Top 7 website chat plugins 2021
By Sam
As you've probably noticed over the past year, chat widgets seem to be popping up on websites all over the place and for good reason.
Over half of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company that offers live chat support.
So good news, we've got a list of our favourite WordPress chat plugins ready to install on your website.
Tidio
We like Tidio's friendly user feel, optional chatbots, desktop and phone application making replying to customers easy no matter where you are. Tidio also offers a generous free version which makes it great for businesses who are just getting started.
Tidio can easily be installed using the WordPress plugin and then follow the steps from there to create an account.
- Feature-rich chatbots
- Great user experience
- Easy to use desktop and phone app
- Easy to customise chat widget to fit your brand
Cost: Tidio split their costing depending on which feature you require such as chatbots, communication and email marketing. Each start at €18 with the email marketing starting at €10.
Drift
Drift offers sales teams with an easy to use chat feature along with the high tier plans providing optional chatbots, meeting schedules, and a unique client prospector. Drift aims at established businesses with a higher amount of website traffic.
- Chatbots
- Great user experience
- Advanced features
- Prospecting tools
Cost: Drift offers a free tier for the "basic" chat feature. For the unique features, plans start from $40 a month.
Zendesk
What Zendesk does well is the integration of the live chat with their sales CRM, meaning the sales team can switch easily between the other tools on their platform.
If you're looking for something a bit more advanced, this is good to try.
- Integrated platform
- Advanced features
Cost: Zendesk starts at $14 for just the basic chat feature and some trigger options. For the full support suite, this starts at $89 per user.
Intercom
Probably the most aesthetically pleasing out of our list of WordPress chat plugins. Intercom is packed with features to help you get the most out of conversational messaging. Technically, Intercom takes some playing about with but once integrated it can significantly help your business capture lead data, generate sales, and provide support to your customers.
- Beautifully designed
- A lot of customisation options
- Audience targeting
- Scheduled messaging
Cost: Starting at $39 for the basic plan. To get access to all the features, this could cost $100+/month.
Jivo Chat
If you want to test a chat widget on your website, Jivo chat offers a basic free version. The Pro tier's priced at $13 a month. Jivo chat offers a range of features and isn't exactly expensive which makes it a great option for small businesses.
- Call back feature
- Connects to messenger
- CRM Integration
- Automatic Triggers
Cost: Jivochat has a basic free version with the professional being a reasonable $13.
Crisp
Crisp is a simple well-designed chat plugin that offers a bunch of other sales features. A well built CRM, chatbots and email campaigns make it the perfect tool to start with. We also really like the visitor location map.
- Great for startups
- Facebook and slack integration
- Well built CRM
- Chatbots
- Email campaigns
Cost: Crisp offers a basic free version with just their chat feature. On the pro plan at $25, you can get access to more features such as chatbots, Slack and Facebook integration, email and more customisation options.
Support Board
Are you looking for a native WordPress plugin? Support Board is accessible right in the WordPress dashboard that you can also link to Slack and reply from there.
- One-off fee
- Accessible from the WordPress dashboard
- Slack integration
Cost: The benefit of "Support Board" is that it comes with a one-time fee, so you only have to pay $59 once instead of a recurring monthly fee most live chat plugins charge.
So, which of these WordPress chat plugins is best for you?
As there are quite a lot to choose from we will split these into three categories.
Free options
If you're on a budget then we'd say give Tidio a try, you'll get a free trial with chatbots so you can then decide if this would be worth an investment depending on how it works for your business. The other alternative is Crisp's free plan for limited chat support. We like their simple design which makes setting up relatively easy.
Small Businesses
If you want something with more features to engage your customers, then Drift, Tidio or Crisp (paid plans) are probably the best options.
Medium - Large businesses
Finally, if you have a dedicated sales team and need to implement chatbots, a CRM and more advanced features, then Zendesk or Intercom is worth a try.
Final Notes
A major part of improving lead generation is staying on top of your WordPress performance and SEO. At Folifi, we offer performance services that streamline these tasks for you so it’s never a concern.
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