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Top 10 Live Chat Software

The website live chat tools businesses use to sell and support customers in real time, ranked by how many businesses each one says it serves.

Tidio300,000+ businesses 2

JivoChat200,000+ businesses 3

Zendesk80,000+ companies

Quick answer

Tidio is the most widely used live chat software, trusted by 300,000+ businesses, with a free plan and a Lyro AI agent. JivoChat is second with 200,000+ businesses and puts chat, messengers and phone calls in one inbox, and Zendesk is third with 80,000+ companies for teams that want chat inside a full help desk. For open source, Chatwoot is used by 15,000+ businesses.

How it's ranked: Businesses, companies or customers each vendor says use it, as published on its own website (read November 2026). LiveChat and Intercom both publish 30,000+ and are listed in that order. Counts are each company's own claims and are measured differently (Zendesk's figure covers its whole AI service platform, not chat alone), so treat them as a guide to scale, not an audit.

Tidio

Tidio · Live chat with Lyro AI agent and chatbot flows

300,000+ businesses

The most popular choice for small businesses.

Tidio says it is trusted by 300,000+ businesses, the most of any tool on this list. It pairs website live chat with Lyro, an AI agent that Tidio says averages a 75% resolution rate across its customers, so routine questions get answered before a person has to step in. Flows let you automate greetings and sales prompts from 40+ ecommerce templates with no code, and it connects to 120+ integrations. It is rated 4.6 on G2 from 2,031+ reviews and 4.8 on the Shopify App Store, which shows how popular it is with online shops. There is a free plan forever, and paid plans start from $29 a month. It fits small and mid-size businesses, especially Shopify stores, that want live chat and AI support in one low-cost tool.

Best forSmall businesses and online stores that want live chat plus an AI agent cheaply

Skip it ifYou need a large enterprise contact center

Source: www.tidio.com/

JivoChat

JivoChat · Omnichannel live chat, messengers and phone in one inbox

200,000+ businesses

Best for chat plus messengers and phone.

JivoChat says 200k+ businesses trust and use it every day, with 14M+ chats a month and 65k+ live operators talking to customers daily. It brings website live chat, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, email, Apple Business Chat and phone calls into one location, and it offers a CRM for sales teams. Its AI Agent can resolve up to 80% of conversations automatically, according to the company, and it connects to other software through 50+ ready-made integrations. Desktop apps run on Windows, Mac and Linux. There is a free plan, and paid plans start at $28 per agent per month billed annually, with a 14-day free trial. It fits businesses that sell or support customers across many messaging apps and want them all in a single inbox.

Best forTeams that want website chat, messengers and phone calls in one place

Skip it ifYou only need a plain chat widget

Source: www.jivochat.com/

Zendesk

Zendesk · Live chat and messaging inside a full help desk with AI agents

80,000+ companies

Best when chat is part of a full help desk.

Zendesk says 80,000+ companies choose it for AI service. Its live chat is part of Zendesk Messaging, which sits alongside voice, email and social channels, plus WhatsApp Business and text messaging. When a chat is escalated, agents see the full history and customer context in a unified agent workspace. Zendesk says its AI agents resolve more than 30% of chat and email interactions before a human agent is needed, drawing on the knowledge already in your help center. You also get omnichannel routing, real-time reporting, multilingual support and a marketplace of more than 1,700 apps. Pricing starts at $19 per agent per month billed annually, and there is a 14-day free trial. It fits growing support teams that want live chat as one channel in a complete help desk.

Best forSupport teams that want chat, email, voice and tickets in one system

Skip it ifYou only need a simple chat box for a small site

Source: www.zendesk.com/service/messaging/live-chat/

Freshchat

Freshworks · Messaging and live chat with AI bots

50,000+ businesses

A strong all-rounder from Freshworks.

Freshworks says Freshchat is trusted by 50,000+ businesses worldwide. It lets you engage customers on the channel of their choice, covering live chat, messaging, email and voice. AI-driven bots can be built and deployed on websites, native apps and messaging channels to handle self-service, and a unified agent workspace shows past purchases, open issues and conversations from any channel. Proactive journeys let you reach visitors on web or messaging channels before a problem starts, and dashboards track customer behavior, team productivity and bot effectiveness. When you need ticketing and knowledge bases, you can upgrade to Freshdesk Omni. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. It fits support teams that want modern messaging now and a full help desk later.

Best forTeams that want bots and proactive messaging with an upgrade path to a help desk

Skip it ifYou want the cheapest possible chat widget

Source: www.freshworks.com/live-chat-software/

LiveChat (Text)

Text (LiveChat) · Dedicated live chat for websites and online stores

30,000+ customers

The classic pure live chat tool.

LiveChat, now branded Text by LiveChat, says its products are used by 30,000+ customers worldwide. It is a dedicated live chat tool with 150+ features and new updates every week. You can see who is on your website right now, spot returning visitors and their browsing history, and start a personal conversation to qualify a lead. Its AI Agent answers questions when the team is busy or offline, and requests that need follow-up are saved as tickets in one inbox. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram messages land in the same place, and it works with 200+ eCommerce and CMS platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress. Apps run on iOS, Android, Windows and Mac. Plans start from $19 per user per month billed annually, with a free 14-day trial.

Best forSales and ecommerce teams that live in chat all day

Skip it ifYou need a free plan

Source: www.livechat.com/

Intercom

Intercom · AI-first help desk with messenger and Fin AI agent

30,000+ brands

Best AI agent for chat-heavy support.

Intercom says it is trusted by 30,000+ brands and calls itself a fully-featured AI-powered helpdesk. Customers chat through its messenger, and its Fin AI Agent tries to solve the issue before handing off to your team in the same inbox. Intercom says Fin averages a 76% resolution rate across 12,000+ customers, with many seeing over 85%. Fin can also work across phone, email, chat and Slack, and it can take actions through APIs. The helpdesk adds an omnichannel inbox, AI-powered ticketing and Copilot for agents. Pricing starts at $19 per seat per month plus $0.99 per outcome, so costs rise with how many conversations the AI resolves. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. It fits tech companies that want chat largely handled by AI.

Best forSoftware and online companies that want an AI agent to answer most chats

Skip it ifYou want simple, flat per-seat pricing

Source: www.intercom.com/

Chatwoot

Chatwoot · Open-source live chat and omnichannel support

15,000+ businesses

The best open-source option.

Chatwoot says it is trusted by 15,000+ businesses, and it is open source, with 37K stars on GitHub and 400+ contributors. You can read the code and run it on your own infrastructure, or let Chatwoot host it, so your data stays where you choose. Its website live chat widget can be styled with your colours and logo, and the same inbox handles email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and voice calls. Its Captain AI learns from your help center, PDFs and website, answers routine questions and hands off to a person when needed. It lists SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliance. On its pricing page, the free Hacker plan covers live chat for up to 2 agents, and paid plans start at $19 per agent per month.

Best forTeams that want open source or to host their own chat

Skip it ifYou want a vendor to do all setup for you

Source: www.chatwoot.com/

Olark

Olark · Live chat and AI website agent for marketing and sales

12,000+ businesses

Simple chat built for lead capture.

Olark says it has been trusted by 12,000+ businesses since 2009, when it was founded. It has moved beyond a basic chat box: its AI agent answers questions, qualifies visitors and knows exactly when to bring in a human, and it is trained on your own site in under a minute. Olark pitches it as an agent that works your marketing funnel 24/7. It is rated 4.3/5 on G2 and 4.5/5 on Capterra. On its pricing page, human-only live chat costs $29 per agent per month, while the Standard AI Website Agent costs $400 a month billed annually. It fits small marketing and sales teams that want a simple, long-running chat tool focused on turning website visitors into leads.

Best forMarketing teams that want chat to capture and qualify leads

Skip it ifYou need a large omnichannel help desk

Source: www.olark.com/

Crisp

Crisp · All-in-one shared inbox with live chat and AI agents

10,000 companies

Best flat-price option for small teams.

Crisp says it is trusted by 10,000 companies of all sizes. It is an all-in-one platform where a chat widget, email, WhatsApp and Messenger, plus 8 other channels, feed one shared inbox. Crisp says you can automate 50% of your inquiries with AI, so your team can focus on harder conversations. Its pricing is flat per workspace rather than per seat: on its pricing page there is a free plan with 2 seats, Mini at $45 a month for 4 seats, Essentials at $95 a month for 10 seats and Plus at $295 a month for 20+ seats, with extra agents at $10 a month each. A 14-day free trial includes all Crisp features with no card required. It fits startups and small teams that want predictable pricing.

Best forSmall teams that want flat pricing per workspace rather than per seat

Skip it ifYou need a very large agent team on the base plan

Source: crisp.chat/en/

LiveAgent

Quality Unit · Help desk and live chat with AI agents

7,000+ businesses

The budget all-in-one help desk.

LiveAgent says more than 7,000 businesses use it, and it is made by Quality Unit, which has built it since 2004. It puts every customer conversation into one inbox: email, chat, phone and social media. Its live chat lets you chat with website visitors in real time and see what they type before they send it, and AI agents draft replies, sort tickets and can answer chats at any hour before passing the conversation to a person. It is rated 4.5/5 on G2 and 4.7/5 on Capterra. Regular prices start at $15 per agent per month billed annually for the Starter plan, which covers up to 5 agents, or $19 billed monthly, and there is a 30-day free trial. It fits small support teams that want an affordable all-in-one help desk.

Best forSmall teams that want live chat, email, phone and social in one low-cost help desk

Skip it ifYou want the most advanced AI agent

Source: www.liveagent.com/

Questions people ask

What is the best live chat software?

Tidio is the most widely used, trusted by 300,000+ businesses, with a free plan and the Lyro AI agent. JivoChat (200,000+ businesses) is best if you also want messengers and phone calls in one inbox.

Is there free live chat software?

Yes. Tidio, JivoChat and Crisp all offer free plans, and Chatwoot has a free Hacker plan for up to 2 agents. Chatwoot is also open source, so you can host it yourself.

Which live chat software has the best AI agent?

Intercom says its Fin AI Agent averages a 76% resolution rate across 12,000+ customers, and Tidio says its customers average a 75% resolution rate with Lyro. These are the vendors' own figures.

What is the best live chat for a help desk team?

Zendesk, chosen by 80,000+ companies, puts live chat alongside email, voice and social in one agent workspace. Freshchat and LiveAgent are lower-cost alternatives.

How were these tools ranked?

By the number of businesses, companies or customers each vendor publishes on its own website. These are the companies' own claims.

How we ranked

Businesses, companies or customers each vendor says use it, as published on its own website (read November 2026). LiveChat and Intercom both publish 30,000+ and are listed in that order. Counts are each company's own claims and are measured differently (Zendesk's figure covers its whole AI service platform, not chat alone), so treat them as a guide to scale, not an audit. Every number on this page comes from the source linked under each pick, and every photo shows the actual product. Brands can't pay to be on this list.

List source: www.tidio.com/ · Updated 2026-11-14