Article Summary：If you're thinking about incorporating chat into your support channels, begin your search by reviewing this list of the 13 best live chat tools.

Customers sometimes prefer speaking to a live person. They might not find what they need in your help documentation, or they may need to discuss an issue in real time, and email isn't sufficient.

Providing live support can significantly enhance the customer experience.

While phone support is often associated with live support, there's an alternative: live chat. Not only does live chat provide immediate assistance, it's also less resource-intensive and is the preferred support channel for many.

If you're thinking about incorporating chat into your support channels, begin your search by reviewing this list of the 13 best live chat tools.

01 Udesk

Best live chat tool for all channels customer service

Udesk’s live chat covers a wide range of channels, including Web Pages, Apps, Tiktok, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and more. If you’re operating an Ecommerce store, it can also access Amazon, Shopify, Salesforce, Walmart and DTC, etc. It is available on desktop, iOS, and Android.

Not only across omnichannels, Udesk’s live chat also provide rich text transmission such as pictures, voice, video, emojis, and files, making a convient conversation in multiple modes.

When users enter the chat interface, they will receive recommended questions based on their source and browsing history to help them address issues independently.

If the problem cannot be resolved and requires human agent intervention, live chat will assign the most suitable representative based on availability and user profile. At the same time, customer browsing history, inquiries about product orders, and past service records will be synchronized to the agent’s chat interface, making it easier for human representatives to understand customer information and intentions accurately.

Using AI technology, live chat can even recognize customer emotions, provide question-and-answer support using embedded knowledge bases, and monitor and alert conversations in real time for quality control, thus contributing to a comprehensive enhancement of customer service.

Learn more about Udesk's Live Chat

》》Take Udesk's Live Chat for a spin—for free—to see how it can work for your business.

 

02 Help Scout

Best live chat tool for complete customer service.

Help Scout offers a great solution for those looking to start using chat. Help Scout's Beacon lets you provide live chat support, serve customers relevant knowledge base articles, and provide customers with a way to email you when live support isn't available.

Help Scout also offers out-of-the-box reports so you can track performance and understand impact right away. Beacon is included with all Help Scout plans at no additional cost. And Help Scout can integrate with all of your favorite tools, including Shopify and Salesforce, and is available on desktop, iOS, and Android.

03 Zendesk

Best live chat tool for delivering rich conversational experiences.

Zendesk live chat software ensures conversations between agents and customers are seamless, well-informed, and efficient. This allows agents to help more customers and even manage multiple conversations at once.

Live chat enhances real-time interactions, allowing agents to provide personalized, real-time help with immediate resolutions. With messaging, agents and customers can interact asynchronously. That means customers can pause a conversation on one channel and pick it up on another at a more convenient time.

Zendesk connects all your business systems—from payment processors to third-party bots— into one unified, omnichannel solution. To unlock advanced capabilities, you can also upgrade with Sunshine Conversations: the next level, interactive messaging integration. Sunshine Conversations offers features like custom AI chatbots, outbound notifications for proactive customer engagement, and group messaging to connect the right people.

04 Olark

Best live chat tool for advanced chat needs.

Olark is a dedicated chat tool with lots of advanced features for teams that are planning to use live chat heavily. Along with the standard live chat features, Olark offers automation capabilities and chatbots — artificial intelligence tools used to interact with customers in lieu of a live person — that your team can use for ticket deflection.

Further, you can take advantage of pre-chat surveys to get context and in-depth analytics to better understand where you’re excelling and where you have room to improve. They also offer some very advanced features like live chat translation and co-browsing as optional add ons.

05 Gladly

Best automated chat and ticket resolution.

Gladly is a customer service platform that offers live chat as one of its supported channels. Some of their chat experience's main features include proactive messaging, priority routing based on landing page, chat typing indicators, channel-specific reporting, URL tracking, and the ability to accept secure payments via chat.

Gladly also offers some AI options. The authoring feature of its Hero AI tool can help agents alter the length and tone of responses, saving time and improving the quality of responses. Gladly Sidekick and Self-Service Threads can also help you automate the resolution of common customer issues like order tracking, returns, and more.

06 Userlike

Best live chat tool for combining personal support and AI service automation.

If you're looking for a professional all-in-one solution for live chat and customer messaging, then Userlike is the right choice. It’s a unified messaging solution that lets companies receive messages from different channels such as website chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and more in one central inbox. It offers a sophisticated Website Messenger that companies can add to their website in just a few steps. Assist your website visitors along their buyer journey and nurture longterm customer relationships. Service reps can support customers with powerful service features such as canned messages, file sharing, live translations, voice messages and video calls that also allows for screen sharing. To automate your service you can benefit from Userlike's AI Automation Hub that lets you create self-learning chatbots, smart FAQ pages and contact form suggestions, all connected to a central knowledge base that learns over time. Data protection also comes first. That’s why the software is developed and hosted in Germany, making Userlike a GDPR-compliant customer communication solution.

07 LiveChat

Best live chat tool for targeted messaging.

If you’re interested in providing both reactive and proactive support through chat, LiveChat may be a good option for your team. Not only do they offer the ability to chat in real time, they also allow you to automatically send targeted messages to site visitors to proactively engage them.

Coupled with robust reporting, chatbot capabilities, and team management tools, LiveChat is able to handle even the most demanding teams. That said, we should note that the more advanced features and some reporting features are only offered on their higher-cost plans.

08 Chaport

Best live chat tool for teams wanting a chatbot.

For teams very interested in utilizing chatbots to cut down on initial response times, Chaport is a strong option. They offer similar features to the chat tools listed above, but their chatbot functionality starts at a lower price ($23/user per month). They also offer a free plan for those who only need very basic chat functionality.

09 Acquire

Best live chat tool for connecting to social accounts.

Acquire is another dedicated support tool. Their offering is very similar to most others on the list, but they do have a key differentiator: They connect with social platforms.

For teams that communicate heavily through chat and social media sites like Instagram and Tik Tok, Acquire could be a strong contender. That said, it is a higher-cost tool, which is something to consider.

10 Podium

Best live chat tool for video chat capabilities.

Podium offers a number of different services, including video chat, web chat, and SMS (text) campaigns. Essentially, they’re an entire chat messaging platform.

For teams looking for that expanded functionality, they’re a great option, but they may not make sense for smaller teams or those just starting out with chat.

11 HubSpot Live Chat

Best live chat tool for teams that need a free solution.

For those wanting to see how chat could work for them but not wanting to invest money upfront, HubSpot Live Chat could be a good option. They offer it as a free service, and if you’re a HubSpot user, you can connect to your CRM. It isn’t the most feature-rich product, but as mentioned above, it is free to use.

12 Chatlio

Best live chat tool for Slack-based communication.

If your team uses Slack, Chatlio could be a great chat option for you. With their app, you’re able to chat with customers directly from Slack. They offer simple setup and some basic customization you can do to make your chat windows on-brand.

There are some plan limits on the lower-priced plans that could be problematic depending on expected volume, but otherwise it’s a strong contender.

13 TeamSupport

Best live chat tool for multi-channel chat.

If you need multi-channel chat options or are very interested in chatbot services, TeamSupport could be a strong contender for you. Even on their base plan, they have the ability to chat with people coming in from Facebook Messenger, Twitter, SMS, and a few other channels, letting your customers reach out from where they are.

The product has the ability to route chats based on team or product, offers canned responses, and supports proactive messaging to customers while they're on your website. The SneakPeak feature lets you see what a customer is typing before they hit send to give you a head start on troubleshooting, and the platform has analytics to help you keep track of your efforts.

As mentioned above, they also offer a chatbot solution, though it is only available as an optional add-on on their higher-cost plans.

Finding the right live chat tool for your team

Sometimes support needs to happen in real time. For those looking to start offering live support, chat can be a great option. Finding the right solution for your team may feel like a tough task, but as long as you’re thoughtful when considering your options, you’ll be on the right path.

The article is original by Udesk, and when reprinted, the source must be indicated：https://www.udeskglobal.com/blog/the-13-best-live-chat-tools-for-customer-support-in-2024.html