The 13 best LiveChat alternatives for 2027

We compared and reviewed 13 LiveChat alternatives on AI resolution, AI billing, seat price, and G2 rating, with tips for switching away from LiveChat in 2027.

Updated

30 min read

Comparing the top LiveChat alternatives for 2027: 1. Computer, by DevRev, 2. Zendesk, 3. Intercom (now Fin), 4. HubSpot, 5. Freshchat, 6. Zoho SalesIQ, 7. Tidio, 8. Help Scout, 9. Olark, 10. tawk.to, 11. LiveAgent, 12. Crisp, 13. Gorgias.

LiveChat has a 4.5 rating out of 5 across 813 reviews on G2. But its per-user plan tiers, small AI allowances, and the fact that chat is only one part of support are prompting some teams to compare options. If the goal is chat that resolves customer issues, beyond answering them faster, which LiveChat alternative fits?

Below, 13 LiveChat alternatives are lined up on AI resolution, AI billing, seat price, and G2 rating, followed by seven criteria for 2027: AI resolution versus assist, unified support and product data, and how tightly chat connects to the rest of your support stack.

TL;DR

  • The 13 alternatives: Computer, by DevRev; Zendesk; Intercom (now Fin); HubSpot; Freshchat; Zoho SalesIQ; Tidio; Help Scout; Olark; tawk.to; LiveAgent; Crisp; and Gorgias.
  • LiveChat includes AI Agents and AI Copilot, with resolutions counted against a monthly allowance, and its LiveCalls app adds in-chat voice, video, and screen sharing.
  • Gartner found that use of company-provided chatbots has been statistically unchanged since 2022, so a chat tool earns its place by resolving.
  • Our top pick is Computer, by DevRev, for chat that has to resolve across systems.
  • Channel coverage differs: Computer, by DevRev, handles chat, email, WhatsApp, and Voice AI, LiveAgent adds call center and IVR, and Crisp and Freshchat cover chat and social messengers.

Is chat volume growing faster than your team? See Computer, by DevRev, in a demo answering a live chat from your own site.

Why do teams look for LiveChat alternatives?

LiveChat lists Essential, Growth, and Enterprise plans, with Essential at $19 and Growth at $79 per user per month on annual billing, a free trial, and no permanent free plan. Five reasons come up most often: AI allowances, plan tiers, chat as one channel, branding, and cost for small teams.

  • AI allowances are small and tied to the plan: LiveChat’s Essential plan includes one AI Agent and 10 AI resolutions a month, and Growth includes 10 AI Agents and 200. Teams comparing customer service automation software should check what happens past the allowance.
  • Chat features sit in higher tiers: Chat supervision and takeover, shared canned responses, 30 proactive campaigns, and 400 tracked live visitors start at Growth. Essential tracks 50. One G2 reviewer, an IT operations manager at a mid-market company, writes that “small businesses may find that the more expensive tiers can be so costly that it’s difficult to justify them over the other platforms available” (G2, May 6, 2026).
  • Chat is one channel among many: A senior marketing specialist at a small business writes that “without full CRM integration, conversations may lack important context” (G2, March 18, 2026). Zendesk’s CX Trends 2026 report found that 74% of consumers get frustrated when asked to repeat themselves.
  • Branding stays until Enterprise: LiveChat’s pricing page lists a white-label widget only on Enterprise, which is priced by contact. tawk.to charges $29 a month to remove its branding, and Crisp lists white labelling on Plus.
  • The brand has moved: LiveChat’s maker now brands its site and pricing page as Text. We use the LiveChat name that G2 and most buyers still search for.

LiveChat earns strong G2 ratings, so the reasons to compare are practical: plan tiers that gate chat features, small AI allowances, and branding that stays until Enterprise.

Top 13 LiveChat alternatives comparison for 2027

ToolBest forG2 ratingAI resolutionHow AI is billedSeat price per month
Computer, by DevRevAI-native support resolution, embedded in your full business context4.3 (210 reviews)In a configured deployment, Customer Agent checks logs, orders, and session replays before it resolvesConsumption-based credits; Customer Agent and Voice AI are priced per deploymentBy contact; see pricing
ZendeskLarge support operations on a mature ticketing platform4.3 (7,100)AI agents resolve multi-step requests across channels$2.00 per automated resolution beyond an allowance (pay as you go)$19, $55, or $115 per agent, billed annually
Intercom (now Fin)Product-led chat-first support4.5 (3,922)Fin AI agent resolves frontline queries$0.99 per outcomeHelpdesk seats from $29
HubSpotTeams already on HubSpot CRM4.4 (3,018, Service Hub)Customer Agent on Professional and EnterpriseCustomer Agent free for 14 days with a paid seatFree for up to two seats; Starter $20, Professional $100 billed monthly ($90 annual), or Enterprise $150 per seat
FreshchatMultichannel messaging in the Freshworks suite4.4 (503)Freddy AI Agent from the Growth plan$49 per 100 sessions after 500 free, once per accountFree for up to 10 agents; $19, $49, or $79 per agent, billed annually
Zoho SalesIQVisitor tracking and chat for Zoho shops4.4 (256)Zia and Zobot botsBot sessions capped by plan; extra chatbot ₹400 a monthFree plan; $7, $12.75, or $20 per operator, billed annually
TidioSmall teams that want live chat and an AI agent4.6 (1,962)Lyro AI Agent, which can also run on another help deskLyro from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations; first 50 freeStarter $24.17, Growth from $49.17, Plus from $300 plus usage, billed annually; Premium by contact
Help ScoutSmall teams, email-centered4.4 (431)AI Answers resolves questions on its own$0.75 per resolution$25, $45, or $75 per user (billing cycle not stated); free plan for five seats
OlarkSimple chat with a flat-price AI agent4.3 (224)Aiden AI Website Agent answers visitor questions and qualifies leadsIncluded in the $400 plan; no token limits or overages$29 per extra human agent; live chat without AI is $29 per agent
tawk.toFree chat for budget-conscious teams4.5 (202)AI Assist chatbotAI Assist from $29 a monthFree software; no per-seat price; removing branding is $29 a month
LiveAgentBudget-conscious mid-size teams needing multichannel coverage4.5 (1,537)AI Agents and an AI Answer Assistant on its plansNo separate AI price listed$15, $29, $49, or $69 per agent, billed annually
CrispSmall teams that price by workspace, not seat4.5 (205)AI chatbot on Essentials, AI-first suite on PlusAI credits included: $5, $25, or $75 a month by planPer workspace: free (2 seats), $45, $95, or $295
GorgiasE-commerce brands on Shopify4.6 (582)AI Agent on every plan$0.90 per automated interaction on annual contracts, $1.00 monthlyTicket-based: $50, $300, or $750 a month, billed annually (Starter $10, billed monthly)

Figures come from vendor pages and G2 as read in October 2026. Prices move, so check each vendor before you buy.

How should you evaluate these LiveChat alternatives?

Moving off a chat tool is easier than moving off a help desk, but the choice still deserves a shared yardstick. The table lines up all 13 tools on AI resolution, AI billing, seat price, and G2 rating. The seven criteria below are what to weigh when you check each vendor, listed from most to least important for a team moving beyond fast replies.

  • AI resolution versus AI assist: Does the AI only draft replies for agents, or can it close out a question itself?
  • Unified support and product data: Can the AI see orders, product usage, and customer history, or only a knowledge base? Look for customer support software that links what customers ask to what your teams know.
  • Knowledge base and self-service quality: Does the AI reason across your articles, or only match keywords? A strong knowledge base cuts chat volume before the AI is involved.
  • Omnichannel coverage: Can you handle chat, email, social, phone, and in-app from one workspace? Some vendors price channels separately, and some features sit on higher plans.
  • Pricing and scalability: Can you predict your bill if chat volume triples? Per-seat tiers, per-session meters, per-resolution fees, and per-workspace prices all move the bill differently.
  • Migration and onboarding: Can you export chat history and canned responses, and can you run both tools in parallel while you test?
  • Reporting and analytics: Can you track resolution rate and AI performance in the tool, or will the data end up in a BI export?

How the AI is counted: LiveChat counts AI resolutions against a monthly allowance, Freshchat counts sessions at $49 per 100 after 500 free, and Intercom counts outcomes at $0.99, so the units don’t line up.

These criteria also apply if you’re comparing AI agents for customer support more broadly. Feature lists date fast; these seven criteria hold up.

What are the 13 best LiveChat alternatives?

1. Computer, by DevRev

Best for: AI-native support resolution, embedded in your full business context.

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Computer, by DevRev, holds a 4.3 rating on G2 across 210 reviews.

Think of Computer, by DevRev, as an AI teammate that reads company data, settles customer issues, and takes action across support and CRM tools. Teams set it up for customer self-service with Customer Agent and Voice AI, for employee support with service desk automation, or for enterprise search across company systems.

Key features

  • On harder chats it goes past FAQs: it checks Datadog error logs, pulls the Shopify order, replays the customer’s session, and reads the console output, then, in a configured deployment, resolves.
  • DevRev’s Trust Center lists SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022, plus an AI penetration testing assessment.
  • Chat, email, WhatsApp, and Voice AI conversations are all open to Customer Agent once the deployment is configured for them. Voice AI covers up to 70 languages.
  • Each week, Computer reviews the conversations the agent handled, proposes fixes, and applies the ones you approve.
  • When customers keep asking something the agent can’t answer, Computer drafts the missing answer and adds it to your knowledge base.
  • One-click connectors include Slack and Jira.
  • Teams build agents in Agent Studio.

Pricing: DevRev bills Computer on consumption, where each dollar spent converts to credits, and lists three plans on its pricing page.

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Pros

  • A free Mini plan and a 30-day Pro trial let a team try it before buying.
  • Harder chats get resolved along with first-line questions.
  • Customer Agent can work alongside LiveChat, so a team can test it on one channel.

Cons

  • Customer Agent and Voice AI are priced per deployment.
  • 210 reviews on G2, against 813 for LiveChat.
  • If all you need is a simple chat widget, the platform may be more than you need.

Computer, by DevRev, vs. LiveChat: LiveChat includes AI Agents and AI Copilot in its plans, with resolutions counted against a monthly allowance, where the Customer Agent in Computer, by DevRev, also acts across your stack, and it draws on Computer Memory, a permission-aware knowledge layer built from your tickets, docs, product specs, and customer history. Customer Agent can work alongside LiveChat.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Customization and workflows. A growth support member at a mid-market financial services company writes that DevRev is “offering what feels like an insane amount of customizations, snap-ins, and workflows” (G2, June 29, 2025).
  • Complain: Setup needs technical skill. The same reviewer writes that it “needs someone technically savvy or with developer knowledge to set it up completely to realize its full potential” (same review, June 29, 2025).
FeaturesDevRevLiveChat
Pricing
  • platform starting at US $19.99 per seat/month
  • Free AI powered search & deflections
  • Native ticketing solutions and knowledge base.
  • AI powered deflection, session replay, and engagement is pay as you go.
  • Fixed pricing model
  • Starter: US $20/month/person (1 user)
  • Team: US $49/month/person (Unlimited users)
  • Business: $59/month/person (Unlimited users)
  • Ticketing solutions and knowledge base are paid integrations making the entry level high for small businesses.
Entry level for small businessesEasy access due to:
  • Native knowledge base, ticketing and chatbot solutions.
  • No need for paid third party integrations
Difficult due to :
  • Non-native paid integrations Chatbot- $52/month Knowledge base - $49/month Ticketing solution - $29/month
Analytics & data insights
  • Indepth analytics
  • Tracks user behavior and session data
  • Identifies usability issues
  • Visualizes key patterns with:
  • Ticket trends
  • Agent performance
  • Customer sentiment
  • CSAT
  • LiveChat only offers basic chat and agent data, missing the depth needed to optimize the full user experience.
Custom report and dashboards
  • DevRev’s Vista Reports lets you create custom dashboards and reports without coding.
  • You can set up separate dashboards for different categories
  • Basic reporting requires no API configuration, but it’s available for more complex needs.
  • LiveChat lacks built-in custom dashboards.
  • But you can integrate it with tools like Stratifyd to create custom dashboards.
  • You can also pull LiveChat data through the Configuration API to create custom reports.
AI knowledge graph
  • Utilizes the knowledge graph to personalize AI for your business and customers with high accuracy and low latency
  • LiveChat does not support an AI knowledge graph infrastructure
Ticket deflection & automation
  • Self-serving complex L1 & L2 queries
  • Self-learning
  • Proactive in suggesting fixes
  • Highly personalized with: AI agents, knowledge graph and RAG
  • Focuses on load management
  • Lacks built-in ticket deflection and automation
  • Relies on third-party integrations
Agent to agent chat
    No additional cost for Internal collaboration features like :
  • user tagging
  • Threaded responses
  • File attachments
  • Internal chat communication through a paid add-on at $2.50 per agent, limiting collaboration to chat ownership transfer only
Knowledge base
  • Native feature of DevRev's core functionality.
  • It's included in the Starter plan along with other basic features
  • LiveChat charges $59 per month for knowledge base features.
Workflow automation
  • DevRev's Turing AI enables workflow creation through natural language prompts
  • Incorporates an NLP-based rule builder for workflows
  • Powered by advanced large language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI GPT-4 and Claude-3.5
  • No built-in workflow automation features
  • Relies on third-party integrations, like Zapier, to manage workflows
  • Adds complexity and additional costs
Content moderation
    Spam Shield uses advanced algorithms to:
  • Analyze initial customer messages for spam
  • Categorizes conversations into Primary, Guest, and Spam, for user-controlled spam management.
  • No dedicated feature in place

2. Zendesk

Best for: Large operations that want chat inside a full ticketing suite, with SLAs and deep reporting.

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Zendesk holds a 4.3 rating on G2 across 7,100 reviews. Its AI agents work through multi-step requests across channels and take actions in connected systems. Our Zendesk alternatives guide covers the vendor in full.

Key features

  • Voice agents take call flows, and AI agents take multi-step requests.
  • Support Team and Suite Team include five automated resolutions per agent a month, and Suite Professional includes 10.
  • Copilot and Workforce Engagement are add-ons at $50 per agent per month each.
  • Jira comments sync both ways, and status changes trigger notifications.

Pricing: Plans are $19, $55, and $115 per agent per month on annual billing, with a 14-day trial and no free plan. Resolutions past the allowance cost $1.50 on a commitment or $2.00 pay as you go.

Pros

  • The most mature platform here, with the largest pool of G2 reviews.
  • A published per-resolution rate for AI.

Cons

  • Resolutions past the allowance and add-ons are billed on top of seats.
  • There is no free plan.

Zendesk vs. LiveChat: Zendesk treats chat as one channel of a full ticketing suite, where LiveChat is chat-first with an inbox and ticketing inside its plans.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Slack integration. A deployment strategist at a mid-market software company writes, “One of the things I like most about Zendesk is how well it integrates with Slack” (G2, August 13, 2026; incentivized review).
  • Complain: The product can feel complex. The same reviewer writes, “My main frustration with Zendesk is that the product can feel quite complex to use” (same review, August 13, 2026).

3. Intercom (now Fin)

Best for: Product-led SaaS teams where most support starts in chat.

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Fin holds a 4.5 rating on G2 across 3,922 reviews, under G2’s Fin listing. Intercom’s AI agent is Fin, and the company has taken the Fin name too. Salesforce completed its acquisition of Fin, formerly Intercom, on September 10, 2026. Fin can sit on top of another helpdesk with no seat costs and no setup, integration, or platform fees. Our Intercom alternatives guide has more.

Key features

  • One workspace to train, test, deploy, and measure the agent.
  • More than 45 languages.
  • Email, voice, live chat, and social channels.
  • A 14-day trial with no credit card.

Pricing: Fin costs $0.99 per outcome. Intercom’s own helpdesk seats cost $29 (Essential), $85 (Advanced), and $132 (Expert) per month, and a minimum monthly commitment applies.

Pros

  • A published per-outcome rate, with no seat cost beside an existing helpdesk.
  • Fin passes the conversation to a person when its safety parameters aren’t met.

Cons

  • An “outcome” counts confirmed resolutions, customers who stop asking for help, and completed workflows including handoffs, so it’s broader than a strict resolution.
  • Spend rises with outcome volume, and the minimum commitment stays.

Intercom (now Fin) vs. LiveChat: Fin is $0.99 per outcome, where LiveChat includes a monthly allowance of AI resolutions in each plan, so compare the units on your own volume. Fin can also run on top of another helpdesk, which lets a team change the AI agent without changing the chat tool.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Fast to train and configure. A director of customer success at a mid-market computer software company writes, “I really like the ease with which we were able to train, configure, and get Fin up and running” (G2, September 23, 2026; incentivized review).
  • Complain: Limited reporting on standalone Fin. The same reviewer writes, “Since we use Fin Standalone and not the full Intercom Suite, the reporting and customization capabilities are somewhat limited” (same review, September 23, 2026).

4. HubSpot Service Hub

Best for: Teams that want chat tied to the CRM they already run for sales and marketing.

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HubSpot Service Hub holds a 4.4 rating on G2 across 3,018 reviews, and we use that listing for HubSpot’s chat and support products. It sits next to HubSpot’s CRM, marketing, and sales tools. Professional and Enterprise seats include a Customer Agent, free for 14 days with a seat purchase. Our hubspot alternatives guide covers the vendor in more detail.

Key features

  • The Customer Agent answers chat, email, forms, and calls, then escalates to your team.
  • Two seats are free.
  • Starter, Professional, and Enterprise include 500, 3,000, and 5,000 HubSpot Credits.

Pricing: Two seats are free. Beyond that, Starter lists at $20 per seat per month, Professional at $100 ($90 on annual billing), and Enterprise at $150.

Pros

  • A free tier, plus a 14-day Customer Agent trial.
  • Chat and CRM live on one platform, so agents see contact details.

Cons

  • The Customer Agent is only on Professional and Enterprise seats.
  • The free tier stops at two seats.

HubSpot vs. LiveChat: HubSpot lists a free tier for two seats, where LiveChat lists no permanent free plan.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Contact details inside the ticket. A technical support engineer at a mid-market company writes, “I like how all of the information relating to contacts is easily able to be located within a ticket” (G2, August 26, 2026).
  • Complain: Confusing email threads. The same reviewer writes, “Sometimes when there are multiple people replying to a current ticket the way the email thread displays can be kind of confusing” (same review, August 26, 2026).

5. Freshchat

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Best for: Teams that want multichannel messaging and already use Freshworks.

Freshchat is rated 4.4 out of 5 on G2 from 503 reviews.

Freshchat is Freshworks’ messaging product. Its free plan covers up to 10 agents, and the Freddy AI Agent arrives on the Growth plan.

Key features

  • The free plan includes a chat widget for web and mobile apps, a shared inbox, email, and roles and permissions.
  • Growth adds Freddy AI Agent, social messengers, and text messaging.
  • Pro adds multilingual conversations, intelligent routing, and multiple SLA policies.
  • Enterprise adds skill-based routing, audit logs, and JWT authentication.

Pricing: Free for up to 10 agents. Growth, Pro, and Enterprise are $19, $49, and $79 per agent per month on annual billing. Freddy AI Agent costs $49 per 100 sessions after the first 500, which Freshworks limits to once per account, and Freddy AI Copilot is $29 per agent per month on Pro and Enterprise.

Pros

  • A free plan for up to 10 agents.
  • One inbox for chat, email, and social conversations.

Cons

  • Freddy AI Agent and Copilot are billed on top of seats.
  • Routing and SLA features sit in higher tiers.

Freshchat vs. LiveChat: Freshchat lists a free plan for up to 10 agents, where LiveChat lists none, and it bills AI by session after 500 free, where LiveChat includes a monthly allowance of AI resolutions.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Customer context inside the chat. A team leader at a mid-market company writes, “Agents see order history, user properties, and previous conversations right in the chat window, which speeds up resolution and personalizes interactions” (G2, January 7, 2026).
  • Complain: Cost growth. The same reviewer writes, “As you add more team members, channels, and automation features, costs go up quickly” (same review, January 7, 2026).

The DevRev difference: Bringing AI support to life with knowledge graphs

Knowledge graph seamlessly connects conversations, tickets, product updates, and customer feedback into a single, dynamic map—always evolving and providing grounded, contextual insights.

Through Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), it pulls valuable enterprise information from both internal and external sources, such as external websites (articles), Slack imports, Google Docs, and internal systems like tickets and issues.

It’s not just about faster responses but better responses; those that not only address the question at hand but also understand the context, the root cause, and guide the next steps.

6. Zoho SalesIQ

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Best for: Teams that want visitor tracking and chat, especially if they use Zoho CRM.

Zoho SalesIQ is rated 4.4 out of 5 on G2 from 256 reviews.

Zoho SalesIQ combines live chat with visitor tracking and bots. Its pricing page lists Zia alongside OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI, DeepSeek, and custom models, and channels including WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger.

Key features

  • A free plan, then Basic, Professional, and Enterprise plans priced per operator.
  • Add-ons for chatbots, bot chat sessions, and brands, each priced separately.
  • Visitor tracking billed by monthly visitors, from 100,000 up to 5 million.
  • A 15-day trial with no credit card required.

Pricing: On annual billing, Basic is $7, Professional $12.75, and Enterprise $20 per operator per month. Extra chatbots and bot sessions are $8 a month each, and a free plan is listed.

Pros

  • A free plan and a long list of AI model options.
  • Visitor tracking and chat in one product.

Cons

  • Chatbots, bot sessions, brands, and visitor tracking are add-ons.
  • Prices vary by region, so confirm in your own currency.

Zoho SalesIQ vs. LiveChat: Zoho SalesIQ prices extra chatbots and bot sessions as add-ons and lists a free plan, where LiveChat includes AI Agents in each plan and lists none.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Responsive for sales reps. A president at a small business writes, “I find Zoho SalesIQ to be a very responsive solution that my live customer service reps are finding helpful” (G2, January 27, 2026).
  • Complain: Brand setup. The same reviewer writes, “You have to set up brands for each website and each has their own settings” (same review, January 27, 2026).

7. Tidio

Best for: Small teams that want live chat and an AI agent in one tool.

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Tidio holds a 4.6 rating on G2 across 1,962 reviews. On annual billing, Starter is $24.17 a month, Growth starts at $49.17, Plus starts at $300 plus usage, and Premium is by contact. Its Lyro AI Agent is an add-on from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations, and Tidio says Lyro can run on Zendesk, Salesforce, or another help desk.

Key features

  • Lyro’s first 50 conversations are free for the life of an account.
  • Lyro can run on a help desk you already use, so you can test it without migrating.
  • Plus adds usage-based charges on top of the plan price.

Pricing: On annual billing, Starter is $24.17, Growth is from $49.17, and Plus is from $300 plus usage a month. Premium is by contact.

Pros

  • A low entry price and a free allowance for the AI agent.
  • Lyro works on a help desk you already own.

Cons

  • Plus bills usage on top of the plan.
  • The higher plans are “from” prices or by contact.

Tidio vs. LiveChat: Tidio’s Lyro starts at $32.50 a month for 50 conversations with the first 50 free, where LiveChat includes 10 AI resolutions on Essential and 200 on Growth, so the two meters differ.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Fast setup. A senior WordPress engineer at a mid-market company writes, “Getting Tidio up and running was surprisingly easy, within a few minutes the widget was live” (G2, June 28, 2026).
  • Complain: Costs climb with AI. The same reviewer writes, “Once you start using more advanced automations or Lyro AI, costs can climb pretty quickly depending on how many conversations you’re handling” (same review, June 28, 2026).

8. Help Scout

Best for: Small teams whose support runs mostly through email, with chat as a side channel.

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Help Scout holds a 4.4 rating on G2 across 431 reviews. Its AI Answers resolves questions without an agent at $0.75 per resolution, and AI Assist drafts and summarizes replies. The lineup opens with a free plan for five seats. Our Help Scout alternatives guide has the detail.

Key features

  • The free plan has five seats, one inbox, and one Docs site.
  • Standard adds more inboxes, live chat and SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, multiple knowledge bases, a basic SLA policy, and an AI inbox assistant.
  • Plus adds advanced workflows, two advanced SLA policies, a secure customer portal, and unlimited AI Drafts.

Pricing: Standard is $25, Plus $45, and Pro $75 per user per month. The page states no billing cycle beside those prices, and AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution.

Pros

  • A free plan, and a published per-resolution AI rate.
  • Live chat, SMS, and messaging channels arrive with Standard.

Cons

  • AI Answers is a per-resolution charge on top of seats.
  • The free plan stops at one inbox and one Docs site.

Help Scout vs. LiveChat: Help Scout lists a free plan for five seats and adds live chat from Standard, where LiveChat is chat-first and lists no free plan.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Clean interface and shared inbox. A junior software engineer at a mid-market company writes about its “clean and effective interface” and says its “shared inbox keeps entire team organized” (G2, August 4, 2026).
  • Complain: Advanced features and cost as teams grow. The same reviewer says some advanced features are limited compared with larger enterprise help desk platforms and that it “become expensive as team grow” (same review, August 4, 2026).

9. Olark

Best for: Teams that want simple chat, or a flat-price AI agent with no usage meter.

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Olark is rated 4.3 out of 5 on G2 from 224 reviews.

Olark now sells an AI-first plan alongside plain live chat. Its Standard AI Website Agent, powered by Aiden, is $400 a month billed annually and includes one human agent seat.

Key features

  • Unlimited AI conversations, with no token limits or overages.
  • The AI agent answers visitor questions, keeps FAQs updated, and qualifies leads.
  • Extra human agents cost $29 a month each.
  • Live chat without AI is $29 per agent per month, with a 14-day trial and no credit card.

Pricing: The Standard AI Website Agent is $400 a month billed annually ($4,800 a year), with one human seat and unlimited AI conversations. Extra human agents are $29 each, and live chat without AI is $29 per agent per month.

Pros

  • A flat price for AI, with no usage meter.
  • A plain live chat plan for teams that don’t want AI.

Cons

  • The AI plan starts at $400 a month, a large step up for small teams.
  • Only one G2 review in the last two years, so there is little recent feedback.

Olark vs. LiveChat: Olark’s AI plan is one flat price with unlimited conversations, where LiveChat includes a monthly allowance of AI resolutions per plan.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Interface. A digital marketing manager at a mid-market company writes, “The interface is really nice for both the admin and the user” (G2, January 20, 2026).
  • Complain: Transcript export. The same reviewer writes, “You need to pay to export transcripts” (same review, January 20, 2026).

10. tawk.to

Best for: Teams that want free chat and are happy to add paid extras only when needed.

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awk.to is rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 from 202 reviews.

tawk.to offers its chat software free, and prices the extras separately. Removing the “Powered by tawk.to” branding costs $29 a month, and its AI Assist chatbot starts at $29 a month.

Key features

  • Free chat software, with a free hosted help center and ticketing.
  • AI Assist, an AI chatbot, from $29 a month.
  • Branding removal for $29 a month.
  • Human chat agents you can hire at $1 an hour.

Pricing: The software is free and tawk.to lists no per-seat price. As listed on tawk.to’s pricing page on October 18, 2026, removing branding is $29 a month, AI Assist is from $29 a month, and hired chat agents are $1 an hour. The page may show another currency outside the US.

Pros

  • Free software with no per-seat price.
  • Paid extras only when you need them.

Cons

  • Branding stays unless you pay to remove it.
  • Reviewers mention a slow mobile app and a dated interface.

tawk.to vs. LiveChat: tawk.to charges no per-seat price and sells AI Assist from $29 a month, where LiveChat prices by user from $19.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Easy to use. An information technology engineer at a mid-market company writes, “I like that tawk.to is very easy to use and doesn’t feel complicated” (G2, March 16, 2026).
  • Complain: Mobile app. The same reviewer writes, “One thing that could be improved is the mobile app because sometimes it feels a bit slow” (same review, March 16, 2026).

11. LiveAgent

Best for: Budget-conscious mid-size teams that need chat, email, and phone in one place.

LiveAgent holds a 4.5 rating on G2 across 1,537 reviews. Its Small, Medium, Large, and Enterprise plans cost $15, $29, $49, and $69 per agent per month on annual billing, or $19, $35, $59, and $85 billed monthly. It offers a 30-day trial and no permanent free plan.

Key features

  • Email ticketing and live chat come on every plan, and call center and IVR start on Medium.
  • Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram, and WhatsApp start on Large, or cost extra per channel.
  • AI Agents are on Small, and Medium includes full AI setup.
  • The trial needs no credit card.

Pricing: Per agent per month on annual billing, Small is $15, Medium $29, Large $49, and Enterprise $69. LiveAgent lists no separate AI price.

Pros

  • Published seat prices from $15, and a 30-day trial.
  • Phone, chat, email, and social channels in one help desk.

Cons

  • Social channels need a higher plan or an add-on.
  • There is no permanent free plan.

LiveAgent vs. LiveChat: LiveAgent lists plans from $15 per agent per month on annual billing, where LiveChat lists $19 per user, and LiveAgent adds call center and IVR from its Medium plan.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Ease of use. A social media manager at a mid-market company writes, “What I like most about LiveAgent is its ease of use” (G2, January 25, 2026).
  • Complain: Slow pages at peak. The same reviewer writes, “I also dislike the slow page loading times during periods of high traffic” (same review, January 25, 2026).

12. Crisp

Best for: Small teams that price by workspace, with seats included.

Crisp is rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 from 205 reviews.

Crisp prices by workspace, with seats included. Its free plan covers two seats, and Mini, Essentials, and Plus include 4, 10, and 20 or more seats.

Key features

  • The free plan includes a website chat widget, a shared inbox, mobile apps, and chat SDKs.
  • Mini adds an email inbox, chat triggers, private notes, and a custom email domain.
  • Essentials adds an omnichannel inbox, a workflow builder, an AI chatbot, a knowledge base, and routing rules.
  • Plus adds ticketing, unlimited task automations, white labelling, and 100 or more integrations.

Pricing: Per workspace per month, Mini is $45, Essentials $95, and Plus $295, with a free plan for two seats. Mini includes $5 of AI credits, Essentials $25, and Plus $75, and the free plan includes none.

Pros

  • One workspace price covers several seats.
  • AI credits come with the plan, and a free plan exists.

Cons

  • AI credits run out, and the free plan has none.
  • A reviewer notes limited trigger-based automation.

Crisp vs. LiveChat: Crisp prices a whole workspace, such as $95 for 10 seats on Essentials, where LiveChat prices each user, so the gap widens as the team grows.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Broad features and a clear interface. A customer success manager at a mid-market company writes, “I like Crisp high functionality, features variety and interface” (G2, September 18, 2026).
  • Complain: Limited trigger-based automation. The same reviewer writes that “you can’t configure trigger-based automations, for example, based on segments or previous communication history” (same review, September 18, 2026).

13. Gorgias

Best for: E-commerce brands that field lots of order questions in chat.

Gorgias holds a 4.6 rating on G2 across 582 reviews. It includes the AI Agent on every plan, charges for it only per automated interaction, and prices the helpdesk by ticket volume, with no per-agent fee.

Key features

  • The AI Agent comes with every plan and bills per automated interaction.
  • Ticket volume runs from 50 to 5,000 a month.
  • Voice and SMS are add-ons priced by call and text volume.

Pricing: There is no per-agent fee. On annual billing, Basic is $50 a month for 300 tickets, Pro $300 for 2,000, and Advanced $750 for 5,000, while Starter is $10 for 50 tickets and bills monthly only. The AI Agent costs $0.90 per automated interaction on annual contracts and $1.00 on monthly ones. Adding it brings annual Basic to $77 a month, Pro to $471, and Advanced to $1,227, covering 30, 190, and 530 automated interactions.

Pros

  • No per-agent pricing.
  • The AI Agent is on every plan and charged only on resolution.

Cons

  • Voice and SMS cost extra.
  • AI adds to the helpdesk price, and overage is $1.50 per interaction past the allowance.

Gorgias vs. LiveChat: Gorgias bills its AI Agent only when it resolves a conversation and prices by ticket volume, where LiveChat prices by user and includes a monthly allowance of AI resolutions.

What reviewers say

  • Love: Easy to navigate across brands. A senior customer service team leader at a small business writes, “I like how easy it is to navigate through the options” (G2, September 25, 2025).
  • Complain: Analytics for team leaders. The same reviewer writes, “The analytics, from a team leader’s perspective, can be a bit challenging” (same review, September 25, 2025).

Other tools that came up in our research

Three more tools deserve a mention, and we left them unscored.

  • Chatwoot is open source and can be self-hosted. Its cloud plans add all channels, a help center, teams, and automation rules, with Captain AI credits of 300 to 800 a month and SSO and audit logs on Enterprise. They run $0, $19, $39, and $99 per agent per month, and its G2 listing has only 16 reviews.
  • Drift is being sunset. Salesloft says it has transitioned from Drift to 1mind, which Clari + Salesloft names its exclusive AI successor.
  • Zoho Desk is the help desk in the same suite as Zoho SalesIQ. Its Express plan adds Zia AI and pre-built AI agents, and a free edition covers three licenses.

How do you migrate from LiveChat?

Chat tools hold less history than a help desk, but chat transcripts, tags, and canned replies still need a plan.

What migrates cleanly

LiveChat’s help center describes an Export CSV button on each report, and says the Chats report is limited to the latest 100,000 records, so larger histories export in parts by date range. Raw data reports can be scheduled to arrive by email.

What needs manual attention

We found no native bulk export of full transcripts in LiveChat’s help center. Third-party transcript exporters exist in its marketplace, so check their reviews before relying on them. Canned responses, automations, and proactive campaigns also need recreating, so document your current rules before you start.

Agent training is the other variable, since every tool has its own interface.

Three conditions that keep the move low-risk

A switch carries little risk when:

  • The chat history, reports, and customer data you need export from LiveChat.
  • The new vendor offers a migration path.
  • Both tools can run in parallel for a few weeks before you switch.

When all three hold, the migration risk is manageable.

How do you choose a LiveChat alternative?

Team size, budget, and main channels cut a long list down fast.Thirteen LiveChat alternatives is a lot, so narrow the list on those three first, then on what you need the AI to do.

  • By team size: Computer, by DevRev, fits teams of any size that want chats resolved end to end. tawk.to and Crisp suit small teams, with free tiers, Tidio suits small teams that want chat and an AI agent, and Olark suits teams that want a flat-price AI agent. LiveAgent and Freshchat suit mid-size teams, and Zendesk suits larger support operations.
  • By budget: tawk.to (free software), Crisp (two seats), Freshchat (10 agents), Zoho SalesIQ, Help Scout (five seats), and HubSpot (two seats) list free tiers, and LiveAgent lists plans from $15 per agent per month on annual billing. For a published AI rate, Help Scout lists $0.75 per resolution, Gorgias $0.90 per automated interaction, and Intercom (now Fin) $0.99 per outcome. Computer, by DevRev, lists a free Mini plan and a 30-day Pro trial, and prices Customer Agent and Voice AI per deployment. It handles harder chats as well as first-line answers, so ask DevRev for a quote based on your chat volume.
  • By primary channel: Computer, by DevRev, covers chat, email, WhatsApp, and voice where configured, with the same shared context behind each. Help Scout suits email-led teams, LiveAgent covers email, chat, phone, and social, Crisp and Freshchat cover chat and social messengers, and Gorgias suits e-commerce support.
  • If you need AI that resolves issues, beyond assisting agents: Computer, by DevRev; Intercom (now Fin); or Gorgias, which bills only on automated resolution. Fin and Tidio’s Lyro can also run on top of another help desk, so a team can change the AI agent first.
  • If your team is tied to a CRM suite: HubSpot for HubSpot shops, or Zoho SalesIQ for Zoho shops.

Size, budget, and channels narrow the choice, but one question settles it: do you want a chat widget, or a resolution platform? Faster replies versus resolution is the question to settle first.

Why is Computer, by DevRev, our pick?

Three things set Computer, by DevRev, apart from the chat tools on this list, and each one is checkable.

  • It resolves from shared context. Computer Memory gives support, product, and engineering the same view, so a bug raised in chat reaches the product team as a linked signal.
  • It has been tested at volume. In BILL’s pre-launch test on 200,000 real customer queries, Computer reached a 70% resolution rate, against a 30% approval threshold.
  • It acts inside guardrails. Actions run inside the person’s permissions, pause for approval on sensitive steps, are logged, and can be undone.

Choose Computer, by DevRev, if your chats regularly need an order lookup, a log, or a bug report before they can close.

Computer, by DevRev is built for resolution first. Fewer repeat touches and clearer outcomes is what Work Softer means.

Want Computer, by DevRev, answering chats from your own site traffic? Request a demo.

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