LiveChat

LiveChat is a website live chat platform built by Text S.A. (WSE: TXT), a publicly traded company headquartered in Wrocław, Poland. Founded in 2002, it holds a 4.4/5 rating from 800 reviews on G2 (g2.com, March 2026) and reports over 35,000 business customers in 150+ countries (livechat.com, 2026). The product focuses on real-time website chat — visitor tracking, proactive greetings, canned responses, chat routing, and a 200+ integration marketplace. Pricing starts at $19/agent/month on the Starter plan (annual billing) and goes to $79/agent/month on Business, with Enterprise at custom rates (livechat.com/pricing, 2026). LiveChat is one product within the Text ecosystem: ChatBot (AI automation), HelpDesk (email ticketing), and KnowledgeBase (help articles) are sold as separate subscriptions. LiveChat's built-in ticketing was retired in January 2025, so email support now requires HelpDesk (tooltester.com, 2025).

Converge is a multi-channel support inbox priced at $49/month flat for up to 15 team members — no per-agent fees. It natively supports WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram, Zalo, Messenger, Gmail, email, and an embeddable chat widget with visitor tracking, UTM attribution, and lead capture. AI reply suggestions with configurable tone (professional, friendly, casual) and message translation are included at the base price. Where LiveChat sells the chat widget, chatbot, ticketing, and knowledge base as four separate paid products, Converge bundles messaging inbox, AI features, and all channels into one subscription.

LiveChat's widget capabilities are its core strength. Automated greetings can target visitors by page URL, time on site, returning vs. new visitor status, or geographic location. Eye-catchers — animated attention elements above the chat bubble — are customizable on Team plans and above. Rich messages support cards, buttons, and carousels. Real-time visitor monitoring tracks up to 100 concurrent visitors on Starter, 400 on Team, and 1,000 on Business (livechat.com/pricing, 2026). Agent tools include sneak-peek (see visitor typing in real time), chat transfers, supervision mode (managers watch live chats and send coaching messages), canned responses, and native mobile apps for iOS and Android. The Text Intelligence AI suite adds a Copilot assistant, reply suggestions drawn from up to 3 knowledge sources on Team (10 on Business/Enterprise), chat summaries, tag suggestions, and text enhancement. The 200+ integration marketplace connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, WordPress, and Zapier (livechat.com, 2026).

The structural issue is product fragmentation. ChatBot — the AI chatbot builder — is a separate Text product starting at approximately $52/month with its own conversation-volume tiers (tooltester.com, 2025). HelpDesk (email ticketing) is a separate product that replaced LiveChat's built-in ticketing after its January 2025 sunset. KnowledgeBase (help center articles) is a third separate subscription. Within LiveChat itself, the Starter plan ($19/agent/month) imposes significant limits: 60-day chat history, one automated greeting, no reporting, no file sharing, no chat tagging, no group organization, and default-only pre/post-chat surveys (livechat.com/pricing, 2026). Facebook Messenger is natively integrated on all plans; WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, and email are available through marketplace apps rather than built into the core product. Telegram is only available via third-party marketplace apps (e.g., Telegramer 3). Discord and Zalo have no support on any plan or through any marketplace app.

Converge includes all messaging channels natively at $49/month — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram, Zalo, Messenger, Gmail, and email — with no channel gating by tier. AI reply suggestions with configurable tone, quick reply matching, and message translation are included without per-conversation credits or knowledge source caps. The chat widget provides visitor tracking with UTM attribution, beacon tracking (device, location, referrer), FAQ self-service, suggested messages, CSAT surveys, and lead capture with lifecycle stages (visitor → engaged → lead → customer). Converge does not offer a standalone chatbot builder, a knowledge base product, co-browsing, or a 200+ integration marketplace. It is a focused messaging inbox with AI-assisted replies and website visitor intelligence, not a suite of separately priced products.

LiveChat pricing as of March 2026, billed per agent per month on annual plans (livechat.com/pricing, tooltester.com):

• Starter — $19/agent/month ($25 monthly billing): 60-day chat history, 100 visitor tracking, 1 automated greeting, default-only surveys, no reporting, no file sharing, no chat tagging, no group organization
• Team — $49/agent/month ($59 monthly billing): unlimited chat history, 400 visitor tracking, basic reporting, chat tagging, file sharing, group organization, custom surveys, AI reply suggestions from 3 knowledge sources
• Business — $79/agent/month ($89 monthly billing): 1,000 visitor tracking, advanced reporting, work scheduler, staffing prediction, Apple Messages for Business, SMS, AI reply suggestions from 10 knowledge sources, chat summaries, text enhancement
• Enterprise — custom pricing (approximately $149/agent/month per tooltester.com): dedicated account manager, SSO, HIPAA compliance, white-label widget, custom visitor tracking limits

Add-on products increase the total bill. ChatBot starts at approximately $52/month (tooltester.com, 2025). HelpDesk and KnowledgeBase are additional per-agent subscriptions. LiveChat's FAQ confirms: "Yes, we charge a fee for every user account created, regardless of whether the user is logged in or not" (livechat.com/pricing, 2026). Cost comparison for the Team plan (the lowest tier with usable reporting and features):

• 5 agents: LiveChat Team = $245/month (annual) vs. Converge = $49/month — $2,352 saved per year
• 10 agents: LiveChat Team = $490/month (annual) vs. Converge = $49/month — $5,292 saved per year
• 15 agents: LiveChat Team = $735/month (annual) vs. Converge = $49/month — $8,232 saved per year

Converge charges $49/month flat for up to 15 team members. All channels (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram, Zalo, Messenger, Gmail, email, chat widget), AI reply suggestions with configurable tone, message translation, visitor tracking, and lead capture are included. No per-agent fees, no separate product subscriptions. The 14-day free trial requires no credit card.

Choose LiveChat if:

• Website live chat is your primary channel and you want the deepest widget feature set — targeted greetings, eye-catchers, sneak-peek, rich messages, and proactive campaigns
• You depend on the 200+ integration marketplace for CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot), e-commerce (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce), and marketing tools
• Your budget accommodates per-agent pricing plus separate ChatBot ($52+/month), HelpDesk, and KnowledgeBase subscriptions
• Enterprise compliance requirements matter — LiveChat offers HIPAA, SSO, and dedicated account management through Text S.A. (WSE: TXT), a 23-year-old publicly traded company
• E-commerce conversion tracking is a priority — LiveChat's sales tracker, goals, and product card features are built for storefront analytics

Choose Converge if:

• You support customers across messaging apps — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Zalo, Instagram, Messenger, Gmail, and email — and need every channel native in one product
• You want AI reply suggestions with configurable tone and message translation included at $49/month flat, not a separate ChatBot subscription
• Your team is 3–15 people and per-agent pricing is unsustainable — a 5-agent team on LiveChat Team pays $245/month vs. $49/month on Converge
• You need visitor tracking with UTM attribution, beacon tracking, and lead capture built into the chat widget at the base price
• You prefer one inbox and one bill over managing four separate Text products (LiveChat + ChatBot + HelpDesk + KnowledgeBase)
• You operate in markets where Telegram, Discord, or Zalo are primary communication channels — LiveChat does not support any of these natively