With LiveZilla you can integrate a live chat function into a website so that you can communicate directly with the visitors and help them if necessary. Here we present you 7 alternatives.
A live chat software for the website can be useful for different reasons, but most of the time it will be about support. You want to help a potential user make a decision, or support an existing user with a problem. With these tools you can integrate such a function into your website.
Briefly to terms: Since operators and/or agents and the German terms sound a bit strange in this context, “users” are the people who maintain a widget, and “visitors” are the people who are currently browsing the website.
tawk.to
tawk.to gives you the opportunity to add a live chat widget to your website – completely free of charge. You can change the color of the widget and the text it displays before the chat starts. You can also change the position where the widget appears and its size – the chats are stored in a history. To send automatic messages to the user, you can set triggers based on a number of conditions, such as the user’s length of stay and a specific action he or she takes. Website visitors are tracked so they can see where they are in real time.
Chats can not only be written from the dashboard of tawk.to. The tool offers an app for Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iPhone as well as integrations in CMS, like WordPress and Joomla! The system is user-based: Everyone has his own tawk.to account and can invite other users to join him in maintaining a live chat widget.
Miweb
Miweb is an open source project. Its main features are live chat with an infinite number of users, chats and visitors. Users can be divided into departments and visitors can be tracked on the site. In addition, a visitor can be invited to the chat, the tool is hosted itself and can be extended with plugins. In the chat window a survey can optionally be placed before the chat, the chat protocol is sent via e-mail.
Zopim
The view of the current visitors in the dashboard of Zopim.
At Zopim you can choose from different templates for the chat window, or upload your own picture. As with tawk.to there is the possibility to start chats with triggers. Triggers can be the duration of the visitor’s stay, a certain visited page, a certain time or a visitor from a certain region, et cetera – these can of course also be connected. Visitors and the status of the chat window are tracked in real time with the pages they are currently viewing. There are various analysis reports about the chats.
For a single user Zopim is free, but there is only one simultaneous chat, a 14-day chat history and no triggers, no automatic assignment of incoming chats to a specific user … The cheapest plan with an infinite number of users is Basic for $11.20 a month per user if paid annually. Two triggers are also possible. The solution can be integrated into Zendesk and various CRM solutions.
Lime Talk
The functions of Lime Talk are also similar to those of the solutions already introduced: the widget can be customized, active visitors to the site are displayed, shortcuts can be set up for always the same answers or phrases, and chats can be started automatically by certain actions.
The cheapest option costs five euros per month and user for six months, with credits to be purchased.
Tidio Chat
Tidio Chat also provides the usual functions. So you can see who is currently on your website and customize the chat window – according to the website “every element” of it. Interesting is the live preview of what the visitor is typing, so the user can react faster. Automatic messages are also possible.
In the free basic plan, only one chat is possible at a time, plus widget customization, history and desktop apps. For automatic messages, apps on iOS and Android and much more, the Pro Plan must be purchased for 12 US dollars per month and user – visitor tracking and analysis services are added in the Premium Plan for 24 US dollars per month and user.
Pure Chat
Chat view of the LiveZilla alternative Pure Chat. (Screenshot: Pure Chat)Chat view of the LiveZilla alternative Pure Chat.
Like the other solutions, Pure Chat offers the ability to customize the chat widget. If there is no user online, the chat widget will be converted into an email form so that the visitor can still easily get in touch. Multiple chats can be held simultaneously, and 
you can invite other users. Triggers are also possible, and the transcripts of the chats are saved.
- Beside the web interface there are Pure-Chat-Apps for iOS, Android and Kindle.
- The offer is free for 15 chats with one chat box per month and any number of users.
- The chat history is stored for 30 days. For unlimited chats at least 15 US dollars per month are due with an annual payment, the plan then includes three users.
- From this plan there are also the possibilities of integration, for example with Google Analytics.
Userlike
The Userlike tool also lets you customize the chat window. There are several ways to start a chat, e.g. proactively, so that the user speaks to the visitor, or by asking what the topic of the chat should be. Users can forward chats to other users, and the team can be organized by function or language. Data from chats, ratings and more can be analyzed in a dashboard.
The service offers various addons, such as an API and integration with Asana. The free plan has room for one user with a chat widget and an infinite number of chats. For the integrations the team plan has to be purchased for 29 Euro per month, which allows three users and three chat widgets. With the corporate plan for 79 euros per month, five users with five widgets also have no naming of userlike (whitelabel solution), an unlimited chat history and analysis function.
