Customer service as we know it has changed.
Today’s customers won’t necessarily call a contact center when they need help. Instead, they’ll look for a quick and convenient way to ask questions, without having to leave your website.
WordPress live chat plugins can help with that.
With the best chat plugins for WordPress, you can bring an engaging, personal touch to your website, helping your customers to form a deeper connection with your brand. What’s more, you give your audience a quicker, more convenient way to ask questions.
The question is, which plugin should you be using on your site?
Today, we’ll be looking at:
The Benefits of WordPress Live Chat Plugins
According to Kayako, 79% of businesses said that adding live chat to their site resulted in better sales, revenue, and customer loyalty. Additionally, ICMI found that the customers that engage with a company through live chat are worth up to 4.5 times as much as other visitors.
Chat is faster, simpler, and it takes advantage of all the convenience that the internet has to offer. What’s more, if you implement chat correctly, you increase sales by as much as 3.84%.
So, how do you pick the best chat plugin for WordPress?
Start by asking yourself the following things:
- What’s your goal? Do you want to increase customer loyalty? Generate more cross-selling opportunities? Take some of the stress off your customer service team by giving customers another way to have their questions answered?
- What features do you need? Are you looking for a basic live chat function, or do you need advanced AI functionality?
- What other apps and plugins do you use? Your chatbots need to work well with all of your other plugins, including translation services.
Got the answers to those questions?
Great, now you can use them to assess some of the following WordPress live chat plugins.
1. LiveChat
LiveChat is one of the friendlest and most convenient WordPress live chat plugins around, designed to give you a simple way to connect with your target audience. The beautifully-designed live chat solutions can be customized to suit the style of your website, with different themes and colors.
Additionally, LiveChat works seamlessly with all devices, providing an excellent experience on any app. You can implement survey forms before and after sessions to track the performance of your support team, and leverage support tickets out-of-hours too. What’s more, LiveChat integrates with tons of popular CRM software options. You can even add integrate with your mailing list.
Pros:
- Lots of customization options
- Quick to load
- Beautiful live chat apps
- Lots of integrations
Cons:
- No automatic greetings.
Price: Plans start at $16 per agent per month if you pay annually. The price goes up to $19 per agent per month on a rolling monthly basis. There’s a 14 day free trial to get you started.
2. Zendesk Chat
Another very well-known service in the world of WordPress live chat plugins is Zendesk Chat. and it’s brimming with great functionality. You can find plenty of beautiful chat boxes to choose from, custom-designed to suit the needs of your website. Additionally, the whole experience is quick, seamless, and clean.
Whenever you need to respond to your customers, you just access the external dashboard. There’s even an app for your iPhone or Android, so you can keep in touch with customers on the move. Another fantastic thing about Zendesk Chat is that it comes with plenty of reports and tracking tools to help you measure customer service success.
Pros:
- Plenty of analytics and tracking features
- Works well with third-party services and Zendesk tools
- Real-time chat or chatbots available
Cons:
- Reporting only available in higher-priced plans
- Goes idle when you’re not on the main browser window
Pricing: You can access limited live chat support for
one account. Paid plans begin from $14 per agent per month.
3. Sendinblue
Sendinblue is better known for it’s email services than social media or WordPress chat plugins. However, it’s also a fantastic tool for chatting with your customers online. With Sendinblue, you can access everything from CRM services to SMS marketing and landing pages.
The chat feature is only available with the premium plan.
However, if you’re already using Sendinblue to manage your customer service
strategy, then this could be the perfect choice for chat. Additionally, the
experience is very simple, making it excellent for beginners in the chat space.
Pros:
- Very easy to use
- Built-in integrations for marketing
- All-in-one tool for digital growth
Cons:
- Only integrates with Sendinblue tools for marketing
- Chat feature isn’t available at low pricing levels
Pricing: Though there’s a range of pricing plans
available from Sendinblue, you’ll need the $66 per month option for the chat
feature.
4. Olark
Another excellent example of one of the best chat plugins for WordPress is Olark, which gives you a choice between plugins or code snippets. Whichever you choose to install, you’ll have instant access to an easy-to-use live chat system. The experience integrates well with tools like Slack, Google Analytics, Salesforce, and many others.
Whether you’re trying to reduce cart abandonment or drive better customer experiences, Olark will help. There’s access to third-party mobile apps and you can monitor live visitors on your website and reach out to them at various points in the buying journey. There’s even real-time reporting into chat volume and agent performance.
Pros:
- Very easy to use
- Proactive chat feature
- Real-time reporting options
Cons:
- A little slow and clunky to use.
Pricing: Pricing plans start at around $17 per month per
agent. You can access a small discount if you choose annual billing over a
rolling monthly fee. There’s also a two week free trial available.
5. Intercom
Intercom is a software solution that’s all about helping companies establish better relationships with their audience. If you’re looking for a live chat plugin that’s quick and easy to use, however, then you might have trouble with this service. Intercom has a bit of a learning curve to overcome.
Although Intercom is brilliant once you get into it, you will need to spend some time exploring all the features before you can fully appreciate it. On the plus side, it has plenty of live widgets you can automate with your own workflows. You’ll also have access to easy integrations for email marketing services, CRM tools, analytics, and more.
Pros:
- Excellent range of features
- Workflow automation
- Lots of integrations
- AI chatbots available
Cons:
- Bit of a learning curve when you’re just getting
started. - Pricey
Pricing: The essential plan from Intercom starts at
$87 per month. After that, your costs are calculated according to your
individual usage.
6. Freshchat
Another sensational option for WordPress chat plugins is Freshchat, which was specifically designed for online messaging. The tool allows companies to launch real-time chats however they choose. That means that you can pick between live agents or intelligent bots. You can also connect your chats to tickets on support services too.
Freshchat comes with a handful of helpful features, including saved responses, smart plugins, private notes, desktop notifications, and more. There’s also access to views of customer journeys, profile information, in-app campaigns, and more. Everything you need is available in the same space for better customer relationships.
Pros:
- Choose between bots and live agents
- Desktop notifications available
- Useful customer timelines
Cons:
- Can’t turn off Freshchat watermark
- Doesn’t work in Safari
Pricing: Free live chat support plan for up to 10
people. Paid plans start at $15 per month when you buy on a yearly basis.
7. LivePerson
LivePerson is another fantastic WordPress live chat plugin
that comes brimming with useful features. The AI-powered conversational
platform can help you to generate more conversions. Additionally, the whole
software solution is designed to engage your customers and drive more sales.
With LivePerson, you can engage your customers through a wide selection of channels. This includes Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, and also your own website chat boxes. You can also choose between having a friendly live agent manage the conversation, or an artificial intelligence chatbot. Your chatbots can be implemented with automated conversation workflows. What’s more, they save customer information or you to third-party apps so you can track the client journey.
Pros:
- Choose from live chat or chatbots
- Multi-channel conversations available
- Simple back-end interface
Cons:
- Not many reporting features
- Pricing is only available via quote
- Customer information isn’t available directly in chat window.
Pricing: Pricing is only available on a per quote
basis for each customer.
8. Drift
Finally, Drift advertises itself as more than just the best
chat plugin for WordPress. According to the team, this is the ultimate tool for
companies searching for a reliable way to shorten their sales cycle and improve
customer loyalty. This powerful conversational platform integrates with many of
the leading CRM and email marketing tools on the web today.
Additionally, the Drift software comes with standard access to the Drift bot. This means that you get AI service and support when you need it, as well as anonymous visitor intelligence, scheduling for your meetings, account-based marketing, and more. Ideal for mid-to-large companies, Drift is easy to use with a fantastic interface.
Pros:
- Clean and easy to use interface
- Access to Drift bot for advanced features
- Analytics included
Cons:
- Price is too high for most smaller businesses
Pricing: Pricing packages start at $50 per month paid
on an annual basis. You’ll need to upgrade to the Pro plan for $500 per month
if you want the bot or automated assistant feature.
Which Is the Best Chat
Plugin for WordPress?
So, which WordPress chat plugins should you and your team consider?
That all depends on what you’re looking for. In our opinion, LiveChat is one of the best solutions on the market for smaller companies. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to connect with your target audience, LiveChat is one of the top-rated options out there.
On the other hand, if you need an all in one solution that combines SMS, email, and chat, then you might prefer something like Sendinblue or Intercom.
For those who really want to push the limits with advanced artificial intelligence tools, then Drift and the Drift bot can be an excellent choice. However, we think that the Drift service is likely to be too expensive for most smaller companies.
Want another way to boost conversions, aside from using chatbots and live chat? Check out this article on the best WordPress giveaway plugins to improve your chances of a sale.
Have you implemented live chat on your WordPress website? If so, which WordPress live chat plugin do you use? We’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!
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