Best Live Chat for Small Business 2026 | From €14/mo

€14

Per month, everything included

80%

Questions handled by AI

5 min

Setup time, no coding

More leads than contact forms

Why Small Businesses Need Live Chat in 2026

Your website is your storefront. When someone walks into a physical store, they expect to be greeted and helped. Your website visitors have the same expectation — but 96% leave without ever making contact. A static contact form on your "Contact Us" page isn't cutting it.

Live chat changes that dynamic. Visitors get instant answers to their questions — product availability, pricing, service areas, booking availability — without waiting for an email reply. The result? 3-5x more leads compared to contact forms alone.

But here's the catch: traditional live chat requires someone sitting at a computer monitoring a dashboard. Small businesses don't have that luxury. You're running the business, serving customers, doing the work. You can't be glued to a chat window.

That's where AI live chat changes everything. Your AI answers visitors instantly, 24/7, qualifies leads automatically, and sends warm prospects directly to your WhatsApp or phone. You respond when you're available — from your pocket, not a dashboard.

And unlike enterprise tools that charge per agent (€55-74/seat), Boei costs €14/month flat with AI included. Explore our full feature set or see how we compare in our pricing breakdown.

How Small Businesses Use Live Chat

Real scenarios from businesses like yours

Local Service Businesses

Plumbers, electricians, cleaners, and contractors use AI live chat to handle quote requests and booking inquiries 24/7. AI answers service area questions, collects job details, and sends qualified leads to WhatsApp.

AI answers: 'Do you serve my area?'
Collects job details automatically
Sends leads to WhatsApp instantly
Captures after-hours inquiries
No missed quote requests

Online Stores & E-commerce

Small Shopify and WooCommerce stores use AI to answer product questions, handle sizing inquiries, and recover abandoned carts — without hiring support staff.

AI answers product questions instantly
Handles shipping & return inquiries
Recovers 10-25% of abandoned carts
Recommends products based on needs
Works on Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix

Consultants & Agencies

Freelancers, coaches, and agencies use AI live chat to qualify prospects before booking calls. AI asks about budget, timeline, and project scope — then sends qualified leads to your calendar.

AI qualifies: budget, timeline, scope
Filters tire-kickers from real prospects
Sends qualified leads to your inbox
Captures contact details automatically
Available 24/7, even weekends

Features Built for Small Business

Everything you need, nothing you don't

AI That Works While You Don't

Your AI answers questions 24/7 — evenings, weekends, holidays. 40% of inquiries happen outside business hours. Without AI, those visitors leave and buy from a competitor.

Leads to Your WhatsApp

Warm leads go straight to your WhatsApp. No dashboards to monitor. No desktop apps to install. Respond from your phone, wherever you are. Conversations continue even after visitors leave your site.

5-Minute Setup

Install our WordPress or Shopify plugin, or paste one line of code. AI learns your website automatically. No developers needed. No training manuals. Go from signup to live in under 5 minutes.

Contact Forms Included

Not every visitor wants to chat. Boei includes customizable contact forms alongside AI chat — structured inquiries and open conversation in one widget. Capture every type of lead.

Unlimited Team Seats

Add your partner, assistant, or entire team at no extra cost. Smart routing distributes conversations automatically. Per-agent pricing would cost you €100-500/month for a small team.

95+ Languages

Serve international customers without hiring multilingual staff. AI detects visitor language and responds in kind. Perfect for businesses in tourist areas or with international clients.

Best Live Chat for Small Business: Pricing Compared

What small businesses actually pay with a 3-person team

Feature	Boei	Tidio	LiveChat	Crisp	tawk.to	Zendesk
Monthly cost (3 people)	€14	€29	€60-177	€25	Free	€165-345
AI chatbot	Included	€0.50/chat extra	✗	✗ Limited	✗	Extra cost
WhatsApp	Included	€59 extra	Add-on	€95 plan	✗	Add-on
Team seats included	Unlimited	3	3 (paid)	4	Unlimited	3 (paid)
Contact forms	Included	✗ Limited	✗	Included	✗	Included
Setup difficulty	5 min, no code	15-30 min	30+ min	30 min	15 min	Hours
Branding removal	Included	Included	Included	€25+ plan	$19/mo	Included
EU servers (GDPR)	✓ Yes	✗	✗	EU option	✗	EU option

For small businesses: Boei offers the most complete package at the lowest price — AI, WhatsApp, unlimited seats, and contact forms for €14/month. tawk.to is free but offers no AI and no channels. Tidio and Crisp are solid mid-range options but charge extra for AI and WhatsApp.

Free Live Chat vs Paid: What Small Businesses Should Know

Free live chat sounds tempting, but here's what you're actually getting — and giving up:

Free Options (tawk.to, Crisp Free, Tidio Free)

tawk.to: Unlimited agents and chats, but no AI, no WhatsApp, and shows their branding ($19/month to remove). You need staff online to respond manually.
Crisp Free: 2 seats, basic chat, no AI, no WhatsApp. Limited to very basic use.
Tidio Free: 50 conversations/month, 3 seats, no AI. You'll outgrow it within weeks.

What Free Plans Lack

No AI chatbot: Every message requires a human response. Miss a chat? Lost lead.
No multi-channel: Only website chat. No WhatsApp, no Messenger, no contact forms.
No lead qualification: Every visitor treated the same. No priority, no scoring.
Branding: Free plans show the tool's logo on your widget, which looks unprofessional.

When €14/Month Makes Sense

If you get more than 2-3 leads per month from your website, Boei pays for itself. One qualified lead is worth far more than €14. And with AI handling 80% of conversations, you don't need to be online. The math is simple: €14/month for a tool that captures leads you'd otherwise lose.

Compare all the details in our live chat pricing guide.

4 Tips for Small Businesses Getting Started With Live Chat

Start With AI + WhatsApp

Enable AI chat and WhatsApp as your escalation channel. AI handles routine questions automatically. Qualified leads get sent to your WhatsApp. You respond from your phone when you're available — no dashboards, no desktop apps, no learning curve.

Add a Contact Form for Structured Inquiries

Not every visitor wants to chat. Add a contact form alongside AI chat to capture structured inquiries — quote requests, appointment bookings, partnership inquiries. Boei includes both in one widget so you capture every type of lead.

Train AI on Your Most-Asked Questions

Your AI automatically learns from your website, but make sure your pricing page, FAQ, and service descriptions are up to date. The better your website content, the better AI answers. Add custom responses for questions your website doesn't cover.

Check Results After One Week

After 7 days, review your Boei inbox. How many conversations did AI handle? How many leads were captured? Which questions come up most? Use these insights to improve your AI training and website content. Most businesses see positive ROI within the first week.

Trusted by Small Businesses Worldwide

David K.

CEO Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

What do you like best about Boei? I'm giving 10 points. Why? This app is super easy. You can configure your chat widget in 5 minutes, add a JS script to your "header" in your theme and wooollaaa done. Nothing hard. We have been using Boei mainly for small corporate websites. It really solves our need to have a small chat widget which does not add up 150Kb and XXXXX JS scripts. It's really lightweight and it does not affect your website speed.

Seif Ahmed

@seif588

I have been using Boei for over a year. It is very simple yet effective to implement it. Support is great - Ruben is always responsive and helpful. The product has also added new features which I have not yet needed but good to know Ruben is always working hard to add value to users of Boei. I am sure there are other similar solutions but for the price, support and features (and future updates), this is a great value.

Neu

@siddharthaneu

Ruben has been consistent with Boei and made a lot of improvements! All the best brother!

Irfan

@mak_web_media

I have been using BOEI for over a year and absolutely amazed with the growth and new features. I recommend BOEI to anyone who is looking to increase website engagement with multiple communication channels.

Peter C

@peter_c1

Great founder Ruben , responds personally to emails, and always looking to improve Boei.

Andrew Lee

@fromlife89

It's a great tool especially for managing multiple websites and agencies.

Grzegorz G.

I have a quick chat on each page, so it simplifies the way my clients can get in touch with me. It was very easy to implement and they continue to improve this software and are open to feedback. An easy way to add a communication widget to the website. I like best that it supports Messenger and Whatsaap, phone, email and live chat and it is easy to translate for multilingual pages. I can't think about real drowbacks. The [SENSITIVE CONTENT] reply all the support questions quickly and effectively, they are open to feedback. I had no issues at all with this software. Maybe if they could add some protection against spammers if you use the contact form and in some future add a chatbot, that would be fantastic.

Joshua G.

I was looking for a chat app to easily communicate with my customers. I didn't want to install anything overly complex and I just wanted something that worked within minutes. After briefly using Boei, I knew it was right for me. It's super lightweight and easy to use, plus it has all the chat bots that you might need! Highly recommend to anyone looking for something simple. I wish there was a better UI or more design options.

Ronald D.

Director Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

What do you like best about Boei? Simple, easy to use and implement with little technical support What do you dislike about Boei? Logo deisgns can be improved and some customization of logos of different widgets What problems is Boei solving and how is that benefiting you? On multiple sites, users require different feedback channels. This allows simple customization

Fahd T.

Founder Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

What do you like best about Boei? The best part is the simplicity of the product and ease of use. What do you dislike about Boei? The weak part is the lack of depth for advanced users. What problems is Boei solving and how is that benefiting you? Helps capture visitors using different communication channels under one platform.

David S.

CEO/Founder Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

What do you like best about Boei? It's extremely easy to gather different communication channels under one UI, simplifying the contact process for users, which is essential because it allows us to meet our clients via their preferred method (and not the one we impose on them) What do you dislike about Boei? I wish they had more design options to make it less standard amongst different websites. Another thing that could be better is the speed at which new integrations are added; it could be faster. What problems is Boei solving and how is that benefiting you? Some users prefer contact forms, other live chats, other Instagram/facebook DmS, ETC. Boei allows us to display all these channels in a simplified and unified manner.

Vance W.

We have been using Boei for many clients over the past year and the impact on the page speed is negligible and helps convert website visitors to warm leads. Ease of deployment, lightweight code, and overall flexibility and functionality. The form component isn't exactly flexible and extensive enough for most uses so we often have to use another form solution.

Julien V.

Développeur d'e-commerce Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

What do you like best about Boei? Lightweight, opens instantly, lot of features (whatsapp, messenger, contact form, links) What do you dislike about Boei? Not including a built-in chat app, more design customizations could be good What problems is Boei solving and how is that benefiting you? Allowing website visitors to contact us through their preferred channel (whatsapp, phone call, etc)

Grant

I'm a tech noob, but Boei was super easy to install on my site. I've added several options for contacting me through different channels, links to questionnaires / contact forms, and links to my socials... It's so much more than just a chat button, which is awesome!

Hansie

Works great, nice variation of apps

David K.

CEO Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

Seif Ahmed

@seif588

Neu

@siddharthaneu

Ruben has been consistent with Boei and made a lot of improvements! All the best brother!

Irfan

@mak_web_media

Peter C

@peter_c1

Great founder Ruben , responds personally to emails, and always looking to improve Boei.

Chandra Kusuma

The greatest chat widget for websites I have ever tried. It's quite light and not reduce the site loading speed. Quite easy to install on any type of sites/CMS platform. The features and integrations is continuously developed. The support Ruben and his team provide is the best. Easily number one pick.

Pepe

This is a great way to chat with visitors on their favorite channels. I really like this because it's simple to implement. It's also easy to find new integrations because there are many channels to choose from (Line, WhatsApp, Email, Contact form, etc.). Ruben, the founder, is also a great guy, always listening to users requests and feedbacks.

Arjun E.

Boei is very easy to customize and install on my platforms. Sub-accounts have not yet arrived, and it's very important for my clients' use.

José Manuel D.

Very easy to install and use. A lot of options of contact. User doesn´t have an option to close or make it dissappear from a site (if they dont want or need to contact(

Cristian Trappolini

I want to leave this review because I want to tell you 2 important things: one is that those who don't speak English well often find themselves having to live with Google Translate as their best friend, and the other is that BOEI is fantastic, simple and intuitive even for those who don't speak English well. I am really enthusiastic about the ease of use from the first time, which I rarely find in a similar app. Personally I recommend it to everyone!

Daniel Gyger

A must for simplicity and efficiency. To test it is to approve it, in any case we can only recommend it.

Nitesh Manav

It's a light-weight, easy to set-up and use. It increases conversions by talking to visitors on their favorite channels. Above this, it's also cookie-free and GDPR proof which makes it more light-weight and secure.

Renaat Sioncke

Boei.helps is an easy-to-use app to connect a support/help icon to your website. I just set up four websites with different social media links, all in no time. Boei helps to customize and speed up my website building work-flow.

Fran Tully

Very happy to give 5 Stars for this plugin. Over 70% of my business enquiries are coming from Smartphone users based on my Google Analytics. Boei allows those users to contact me on their preferred social Channel with one click. I also can follow up on that channel later or over time with the conversion thread preserved. It's a pop up with a GIF that looks great on my site. And it gives the prospective client the opportunity to fill out a standard contact form as well. I am implementing it on all my sites now, and I am very happy to recommend. I would try the free version first so you are sure. Thanks Fran

Proinsias M.

It was very easy to configure and setup on my website. The only issue I had to deal with was to decide what channels not to include in the pop up on the website. I need to be clear what are the essential channels to include for each site that I design. Very happy to give Top Marks to this Plugin. Most of my business enquiries are coming from Smartphone users based on my Analytics. Boei allows those users in particular contact me on the preferred social Channel with one click. I also can follow up on that channel later or over time with the conversion thread preserved. Its a pop up and also give the prospective client the opportunity to fill out a standard contact form as well. I am implementing it on all my sites now and I am very happy to recommend. I need to make sure I am not including channel options that are not relevant, so I need to be sure of my target audience to avoid clutter when the pop up is activated.

Gavin S.

It makes it easier for website visitors to engage with me on the channel of their choice. Installing Boei was simple, took less than 5 minutes, and I was up and running. What I liked is that you can install it on Wordpress, HTML, and even on other page builders. You can use it with WhatsApp, Telegram, Live chat, Facebook messenger, or any combination of them at once so that visitors can pick the channel they're most comfortable with. None at the moment, everything is working as it should be.

Sara Hall

How is this possible? I have been searching for a service like boei, without success for over a year. What magic is this? Isn't set up supposed to be supremely complicated, involving a coding degree, extensive technical knowledge and possibly a miracle? Boei just works. It works so well I was suspicious of it for nearly a whole week, sending endless texts and emails to myself in utter disbelief, when it failed to keel over! Set up is straight forward, easy and takes minutes. Seriously, I cannot recommend Boei enough.

Mike Foston

Just about as easy as it gets. It uses all the ways you already have to connect to you, lets your customers choose how they want to connect, and doesn't give you another place to check for messages. Has plenty of configuration options, and support has been very responsive, and willing to listen to ideas to make improvements. Really pleased with how it looks on my sites as well. Bit of a bargain!

Lukáš H.

Ease of use and the number of possible integrations. Honestly I can't say there is anything I didn't like when using Boei.

Bikram K. S.

Boei has been a time saver for me. I was looking for a way to integrate various social media chat options into my website so that my customers can contact me using the platform of their choice. I tried 3-4 other platforms but nothing came closer to the experience I finally got from Boei. Its WhatsApp and Google Map integration bought me over. I just wish it has support for Frase assistant and Gist assistant. Ease of use, and painless integration of various chat platforms. lacking integration with Frase and Gist and some of the labels are confusing.

Chandra Kusuma

Pepe

Arjun E.

Boei is very easy to customize and install on my platforms. Sub-accounts have not yet arrived, and it's very important for my clients' use.

José Manuel D.

Very easy to install and use. A lot of options of contact. User doesn´t have an option to close or make it dissappear from a site (if they dont want or need to contact(

Live Chat for Small Business: FAQs

What's the best live chat for small businesses?

Boei is the best value for small businesses — €14/month flat with AI chatbot, 50+ channels, unlimited seats, and WhatsApp included. No per-agent fees that grow with your team. tawk.to is the best free option if you only need basic chat. Tidio (€29/mo) is a solid mid-range choice but charges extra for AI and WhatsApp.

Can I use live chat if I'm a solo business owner?

Yes — that's exactly what AI live chat is built for. The AI handles conversations 24/7 so you don't need to be online. Qualified leads are sent to your WhatsApp or email. You respond when you're available. It's like having a receptionist that works around the clock for €14/month.

Is there a free live chat for small businesses?

Yes — tawk.to offers free live chat with unlimited agents. However, it has no AI chatbot, no WhatsApp integration, and shows their branding ($19/mo to remove). Crisp and Tidio also have free tiers with limited features. For most businesses, Boei at €14/month offers dramatically better value than any free option.

Do I need technical skills to set up live chat?

No. Boei offers one-click installation for WordPress and Shopify. For other platforms, paste a single line of code. AI trains on your website automatically — no manual data entry. Most businesses go from signup to live in under 5 minutes.

How does AI live chat save me time?

AI handles 60-80% of visitor questions automatically — pricing, service details, availability, FAQs. It qualifies leads and captures contact details without your involvement. You only spend time on warm, qualified prospects. Most small business owners save 5-10 hours per week on repetitive questions.

Will live chat work on my phone?

Yes. AI handles conversations on your website automatically. When a lead is qualified, Boei sends the details to your WhatsApp, Messenger, or email — apps you already use on your phone. No special app needed. No dashboard to monitor.

How many leads will live chat generate?

Live chat typically captures 3-5x more leads than contact forms alone. The exact number depends on your website traffic and industry. A website with 500 monthly visitors might capture 15-25 leads with live chat vs 3-5 with a contact form. At €14/month, even 2 extra leads per month pays for the tool.

Can I use live chat on my WordPress or Shopify site?

Yes — Boei has dedicated plugins for both WordPress and Shopify. Install in one click, no coding required. Also works on Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Framer, Joomla, and any other website. See platform-specific guides: WordPress, Shopify, Wix.

What if my business is seasonal?

Flat-rate pricing works perfectly for seasonal businesses. During peak season, AI handles the surge at no extra cost. During slow months, you pay the same €14. Per-conversation pricing would charge you more during busy periods — exactly when you can least afford surprise bills.

Can I add WhatsApp to my website?

Yes — WhatsApp is included in Boei's €14/month plan at no extra cost. Visitors can start a WhatsApp conversation directly from your website widget. AI even auto-replies on WhatsApp. Competitors like Tidio charge €59+/month extra for WhatsApp integration.

Is live chat worth it for a small business with low traffic?

Yes — low traffic makes every visitor more valuable. If you get 200 visitors/month, converting even 5% via live chat gives you 10 leads vs 2-3 from a contact form. At €14/month, you need just 1 extra lead to see positive ROI. AI ensures you never miss a visitor, even with low volume.

How is Boei different from Tidio or LiveChat?

Boei includes AI chatbot, 50+ channels, unlimited seats, and WhatsApp for €14/month flat. Tidio starts at €29/month but charges extra for AI (€0.50/chat) and WhatsApp (€59+). LiveChat starts at €20/agent with no AI at all. For small businesses, Boei offers 3-5x more value at a lower price. See the full comparison.

Install Live Chat on Your Platform

Dedicated guides for popular website builders

WordPress

One-click plugin install

Shopify

Live chat for your store

Wix

Add to Wix in minutes

Squarespace

Works on Squarespace

Ready to Capture More Leads From Your Website?

Join thousands of small businesses using Boei. 5-minute setup. AI included. €14/month flat.

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Live Chat for Small Business — AI Included, No Per-Agent Fees