The evolution of website chat apps is pivotal for enterprises, particularly for customer-facing teams focused on efficient customer engagement. With millions of websites employing online chat technology, the importance of it is undeniable.
Website chat turns out to be a good investment for businesses. Those adopting live chat have seen a 10% increase in average order value.
This is not just a boost in sales; it represents enhanced customer interactions and streamlined communication processes.
Furthermore, the same research finds online store visitors using live chat are 513% more likely to become customers.
This highlights website chat's crucial role in boosting conversions and building customer trust. In this blog, we’ll be talking about the best website chat apps that every business leader should know about in 2024.
Top website chat apps for your website
These live chat apps are popular across the board. They've been run and tested. Each has their advantages and dedicated teams behind it.
These apps have been rated 4+ stars on G2 and have favorable customer reviews. Here's their overview:
1. Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat stands out from other live chat apps for its open-source spirit and high customization capabilities, catering to the specific needs of businesses and organizations. Praised for its scalability, privacy, and adaptability, it offers a comprehensive platform for secure communication.
Users appreciate its real-time messaging and robust security features, including the option for self-hosting, which is particularly appealing for enterprises concerned about data security.
Rocket.Chat enables you to deploy a white-labeled chat app on your website or within an existing app. You can automate your conversations with canned responses, chatbots and machine learning apps. Due to the versatility of use cases, Rocket.Chat is best described as a Chat as a Service platform.
With Rocket.Chat's secure website chat, you can access custom reports and engagement board, and enable smart chat routing and priority assignment.
Top Features
- Customization & Integration: Users applaud Rocket.Chat for its extensive customization options and integration capabilities, making it versatile for various business needs.
- Real-Time Messaging & Security: It offers secure real-time messaging with strong privacy measures, essential for enterprises.
- Self-Hosting Option: The ability to self-host the platform is a significant advantage for organizations prioritizing data security.
- Global Adoption & Community Support: Its global adoption and strong community support underline its reliability and constant evolution.
Pricing
- Community Version: Free
- Enterprise (Team Collaboration): $7 per user/month
- Enterprise (Omnichannel Agents): $35 per agent/month
G2 Rating
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2. Zendesk
Zendesk Chat, renowned for enhancing conversational experiences across various platforms, is a preferred solution for modern businesses seeking efficient customer engagement. Notably valued for its seamless integration into websites and the ability to set specific chat hours, Zendesk Chat fosters immediate connections with clients during business hours.
It's particularly efficient in managing high-volume queries, as it allows handling multiple chats simultaneously, a feat impossible with phone calls. This chat solution is praised for its user-friendly interface, enabling easy communication, including features like language translation, which is invaluable for international customer interactions. It's adept at handling immediate customer concerns, providing quick queue status updates, and offering written records of customer service promises.
Top Features
- Seamless Website Integration: Chat embeds easily into websites, providing a streamlined customer experience.
- Chat Customization: Offers chat shortcuts and attachment sharing, enhancing interaction efficiency.
- Multilingual Support: Facilitates communication with a diverse customer base by translating chats into various languages.
- Comprehensive Chat Management: Enables tracking and reviewing of past conversations through a history tab.
Pricing
Zendesk's pricing details are tailored based on business needs and usually require contacting their sales team for a customized quote. The pricing structure is designed to scale as a business grows.
G2 Rating
- 4.3/5 stars
3. Tidio
Tidio, an all-in-one customer service platform, revolutionizes how businesses interact with customers. Praised for its ability to streamline customer service and sales, Tidio offers a website chat widget that ensures businesses are accessible 24/7.
Its AI-powered chatbots engage customers in real-time, significantly boosting sales potential. Users appreciate Tidio's affordability and comprehensive feature set, which includes robust chatbot-building tools and versatile automation options, making it an indispensable tool for enhancing customer engagement and lead capture.
Top Features
- Customizable Chat Widget: Offers a flexible and customizable chat interface that aligns with brand aesthetics.
- AI-Powered Chatbots: Enhances customer service with AI-driven responses, ensuring efficient and timely support.
- Real-Time Visitor Monitoring: Provides insights into website visitor activities, enabling proactive customer engagement.
Pricing
- Free Forever Plan: Basic features at no cost.
- Starter Plan: $29 per month.
- Chatbots Plan: Starting at $29 per month.
- Chatbots & Communicator Plan: Starting at $54 per month.
G2 Rating
4. LiveChat
LiveChat stands out in the realm of customer service platforms with its comprehensive online chat and web analytics capabilities. Esteemed for its simplicity and intuitive design, this chat platform is easy for both support agents and customers to utilize. LiveChat excels in customizable communication, enabling businesses to tailor their interactions to meet and exceed customer expectations.
It supports multi-chat management, allowing agents to handle several sessions simultaneously and use sneak peeks to anticipate customer queries.
Top Features
- Customizable Chat Widget: This feature allows you to modify the appearance of the chat widget to align with your brand's visual identity.
- Automated Greetings and Chat Invitations: The chat tool proactively initiates conversations with website visitors based on their browsing behavior.
- Multi-Chat Management: This functionality enables support agents to handle several chat conversations simultaneously.
Pricing
- Starter: $20 per month
- Team: $41 per month
- Business: $59 per month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
G2 Rating
5. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a full-featured Help Desk and live chat software that revolutionizes customer interaction with an all-in-one solution. Recognized for its market-leading chat widget speed, this website chat app is the most reviewed and top-rated live chat software for SMBs in 2022.
Key features include an omnichannel universal inbox, real-time live chat, built-in call center, and robust customer service portal. It allows for extensive customer segmentation, automation, built-in CRM, and a comprehensive analytics package.
Top Features
- Omnichannel Universal Inbox: Consolidates messages from different channels (like email, social media, and live chat) into a single, unified interface for easier management.
- Real-Time Live Chat and Call Center: Enables immediate communication with customers through live chat and phone calls for efficient, real-time service.
- Built-In CRM and Analytics: Integrates customer relationship management and analytics tools to track customer interactions and gain insights for better decision-making.
Pricing
- Small: $9 per month per agent
- Medium: $29 per month per agent
- Large: $49 per month per agent
- Free Plan: Available
G2 Rating
6. Re:amaze
Re:amaze is a versatile helpdesk and customer messaging platform, perfect for managing customer support through various channels like live chat, email, social media, and mobile SMS/MMS. With his website chat app’s ability to handle sales and marketing automation, it's an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes.
Features like Re:amaze Cues for automatic messaging, Chatbots, a Live Dashboard for monitoring customer activity, and customer satisfaction surveys make it a comprehensive solution.
Top Features
- Multi-Channel Support: Integrates live chat, email, social media, and SMS/MMS for comprehensive customer support.
- Sales and Marketing Automation: Features like Re:amaze Cues and Chatbots for effective customer engagement.
- Real-Time Customer Activity Monitoring: Live Dashboard feature allows for the tracking of customer activities and interactions in real-time, providing immediate insights.
Pricing
- Basic: $29 per agent/month
- Pro: $49 per agent/month
- Plus: $69 per agent/month
- Starter: $59 flat rate
G2 Rating
7. Tawk.to
Tawk.to stands out as a leading website chat application with a remarkable 98% customer satisfaction score. Celebrated for its user-friendliness and cost-effectiveness, it offers a robust free plan that includes Automation Bots, making it an accessible choice for businesses of all sizes.
Tawk.to facilitates real-time engagement with customers, providing insights into website visitor behavior and prioritizing areas needing attention. The integration with various platforms like Web Hosting sites enhances its usability. However, some users report occasional crashing issues with its Android app, though its PC performance is exemplary.
Top Features
- Robust Free Plan: tawk.to provides a comprehensive free plan that includes Automation Bots and other essential features, allowing businesses to offer effective customer support without incurring costs.
- Real-time Customer Engagement: This feature enables live interactions with website visitors and allows for real-time tracking of their activities, fostering immediate and engaging communication.
- Cross-Platform Integration: tawk.to is designed to integrate seamlessly with various Content Management Systems (CMS) and eCommerce platforms, enhancing its versatility for different website types.
Pricing
- Free: Basic plan at no cost.
- Remove Branding: Starting at $19.00 per month for 1 property.
- Video + Voice + Screensharing: Starting at $29.00 per month for 1 property.
- Hired Agents: Starting at $1.00 per property.
G2 Rating
8. HubSpot
HubSpot's live chat software, a core feature in its Smart CRM system, offers a dynamic, real-time way to connect with website visitors. It's particularly favored for its seamless integration with chatbots, allowing automated yet personalized customer interactions.
Users value this website chat app’s ability to route customer inquiries efficiently and provide comprehensive support through a universal inbox. The tool is easily customizable, ensuring brand consistency.
While it's free, the true value lies in its integration with HubSpot's CRM, giving a holistic view of customer interactions, and is extolled for its user-friendly interface and Slack integration for on-the-go connectivity.
Top Features
- Integrated Chatbots: HubSpot's website chat software includes chatbots that automate conversations and efficiently qualify leads, reducing manual workload.
- Universal Inbox: This feature consolidates all chat interactions into a single universal inbox, seamlessly integrating with CRM systems to provide comprehensive context for every conversation.
- Customizable Chat Widget: HubSpot allows for extensive customization of the chat widget, enabling businesses to align it with their brand's visual identity and aesthetic.
- Slack Integration: With Slack integration, teams can manage their website chat conversations directly from Slack, enhancing communication and response efficiency.
Pricing
HubSpot’s website chat tool is part of its free CRM offering. Additional features and tools may have associated costs based on the specific HubSpot plan.
G2 Rating
Why do you need a live chat on your website?
The importance of live chat on websites extends beyond mere convenience; it significantly impacts customer satisfaction, service efficiency, and even sales. Here's a breakdown:
1. Enhanced customer satisfaction
Live chat offers the highest satisfaction levels compared to other customer service channels, with a 73% satisfaction rate, as opposed to 61% for email and 44% for phone. This satisfaction stems from the speed and efficiency of live chat interactions, which are particularly valued in today's fast-paced digital environment.
2. Improved service efficiency
Live chat significantly reduces response times. Per above linked research, live chat allows agents to reply to customer queries in about 23 seconds on average, with resolution times averaging 42 seconds. This efficiency is starkly contrasted with other channels like email, where response times can be much longer, and social media platforms, which often see slower interactions.
3. Increased sales and conversion rates
Live chat not only serves customer support purposes but also plays a crucial role in boosting online sales. By providing instant responses via messages, live chat can effectively guide customers through their purchase decisions, thereby enhancing the likelihood of conversions.
4. Cost-effectiveness
Live chat offers a cost-effective solution for businesses. It enables customer service agents to handle multiple chats simultaneously, unlike phone calls, which require one-on-one attention, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing labor costs. This multitasking capability is particularly advantageous for small businesses or startups where resource optimization is crucial.
5. Building long-term customer relationships
The personalized experience offered by live chat helps in building stronger customer relationships. It allows businesses to engage with customers in real-time, understand their needs better, and provide tailored solutions. This personal touch can significantly enhance customer loyalty and brand reputation.
6. Valuable insights and feedback
Live chat interactions provide businesses with valuable insights into customer needs and preferences. This data can be instrumental in shaping product development and marketing strategies. The immediate feedback obtained through live chat is also crucial for businesses to identify and address any service gaps or customer pain points.
Must-have features to look for in your website chat
When selecting a website chat solution, focus on these key features for optimal performance:
1. Data security
Ensure the website chat tool adheres to stringent data protection standards. It should encrypt conversations and comply with privacy regulations to safeguard both customer and business data.
For instance, when a customer shares credit card details over chat, encryption prevents unauthorized access to this sensitive data.
2. Omnichannel messaging
Choose a platform that provides seamless integration across various channels. This feature allows you to maintain consistent communication with customers whether they reach out via social media, email, or your website.
For instance, a customer inquiry on live chat can be continued via email without losing context.
3. Canned responses
Look for a system that offers pre-set responses for common queries. This speeds up response times and ensures efficient customer service. This means you can have pre-written answers to common questions like "What are your business hours?" readily available, speeding up response time and ensuring consistency in answers.
4. Integration capability
Opt for a website chat solution that can integrate with chatbots. This will automate initial customer interactions, efficiently handle high volumes of queries, and direct complex issues to human agents.
To illustrate, a chatbot can initially engage a customer visiting your website, gather basic information, and then seamlessly transfer the conversation to a human agent for more complex queries. This ensures efficient use of resources and improved customer experience.
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