Live chat is a powerful tool to connect with your website visitors, provide instant support, increase conversions, and build trust. However, not all live chat solutions are created equal. Some are expensive, complicated, or limited in features and integrations. That’s why many businesses opt for open-source free live chat widget solutions that they can customize, host, and control themselves.
But how do you choose the best open-source free live chat widget solution for your website? In this blog post, we will compare 15 of the most popular and feature-rich options available, and highlight their pros and cons. We will also introduce ChatMaxima, a conversational marketing platform that offers a simple and powerful way to create and publish AI-powered chatbots on your website and other channels.
What is ChatMaxima?
ChatMaxima is a conversational marketing platform that helps you create unique chat experiences for your website visitors. It offers a drag-and-drop builder to embed AI-powered chatbots on your website, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. The chatbots can generate intelligent responses from your website content or documents, and guide your visitors to the right actions, such as booking a demo, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase.
ChatMaxima is easy to set up and use, and does not require any coding skills or technical knowledge. You can create your own chatbot in minutes, or choose from a variety of templates and use cases. You can also customize the look and feel of your chat widget, and add rich media elements, such as images, videos, buttons, and forms.
ChatMaxima also offers a feature-rich drag and drop chatbot builder that allows you to design complex conversational flows, add logic and variables, and integrate with third-party services and APIs. You can also use ChatMaxima’s natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to train your chatbot to understand the user’s intent and provide accurate responses.
ChatMaxima is more than just a live chat widget. It is a complete conversational marketing solution that can help you boost your customer engagement, lead conversion, and sales. By using ChatMaxima, you can:
- Increase your website conversions by up to 45%
- Reduce your customer support costs by up to 60%
- Improve your customer satisfaction and retention by up to 80%
- Integrate with other channels, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, etc.
- Analyze and optimize your chatbot performance and user behavior
If you want to see ChatMaxima in action, you can request a free demo or sign up for a free trial today.
15 Open-source Free Live-chat Widget Solutions
Now that you know what ChatMaxima can do for your website, let’s take a look at some of the open-source free live chat widget solutions that you can also consider. Here are 15 of the best options available, along with their pros and cons.
1. Papercups
Papercups is a feature-rich free open-source live customer chat widget. It has a simple interface and can be integrated directly with Slack. Papercups is written in the Elixir programming language, and it comes with dozens of customization options and developer-friendly features.
Pros:
- Easy to install and use
- Supports Slack integration
- Offers voice, video, and screen-share features
- Provides email and SMS notifications
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Supports multiple languages and RTL
- Offers analytics and reporting tools
- Supports React, React Native, and Flutter
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not support NLP or ML features
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
2. Live Helper Chat
Live Helper Chat is a simple yet powerful interactive chat widget that aims to increase customer/ visitors engagements at any website. It comes with a fancy backend that allows site admins to communicate with many users at the same time, supports RTL languages, works seamlessly on mobile, and offers a voice, video, and screen-share support.
URL: https://livehelperchat.com/free-themes-22c.html
Pros:
- Supports voice, video, and screen-share features
- Offers a mobile app for Android and iOS
- Supports multiple languages and RTL
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Provides email and SMS notifications
- Offers analytics and reporting tools
- Supports chatbot integration with third-party services
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not support NLP or ML features
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
3. React Help Desk
React Help Desk is a simple and lightweight live chat widget built with React. It allows you to add a chat button to your website and connect with your visitors via a pop-up chat window. React Help Desk is easy to customize and integrate with your existing website.
URL: https://github.com/unleashit/React-Help-Desk
Pros:
- Easy to install and use
- Supports React and TypeScript
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Supports multiple languages
- Provides email notifications
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not support voice, video, or screen-share features
- Does not support NLP or ML features
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
- Does not offer analytics or reporting tools
4. Chatwoot
Chatwoot is a modern and open-source customer engagement platform that allows you to chat with your customers across multiple channels, such as website, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. Chatwoot is built with Ruby on Rails and Vue.js, and offers a rich set of features and integrations.
URL: https://www.chatwoot.com/
Pros:
- Supports multiple channels and platforms
- Offers a mobile app for Android and iOS
- Supports NLP and ML features
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Provides email and SMS notifications
- Offers analytics and reporting tools
- Supports chatbot integration with third-party services
- Supports multiple languages and RTL
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not support voice, video, or screen-share features
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
5. React Slack Chat
React Slack Chat is a React component that allows you to add a live chat widget to your website that connects to a Slack channel. It is a simple and elegant solution that lets you chat with your visitors using your existing Slack account.
URL: https://github.com/5punk/react-slack-chat
Pros:
- Easy to install and use
- Supports Slack integration
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Supports multiple languages
- Provides email notifications
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not support voice, video, or screen-share features
- Does not support NLP or ML features
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
- Does not offer analytics or reporting tools
6. React Chat Widget
React Chat Widget is a React component that allows you to add a simple and minimalist live chat widget to your website. It is inspired by the Intercom chat widget, and offers a smooth and responsive user interface.
URL: https://github.com/Wolox/react-chat-widget
Pros:
- Easy to install and use
- Supports React and TypeScript
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Supports multiple languages
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not support voice, video, or screen-share features
- Does not support NLP or ML features
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
- Does not offer analytics or reporting tools
- Does not provide email or SMS notifications
7. ChatKit
ChatKit is an open-source live chat widget that allows you to add a fully-featured chat interface to your website. It is built with React and Socket.io, and offers a sleek and modern design and a rich set of features and integrations.
URL: https://chatkit.app/
Pros:
- Supports voice, video, and screen-share features
- Supports NLP and ML features
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Provides email and SMS notifications
- Offers analytics and reporting tools
- Supports chatbot integration with third-party services
- Supports multiple languages and RTL
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
8. Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is a free and open-source team communication platform that allows you to create your own chat server and chat with your website visitors. It is built with Meteor and MongoDB, and offers a robust and scalable solution with a wide range of features and integrations.
Pros:
- Supports voice, video, and screen-share features
- Supports NLP and ML features
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Provides email and SMS notifications
- Offers analytics and reporting tools
- Supports chatbot integration with third-party services
- Supports multiple languages and RTL
- Offers a mobile app for Android and iOS
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
9. Zammad
Zammad is a free and open-source customer support platform that allows you to chat with your website visitors and customers via a live chat widget or a ticket system. Zammad is built with Ruby on Rails and Elasticsearch, and offers a flexible and user-friendly solution with a variety of features and integrations.
Pros:
- Supports live chat and ticket system
- Supports NLP and ML features
- Allows custom branding and styling
- Provides email and SMS notifications
- Offers analytics and reporting tools
- Supports chatbot integration with third-party services
- Supports multiple languages and RTL
- Offers a mobile app for Android and iOS
Cons:
- Requires some technical skills to set up and maintain
- Does not support voice, video, or screen-share features
- Does not offer pre-built templates or use cases
- Does not integrate with other channels or services
