Adding live chat to your WordPress website doesn't have to cost anything. Several excellent tools offer genuinely free plans — not watered-down demos, but real products you can use long-term.
We tested four of the most popular free options hands-on and ranked them by ease of setup, feature depth, and how well they integrate with WordPress.
The 4 Best Free Live Chat Plugins for WordPress
1. tawk.to — Best if you want 100% free, forever
tawk.to is the only major live chat tool that is completely, permanently free. No conversation limits, no agent limits, no credit card required. The only catch is a small "Powered by tawk.to" badge — which you can remove for $19/month.
tawk.to
Free forever · Unlimited agents · 5-minute WordPress setup
- Setup time: under 5 minutes via the official WordPress plugin
- Free plan limits: None — unlimited chats, unlimited agents
- AI bot: Yes, basic automation included
- Widget branding: "Powered by tawk.to" (removable for $19/mo)
2. Tidio — Best free plan for e-commerce
Tidio's free plan is more limited than tawk.to (50 conversations/month, 1 operator), but the platform is far more sophisticated. The interface is modern, the Shopify and WooCommerce integrations are excellent, and the AI chatbot (Lyro) is genuinely impressive on paid plans.
Tidio
Free up to 50 chats/mo · Best AI chatbot · WooCommerce-ready
- Free plan: 50 conversations/month, 1 operator
- WooCommerce: Native deep integration
- AI chatbot: Lyro AI (paid add-on, but basic bots are free)
- Paid plans from: $29/month
3. Crisp — Best free plan for small teams (2 agents)
Crisp's free plan allows 2 agents with unlimited chats — and the platform is one of the most polished in this list. It supports chat, email, and social media in one inbox. The jump to their Pro plan ($25/workspace/month) is well-priced if you need more agents or features like chatbot automation.
Crisp
Free for 2 agents · Omnichannel inbox · Clean UI
4. HubSpot Live Chat — Best free option if you use HubSpot CRM
HubSpot's live chat is part of their free CRM. If you're already using HubSpot — or planning to — this is the obvious choice. Every chat conversation is automatically logged to your CRM contacts, and the chatbot automation is surprisingly capable even on the free plan.
Quick Comparison Table
| Tool | Free Plan | Agents | Chats/mo | AI Bot | Branding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tawk.to | ✅ Forever free | Unlimited | Unlimited | Basic | Yes (paid to remove) |
| Tidio | ✅ Limited | 1 | 50 | ✅ Lyro (paid) | No |
| Crisp | ✅ 2 agents | 2 | Unlimited | Paid only | No |
| HubSpot | ✅ Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | ✅ Free tier | No |
How to Choose
- Zero budget, any volume: tawk.to
- WooCommerce store, under 50 chats/mo: Tidio
- Small team (2 people), want a polished UI: Crisp
- Already use HubSpot CRM: HubSpot Live Chat
Not sure which fits your situation? Take our 2-minute quiz for a personalised recommendation.