10 Best Free Live Chat Apps for Business
Wish to improve your customer service? If so, start using live chat software on your website. This allows your customers to communicate with you in real-time, solving problems and answering questions.
Consider these stats:
- 69% of US consumers demand businesses to have live chat features
- 73% of customers are satisfied with companies that use live chat communication
- 79% of customers say getting an instant solution to their problem is why they preferred live chats
What’s more, 52% of customers tend to be loyal to businesses that use live chat. Live chat ranked just 3rd behind phone call and email as the customer’s most preferred channel.
Value is expected to gross $987.3 million by 2023, so you’re missing out on profiting from oodles of potential business if you’re not using this software on your website.
What is Live Chat Support?
Live chat is a two-way communication channel, via your website, between your customer and a company representative, in real-time.
This is a great way to provide customer support, answer questions, and resolve issues quickly. Customers appreciate the convenience of live chat, and it can be a great way to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction.
Proven Benefits of Live Chat
You might wonder, “What good is live chat to my customers?” The answer is straightforward: People adore it! If you’re still not convinced, look at these numbers. Live chat is the preferred alternative for many clients.
Would you like to learn more about why live chat support matters? Here you go:
- Customer service via live chat is a popular choice for small and large companies. It allows you to improve the quality of your service, offers an alternative contact method, and creates a better customer experience. When done right, it also helps in reducing costs.
- Live chat provides a real-time solution. This makes the entire process easier, faster and more convenient for both the client and the representative. Since live chat is real-time communication, your customer service representatives can take care of many more clients at once without spending too much time on each.
- Live chat creates an alternative contact method. Many customers prefer to contact via the internet rather than by phone, which is more intrusive. Live chat allows you to provide 24/7 support while incurring fewer costs.
- Live chat also helps lower the overall costs of customer service. Done the right way, this method reduces the number of customers requiring your employees’ physical presence, a real money-saver.
- Live chat provides timely support: If you respond to customers’ questions within one or two hours, they are likely to be satisfied. But, if you can answer their questions right away, they are likely to be thrilled. Let’s say a customer is trying to decide whether to renew a subscription or ask for a refund. A real-time response from an understanding human not only helps them make their decision, but the personal touch may also lead to a sale.
- Live chat is a conversation: Most customers feel like they are having a human-to-human conversation when using live chat rather than composing a formal email.
It’s easy to start with live chat support. However, paying attention to making it sustainable and a practical part of your customer service strategy requires careful thought and effort.
Best Free Live Chat Software Solutions
If you are a small business, you should try out a live chat app for free. This will help you see what it would be like to use this app for your business. But before you invest time and resources in this, it is important to learn about the different live chat apps and their terms and conditions.
Most free plans have a limited number of users and features. If you want to unlock more benefits, you might need to buy an annual or monthly subscription. Here are some live chat app options that have these kinds of plans:
Cbox
Looking to engage with your audience in real-time? Cbox is the perfect solution! The embedded web app chat lets you live-stream events and connects with online communities. With over a decade of experience, you can rest assured that Cbox is a major player in the live chat industry.
With Cbox, you can easily communicate with others in real-time, making it easy to share ideas, news, and information. Plus, its customizable chat boxes make it easy to tailor your chatting experience to fit your unique needs. Customers will return to your website if you use Cbox to engage them. You may either embed it into your site or use a mobile-friendly standalone alternative to access it.
Key Features
- Free or monthly subscription available
- It has a wide range of themes and customizable options to tweak features to your preference
- You can change colour fonts and upload emoticons of your own to make the chat experience unique
MobileMonkey
Too busy to keep up with your sales leads? Let MobileMonkey help. Automation is essential for businesses of all sizes. MobileMonkey SMS messaging and chat automation tools will take care of all your lead follow-ups for you, freeing up more time to focus on closing deals.
MobileMonkey’s OmniChat is a patent-pending chat marketing tool. It enables chat agents to communicate with clients in real-time via Web chat, SMS, and Facebook Messenger. You can easily manage all your customer interactions in one place while delivering an exceptional customer experience.
The live chat software claims to assist you in generating leads, increasing revenue, and strengthening client connections. The free plan is the InstaChamp VIP edition, with 10 MobileMonkey branding-free sends and 250 contacts.
Key Features
- Allows you to write chat content and transfer it to every chat platform
- Communicate with customers directly on the messaging app they are using already
- You get to have a unified chat inbox for all communication with customers that involves chats
FreeChat
Are you looking to add a live chat feature to your website with the latest messaging technologies and take your visitors to your messaging apps? Look no further than FreeChat!
The easy-to-use platform allows you to connect with website visitors in real-time, without any coding required. Plus, a secure and GDPR compliant platform ensures that your data is always protected.
Best of all, FreeChat is 100% free and comes with no extra costs! Setup is quick and easy – you only need to choose your messaging app, customize your popup and add the code to your website.
Key Features
- It is affordable and easy to use
- You get your live chats in a minute, ready to use
- No more worries about data breaches, security or GDPR compliance
HubSpot’s Free Live Chat
HubSpot’s free live chat is a great tool to help you provide customer support around the clock. With HubSpot’s Free live chat, you can respond to customer queries in your unique style. This helps you provide 24/7 support and connects customers with the resources they need.
You are also provided real-time insights that help you better serve visitors. Free accounts also allow you to track the number of chats that have happened on your site and how much they’ve helped increase traffic.
You need to add it to your website; no integration is necessary. It is free for users of HubSpot CRM, but others will have to sign up and install the widget to use the free version.
Key Features
- Unlimited and personalized communication with chatbots
- Playback features that enable you to pick up customer query where it is left
- Integrate with HubSpot CRM to enable businesses to have access to seamless customer information
tawk.to
Keep your customers in the loop with Tawk.to – a powerful and free messaging tool that lets you communicate with them directly on your website. With tawk’s tools, your company can efficiently monitor chat sessions and support tickets without wasting time. It also enables you to create a help center that empowers customers to help themselves.
tawk.to offers an excellent alternative to large, established free live chats like HubSpot and ZenDesk with simple but powerful features that are perfect for small business owners on tight budgets or those just getting started in the tech industry.
Key Features
- It uses JavaScript snippets
- Tag and assign conversations to members of your support team
- It has online resources (videos, add-on) for users to learn how to use tawk.to on your website
Tidio
If you are a startup with a lean budget, consider this free live chat. The chat plugin allows you to have an infinite number of contacts and conversations—no strings attached. It is the industry’s most sophisticated free live chat software to date. You have unlimited access to the freemium version’s utilities.
Tidio is well known for its live chat and chatbot feature. Its live chat option is nothing short of amazing. Tidio lets you personalize your live chat to match your brand, so you can better engage with visitors and increase sales. With real-time visitor monitoring, AI-automated chats, and location tracking, Tidio helps you make the most of your website traffic.
With a shared inbox, Tidio chatbots automate messages and provide quick responses making it easy to collaborate on chats with your team.
Key Features
- A shared inbox for better collaboration
- Tidio integrates with HubSpot, Shopify and WordPress and other CRM tools with ease
- Keep your chat widget looking great by choosing various colours and placement options.
- The adjustable widget enables your customer to use your live chat via mobile or computer.
Respond.io
Respond.io is a unifying platform created to help businesses develop solid relationships with their customers across several channels—Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or even websites. The live chat app forwards every query into one central location, making it easy to manage the conversation from any source.
If you’re looking for a CRM that takes a holistic view of your customer interactions, easily merges all messaging, and rolls webchat, SMS, and email interactions into a single contact profile, take a look at Resond.io. It gives you an accurate and complete view of each customer’s history with your business—so you can provide them with the best possible customer service experience.
Key Features
- Multiple communication channels, one API
- Instant messaging to expedite the sale process
- Setting up is easy and doesn’t require a credit card
- Integrate with Zapier, Salesforce, and other popular business platforms
Note: The live chat applications reviewed below are not entirely free.
Teneo
There is a difference between a bot and a conversational bot. Businesses need a conversational bot that will serve their customer in real-time. If you are looking for the best platform that enables you to build, develop and deploy, then Teneo is your ideal AI for advanced conventional chatbots.
Depending on what suits your business the most, Teneo could deploy it on your website as a widget or make it available through WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams. It supports more than 80 languages and bot performance analytics for businesses to make real-time decisions.
Key Features
- You can sign up for a 90-day free Teneo developer trial
- The Teneo Engine has a Software Development Kit (SDK) for Android, iOS, Javascript, and Node.js platforms
Pure Chat
Pure chat’s user interface is simple and intuitive, making it easy for beginners or experts in chat marketing. It’s easy to use and install, easy to customize, and easy to remove. The service also has a wide range of features that you can immediately use on your website, requiring a few coding lines.
Businesses like to stand out from the crowd; this is where the Pure chat customizable widget comes in handy. You have complete control over how to make it suit your brand identity. With visitor analytics and contact history, leveraging a customer’s data for better business decisions has never been easier.
Pure chat is free for the first 30 days.
Key Features
- Growth hacking
- Customizable widgets
- Access to unlimited chats
- A powerful operator dashboard
Cognigy. Ai
Cognigy is the future of customer service solutions for businesses that want to slash costs while maintaining a high level of customer service. Using Conversational AI, Cognigy automates customer support interactions, reducing the need for human interaction. This results in dramatic cost savings without sacrificing quality.
Cognigy channel provides your customers with the seamless and consistent omnichannel experience they deserve. With Instant Answers, Multi-language support, and a professional tone of voice, Cognigy will take your customer service to the next level.
30 days free trial available.
Key Features
- It has a low-code conversation editor
- Leverages on conversational marketing
- Language understanding using AI to communicate with customers in their language
What makes a great live chat customer support app?
Good communication is like a buffer between each customer. It gives you time to focus on each customer or have different team members attend to queries relevant to them.
A great live chat customer app should have options to attend to different customers simultaneously. Also, it should have analytical tools for you to measure results and understand areas that need improvement.
What are the common features of live chat applications?
There are many options for online chats, each with different functions and individual features. It can be challenging to recognize the important ones to provide your customers with the best service. Below is a list of 10 features your chat needs to have to give the best customer service and also evaluate its performance:
- Clients’ history
- Analytical tools
- A pre-chat form
- Customizable design
- A version for online users
- Backup for conversations
- Proactive invitations to chat
- Compatibility to mobile devices
- Offline mode customers can access
- Being able to attend to numerous customers at once
How do live chat tools work?
Live chat tools allow customers to communicate with brands in real-time. The live chat icon will appear when a customer is on your website. If they click that icon, they can begin a conversation instantly. This conversation between the customer and the business representative helps you create conversions by better understanding your customer’s needs.
Customers can ask questions about your products and services and inquire about delivery status. The chat window allows you to show the customer how easy it is to place an order with your company.
Considerations When Choosing a Live Chat App
Although there are many things to take note of in choosing a live chat app, here are the three fundamental questions you should ask:
- Is it easy to set up? You might want to look at the ease of setting up when purchasing a live chat application. A trial run will help you detect its ease of usage and know if it is compatible with all devices like it says. Some apps are not easy to use and might require training.
- Is it scalable? If you have fluctuations in your business or expect exponential growth soon, you will need a scalable live chat app. Free live chat apps and some paid versions usually support a limited number of users.
- Budget: This should probably come first because it limits what you can or cannot do. Cost is a huge consideration when adopting a new tool such as a live chat app. However, the value of a product is equally as important as the actual cost. When a product provides a high value, the price tag might not matter at all.
Answers to Some Frequently Asked Questions on Live Chat
Find the answers to some of the questions you might have regarding Live chat below.
Which is the best free live chat app?
Tidio is a cloud-based live chat platform, and what’s best, it is free. It is suitable for integration into any company’s website. It has a customizable interface that allows companies to adjust it to the design of their existing online platform. It also supports over 140 languages.
Is there any free live chat app?
There are tons of free live chat apps. You can check out the 30 best free live chat apps here.
How can I live chat for free?
You can choose any free live chat app and follow the option for setting it up.
How do I get live chat?
You can check out the list of reviewed live chats and pick the free one that suits your needs.
Is HubSpot chat free?
You can start with HubSpot’s live chat and chatbot builders for free. However, if you need more advanced features that can help you automate and scale your marketing, HubSpot has premium features with starter, professional, and enterprise options for Marketing Hub. Those come with price tags.
Are live chats free?
Yes, some are free, while others have free and paid options.
Is Zendesk chat free?
Zendesk chat is not free, but free trials are available.
What is live assistance?
Live Assistant is a web-based service businesses use to allow visitors to communicate in real-time through live chat. It is a common term for instant messaging apps designed to provide prompt online assistance to visitors to a website.
What is chat software?
Softwares that enable live chat are known as live chat software or customer messaging software. You can use them to initiate conversations with visitors and support your website users.
How do you answer live chat?
There are several ways you can answer your live chat, but if you go to the company’s website, you will find a section for live chat. If not, search the site and once you open the link of the customer service page, look for a box where you can type your message or question.
Many companies have dedicated staff to answer their chats, so they will quickly respond to your question. However, if your question is not related to their service, they will still do their best and forward it to the department you need.
Once you start an answer, make sure that you provide enough information, don’t leave anything out, or try to cut corners as the most thorough answer is most likely to satisfy customers.
Wrapping Up
Customer support should happen in real-time. Chat is a great option for businesses looking to start offering live support. Finding the right one for your team can seem like a huge task.
However, as long as you are thoughtful in your approach and consider the options available. You are on the right path to forging a great customer relationship.
What tools would you like to try first?