10 Best WordPress Chat Plugins in 2023 (Compared)

A WordPress chat plugin is a great way to communicate with customers through your website. Live chats are ideal for answering presales questions and providing live support. Customers can get answers quickly, which increases confidence. There’s a wide variety of WordPress plugins on the market, and luckily there are lots of chat plugins to choose from. In this article, we’ll look at the ten best WordPress chat plugins to help you decide which is best for your needs.

Why Use a WordPress Chat Plugin?

Customers that have questions need an easy way to get answers. Many of those questions may be answered in an FAQ, but there’s always a question that isn’t answered on the website. Email communication is often a slow process.

Plugins allow you to automate the communication between you and your customers. Chatbots can manage the communication and hand it off to you when needed. This is a great way to capture leads and increase customer satisfaction.

A live chat feels more personal than an email. It’s easier than communicating over the phone. With phone conversations, it can be challenging to know when the other person has stopped talking so you don’t talk over each other. Also, it can be difficult to understand someone. Customer support often needs a screenshot, a file, a link, etc., so the conversation needs to revert to a text-based chat anyway.

A WordPress chat plugin solves these issues by bringing a live chat feature to your website. Let’s look at some of the best live chat plugins available.

The Best WordPress Chat Plugins

Let’s look at the top 10 best WordPress chat plugins, so you can decide for yourself what the best fit is!

1. HubSpot

HubSpot is a marketing behemoth; they provide live chat, CRM, and many other content management system (CMS) functions.

Live chat, help ticketing, automated bots, and much more are all included in the Service Hub package, which is available in the free HubSpot WordPress plugin. They have garnered 4.5/5 stars with over two hundred thousand active users.

This plugin is reliable and adaptable, and with its no-cost live chat plugin for WordPress, it’s a great choice, especially if you’re familiar with the Hubspot platform. HubSpot only has a downside if they offer more than you need in its entire feature set. Of course, sticking with HubSpot’s ecosystem make sense if you currently utilize its other services.

Key Features for HubSpot:

• Multiple services, including chat
• Popups
• Live chat
• Lead generation
• Lead capture
• Chatbots
• Lead management
• Live support

Price: Free, pro starts at $18/mo

Get HubSpot

2. Tidio

Tidio is a WordPress chat plugin with email marketing tools to help grow your business. The customizable widget works with your branding. It includes templates and an editor. A mobile app lets you use iOS or Android to respond to customers. Notifications show you when customers come to your website. It notifies you when customers visit your site and provides a live typing preview. You can see the page your visitors are looking at to give them specific help. Email marketing tools help you stay in touch with your visitors.

This plugin gives you all the tools you need to create aesthetically pleasing and functional chat boxes; it’s a lightweight, customizable solution and is 100% mobile-friendly. Additionally, various third-party connectors are readily available for you to take advantage of.

Key Features for Tidio:

• Customizable widget
• Notifications
• Live typing preview
• See a list of viewed pages
• Email marketing tools
• Free mobile app
• Templates

Price: Free; pro starts at $15.83 per month.

Get Tidio

3. JivoChat

JivoChat is an all-in-one business messenger plugin that handles live chat, phone, email, and social media chatting platforms. Make and receive calls through the live chat widget. An offline message lets customers know when you’re available. Provide options to call the customer back. You can have multi-agent and team chats. A live typing indicator shows when someone is typing. The live chat will automatically translate into the language of the visitors and back into yours. It supports 25 languages.

The pro version adds canned responses that can handle the chat automatically. You can transfer the conversation between agents, monitor the site in real-time, and it includes smart triggers.

Key Features for JivoChat:

• All-in-one business messenger
• Live chat widget
• Connects to social media chat apps
• Make and receive calls
• Offline message
• Callback options
• Multiple agents
• Team chats
• Reminders
• Premade responses
• Live typing indications
• Automatic translator
• Pro version available

Price: Free. The pro version starts at $19 per month (billed annually).

Get JivoChat

4. LiveChat

The LiveChat plugin is a flexible and effective solution for adding live chat to your WordPress website. It is simple and easy to implement because it is compatible with almost all WordPress site builders and themes. Additionally, LiveChat has agreements with important e-commerce programs like WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and others, making this an ideal solution for those working with e-commerce.

The plugin welcomes users with a pleasant chat window at the bottom of the page on the customer side. That box is constantly visible and easily accessible. Plus, canned auto-responses save you time by responding to your visitors instantly.

Key Features for LiveChat:

• Ticketing system
• Customizable
• Connects with multiple websites
• Canned responses
• File upload
• Ratings
• Tracking
• Transcripts
• Reports
• Translation ready

Price: starting at $20 per month.

Get LiveChat

5. Live Chat by Formilla

Live Chat by Formilla is a free and premium plugin that adds many services. Most of the features are available in the premium edition. Chat is done through a customizable mobile-ready widget. Real-time visitor monitoring lets you see the number of visitors to your website. Pro-active chat lets you trigger automatic chats. It has marketing automation for email and in-app messaging. You can add private comments, offline chats, custom attributes, etc. It also adds desktop and mobile apps, canned messages, blocking, file sharing, multiple live agents, and more. It integrates with hundreds of apps, and it’s multilingual.

Key Features for Live Chat by Formilla:

• Premium plugin
• Mobile-ready widget
• Real-time monitoring
• AI chatbots
• File sharing
• Chat transfer
• Customizable
• Offline chat
• Integration
• Multilingual
• Pro version available

Formilla is excellent if you’re looking for a solution that can easily integrate with your website’s style but is ideal for those with more modest site traffic. Chatting is made simple with tools like preset responses, smart responses, and bots.

Price: Free; the pro version starts at $19.99 per month.

Get Formilla

6. Chaty

Chaty adds a floating chatbox and call-to-action messages to your website. Set the display trigger to determine when the chatbox displays. Choose from 8 different effects. Customize the icons, choose different buttons, and change the size of the widget. A pending messages icon works as a CTA. It connects to different channels so visitors can use the chat apps of their favorite social networks and platforms. It also includes a contact form.

The pro edition adds 25 different social channels and apps, widget customization, Google Analytics, page targeting, traffic source targeting, location targeting, and more.

Key Features for Chaty:

• Floating widget
• Custom CTA
• Display trigger
• Multiple visual effects
• Customize icons
• Pending messages icon
• Contact Us form
• Connect to multiple channels
• Too many features to list
• Pro version available

Price: Free. The pro version starts at $49 per year.

Get Chaty

7. Tawk.To Live Chat

Tawk.To Live Chat is a free WordPress chat plugin that lets you manage multiple websites and agents from a single dashboard. Agents can monitor and chat with visitors through computers and mobile devices using the free apps. The apps work with iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS; you can log in through any browser.

With this WordPress plugin, you can control numerous websites and agents from a single dashboard making this an incredibly simple and easy plugin to use. Plus, you can customize where chat boxes are available on specific pages on your site.

Key Features for Tawk.To Live Chat:

• Use it on your computer and mobile devices.
• Monitor visitors in real time.
• Multiple agents and websites from one dashboard.
• Apps for the most popular operating systems.

Price: Free

Get Tawk. To

8. 3CX Live Chat

3CX Live Chat is a free plugin that works independently, but you can also integrate it with the 3CX Communications Suite to add voice and video. This WordPress chat plugin has unlimited agents, and they can transfer the customer to another agent. You can set up departments to guide traffic to the right agent. Create offline messages to keep the customers informed.

You can customize the style of your chatboxes and many other features via the dashboard; this plugin is a contender for the top free chat plugin available.

It keeps records of chats so you can refer to them. You can set the chatbox to pop up automatically. Add photos and logos to the chats. Chats can also include surveys and polls. This one has more features than can be covered in a description.

Key Features for 3CX Live Chat:

• Unlimited agents
• Transfer to another agent
• Set up departments
• Offline messages
• Retains records
• Automatic popup
• Surveys and polls
• Enterprise-level reports
• Integrates with Communications Suite

Price: Free

Get 3CX Live Chat

9. Crisp

Crisp is a WordPress chat plugin designed to grow your email list and generate leads. It includes desktop and mobile apps, real-time notifications, and an availability schedule. You can tag the conversation to build a contact list. It shows what your visitors are typing in real-time, so you don’t have to wait for them to finish and hit Send. The chatbot builder lets you create an automated chatbot.

You can also expand it with integrations that connect with other platforms. Integrate with Slack, Messenger, Twitter, Telegram, SMS, and email. The pro version also adds triggers, blocking, canned responses, audio, customization, and more. Crisp even landed our best marketing plugins list.

Key Features of Crisp:

• Tag conversations
• Mobile and desktop apps
• Real-time notifications
• Availability schedule
• Real-time typing
• Team inbox
• Expandable with the pro version
• Integrates with other platforms

Price: Free; the pro version starts at $25 per month.

Get Crisp

10. Olark

Olark is a less-known but equally strong live chat solution. It boasts one of the sleeker looks and functionalities of any live chat plugin currently available.

You can use data from your encounters to improve customer service moving forward. You can implement target support by creating comprehensive user profiles for more precise customer assistance, potential future sales, and other things.

It enables you to organize the data you’ve collected from your users within Olark or your preferred CRM.

This plugin is a fantastic solution for companies that depend on customer service interactions to support their sales plan. More so, you can translate information in your chatbox to the language of your choice.

Key Features for Olark:

• Customizable alerts
• Easy automation configuration
• Route chate to the right agents

Price: Free. Pro features start at $29/month

Get Olark

Comparing the Best WordPress Chat Plugins

If you need help figuring out which chat plugin is right for you, the following sections will provide a curated list of the best WordPress chat plugins and two separate tables comparing their prices and features for a comprehensive understanding.

Chat Plugin Price Comparison

Price is always an important consideration. Here is a list of every plugin we covered in this post and their prices for easy comparison.

Chat Plugin Feature Comparison

HubSpot, Tidio, and JivoChat have the most features of all of the chat plugins featured in this post. Thanks to its advanced CRM integration, email capabilities, and comprehensive analytics, HubSpot is the most robust. However, Tidio or JivoChat are better options if you have an international business. Here is how their features compare:

What is the Best WordPress Chat Plugin?

Live chat usage is growing for a variety of reasons. It’s a terrific method to attract assistance-seeking clients, provide a way for them to self-resolve problems, and allow access to your support funnel in a way you can manage. Looking for the best solution will be a unique journey for every website.

HubSpot is the plugin for you if you need a chat plugin that offers live chat, excellent reporting, and stellar CRM integration. With so many other features besides chat functionality, HubSpot is a powerhouse for website owners who want to communicate with their customers while managing email segmentation, marketing automation, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Before we wrap up, let’s answer some of your most common questions regarding WordPress chat plugins. Did we miss one? Leave a question below, and we will respond!

Featured Image Illustration via Yuliia Konakhovska / shutterstock.com