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LiveChat

Live Chat Software
8.2(8,900 reviews)

Pricing

subscription

Best For

Support teams of 3-20 agents who want a focused, reliable chat tool without platform bloat

Rating

8.2/10

Last Updated

Mar 2026

TL;DR

LiveChat does one thing and does it well: real-time customer chat. While competitors like Intercom bolt on CRM, marketing, and product tours, LiveChat stays focused on the chat experience. The widget is fast, the agent dashboard is intuitive, and setup takes minutes, not weeks. At $20-$59/agent/month, it's cheaper than Intercom but pricier than free options. The sweet spot is teams of 3-20 agents who want reliable chat without platform bloat.

What is LiveChat?

A Chat Tool That Actually Stays in Its Lane

LiveChat has been around since 2002 — that's older than most of its competitors. The Polish company quietly built one of the most reliable live chat platforms on the market while flashier rivals chased the "everything platform" dream. Sometimes boring and focused is exactly what you need.

The Agent Experience

The dashboard is clean and fast. Agents see incoming chats, visitor info, and conversation history in one view. Canned responses save hours of typing the same answers. The sneak peek feature shows what visitors are typing before they hit send — creepy or useful, depending on your perspective. Either way, it cuts response time significantly.

Multi-channel routing pulls in messages from your website, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Apple Messages, and email into one queue. No tab-switching. The mobile app works well enough that agents can handle chats from their phone during off-hours.

Chat Widget and Customization

The widget loads fast. This matters more than people think — slow widgets increase bounce rates. LiveChat's widget renders in under 2 seconds and offers rich messaging with cards, carousels, buttons, and quick replies. You can customize colors, position, and behavior. The eye-catcher animations grab attention without being obnoxious.

Reporting That Matters

Chat reports show response times, satisfaction scores, agent activity, and ticket volume over time. The staffing prediction feature tells you how many agents you need based on historical patterns. For managers, this is gold. You can also see which pages generate the most chats and at what times — useful for optimizing proactive triggers.

Where LiveChat Falls Short

No built-in AI chatbot. You need ChatBot (their sister product) as an add-on, which starts at $52/month. That's a separate subscription on top of LiveChat. Competitors like Tidio and Intercom include AI chatbots in their core pricing. The knowledge base is also separate (KnowledgeBase product). LiveChat's focus is a strength, but it means more subscriptions if you need the full stack.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Dead simple setup — install the widget and start chatting within 15 minutes, no technical skills required
  • Agent dashboard is clean and fast with sneak peek typing preview that cuts response times
  • Staffing prediction feature helps managers schedule the right number of agents per shift
  • Multi-channel support pulls website, WhatsApp, Messenger, and email into one unified queue
  • Reliable uptime and performance — the company has 20+ years of experience doing this one thing well

Cons

  • AI chatbot requires separate ChatBot subscription starting at $52/month — not built in
  • Knowledge base is another separate product (KnowledgeBase) with its own pricing
  • Starter plan limits chat history to 60 days, which is frustratingly short
  • No built-in help desk comparable to Intercom or Zendesk — strictly a chat tool
  • Per-agent pricing adds up quickly for larger teams compared to flat-rate alternatives

LiveChat Pricing

Starter

$20/month
  • 1 chat widget
  • 60-day chat history
  • Ticketing system
  • Basic customization
  • Data security
Get Started
Most Popular

Team

$41/month
  • Everything in Starter
  • Unlimited chat history
  • Full customization
  • Basic reporting
  • Agent groups
  • Multiple chat widgets
Get Started

Business

$59/month
  • Everything in Team
  • Advanced reporting
  • Staffing prediction
  • Work scheduler
  • Apple Messages integration
  • SMS support
Get Started

Enterprise

Contact Sales
  • Everything in Business
  • Dedicated account manager
  • Product training
  • Security assistance
  • HIPAA compliance
  • Custom billing
Get Started

Pricing last verified: March 25, 2026

Who is LiveChat Best For?

  • Support teams of 3-20 agents who want a focused, reliable chat tool without platform bloat
  • E-commerce stores that need fast widget loading and rich product card messaging
  • Companies already using separate help desk software that just need to add live chat
  • Teams that value simplicity and quick setup over feature-packed platforms

Technical Details

Platforms
webiosandroidmacwindows
Deployment
cloud
Security & Compliance
gdprhipaa

The Bottom Line

8.2/10Very Good

LiveChat scores 8.2/10. It stands out for dead simple setup — install the widget and start chatting within 15 minutes, no technical skills required Best suited for support teams of 3-20 agents who want a focused, reliable chat tool without platform bloat Keep in mind that ai chatbot requires separate chatbot subscription starting at $52/month — not built in

Frequently Asked Questions

No, LiveChat doesn't have a free plan. There's a 14-day free trial on all plans. After that, pricing starts at $20/agent/month on the Starter plan (billed annually) or $24/month if billed monthly. If you need a free live chat tool, look at tawk.to or the free tiers of Tidio and Crisp instead.

Not in the core product. LiveChat's sister company makes ChatBot, which integrates natively but requires a separate subscription starting at $52/month. You get a basic greeting bot in LiveChat itself, but for AI-powered automation and conversation flows, you need ChatBot. This is LiveChat's biggest competitive weakness — rivals like Tidio and Intercom bundle AI chatbots into their main pricing.

Score Breakdown
Ease of Use8.5
Features8.2
Value for Money7.7
Support8.5

Based on editorial analysis