Pick the replacement that pulls every channel into one place your whole team can work from. Chat-only widgets are quick to add but stay narrow. All-in-one inboxes join chat, email, social and help articles, and sales-led chat tools focus on turning visitors into buyers. Decide which of those you need before comparing features.
A customer starts on your website chat, follows up by email, then messages you on Instagram the next morning. If three people on your team each see one piece of that, nobody sees the customer. That's the problem every tool below says it solves, each in its own way. Here are ten options for support teams, in no particular order.
The one-inbox test
Chatra pitches itself to firms of any size as a support platform spanning live chat, chatbots, email and social messages. That's the bar a replacement has to clear, and it's higher than it looks from the outside.
The real test is whether every message, whatever channel it came in on, ends up in a single queue your colleagues can split between them and follow through to the end. Can two agents see that someone else is already replying? Does an email from a customer join the chat they started yesterday, or open a fresh thread? Can you assign, tag and close a conversation without copying it into another tool? A chat widget that looks great on your site can still leave your team working from four separate inboxes.
It's also worth checking what happens when nobody's online. Some teams want an offline form that becomes an email, others want a chatbot to answer common questions, and others want a help article suggested before the customer writes in at all. Each tool here leans one way or another.
Ten support tools from A to Z
No ranking here, just names in order. Each Best for line paraphrases the maker's own pitch.
Chaport
Best for: Small teams wanting multi-channel live chat, chatbots and a knowledge base in one messaging tool, as the vendor describes it.
Comm100
Best for: Larger support teams handling many channels, where the vendor says AI automates parts of support and workflows; it also calls itself people-first and Canadian.
Crisp
Best for: Businesses wanting one multichannel inbox with AI built in, which the vendor says helps teams reach waiting customers and leads quickly.
Formilla
Best for: Sales, marketing and support teams working from one tool, since the vendor puts chat and bots next to email and on-site popups.
HelpCrunch
Best for: Firms that want help articles and email campaigns under the same login as their chat and bot, which the vendor pitches for building customer relationships.
JivoChat
Best for: Owners who want live chat on their website quickly; the vendor stresses easy setup and turning visitors into customers.
LiveChat
Best for: Sales-minded websites, as the vendor says its chat has an AI agent answering round the clock, qualifies leads and tracks sales from chats.
Pure Chat
Best for: Teams who only need chat on their site and want it added fast, which the vendor calls the easiest and fastest way to do it.
Smartsupp
Best for: Online shops hoping to sell more through chat; the vendor's pitch is turning visitors into loyal customers through conversations.
tawk.to
Best for: Small businesses after one inbox for every channel; the vendor names live chat, ticketing, a knowledge base, AI assist and a CRM, and calls the inbox free.
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How these chat tools split
Chat on your website, fast
Pure Chat and JivoChat focus on getting a chat box onto your site with little setup. They're a sensible fit when chat is your main channel and only a small team answers it.
One inbox for every channel
tawk.to, Crisp, Chaport and HelpCrunch aim wider, bringing chat together with other channels, help articles and, in several cases, AI assistance. Comm100 describes itself as an omnichannel platform for support teams, which makes more sense for larger operations than for a two-person shop.
Chat that sells
LiveChat, Smartsupp and Formilla lean towards sales and marketing, with lead qualification, sales tracking or popups sitting alongside the chat window. If most of your chats are pre-sale questions, start your shortlist here.
Support tools in one table
| Tool | Format | Fits teams after |
|---|---|---|
| Chaport | Customer messaging | live chat, chatbots and a help centre together |
| Comm100 | Omnichannel customer service | support teams covering many channels with AI help |
| Crisp | AI messaging platform | answering waiting customers and leads quickly |
| Formilla | Chat, chatbots and popups | sales, marketing and support sharing one tool |
| HelpCrunch | Customer service suite | chat plus a knowledge base and email marketing |
| JivoChat | Website live chat | getting chat onto a website with little setup |
| LiveChat | Live chat with an AI agent | chat that qualifies leads and tracks sales |
| Pure Chat | Website live chat | adding a simple chat box to a site |
| Smartsupp | Chat for online shops | online stores selling through conversations |
| tawk.to | Shared support inbox | one inbox for chat, tickets and help articles |
Advice for small support teams
Run a week of real conversations through your shortlist before you move the widget for good. Put the trial version on a page that gets steady traffic, ask two people to answer from it, and send a few emails and social messages in yourself to see where they land. You'll learn more from one busy Monday than from a feature grid. Six of the ten advertise a free trial (as of Nov 2026), so setting up that week is rarely a hurdle.
Keep the setup simple at first. Chatbots, popups and routing rules are tempting, but switch them on one at a time once the basics work. Want a bigger pool to pick from? I've compared the best live chat software and the best free live chat software too.
Questions to put to a sales demo
- Show me an email, a website chat and a social message from the same customer. Do they appear as one conversation?
- How do I hand a conversation to a colleague, and can they see everything said so far?
- What does a visitor see when nobody's online?
- Can I export every past conversation if we leave?
- Which of the AI features are switched on by default, and can I turn them off?
Do you make live chat or customer support software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
Is live chat enough, or should I add a chatbot?
If most questions are simple and repeat often, a chatbot can answer them out of hours. If your customers need advice or reassurance, live chat with a real person matters more. Many teams start with live chat and add a bot later.
What happens to old chat transcripts when I switch?
They stay behind unless you download them, so export everything from your current tool before you cancel. Few support tools import another vendor's chat history neatly, so keep the export somewhere your team can search if an old conversation comes up.
Will a chat widget slow my website down?
Any script adds some load. Test your page speed before and after you install a widget, and check whether it can load after the rest of the page.
How many people should answer live chat?
Enough to reply quickly in the hours you show the chat as online. If you can't staff it all day, set clear hours and let visitors leave a message the rest of the time.
Is a help centre worth setting up alongside chat?
A help centre (or knowledge base) is a library of articles customers search for themselves. If you answer the same questions every week, a knowledge base cuts the volume and gives chat agents links to share.
Should chat replace email support?
Rarely. Chat suits quick questions; email suits anything that needs attachments, approvals or time to look into. The best setup lets both land in the same inbox.
