If you have a business website, live chat is essential as you can offer quick responses to customer problems and questions. Also, they prefer this method of communication compared to email or social media.
However, with so many chat plugins available, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. In this article, we have listed some of the best free chat plugins along with their main features, prices, and who they are best suited for.
Why include a chat on your WordPress website?
If you have a website where you will have to deal with customer support. There are many ways to communicate with customers about any issues they may have. You can handle inquiries via email, using a ticket system, and even through WordPress chat.
All of these methods are valid. However, a WordPress chat provides several benefits that other methods do not, such as:
- Faster response times. With chat you can handle support requests almost instantly, as long as you’re available.
- A more professional website. If your site includes a chat, it lets visitors know that someone is ready and willing to help them. This is naturally something that customers like to see.
- Greater accessibility. In certain cases, people don’t send support tickets or emails because it’s too much work. But with a chat, it only takes a few key presses and they can start talking to someone to help them.
- More conversions. In some cases, potential customers will use chat to ask questions about the products they want to buy. When you’re talking to them, it can be a lot easier to close a sale if you know how to steer the conversation.
A chat in WordPress can be a perfect complement to many websites. Although it doesn’t make much sense to install one if you only have a small project, like a personal blog or portfolio. In most cases, and services are the ones that benefit the most from a WordPress chat. After all, those are the types of sites that have to deal with customer support and questions around the clock.
However, if you want to add a chat to another type of website there is really nothing stopping you. With WordPress, you have several options to implement this feature, some of which are even free.
In fact, we recommend that you include a chat even if you already have another support channel, such as regular emails. The more options you offer, the easier it will be for users to contact you with any issues. And consequently, you will keep your customers happier.
Top 5 WordPress Chat Plugins
The easiest way to add a chat in WordPress is through a plugin. In this section, we will introduce you to five of the best WordPress chat plugins.
1.
Plugin Statistics
- downloads: 40,000+
- Assessment: 4.6/5
- main features: new message and agent rating indicator
- more suitable for: companies with limited budget
- Price: freemium
3CX is a complete communication system with one easy-to-manage central platform that handles all services, from calls to videos to live chat.
The most useful tool in 3CX Live Chat is the fast answer. Help save valuable time with quick response to frequently asked questions.
By default, the 3CX Live Chat “new message” indicator only flashes once the user has made an interaction. For a better live chat experience, 3CX Live Chat also features a typing indicator and preview.
To improve your business, 3CX Live Chat offers live chat reviews for visitors to rate your agents. Furthermore, this plugin offers detailed reports, chat statistics and main pages.
There is a chat transcript feature to send a transcript of the conversation to the users and admin after the chat session is over. Here, you can customize the email body, header, and footer. This feature is great for keeping track of each discussion when you start.
The free plan limits the number of participants to only 25. If you want to upgrade the plan, you can adjust the price based on the number of users you want to add. For example, the Pro plan starts from $1.08 per user per month or approximately $325 a year.
two.
Plugin Statistics
- downloads: 90,000+
- Assessment: 4.8/5
- main features– Powerful integrations and a customizable chat widget
- more suitable for: small businesses with less than five agents
- Price: freemium
Tidio is a digital marketing and communication solution for businesses that want to add live chat to their sites. It offers live chat support, chatbots, and email marketing services with Facebook Messenger integration.
Tidio Live Chat is free and integrates with WordPress, and , like and .
You can customize the chat widget according to your website and to suit your brand. There are many color scheme options and the chat box can be positioned however you like.
Tidio live chat records your website users and learns about them. This information is useful if you have a new product to promote and want to reach old customers.
If you have a specific work schedule, Tidio Live Chat allows you to set a schedule for do not disturb, notifying others that you will only be available during certain days and times. In addition, you can send automatic messages and automatically reply to chats.
For small businesses, the free plan will suffice. However, if you want to take your business further, Tidio’s premium plans cost $18/month either $180 a year.
3.
Plugin Statistics
- downloads: 100,000+
- Assessment: 2.5/5
- main features: guest mode and product catalog in chat
- more suitable for: small and medium businesses and online stores
- Price: free
Official Facebook Chat Plugin is chat support software developed by Facebook. However, it is not necessary to have a Facebook Messenger account, as website visitors can get live chat support using ‘guest mode’.
This chat creates a long-lasting conversation thread. With this feature, customers can start a chat via desktop and continue on their mobile devices via the Messenger app and view chat transcripts.
Suppose you want to set a schedule for your business. In that case, the official Facebook chat allows you to configure availability hours, automatic responses and frequently asked questions to offer customers excellent customer service.
Additionally, this plugin allows you to display your product catalog within Messenger, providing your visitors with an easy product search.
For customer service, you can send follow-up messages in the chat box, such as receipts and shipping information.
Four.
Plugin Statistics
- downloads: 300,000+
- Assessment: 4.6/5
- main features– RTL language support and custom CTA message
- more suitable for: WhatsApp-focused sites
- Price: freemium
Join.chat connects WordPress websites as a plugin. There, you can add a logo, profile picture, and animated GIF to provide a more engaging experience for users.
You can also add custom call-to-action messages on each page, section, and product to encourage visitors to click the button. This allows users to feel welcome and get help in no time.
For a better and faster experience, there is an option to customize the conversation start message. This tells you which landing page or product page the user is coming from.
This plugin also integrates with , Google Analytics and the to maximize the business growth of its users.
Furthermore, Join.chat supports multiple languages and right-to-left writing as it is compatible with and .
To get Join.chat for free, just download the plugin from the WordPress plugin directory. If you want to enjoy more benefits, consider upgrading to the premium version from $58.86 per month for one site.
5.
Plugin Statistics
- downloads: 200,000+
- Assessment: 4.7/5
- main features: widget scheduler and unlimited number of users
- more suitable for: business owners on a budget
- Price: free
Tawk.To is a completely free WordPress chat plugin.
It is fully customizable as you can change the colors of the chat, the content, the position and the radius of the border. Plus, you can upload a custom design to fit your brand perfectly.
To add a personal touch and reach a larger audience, Tawk.To has over 1,000 custom emojis you can use and 45 languages it can be translated into.
Tawk.To offers an unlimited number of brokers to add to your account. In this way, multiple users can chat simultaneously, which can increase the conversion rate.
Other notable features are payments in chat and automatic translation. All of these features help to gain users’ trust and provide excellent customer support.
This WordPress plugin is compatible with all popular web browsers, as well as Windows and macOS, and mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android.
How to Add a Chat in WordPress
Now that we have introduced you to several of the best WordPress chat plugins, we will show you how you can install them on WordPress. Regardless of the plugin you choose, you will need to follow these steps to use it on your website.
- In your control panel, go to the tab Plugins › Add New. Then type the plugin name of your choice into the search bar and it should appear first.
- Click the button Install Now and wait for WordPress to complete the installation. After a few seconds, that button will be replaced by one that says Activate. Click on it and you can immediately start working on the chat setup for WordPress.
- Next, head over to the plugin tab in your WordPress dashboard and configure your chat options. Here you will be able to choose how the chat box will look like and all the customization options.
It’s usually a good idea to ask for users’ names and email addresses before chatting with them. That way you know how to target them and you also get their email in case you need to follow up later.
You can also change the text that chat displays before users start a conversation.
Ideally, your chat should feel like a…
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