Chat Champions: Unleashing the Top Live Support Tools of 2024

Before diving into the top tools, let’s explore why live chat software is a game-changer for B2B SaaS companies. Imagine you’re running a SaaS platform that offers project management solutions for businesses. A prospective client visits your website, curious about how your software can integrate with their existing tools. Instead of leaving them to navigate through pages of FAQs or waiting hours for an email response, live chat lets you engage with them instantly and even schedule follow-up calls in real-time, all while the potential customer is actively interested.

Live chat isn’t just about speed—it’s about delivering effective resolutions. It’s the equivalent of a helpful assistant, always there when needed, without the small talk.

Speaking of resolutions, Threado AI makes this even more seamless by enhancing chat tools with AI-powered instant support, automatically replying to the most commonly asked questions and ensuring that your team can focus on what matters most—building those customer relationships.

Now, let’s explore the top tools for live chat support in 2024.

First up is LiveChat, the all-in-one tool of customer service. If it were a superhero, it’d have a gadget for every scenario. Whether you're a startup or an established company, LiveChat equips your team with the tools they need to deliver seamless customer support experiences.

Key Features

• Extensive features for small teams: Perfect for businesses seeking a robust solution without a hefty price tag, LiveChat offers a wealth of functionalities that scale with your needs.
• Easy setup: No tech wizardry required, making onboarding a breeze. This means you can start engaging with customers almost immediately, minimizing downtime.
• Chat transfer, transcripts, message sneak peek: These features ensure smooth communication, allowing agents to see what customers are typing before they hit "send," which helps in preparing timely responses and enhancing the overall customer experience.
• Messaging Mode: Lets customers engage at their own pace, keeping conversations flexible and allowing for more natural interactions.
• Intelligent routing and supervision: Ensures the right agent tackles the right problem, reducing wait times and improving resolution rates.
• Traffic monitoring and reporting: Allows businesses to turn data into actionable insights for future improvements, enabling you to identify trends and optimize support strategies effectively.
• App integrations via Zapier: Connect LiveChat with your favorite tools to enhance workflows, enabling seamless communication across platforms and boosting your team’s productivity.

Pricing

Starting at $20 per agent/month, billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.

LiveChat is a well-rounded choice for small to mid-sized businesses, offering a strong balance of features.

Zendesk is the Iron Man of customer service, blending advanced tech with versatile features to tackle customer queries with efficiency and ease. It’s designed for businesses of all sizes, offering a scalable solution that grows with your needs, from startups to large enterprises.

Key Features 

• AI-powered chat: Your virtual assistant that not only answers questions but also understands emotional context, providing more human-like responses. This capability enhances customer interactions by allowing the chatbot to adapt its tone and approach based on the user's emotions, resulting in more meaningful and engaging conversations.
• Customizable widget: Tailor the look and feel of your customer service widget to match your brand; no coding skills needed. This ensures a cohesive brand experience across all customer touchpoints, enhancing recognition and trust.
• Omnichannel support: Whether it's email, social media, or live chat, be where your customers are and manage it all in one place. This feature allows for seamless transitions between channels, enabling agents to provide consistent support regardless of the platform.
• Unified agent workspace: A single hub for all your customer service tasks, keeping your team organized and efficient. This centralization minimizes the risk of missed messages and ensures that agents have all the information they need at their fingertips.
• AI chatbots: Available 24/7, ensuring no question goes unanswered, even during off-hours. This round-the-clock availability not only improves customer satisfaction but also reduces the workload on human agents, allowing them to focus on more complex inquiries.
• Advanced analytics: Dive deep into customer data to extract actionable insights, helping you make smarter business decisions. By analyzing trends, customer preferences, and interaction outcomes, you can refine your support strategies and enhance overall service quality.
• Integration with existing business tools: Seamlessly integrates with your CRM, marketing tools, and more, keeping your workflows smooth. This flexibility allows businesses to leverage their existing systems while enhancing functionality, and streamlining operations across departments.

Pricing

Starts at $55 per agent/month, billed annually. A 14-day free trial is offered.

Zendesk is an all-encompassing solution for businesses seeking a powerful tool to manage customer interactions. With Threado AI’s ability to integrate with your company’s internal data sources beyond just Zendesk, you can further enhance the support experience with Threado’s self-serve chatbot and hand off only the complex queries to Zendesk so your team can focus on high-value customer interactions.

In a world full of price tags, tawk.to stands out by offering a feature-packed live chat tool for free, making it the go-to choice for small businesses that want quality without the cost. Much like Robin Hood, it provides a powerful set of tools for those who may not have the budget for premium solutions but still want top-notch customer service.

Key Features

• Free features: No hidden fees or gimmicks—just a reliable and robust toolset for managing customer chats. This means that small businesses can utilize a high-quality live chat solution without worrying about budget constraints, making it accessible to everyone.
• Customizable chat widget: Tailor the appearance to match your brand’s style, ensuring a seamless user experience. This personalization not only enhances brand consistency but also helps create a more inviting atmosphere for customers, encouraging engagement.
• Knowledge base: Empower customers to help themselves with a well-organized library of FAQs and resources. This self-service option reduces the burden on support teams while providing customers with instant access to information, leading to faster resolutions and increased satisfaction.
• Ticket management: Keep your support team organized and on top of customer requests with efficient ticket handling. By categorizing and prioritizing tickets, teams can streamline their workflow, ensuring that urgent issues are addressed promptly.
• Multilingual support: Cater to a global audience by offering customer service in multiple languages. This feature helps bridge communication gaps, making it easier for international customers to interact with your business and improving their overall experience.
• Real-time monitoring: Track visitor activity in real time, so you can jump in when support is needed most. This proactive approach allows agents to provide immediate assistance, reducing response times and enhancing customer satisfaction.
• Paid add-ons available: For businesses that want to expand their functionality with features like custom reporting or removing the tawk.to branding. This flexibility enables companies to tailor the tool to their specific needs, ensuring they get the most value from their live chat solution.

Pricing

Free, with paid add-ons available for enhanced functionality.

tawk.to is a fantastic option for small businesses on a budget, offering an impressive set of features without the cost.

Re:amaze stands out as the sleek, modern customer support tool designed for businesses that prioritize exceptional user experiences. From its clean interface to its robust automation features, Re:amaze offers an intuitive platform that simplifies customer service interactions while maintaining a personal touch. Whether you’re managing a startup or an established business, this tool ensures that every customer journey is smooth and seamless.

Key Features

• Modern interface: Re:amaze boasts a clean, intuitive interface that’s easy to navigate, making it perfect for teams that value efficiency and user-friendly designs. The dashboard simplifies task management, enabling agents to focus more on solving problems than figuring out the platform.
• Automation options: With Re:amaze, you can automate repetitive tasks like assigning tickets or sending follow-up messages. This reduces the workload on your agents and ensures a consistent, timely response to customer queries.
• Cues and workflows: These features help streamline interactions by automatically triggering workflows based on specific customer actions, such as opening a ticket or browsing certain pages.
• Customizable chat widget: Re:amaze allows businesses to personalize the chat widget, ensuring a cohesive brand experience for customers. The widget integrates seamlessly with your website’s design, offering a polished look that enhances user interaction.
• Searchable help center: Empower your customers to find answers independently through a fully searchable help center. This reduces the need for agent intervention, especially for common inquiries.
• Video call escalation: When text-based communication isn’t enough, Re:amaze allows you to escalate customer support to video calls. This is particularly useful for complex issues where a face-to-face conversation can enhance clarity and trust.
• Intents for classifying user questions: Efficiently categorize incoming inquiries, enabling the platform to route them to the right resources or agents for quicker responses.

Pricing 

Starts at $26.10 per team member/month, billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.

For businesses looking to create a frictionless and enjoyable customer experience, Re:amaze is an excellent choice.

LiveAgent brings a unique twist to customer service by incorporating gamification elements, transforming support into an engaging and competitive experience for your team. The platform focuses on keeping customer service fun, motivating agents to provide fast and effective solutions through rewards and challenges.

Key Features

Gamification features: By incorporating elements like leaderboards, badges, and achievements, LiveAgent turns everyday tasks into challenges. This not only boosts productivity but also encourages friendly competition among team members, keeping morale high.

Affordable support suite: LiveAgent offers an affordable suite of features without compromising on quality. It’s a great option for businesses that want to enhance their customer service efforts without breaking the bank.

Real-time typing view: This feature allows agents to see what customers are typing before they send their message, giving support staff a head start in formulating their responses.

Pre-written responses: Speed up response times by utilizing canned responses for frequently asked questions. This helps agents handle multiple queries efficiently while maintaining a personal touch.

Chat routing: Ensure customers are always connected to the most suitable agent with intelligent chat routing. Whether based on expertise or availability, customers are directed to the right person instantly.

Proactive chat invitations: LiveAgent allows you to invite customers to chat before they even reach out, anticipating their needs and providing assistance when it’s most helpful.

Pricing

Starts at $0/month (basic features), with a 14-day free trial. Companies that sign up using a company email can enjoy an extended trial period of 30 days, allowing teams to explore all features and functionalities before making a commitment.

LiveAgent is ideal for businesses that want to introduce an element of fun to their support operations while maintaining top-notch service quality.

Comm100 is the go-to solution for businesses that need to manage multiple communication channels seamlessly. Whether through live chat, email, or social media, Comm100 ensures that customer interactions are unified and consistent across all platforms. Known for its flexibility and comprehensive feature set, this tool allows businesses to orchestrate an omnichannel strategy that meets customers wherever they are.

Key Features 

Proactive chat invitations and canned messages: Comm100 lets you initiate conversations with customers before they reach out, providing a more proactive service. Canned messages also allow agents to respond faster, improving response times and customer satisfaction.

Pre, post-chat surveys and screen sharing: Collect valuable feedback from customers after interactions, helping you understand their needs and improve your service based on real-time insights. With the screen sharing capability, agents can provide real-time assistance by viewing the customer’s screen during a chat.

Advanced routing rules and video chat: Ensure customers are always connected to the right agent through intelligent routing, and when needed, escalate support to video chat for a more personal touch.

Real-time tracking: With real-time visitor tracking, you can see who’s browsing your site and what they’re looking for, allowing you to tailor your support efforts to their needs.

Multi-language support: Break down language barriers with built-in support for multiple languages, ensuring you can communicate effectively with customers from all over the world. The auto-translation feature further enhances this capability, enabling seamless conversations across language barriers ensuring all customers feel valued and understood and dynamic campaigns allows organizations to engage with customers through targeted messaging and proactive outreach.

Pricing  

Live Chat Startup: $31/agent per month  

Live Chat Plus: $55/agent per month

Comm100 is perfect for businesses that need to manage customer interactions across various channels while maintaining a unified service experience.

Intercom is designed to create meaningful conversations between businesses and their customers, combining chat, messaging, and automation into a single, easy-to-use platform. It’s particularly effective for SaaS businesses, providing a solution that’s scalable from small startups to larger enterprises.

Key Features

• Conversational Chatbots: Intercom’s chatbots help guide users through the sales or support journey by answering common queries, providing resources, and escalating complex issues to human agents. These bots are designed to start and sustain meaningful conversations, helping to improve customer satisfaction and engagement.
• Customizable Messaging: Intercom allows businesses to tailor their messaging across different touchpoints. Whether it’s in-app chat, email, or social media, you can personalize the interactions based on customer behavior and profile data, ensuring consistency in branding and tone.
• Live Chat and Messenger: The platform supports real-time chat and asynchronous messaging, allowing customers to reach out when it’s convenient for them. It also supports features like typing indicators, read receipts, and file sharing, enhancing the quality of interactions.
• Product Tours and Targeted Messages: With Intercom, you can guide users through your product with interactive tours, making onboarding smoother and reducing the need for support. Additionally, it offers targeted in-app and email messages that can be personalized based on user behavior, helping businesses engage customers more effectively.
• Advanced Reporting and Analytics: Track customer engagement, response times, and support performance with detailed reports. This data-driven approach allows businesses to refine their strategies and understand how to improve customer interactions.
• App Integration: Intercom integrates seamlessly with over 250 apps, including CRM platforms, email marketing tools, and project management systems. This extensive integration helps streamline workflows and ensures teams have the right information at their fingertips.

Pricing

Intercom’s plans start at $74 per month for the Starter package, which includes basic chat and messaging capabilities. For more advanced features like automation, product tours, and analytics, pricing varies based on the level of customization and the number of users.

Freshchat is a powerful live chat software developed by Freshworks, focusing on delivering customer engagement across multiple channels. It’s ideal for businesses looking to streamline support and sales interactions within a unified platform.

Key Features

• Omnichannel Messaging: Freshchat offers seamless communication across multiple channels, including websites, mobile apps, WhatsApp, and social media. Agents can manage conversations from all channels in a single inbox, ensuring consistent support and faster resolutions.
• AI-Powered Chatbots: The AI-driven bots can handle basic customer inquiries, book appointments, and even gather lead information. They can escalate more complex issues to live agents, ensuring that no query goes unanswered. This automation reduces response time and allows human agents to focus on more critical tasks.
• Canned Responses and Smart Plugs: Freshchat allows support teams to create pre-written responses for frequently asked questions, speeding up response times. Smart Plugs can connect to external databases, pulling relevant information into chats, which allows agents to offer more accurate answers without leaving the conversation.
• Contextual Messaging: Freshchat gives you the tools to track user behavior and deliver personalized messages based on their interactions. This feature helps businesses engage users at the right moment, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
• Collaboration Tools: Teams can collaborate on conversations, share notes, and assign tasks without leaving the chat interface. This ensures smoother communication between departments and quicker resolutions for customers.
• Real-Time Analytics: Freshchat’s reporting features include real-time tracking of agent performance, conversation trends, and customer satisfaction scores. This allows businesses to monitor and improve their support strategies effectively.

Pricing

Freshchat offers a free plan for small teams with basic chat functionality. Paid plans start at $19 per agent/month, billed annually, and include features like bots, integrations, and advanced reporting. There is also an enterprise plan for larger businesses, with custom pricing based on specific needs.

Choosing the right live chat tool depends on your business needs and budget but here’s a quick recap of the top contenders. LiveChat offers a versatile, well-rounded solution, perfect for businesses that want a balance of features. Zendesk shines as a comprehensive help desk powerhouse, while tawk.to is an excellent budget-friendly option packed with features. If a modern, user-centric interface is your priority, Re:amaze delivers, and for those who want to gamify their support efforts, LiveAgent adds a fun twist. Lastly, Comm100 is your go-to for omnichannel support that unifies all customer interactions.

But the choices don’t stop here. Don’t forget to consider integrating your CRM (like HubSpot or Zoho Desk), exploring chatbot builders for automated assistance, or looking into dedicated help desk software that fits your workflow. Apps that integrate with Slack or Teams can also help streamline internal communication alongside your customer service efforts.

And no matter which tool you choose, integrating Threado AI can elevate your service, automating routine tasks, tracking sentiment, and providing actionable insights to turn every chat interaction into an opportunity for improvement. So, what’s your biggest challenge in customer service? If you're curious for more, check out our additional resources on improving customer engagement and live support strategies.

Additional Reading:

• Discover AI Chatbots in 2024: Your New Digital Sidekick for Smarter and Smoother Conversations! Read more here
• Essential Customer Service Skills to Develop in 2024 Read more here
• Leveraging AI to Meet Rising Customer Expectations in 2024 Read more here