The 10 Best Live Chat Software for Websites in 2026
Live chat tools now range from free widgets to AI agents that answer, qualify and sell on their own. This guide compares the ten most common options on real pricing and on what each is genuinely good at. We make Sukar, so it is listed first; the rest are ordered by how often they appear on shortlists.
Last checked October 2026
Quick picks
If you need…
Pick
Chat that sells, with AI included
Sukar
Enterprise support ticketing
Zendesk or Intercom
Free chat with human agents
tawk.to
Multichannel inbox, workspace pricing
Crisp
A dedicated team chatting all day
LiveChat
E-commerce support helpdesk
Gorgias
Chat tied to your CRM
HubSpot
Pricing compared
Tool
Free plan
Starting price
AI pricing
Sukar
Yes, 50 AI conversations/mo
$29/mo flat (3 agents)
Included in plan
Intercom
No
$39/seat/mo
$0.99 per resolution
Zendesk
No (trial)
$55/agent/mo (annual)
Add-on
LiveChat
No (trial)
$19/agent/mo (annual)
Separate ChatBot product
Crisp
Yes
$45/mo per workspace
AI credits included
Tidio
Yes
~$24.17/mo (annual)
Lyro add-on
tawk.to
Yes
Free + add-ons
Paid add-on
Freshchat
Up to 10 agents
$19/agent/mo (annual)
$49 per 100 sessions
Gorgias
No
$10/mo (50 tickets)
$0.90–$1.00 per interaction
HubSpot
Yes
Paid hubs
Varies by tier
Prices from each vendor’s public pricing page, October 2026. They change often, so check before you buy.
What to look for in live chat software
How AI is priced. Included in the plan, per resolution, per session pack or a separate product. This is usually the biggest cost difference.
Per seat or per plan. Per-agent pricing gets expensive as your team grows.
Setup effort. Does the AI need a help center written first, or can it learn from your website?
Selling, not just support. Can it recommend products, share discount codes or flag buyers who are ready?
Channels. Website chat only, or also email, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram?
Languages. Does the widget and AI work in your customers’ language, including right-to-left scripts like Arabic?
The best live chat software, reviewed
1. Sukar
Best for turning visitors into sales
Price:
Free; Starter $29/mo (3 agents); Pro $79/mo (10 agents)
AI:
Included on every plan: 50 / 300 / 3,000 AI conversations a month
Live chat with an AI agent that learns your website automatically and answers like a salesperson: product questions, pricing, discount codes and checkout links. On Pro it scores every visitor’s buying intent (0–100) and switches into a closer mode for hot leads, then alerts your team.
Good
+ AI included in the plan price, no per-resolution fees
+ Trains itself by crawling your site, no help center needed
+ Shopify, WooCommerce and YouCan: product search and discount codes in chat
+ Widget in English and Arabic (right-to-left)
Watch out for
− Visitor scoring, closer mode, team inbox and WhatsApp/Messenger/Instagram are Pro ($79/mo)
− Newer product: no ticketing suite or knowledge-base builder
A mature customer-service platform with a strong AI agent (Fin), help center, workflows and reporting. Excellent for support organisations; costs climb with seats and with every conversation Fin resolves.
The standard for ticketing and omnichannel support. Very capable for structured support operations; expensive and slow to set up if you mainly want website chat that sells.
A polished agent app built for teams that answer chats all day, with a big marketplace of integrations. Pricing is per agent, and its chatbot is sold as a separate product.
Free plan; paid $45 / $95 / $295 per month per workspace
AI:
AI credits included on all plans
A popular all-in-one inbox with chat, email and social channels, priced per workspace instead of per seat. A good fit for small teams that want many channels in one place.
Good
+ Workspace pricing, not per seat
+ Many channels in one inbox
+ Free plan with AI credits
Watch out for
− First paid plan is $45/mo
− No visitor intent scoring or sales closer mode listed
Free plan; Starter about $24.17/mo (billed annually)
AI:
Lyro AI agent, separate add-on
Easy live chat and chatbot builder that is popular with small online stores. Low entry price; the Lyro AI agent is billed separately, so AI-heavy use costs more than the headline price.
From $10/mo (50 tickets), scales with ticket volume
AI:
AI Agent, $0.90–$1.00 per interaction
A helpdesk built for online stores, with deep Shopify order actions. Strong for post-purchase support; pricing grows with ticket volume and AI interactions.
Free live chat connected to the HubSpot CRM. Great if HubSpot is already your system of record; advanced bots, lead scoring and branding removal sit in paid tiers.
Usually, yes. AI answers instantly at any hour; humans handle edge cases and big deals. The useful question is how the two work together: Sukar’s AI answers first, and when it detects a high-intent visitor or a question it cannot answer from your knowledge base, it hands off to your team. Read more in what is live chat and what is an AI chatbot.
Try live chat that sells for you
Sukar’s AI learns your site, answers visitors 24/7 and flags the buyers. Free plan, AI included.
All product names are trademarks of their respective owners. This page is for informational comparison only.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best live chat software for a small business?+
It depends on what the chat has to do. For free human chat, tawk.to. For chat with an AI agent included in a flat price, Sukar (free plan, then $29/mo for 3 agents). For a multichannel inbox, Crisp.
Is there free live chat software with AI?+
Yes. Sukar’s free plan includes 50 AI conversations a month trained on your website, and Crisp’s free plan includes AI credits. tawk.to is free for human chat with AI as a paid add-on.
What is the difference between live chat and a chatbot?+
Live chat connects visitors with a person on your team. A chatbot answers automatically. Most modern tools combine both: the AI answers first and hands the conversation to a human when needed.
How much does live chat software cost?+
From free (tawk.to, free tiers from Sukar, Crisp, Tidio, HubSpot) to around $19–$55 per agent per month for LiveChat, Freshchat and Zendesk. AI is often billed extra: per resolution, per session pack or as an add-on.
How do I add live chat to my website?+
Most tools give you a script tag to paste before the closing body tag, or a plugin for Shopify and WordPress. With Sukar you paste one script tag and the AI crawls your site automatically.