Best Free Live Chat Software in 2025

Live chat is a necessity in today’s landscape with organizations and individuals conducting many of their affairs online. Having a software platform for this purpose is advantageous to users, given that it provides solutions for text chat, video conferencing, voice, help desk, and some CRM features. Not all software systems come with a price tag, and live chat apps are no exception. Free live chat software is widely available on the market. To trim down your search, you can start with our category leader, Freshchat, along with our other product recommendations.

The leading live chat apps typically offer generous free plans or free trials to potential users. These promos enable you to test various products and see which product bears the most useful features. In addition, you’ll find out which live chat software free plan is the most convenient to use for your workforce. There are numerous exceptional platforms available. You can start with the highly regarded ones on the market, which include Freshchat, LiveAgent, Zoho SalesIQ, Drift, and Smith.ai.

Online chat support is leveraged by businesses of all types and scales whether internally or externally, making it a universal need these days. However, there are three types of businesses that would benefit the most from using free live chat software.

• Small businesses that aim to build trust. Forging bonds with customers and building a community are crucial for small businesses to consistently generate returns over long periods. Live chat apps help by serving as a bridge between producers and consumers, as businesses provide product information, communicate promos, and send invites to exclusive events to select customers through these platforms.
• Mid-sized firms planning to improve communications. Digital shoppers expect companies to provide answers to their concerns, which can take time. Live chat systems fast-track this process by furnishing a direct line between organizations and their market and tracking the number of digital visitors in real time. Some software systems automate the resolution process of customer concerns through customizable workflows and the incorporation of relevant sections of knowledge bases.
• Large enterprises seeking to enhance customer experience. Some large operations tend to neglect the welfare of their customer base since they have to deal with torrents of sales inquiries, numerous requirements, and complex workflows. The best free live software systems leverage artificial intelligence to optimize and automate communication workflows, use bots for agentless communications, monitor visitor behavior, and anticipate the ideal times for businesses to directly communicate with leads and customers.

• Freshchat: A multifunctional live chat system that utilizes artificial intelligence to unify and optimize communications. It makes use of customizable chatbots, messaging APIs, and auto-routing protocols to speed up and simplify the communication process.
• LiveAgent. A live chat software that helps businesses provide real-time support to customers. Users can place a live chat widget on their website so customers can easily get in touch witth agents if needed. Agents also get access to chat history and ticket history for easier issue resolution.
• Zoho SalesIQ: An advanced live chat system that affords communication tools to organizations, monitors site visitors and their geolocations, and provides solutions for lead generation and team monitoring. It also presents a detailed communication history with each lead and customer.
• Drift: A flexible live messaging tool that lets organizations have real-time communications with leads and customers across various channels, including online sites, email, and instant messaging. The platform can also be used to qualify leads, book meetings, and track agent activity.
• Smith.ai: An intelligent live messaging system that unifies internal and external communications and leverages chatbots to automate customer correspondences. It also records chat data, allows users to customize greetings and branding, and integrates with useful solutions.

Free live chat software can be categorized in two ways: the core service provided and the primary channel utilized. The features of some systems may overlap, particularly with comprehensive applications, but these platforms usually have distinct core competencies.

By core service:

• Information-Driven Live Chat Tools. These platforms are chiefly used for providing information to customers and answering some of their queries. The info imparted, at times in the form of product specs, helps prospective customers form a decision. More advanced systems have behavior-tracking features that allow chat personnel to step in and take over communications with clients.
• Sales Live Chat Tools. These tools help sales agents provide essential product information to prospective customers. Using one or a combination of communication channels, agents can convert inquiries into sales.
• Customer Service Live Chat Tools. These systems are used by tech agents to help customers who encounter problems with the items they purchased, be it installation, non-functioning features, or compatibility issues. If a  concern is beyond the capabilities of tech support, a technician may be deployed to the customer’s address.

By primary channel:

• Voice or Video. Many live chat free software systems incorporate various communication channels like voice and video. As such, you can use these to conduct videoconferences, detailed discussions, and omnichannel correspondences to hurdle pressing concerns.
• Text Only.  Text-based live chat platforms allow teams to directly communicate with one another through text messaging, especially for urgent matters. This is also extended to an organization’s clientele and prospective customers so that discussions about products, promos, and brands can take place.

• Unified Messaging. Live chat platforms have instant messaging features through which teams can communicate with customers, leads, and one another. Inboxes unify the messaging functionalities of other communication platforms like social media and email.
• API. Since organizations tend to have varying infrastructures, live chat software systems often come as open API platforms, which enable users to properly create, customize, and integrate solutions. As a result, businesses can configure their live chat platform based on their exact needs.
• Ticketing. To supplement instant messaging, live chat apps usually have a ticketing system with which customer inquiries and complaints can be filed and properly addressed. It also presents an alternative for people who prefer to not communicate directly with an agent when asking product-related questions.
• Chatbots. The best free live chat software systems give businesses an option to use chatbots to automatically answer questions from leads and customers. The workflows of these bots can be set to automatically generate logical replies and lift relevant sections of a website’s knowledge base as needed.
• Visitor Monitoring. Besides communications, top-tier live chat applications can track site traffic, the activities of visitors, and site sections that garner the most attention. With this, users can enhance the design of their websites, come up with promos that are similar to successful ones, and generate more leads.
• Communication History. Live chat apps document all covered interactions so that users can pick up where they left off with leads, customers, suppliers, and team members. In addition, some platforms provide detailed transcripts for each interaction, which are sent via email to concerned parties.
•  File Sharing. Users can attach different kinds of files to instant messages, which are then stored and organized on the live chat software’s interface. With this, relevant files can easily be located at all times.
• Mobile Support. More people use mobile devices to get on the internet compared to desktops. As such, live chat systems have mobile apps or mobile-friendly websites that enable users to communicate with leads and customers through their mobile phones.
• Analytics. Live chat platforms utilize AI to collate, analyze, and generate insights from communication, sales, and customer support data. The actionable insights can serve as the basis for future strategies.
• Feedback and Surveys. Some live chat systems allow businesses to conduct surveys regarding products or services and customer experience. These also empower websites to take in feedback from customers.

• Enhanced Customer Service. Live chat systems enable organizations to have multichannel, round-the-clock support to serve leads and customers who use different communication platforms. Since these apps document chat histories, sales and technical support agents will have no trouble continuing ongoing conversations with multiple parties.
• Automated Support. Top-tier live chat systems utilize chatbots to automate responses to product and service inquiries. These bots can be configured to automatically supply answers to any given scenario, integrating relevant sections of a company’s knowledge base as needed.
• Reduced Expenses. Since live chat systems automate responses, businesses wouldn’t need to hire too many customer service and technical support representatives. Chatbots and automated messages can handle basic inquiries and concerns. Human agents can then intervene when the scenarios are beyond the chatbot’s capabilities.
• Improved Engagement and Conversions. The information obtained from a live chat app’s visitor monitoring solutions can be used to see which products and promos on company websites do well. Likewise, the platform lets you know the products and website sections are often neglected by site visitors. The insights derived from visitor monitoring can become the foundations of new strategies to raise sales and improve customer engagement.
• Find Areas for Improvement. Live chat systems document conversations and allow shoppers to post feedback on company websites. This means businesses will gain knowledge of what their target markets truly prefer and possibly create products and promos that conform with those preferences.

Chatbots. Even though the use of chatbots is becoming a constant among top-tier live chat systems, some still don’t carry these reliable tools. Given their capability to reduce the load of and the need for human service representatives, chatbots will eventually become regular features of live chat software.

Automated responses. Like chatbots, automated responses reduce the burden on customer and technical support representatives since the answers to basic inquiries and concerns are readily supplied by live chat software. With this, more apps will allow users to map out and automate communication workflows in the near future.

Screensharing. Some live chat systems have started to offer screen-sharing features with which agents can view the desktops of customers. As a result, support teams gain a better understanding of reported issues and provide the best solutions possible.

Unfriendly tone. While chatbots and automated responses instantly provide helpful information, the cold delivery of the responses might put off some customers. Companies have to expand their communication protocols on live chat platforms to somewhat simulate human warmth.

Limited mobile responsiveness. Some live chat solutions might work well with desktops but struggle when it comes to the responsiveness of their mobile applications. This should be addressed since a majority of internet users use mobile devices to browse the world wide web.

The need for better integrations. Although live chat systems are useful, they can benefit from seamless integrations with other widely used programs like CRM and collaboration platforms. It’s not just about integrating with other systems. The smoothness of integrated features also matters.