When it comes to customer support, live chat has become one of the most effective ways to engage with your website visitors.
Businesses use live chat software to provide instant responses, improve customer experience, and increase sales.
However, businesses may look for alternatives for various reasons, such as the platform's pricing, feature limitations, or specific business requirements.
In this post, we'll review some of the best LiveChat alternatives available in 2024, offering detailed comparisons, pricing breakdowns, and features to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Why Look for LiveChat Alternatives?
Although LiveChat is a great customer service tool, it may not be the ideal solution for every business.
Various factors can lead companies to seek other options. Here are common reasons why businesses often explore alternatives to LiveChat:
- LiveChat can become expensive as the team grows or needs more advanced features
- Basic plans may lack essential tools like automation, CRM integration, or reporting
- Some businesses need more flexibility to personalize the chat experience or workflows
- Other platforms may offer a more user-friendly interface or a shorter learning curve
- Need deeper or more seamless integrations with existing CRM or email systems
- Alternatives may provide faster or more comprehensive customer support options
Considering these drawbacks, it's important to evaluate other live chat software options that may better suit your business requirements.
10 Best LiveChat Alternatives for 2024
Now that we know what to look for, let's explore the best alternatives to LiveChat that your business should consider.
1. Denser.ai
Denser.ai is the best alternative to LiveChat, with cutting-edge AI that goes far beyond standard customer interactions.
While LiveChat handles basic messaging, Denser.ai delivers natural, conversational experiences that engage customers on a deeper level.
This live chat software can understand customer intent through semantic AI to ensure responses aren't just keyword-based but relevant and personalized.
The platform's conversational AI adds an extra layer of engagement by providing natural, human-like conversations.
It helps build strong customer relationships by offering a more connected and authentic experience—keeping users engaged and returning for more.
It can also integrate with your existing systems through their powerful APIs without overhauling your current workflows.
Denser.ai also goes beyond typical chat functions with its unique file chat feature. This allows your team to share documents directly through the chat interface, making problem resolution more efficient.
What sets Denser.ai apart is its ability to turn traditional website chats into dynamic, adaptive customer conversations.
This intuitive live chat platform keeps customers engaged, which leads to more lead conversions and improved customer retention.
Denser Pricing Plans
Denser.ai offers flexible pricing plans for businesses of all sizes:
- Free Plan: 1 DenserBot, 20 queries per month—ideal for startups testing the platform
- Starter Plan: $19/month for 2 DenserBots and 1,500 queries, perfect for small startups
- Standard Plan: $89/month with 4 DenserBots and 7,500 queries, great for small teams needing more features
- Business Plan: $399/month for 8 DenserBots and 15,000 queries, designed for large businesses with higher needs
You can contact their sales team for personalized pricing and support for enterprise-grade custom solutions.
Sign up for a free trial or schedule a demo today.
2. Tidio
Tidio offers key features to simplify customer support and boost sales. Its Live Chat widget allows quick responses to customer questions, improving service.
The Flows feature helps automate tasks like lead generation with easy, no-code paths that trigger at key moments.
Image Source: Tidio
With the Lyro AI Chatbot, you can save up to 70% of your team's time by automatically handling routine inquiries and tasks.
For Shopify users, Tidio includes Order Management tools that let you preview carts, manage orders, and recommend products directly in the chat window.
Pros
- Simple setup and dashboard
- Quick auto-responses with AI
- Easy website installation
- 24/7 customer support
Cons
- Notifications sometimes don't work, which leads to missed chats
- Can be expensive for some users
Tidio Pricing Plans
Image Source: Tidio
- Free Plan: $0/month – Basic live chat support
- Starter Plan: $29/month – For small businesses improving customer satisfaction
- Growth Plan: $59/month – For teams focused on top-tier customer service
- Tidio+: From $749/month – For businesses needing advanced features and premium support
3. Intercom
Intercom provides advanced customer support tools. The platform's Fin AI Agent uses AI to resolve customer issues across channels with accurate, conversational answers. It also supports omnichannel and multilingual communication, routing all conversations into one inbox for easy management.
Image Source: Intercom
The Fin AI Copilot helps customer support agents by generating expert responses. Intercom's shared inbox is designed for fast collaboration, and the Knowledge Hub centralizes all support content for easy information access.
Pros
- Easy to automate communication series
- Customizable event triggers for automation
- Simple, well-designed article editor
- Specialized software for business messaging
Cons
- Limited automation on basic plans
- Pricing increases with each new feature
- Email segmentation is challenging with large customer bases
Intercom Pricing Plans
Image Source: Intercom
- Essential: $39 per seat/month – For individuals, startups, and small businesses focused on customer support
- Advanced: $99 per seat/month – Offers automation tools and AI for growing support teams
- Expert: $139 per seat/month – Provides collaboration, security, and reporting tools for large teams
4. Freshchat
Freshchat is part of Freshworks' all-in-one customer service suite. It lets businesses connect with customers via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and LINE.
Image Source: Freshworks
Its context-driven bots provide instant, accurate responses around the clock, enhancing customer experience.
With support for over 33 languages, Freshchat can be easily customized. The Freshchat SDK also allows live chat and self-service bots to be embedded in mobile apps. While the built-in FAQs help customers solve issues on their own.
Pros
- Simple and elegant interface
- Easy integration with WhatsApp
- No coding is needed to create a chatbot
- Integrates well with other Fresh products
Cons
- Can be challenging to personalize the chatbot
- Hard to set up automated messages
- Chat widget lacks visibility on the website
Freshchat Pricing Plans
Image Source: Freshworks
- Free: $0 – Includes website live chat, email, and a unified agent workspace
- Growth: $23/agent/month – Everything in Free, plus WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and more
- Pro: $59/agent/month – Most Popular. Includes everything in Growth, plus custom dashboards
- Enterprise: $95/agent/month – Everything in Pro, plus skills-based assignments
5. Crisp
Crisp offers features like help desk creation, email campaigns, video calls, and website status monitoring. While focused on live chat, Crisp's flexibility comes from plugins like the "Bot" for chatbots and the "Auto-Responder" for automated replies.
Image Source: Crisp
It also provides essential tools for customer engagement, including a chat widget, AI chatbots, a knowledge base, and CRM software. It supports drip campaigns and allows real-time communication with features like Live Translate and MagicType.
Pros
- Strong chat features with chatbot and integrations
- Customizable with many plugins
- Auto-translate for different languages
- Visitor map helps direct clients to the correct site
Cons
- Live translation language detection is not always accurate
- Analytics need more filters and depth
- Some setups, like emails, require custom code
Crisp Pricing Plans
Image Source: Crisp
- Basic: Free – For personal websites needing basic chat functionality
- Pro: $25/month per workspace – Ideal for startups improving customer relationships
- Unlimited: $95/month per workspace – Full-featured solution for businesses
- Enterprise: Contact for demo – Custom features and onboarding for large companies
6. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a customer communication system that helps businesses increase sales and keep customers through effective communication. It provides a universal inbox that allows support agents to manage emails, live chat messages, and phone calls from one centralized location.
The platform's ticket management system simplifies support by consolidating queries from multiple channels to easily track and respond to customer inquiries. With a built-in knowledge base, agents can organize and share useful information to improve customer service.
Image Source: LiveAgent
LiveAgent also offers automation rules to help agents transfer tickets or trigger specific actions based on predefined conditions. Although an AI assistant is in development, it's currently only available to private beta users.
Pros
- Easy setup with strong ticket management
- No time or storage limits on tickets
- Affordable pricing
- Allows users to raise individual tickets
Cons
- No option for different widgets on mobile vs. desktop
- Forwarded messages need manual re-assignment
- Customer support can be hard to reach
LiveAgent Pricing Plans
Image Source: LiveAgent
- Small Business: $15/month – Advanced plan with fewer limits and more features
- Medium Business: $35/month – Versatile, balanced plan for comprehensive customer support
- Large Business: $59/month – All-inclusive plan with high limits and full capabilities
- Enterprise: $85/month – Full-scale solution with extra support and exclusive services
7. Drift
Drift is a cloud-based solution for sales and marketing teams that offers live chat, in-app messaging, and email management.
It features customizable live chat widgets, AI-powered chatbots, and automated email follow-ups for abandoned chats.
Image Source: Salesloft
The platform's in-app messaging lets businesses target users with full-page takeovers or slider messages based on URL, scroll percentage, or defined segments. Unread messages can be sent via email after a set time.
Drift also helps track customer satisfaction through Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys and offers automated email campaigns for onboarding and churn prevention tasks.
Pros
- Simple to use and navigate
- Engage leads at peak interest on the website
- Intuitive interface and easy bot creation
- Enables private staff conversations for timely updates
Cons
- Pricing is ideal for medium-sized businesses
- Delayed email notifications for new Drift inquiries
Drift Pricing Plans
Image Source: Salesloft
- Advanced: Customized Pricing – Focus on converting deals and winning customers
- Premier: Customized Pricing – Designed to generate predictable revenue, quarter after quarter
You may contact their sales team for pricing details or other inquiries.
8. Zendesk Support Suite
Zendesk Suite is an AI-powered help desk solution that streamlines customer support, IT, and HR with automation and optimized workflows.
Zendesk AI agents are smart and reliable, built on billions of real customer interactions, allowing them to provide personalized responses from the start.
Image Source: Zendesk
The suite includes a unified Agent Workspace for managing tickets, live chat, messaging, email, and phone support. Their automation features assign tasks to the right agents based on skill and priority.
Additionally, it offers a knowledge base for customer self-service and real-time analytics to track performance and customer satisfaction.
Pros
- Supports email piping and integrations
- Easy to set up a knowledge base
- Simple to log customer complaints and tickets
- Configurable profiles, signatures, and automated replies
Cons
- Limited file uploads per request
- Extra plugins can be expensive
- High budget is needed for advanced features
Zendesk Pricing Plans
Image Source: Zendesk
- Suite Team: $55/month – Ideal for small teams, includes basic support tools like ticketing and messaging
- Support Suite Professional: $89/month – Offers enhanced automation and self-service features
- Suite Professional: $115/month – Includes advanced operational tools for mid-sized businesses
- Suite Enterprise: Contact for pricing – Tailored for large enterprises needing custom features
9. Gorgias
Gorgias is an all-in-one help desk designed specifically for e-commerce brands. It connects all communication channels without switching between tools.
Image Source: Gorgias
The cloud-based customer service platform integrates with e-commerce systems like Shopify, pulling in data on orders, payments, and refunds. It also connects with support platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Outlook, and Live Chat.
Pros
- Quick ticket processing and follow-ups
- Simplifies repetitive tasks with macros and automation
- Easy-to-use interface for managing customer service
- Allows monitoring of data and team performance
Cons
- Initial interface can be tricky
- Mostly tailored for Shopify
- Can be expensive for small businesses
Gorgias Pricing Plans
Image Source: Gorgias
- Flexible Pricing: Based on the number of tickets and integrations needed
- Subscription Options: Choose between monthly or annual plans, with the annual subscription offering two free months
10. Help Scout
Help Scout is a customer support platform tailored for growing teams to deliver exceptional service. It provides tools like a shared inbox, knowledge base, and live chat.
Image Source: Helpscout
The shared inbox includes helpful features like private notes, @mentions for team collaboration, and collision detection to prevent overlapping tasks.
You can also automate repetitive tasks with workflows and use customer profiles to add context during conversations.
The Docs tool simplifies the creation of a knowledge base for self-service that offers built-in search and performance reports to track how well content is helping customers.
Help Scout also includes pre-built and customizable reports to focus on key metrics.
Pros
- Live chat improves response time
- Multiple workspaces and tools for email management
- User-friendly layout with useful app integrations
- Easy organization with separate folders for teams
Cons
- Only one knowledge base template
- No CSV download after filtering emails by tags
- Lack of warning when switching between auto and manual workflows
Help Scout Pricing Plans
Image Source: Helpscout
- Standard: $25/month – Ideal for small teams needing core features
- Plus: $50/month – Advanced tools for growing teams
- Pro: $65/user annually – Tailored for large organizations with improved security and personalized service
How to Choose the Best LiveChat Alternative
Each LiveChat alternative we've reviewed offers different features, pricing, and capabilities. It's essential to consider a few critical factors to ensure you're choosing the right tool for your business.
Evaluate Your Business Needs
You should consider the size of your team and the number of agents who will use the platform. If you have a small team, basic features with fewer seats might suffice. But if you're operating with a larger team, you'll need a platform that supports multiple agents and departments.
Another important aspect is the volume of customer interactions. If your business handles many chats daily, choose a solution to manage large volumes without sacrificing speed or performance.
Finally, consider whether your team frequently handles repetitive queries. If so, automation features such as chatbots or pre-set responses can save valuable time.
Feature Set
A good customer service platform will offer key tools such as automation to improve your team's efficiency. Chatbots, automated ticketing systems, and pre-written responses can handle common queries.
The platform should also integrate well with your existing tools, such as CRM systems, project management software, and email marketing tools. This will allow your team to access customer data, track leads, and manage interactions from one central hub.
Additionally, robust analytics and reporting tools are essential for tracking performance metrics like response times, customer satisfaction, and issue resolution rates.
Ease of Use
The platform should have a simple, intuitive interface that allows your team to get up and running quickly with minimal training.
Also, think about the communication channels you rely on. Your customers may contact you via live chat, emails, social media, or SMS. Choose a platform that supports all of these communication methods, so your team can respond from a single interface.
It's also beneficial if the platform offers customization options so you can match the chat widget's appearance to your branding.
Some platforms offer onboarding support or tutorials, which can be helpful if your team is new to the tool or if it has more complex features.
Scalability
A scalable solution ensures that you can easily add more agents, handle a higher volume of customer inquiries, and expand features as your company grows. You should consider whether the platform offers flexible plans without requiring a complete overhaul or additional costs.
Cost and Budget
You must determine what your budget allows and compare different platforms based on the value they provide. Free and lower-cost options may suffice for small businesses or teams with basic needs.
On the other hand, more advanced tools may be worth the investment for larger companies requiring more sophisticated features like automation, reporting, and multi-channel support.
Customer Support
You'll want a solution that offers dependable support options, whether through live chat, email, or phone, so any issues or technical problems can be addressed.
Check the platform's support hours and response times, especially if your team works across different time zones or operates 24/7. Platforms with strong customer service teams, like Denser.ai, can help you resolve issues faster.
Effortless Setup, Powerful AI—Switch to Denser.ai!
Looking for a live chat solution that truly understands your customers? With its advanced semantic AI, Denser.ai offers smart, personalized replies that leave a lasting impact on your customers.
Denser.ai doesn't have a complicated setup—just quick integration, and you're ready to provide top-notch customer support. Plus, it learns from each chat to satisfy your customers while boosting sales conversions.
Do you need assistance along the way? Denser's support team is here to help with easy-to-follow tutorials and quick support whenever you need it.
Ready for a more intelligent way to engage with your customers? Try Denser.ai and see how it transforms your customer service. Sign up for a free trial or schedule a demo today!
FAQs About LiveChat Alternatives
How do LiveChat alternatives improve customer engagement?
LiveChat alternatives like Denser.ai use AI-powered automation and conversational tools to create more engaging and personalized experiences. This AI-driven platform can provide relevant answers, make product recommendations, and engage users more proactively than traditional live chat solutions.
Can I try a LiveChat alternative before committing?
Most LiveChat alternatives, including Denser.ai, offer free trials or freemium plans. This allows you to test the platform's features and see if it fits your business needs before making a long-term commitment.
Do LiveChat alternatives offer self-service solutions?
Many platforms, such as Denser.ai and Zendesk, offer self-service solutions like knowledge bases, documentation, FAQs, and AI-driven chatbots. These features allow customers to find answers to common questions and reduce the load on customer support teams.