Web chat and chatbot widgets are indispensable tools for businesses looking to engage their website visitors, streamline customer support, and boost conversions. These widgets facilitate real-time communication, provide automated responses from humans or via AI, and integrate with customer management systems to enhance the customer journey. While many free plans offer compelling features, understanding what they include—and where they fall short—can help you make an informed decision.
There are a zillion chatbot or webchat providers on the market. They all come with a free plan, or a free trial. But most have caveats.
We are on a quest to find the truly free options for you – free in cost and free in freedom. Originally we had a long list of 10 tools, but as we dived deeper into the fineprints, we found more gotcha’s. Then we narrowed down the list from 10 to 8, then to 6, and finally to only 2 on the market.
Common Features of Free Plans
Most free plans for web chat and chatbot widgets come with several standard features that make them suitable for small to medium-sized businesses exploring entry-level solutions:
Live Chat Functionality: All the tools we reviewed provide live chat capabilities, enabling businesses to communicate with visitors directly on their websites.
Chat Widgets But Might Not Be Customizable: The ability to modify widget appearance, including color schemes and text prompts, ensures these tools align with your brand identity.
Desktop Apps For Sure, Mobile Apps Maybe: Support for mobile and desktop apps allows agents to stay connected and respond to customers on the go.
Visitor Insights Might Be Limited Or None: Tools like real-time monitoring and visitor tracking provide businesses with crucial data on who is interacting with their website.
CRM Integrations Are Hit or Miss: Not many free plans integrate with popular CRM tools, allowing businesses to consolidate customer interactions and data in one place.
Conversation History Might Be Limited: Free plans often include limited conversation history, but only a few offer unlimited storage without upgrading.
History Download Might Have Paywall: The freedom to migrate your chat history out of a system is important to some users.
Common Trade-offs to Expect from Free Plans
Here’s what you can generally expect from free plans:
Questionable Scalability: Limited in agents or conversation capacity (e.g., Tidio allows only 50 conversations per month, and Chatwoot caps at 500).
Limited Customization and Integrations: Basic customization and limited CRM or channel integrations are typical. Full multi-channel support often requires a paid plan.
Optional Data Retention: Most free plans limit history retention to 30 days to two months, making them unsuitable for businesses needing long-term access to chat data.
Mostly No AI and Automation Features: Entry-level AI features may be included but that is not usually the case.
Understanding these limitations can help businesses determine whether a free plan meets their needs or if they should invest in a paid solution to unlock critical features.
Our Definition of “Truly Free” – Free in Price and Freedom to Own Your Data:
Still, there are authentic truly free options on the market. When searching these services, we ask ourselves: are we gonna use them as a business? Does it have a minimal feature set that fits my business’s long term goal? Eventually we come up with the following criteria:
At Least One Free Human Agent: The plan should support at least one live agent for real-time communication.
Unlimited Chats – Businesses must be able to conduct unlimited conversations, ensuring no restrictions on customer engagement.
Unlimited Contacts – There should be no limits on the number of customer contacts businesses can interact with through the platform.
Unlimited History: Free plans should retain all past conversations, allowing businesses to access historical data for insights and compliance.
Free to Export Chat Data: Tools must allow the export of chat data for analysis or documentation purposes, ensuring flexibility in migrating to other platforms if needed.
By these criteria, many tools fail to meet the “truly free” standard. Common pitfalls include limited agent support, caps on monthly conversations, short data retention periods, and restrictions on exporting chat history.
Top Truly Free Web Chat and Chatbot Widgets
When searching for truly free web chat and chatbot widgets, it’s essential to identify solutions that not only minimize costs but also offer unique features tailored to diverse business needs. Below, we expand on what sets each of the top truly free platforms apart, demonstrating their value and helping you decide which best fits your requirements.
SeaChat by Seasalt.ai
SeaChat by Seasalt.ai combines AI-driven automation with human interaction, offering versatile chat and voice capabilities for multi-channel engagement.
Key Features:
- Free Multi-channel Integration: Engage customers on WhatsApp, Facebook, Line, and Webchat without extra costs.
- Customizable Widget: Align chat design with your brand identity.
- Platform Integrations: Connects with Shopify, Twilio, WordPress, and more.
- AI-Agent Collaboration: Smooth transitions between AI and live agents for efficient support.
- AI Replies & Scheduling: ChatGPT-powered AI replies and appointment booking for lead generation.
- Voice AI and Chat: Blend AI-powered voice support with chat for seamless interactions.
Best For: Businesses needing cost-effective, multi-channel communication with AI-powered voice and chat.
Tawk.to
Tawk.to offers unlimited agents and chats for free, making it ideal for scalable, collaborative support teams.
- Key Features:
- Unlimited Agents: No cost constraints, perfect for growing teams.
- Visitor Monitoring: Proactively engage customers with real-time tracking.
- Customizable Widget: Align chat design with your brand identity.
- Multi-Language Support: Accessible for international businesses.
- Best For: Teams needing a scalable, free chat widget with real-time monitoring and unlimited agents.
Free But with a Catch
These tools provide free plans with impressive features but fall short of “truly free” standards due to restrictions like limited conversations or short data retention. While suitable for personal use or trials, they may not meet production needs for serious users.
Freshchat by Freshworks
Key Features: Team inbox, basic chatbots, email integration, and proactive chat capabilities.
Best For: Businesses managing high communication volumes across email and chat channels.
Limitations:
- ✅ Supports 10 free agent.
- ✅ Unlimited chats.
- ✅ Complete chat history
- ✅ Unlimited Contact.
- ❌ Data export is not free.
Deal Breaker: Data export is not free.
Note that since 11/15/2024, Freshchat has changed its free plan from 10 agents to 2 agents (source).
Freshchat’s Data Export feature is done through its Marketplace Apps which is only available on Freshchat’s platform. Yet, the Download Transcription App states that this is a feature that is only available on Pro and Enterprise plans
Chatra
- Key Features: Live chat, visitor insights, group chats, offline messaging.
- Best For: Small businesses and solo entrepreneurs focused on engagement.
- Limitations:
- ✅ Supports 1 free agent.
- ✅ Unlimited chats.
- ✅ Complete chat history
- ❌ No export options.
- ❓ Contact limits unspecified.
- Deal Breaker: No unlimited history or data export.
Crisp
- Key Features: Shared inbox, live chat, e-commerce integrations, unlimited chats.
- Best For: E-commerce businesses needing integrated tools.
- Limitations:
- ✅ Up to 2 free agents.
- ✅ Unlimited chats.
- ❌ 100 contact profiles
- ❌ Data export requires a paid plan.
- ❓ History limits unspecified.
- Deal Breaker: Limited to only 100 contacts and no data export.
JivoChat
- Key Features: Multi-channel integration, team inbox, mobile apps.
- Best For: Social media-focused businesses.
- Limitations:
- ✅ Unlimited agents and chats.
- ❌ 2-month chat history.
- ❌ No data export in free plans.
- ❓ Contact limits unspecified.
- Deal Breaker: Short data retention and export restrictions.
Zoho SalesIQ
- Key Features: CRM integration, visitor tracking, canned responses.
- Best For: Businesses using the Zoho suite.
- Limitations:
- ✅ Up to 3 free operators.
- ❌ 100 chat sessions per month.
- ❌ No export options.
- ❓ History limits unspecified.
- ❓ Contact limits unspecified.
- Deal Breaker: Low chat limits hinder scalability.
Tiledesk
- Key Features: AI bots, knowledge base, multi-channel support.
- Best For: Businesses exploring automation affordably.
- Limitations:
- ✅ Supports 1 free user.
- ❌ 200 chats/month.
- ❌ No unlimited history or data export.
- ❓ Contact limits unspecified.
- Deal Breaker: Unsuitable for high engagement due to chat caps.
Tidio
- Key Features: AI chatbots, visitor tracking, live chat.
- Best For: Small businesses testing automation.
- Limitations:
- ✅ 1 free agent with live chat.
- ❌ 50 handled conversations/month.
- ❌ No export options.
- ❓ History limits unspecified.
- ❓ Contact limits unspecified.
- Deal Breaker: Only 50 conversations per month.
Chatwoot
- Key Features: Open-source customization, real-time visitor monitoring, multi-channel support.
- Best For: Customizable setups with basic requirements.
- Limitations:
- ✅ Supports 2 free agents.
- ✅ Data export supported.
- ❌ 500 conversations/month
- ❌ 30-day data retention.
- ❓ Contact limits unspecified.
- Deal Breaker: Limited scalability and short data retention.
Key Takeaway
These free plans are great for testing or minimal needs but fall short for growing businesses. Consider them for personal projects or small-scale use, but for long-term, production-level functionality, upgrading may be essential.
Free Trials vs. Truly Free Plans
Free trials offer a glimpse into premium chat solutions, showcasing advanced scalability, AI capabilities, and robust integrations. However, they differ from “free forever” plans, as they are time-limited and designed to encourage upgrades.
Notable Free Trial Options:
- Olark – Customizable widget with ADA compliance, ideal for accessibility-focused businesses.
- LiveChat – Premium CRM integration for advanced customer management.
- Drift – Conversational sales platform with cutting-edge AI chatbot features.
- Intercom – Sophisticated messaging and CRM tools for targeted engagement.
While these tools provide omni-channel support, analytics, and AI-driven automation, they prioritize paid subscriptions. Free trials are ideal for short-term exploration but lack the long-term usability of “truly free” solutions.
Conclusion: Only 2 Truly Free Tools
In conclusion, while many web chat and chatbot widgets offer free plans, only a few truly stand out by providing comprehensive features without hidden costs or limitations. Among these, two options shine the brightest:
This platform combines AI-driven automation with human interaction, offering versatile chat and voice capabilities for multi-channel engagement. With features like free WhatsApp integration, AI replies, and seamless transitions between AI and live agents, SeaChat is ideal for businesses needing cost-effective, multi-channel communication.
You should use SeaChat if you start with a single-person human agent, but plan to scale with both more live agents, and ChatGPT-powered agents for omnichannel integrations include Messenger, WhatsApp, Line, and Phone Calls.
Known for its scalability, Tawk.to offers unlimited agents and chats for free, making it perfect for growing teams. Its customizable widget, real-time visitor monitoring, and multi-language support make it a robust choice for businesses looking to enhance customer engagement without incurring additional costs.
You should use Tawk.to if you start with more than a single human agent, but plan to scale with more human agents and want to stay free with only human agents for even longer.
These truly free options provide valuable tools for businesses to enhance customer engagement, streamline support, and explore advanced features without breaking the bank. By choosing the right widget, businesses can lay a strong foundation for building lasting customer relationships and achieving long-term success.
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