  • Customizable user interface.
  • Offers multiple additions of the same channels via agents
  • Enhance consumer experience by analyzing their feedback. 

Cons

  • The free plan doesn’t allow you to use Google Analytics to gain critical insights into your website. Therefore, you can’t track metrics to get a better understanding of your audience and how they interact with your site. 

Pricing

There are several pricing models, including a free plan. 

5. Smartsupp

Smartsupp provides businesses with the opportunity to personalize their customer’s online shopping experience and increase sales. The platform connects customer service agents with buyers via real-time live chat, chatbots, and video recordings, enabling them to build strong relationships.

This live chatting tool is one of the most popular and has over 50,000 active websites and shops. It aims to enable businesses to turn their website visitors into loyal, repeat customers.

Features with Limitations 

  • Smartsupp facilitates multi-channel chats on a single dashboard
  • It has a customizable widget to reinforce your brand’s presence
  • There is conversation history and data gathering
  • The app has Facebook and website integration
  • Get notifications and email integration

Pros

  • It is a great option for any size business.
  • Mobile accessibility.

Cons

  • The free plan doesn’t offer certain features, such as chatbots and video recordings. 

Pricing

There are four pricing models—free, standard, pro, and ultimate. If you opt for a yearly subscription rather than a monthly one, you’ll get discounts.

6. Chaport

Chaport is a revolutionary cloud-based live chat and chatbot platform that allows businesses to engage with their customers via multiple channels, including Facebook, Telegram, and Viber. 

Chatting with website visitors is made easy with desktop and mobile apps for macOS and Windows, iOS, Android devices, and a web app that is accessible on all browsers — even from remote locations.

Features with Limitations

  • Take advantage of auto-invitation, which can increase sales
  • API (application programming interface), which allows companies to incorporate the program with third-party systems
  • Get unlimited websites and chats (even with the free plan)
  • Chat history (going back 60 days)
  • Customizable widget
  • Chat export and deletion
  • Edit visitor information
  • Offline messaging

Pros

  • The tool helps with sales automation, which boosts efficiency and productivity.
  • Share images and files with website visitors.

Cons

  • The features are significantly limited in the free plan. Additionally, you only get basic reports and analytics. 

Pricing 

The pricing plans include free, Pro, and unlimited. You can save money with paid plans if you pay by the year. 

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Factors to Consider When Choosing Live Chat Software

As a business owner, you are likely aware that a live chatting app is among the most important tools to enhance customer service. When deciding which live chat software to use for your business, some factors must be considered. It is necessary to weigh these elements to make the right choice. 

Integration Capabilities

A live chat app should assimilate with your website or platform. Integrating the software with other systems can create a more seamless experience for your customers and your business. By working together, these systems can help you accomplish your business goals efficiently. 

Customization Options

Having a website that strengthens your brand is crucial. When selecting a live chat app, find one that offers the ability to customize its interface. This could include customizable styles, colors, language, fonts, chat banners, and more. Doing so will allow you to promote your brand’s identity with consistency throughout your website.

Mobile-friendly

Can your customers access your chat tool from their mobile devices? It’s important that they can because plenty of people conduct purchases and do other business on the go. Therefore, to accommodate all your customers, your chat support should be mobile-ready. 

Reporting and Analytics Features

A chat tool that can monitor vital data, such as chat histories, operator activities, average time spent on chats, visitor detail, and conversion tracking, is an essential feature. Customer analytics make it easier to identify areas for improvement and effective strategies.

Security and Privacy

When selecting live chat software, security features should be a top priority. Recent advancements in technology have posed a danger to online security, with hackers taking advantage of vulnerabilities to access sensitive information. 

These cybercriminals will use your business and clients’ private data for malicious intentions. It is imperative to choose software that has security measures to safeguard sensitive information.

Final Thoughts

By providing customers with a straightforward way to access help and support, live chat software helps to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. This means improved business growth. 

There is a plethora of chat apps on the market. Some offer free plans, but they are limited. You can’t access some important elements unless you choose a paid plan. The free option is ideal for those simply wanting to give a live chat tool a test run before committing.

To access the full potential of live chat software and reap the many benefits to your business, you might have to spend a few bucks. 

Idongesit ‘Didi’ Inuk is a Content Marketer at Poptin. She's driven by conversations about technological products and the impact they have on the people they're created for.