Text by LiveChat vs Zendesk
Pricing
Text by LiveChat: From $19/user/mo (billed annually)
Zendesk: From $19 per agent/mo billed yearly ($25 monthly); 14-day trial
Description
Text by LiveChat: Dedicated live chat tool (formerly LiveChat) with a fast widget, 200+ integrations, and an AI Agent included
Zendesk: Help desk software for email ticketing, live chat, a knowledge base and AI agents, priced per agent
Pros
- Chat widget loads fast and looks clean, one of the best-designed widgets on the market
- Works with 200+ eCommerce and CMS platforms, including Shopify and WordPress, plus WhatsApp and Messenger
- AI Agent included: Essential has 1 agent and 10 AI resolutions a month, Growth has 10 agents and 200
- Support Team starts at $19 per agent a month billed yearly, with ticket routing, automations, pre-written responses and analytics
- The 14-day trial gives you the full Suite Professional plan
- AI agents come with every plan, and you pay only for requests they resolve without a human
Cons
- No free plan: Essential is $19/user/mo (annual) or $25/month-to-month
- Essential plan only keeps 60 days of chat history, then it is gone
- AI resolutions beyond the monthly allowance cost $49.50 per pack of 50
- Support Team is email ticketing only; messaging, live chat and phone start with Suite Team at $55 per agent a month billed yearly
- Some features, such as Voice, App Builder and Action Builder, are billed by usage once you pass the plan's allowance
Details
Text by LiveChat is the current name of LiveChat, made by Text, Inc., the team behind LiveChat.com, HelpDesk.com and ChatBot.com. It is a focused live chat tool, not a full helpdesk: it puts a fast, good-looking chat widget on your site and lets you talk to visitors in real time. The Essential plan is $19 per user per month billed annually ($25 monthly), and the Growth plan is $79 per user per month billed annually ($99 monthly). Both have a 14-day free trial, and existing LiveChat customers keep their current plans.
The widget itself is genuinely one of the best: fast to load, easy to customize, and does not slow your site down. An AI Agent comes with every plan and answers customer questions when you are busy or offline, though Essential covers only 10 AI resolutions a month. The downside is cost: there is no free tier, Essential limits chat history to 60 days, and extra AI resolutions are sold in packs. For a solo founder who wants live chat specifically and can justify the spend, it is polished. If you need a free option, look at tawk.to or Tidio instead.
Zendesk turns every customer email into a ticket that you can route, tag, answer with saved replies and report on. The Suite plans add messaging and live chat, phone support, an AI knowledge base and AI agents that answer customers on their own.
It is built for support teams, and it fits a solo founder who expects support to grow into a real part of the business. Early-stage startups can apply for a six-month trial of the Suite for up to 50 agents.
Plans are priced per agent, so on your own you pay for one seat. Paying yearly is cheaper: Support Team is $19 a month that way and $25 month to month. AI agents are billed per automated resolution, meaning each customer request they close without handing it to a person.
Verified
