License & Deployment Mix: 17 tools – 7 OSS, 12 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)
What Is Live Chat?
Live chat is real-time, website-embedded messaging that connects visitors with support agents or automated chatbots. At its core, a live chat platform provides an embeddable chat widget, visitor tracking, chat routing, canned responses, file sharing, and chat transcripts. Modern platforms extend into AI-powered chatbots, proactive messaging, and omnichannel inboxes that unify chat with email, social media, and SMS.
Live chat differs from team chat in its audience: team chat is for internal team communication (see Team Chat & Messaging), while live chat is customer-facing – designed for website visitors, prospects, and support requesters. Conversational AI platforms (Botpress, Rasa, Typebot) overlap with live chat by providing automated first-response and triage before handing off to a human agent.
Live chat is not telephony or call-centre infrastructure (see Call Centre / Contact Centre for those evaluations). While some live chat platforms include voice and video calling as secondary features, this directory evaluates them primarily on their chat widget, routing, chatbot, and visitor engagement capabilities.
The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.
Comparison
This comparison covers tools across four subcategories: full-featured open source, chatbot/conversational AI, enterprise commercial, and SMB/affordable. See also Team Chat & Messaging for internal messaging and Call Centre / Contact Centre for telephony.
SSO / OIDC Comparison
OIDC is the preferred SSO protocol.
| Tool | OIDC | SAML | SCIM | Authentik Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot | Yes | Yes (OmniAuth) | No | OIDC via OmniAuth; Authentik as IdP; role mapping limited |
| Papercups | No | No | No | No SSO; local accounts only; limited maintenance |
| Chaskiq | No | No | No | No native SSO; OAuth2 for third-party login only |
| Rocket.Chat OC | Yes | Yes | No | Inherits Rocket.Chat SSO; Authentik as IdP |
| Botpress | Yes* | Yes* | No | Cloud: OIDC/SAML (Enterprise); self-hosted: custom auth |
| Rasa | No | No | No | No built-in SSO; reverse proxy auth for Rasa X/Pro |
| Typebot | No | No | No | No SSO; email/Google/GitHub login only |
| Intercom | Yes* | Yes | Yes | SAML SSO (all plans); SCIM provisioning; OIDC via Entra/Okta |
| Drift | No | Yes | Yes | SAML SSO (Enterprise); SCIM via Salesloft; no OIDC |
| LiveChat | No | Yes* | No | SAML SSO (Enterprise); no OIDC; no SCIM |
| Zendesk Chat | Yes* | Yes | Yes | Zendesk Suite SSO; OIDC/SAML via Zendesk; SCIM Enterprise |
| Freshchat | Yes* | Yes | Yes | Freshworks SSO; OIDC/SAML via Freshworks; SCIM directory |
| Tidio | No | No | No | No SSO; email login only |
| Crisp | No | No | No | No SSO; email/magic link login only |
| Olark | No | No | No | No SSO; email login only |
| tawk.to | No | No | No | No SSO; email login only |
* = requires specific tier, configuration, or external identity provider
Best SSO support: Zendesk Chat (OIDC, SAML, SCIM via Zendesk Suite), Freshchat (OIDC, SAML, SCIM via Freshworks), Intercom (SAML, SCIM, OIDC via IdP)
No SSO: Papercups, Chaskiq, Rasa, Typebot, Tidio, Crisp, Olark, tawk.to
Best OSS SSO: Chatwoot (OIDC + SAML via OmniAuth), Rocket.Chat Omnichannel (inherits full Rocket.Chat SSO stack)
API Comparison
| Tool | API Type | Auth | Webhooks | SDKs | Bot Framework |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot | REST v1/v2 | Token, OAuth2 | In + Out | Ruby, JS, Python | Custom bot agent |
| Papercups | REST + WS | Token | Out (basic) | Elixir, JS (React) | No |
| Chaskiq | GraphQL | Token | Out | JS (React) | Bot framework (built-in) |
| Rocket.Chat OC | REST + Realtime | Token, OAuth2 | In + Out | JS, Python | Apps Engine |
| Botpress | REST | Token, OAuth2 | In + Out | JS (official) | Visual flow + NLU |
| Rasa | REST | Token, JWT | Out | Python (official) | ML dialogue + custom actions |
| Typebot | REST | Token | Out | JS (embed) | Visual flow builder |
| Intercom | REST v2 | OAuth2, Token | In + Out | JS, Ruby, Python, Go | Custom bots + Fin AI |
| Drift | REST | OAuth2, Token | In + Out | JS | Playbooks + custom bots |
| LiveChat | REST v3 | OAuth2, PAT | In + Out | JS, Python, Go | ChatBot (companion) |
| Zendesk Chat | REST + Realtime | OAuth2, Token | In + Out | JS, Python, Ruby | Answer Bot + Flow Builder |
| Freshchat | REST v2 | Token | In + Out | JS | Freddy AI + custom bots |
| Tidio | REST | API key | Out | JS (embed) | Visual bot builder |
| Crisp | REST v1 | Token, OAuth2 | In + Out | JS, Python, PHP, Go | Bot plugin |
| Olark | REST (limited) | API key | Out | JS (embed) | CoPilot (AI) |
| tawk.to | REST + JS API | API key | Out | JS (embed) | No native bot |
Live Chat Features
| Tool | Widget | Visitor Tracking | Routing | Canned Responses | Chatbot/AI | Proactive | Omnichannel | File Sharing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot | Yes | Yes | Round-robin, auto | Yes | Rule-based bot | Yes | Yes (15+ ch.) | Yes |
| Papercups | Yes | Basic | Manual | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Chaskiq | Yes | Yes | Round-robin | Yes | Built-in bot | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rocket.Chat OC | Yes | Yes | Dept, auto, manual | Yes | Dialogflow, custom | Yes | Yes (6+ ch.) | Yes |
| Botpress | Yes | Basic | Via integration | Via integration | NLU + LLM (core) | Via flow | Multi-channel | Yes |
| Rasa | Via integration | No | Via integration | Via integration | ML NLU (core) | Via integration | Multi-channel | Via integration |
| Typebot | Yes | Basic | No | No | Visual flow (core) | No | Embeddable | Yes |
| Intercom | Yes | Excellent | Skill, round-robin | Yes | Fin AI + custom | Yes | Yes (email, social) | Yes |
| Drift | Yes | Excellent | ABM, skill-based | Yes | AI playbooks | Yes | Yes (email, video) | Yes |
| LiveChat | Yes | Excellent | Skill, dept, auto | Yes | ChatBot companion | Yes | Yes (email, social) | Yes |
| Zendesk Chat | Yes | Yes | Skill, dept, auto | Yes | Answer Bot + AI | Yes | Yes (Suite) | Yes |
| Freshchat | Yes | Yes | Skill, round-robin | Yes | Freddy AI | Yes | Yes (email, social) | Yes |
| Tidio | Yes | Yes | Round-robin, dept | Yes | Lyro AI + visual | Yes | Yes (email, IG, Msg) | Yes |
| Crisp | Yes | Yes | Round-robin, auto | Yes | Bot plugin | Yes | Yes (email, social) | Yes |
| Olark | Yes | Yes | Dept, round-robin | Yes | CoPilot (AI) | Yes | No | Yes |
| tawk.to | Yes | Yes | Dept, manual | Yes | No native | Yes | No | Yes |
Deployment and Licensing
| Tool | License | Self-Hosted | Language | Database | Docker | Min RAM | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot | MIT | Yes | Ruby/Rails + Vue | PostgreSQL + Redis | Yes | 2 GB | Free / $19/agent (Cloud) |
| Papercups | MIT | Yes | Elixir + React | PostgreSQL | Yes | 512 MB | Free (OSS only) |
| Chaskiq | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Ruby/Rails + React | PostgreSQL + Redis | Yes | 1 GB | Free (OSS) |
| Rocket.Chat OC | MIT | Yes | TS/Node | MongoDB | Yes | 512 MB | Free / $4/user (Pro) |
| Botpress | MIT | Yes | TypeScript | PostgreSQL / SQLite | Yes | 1 GB | Free / usage-based (Cloud) |
| Rasa | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Python | SQLite / Tracker store | Yes | 2 GB | Free / Rasa Pro (contact) |
| Typebot | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | TypeScript | PostgreSQL | Yes | 512 MB | Free / $39/mo (Cloud) |
| Intercom | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $39/seat/mo+ |
| Drift | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Contact sales |
| LiveChat | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $20/agent/mo+ |
| Zendesk Chat | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $55/agent/mo (Suite)+ |
| Freshchat | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Free / $19/agent/mo+ |
| Tidio | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Free / $29/mo+ |
| Crisp | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Free / $25/mo/4 seats+ |
| Olark | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $29/seat/mo |
| tawk.to | Proprietary | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Free (ad-supported) |
Self-hosted options: Chatwoot (2 GB, most feature-complete), Rocket.Chat Omnichannel (512 MB, team chat + livechat), Botpress (1 GB, chatbot focus), Rasa (2 GB, ML pipeline), Chaskiq (1 GB), Papercups (512 MB, unmaintained), Typebot (512 MB, chatbot builder)
Lightest self-hosted: Papercups (512 MB), Rocket.Chat Omnichannel (512 MB), Typebot (512 MB)
Heaviest self-hosted: Chatwoot (2 GB), Rasa (2 GB, ML models increase memory needs)
Monitoring Integration
| Tool | Prometheus Metrics | Structured Logs | Grafana Dashboards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot | No (Sidekiq metrics via adapter) | JSON stdout | None (custom) |
| Papercups | No | stdout | None |
| Chaskiq | No | stdout | None |
| Rocket.Chat OC | Yes (Enterprise) | JSON stdout | Community |
| Botpress | No | JSON structured | None |
| Rasa | Yes (/metrics endpoint) | JSON structured | Community |
| Typebot | No | stdout | None |
| Intercom | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| Drift | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| LiveChat | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| Zendesk Chat | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| Freshchat | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| Tidio | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| Crisp | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| Olark | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
| tawk.to | No (SaaS) | N/A | Availability only |
Best monitoring integration: Rocket.Chat Omnichannel (Enterprise Prometheus), Rasa (native /metrics endpoint with structured logging)
SaaS tools: monitoring limited to external HTTP availability checks and webhook delivery tracking via Telegraf HTTP input
Tools
16 tools.
Botpress
Botpress is an open-source chatbot development platform that provides a visual flow builder, built-in natural language understanding (NLU), and integration with large language models including OpenAI GPT.
License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker, saas · SSO: none
Chaskiq
Chaskiq is an open-source messaging platform designed as an alternative to Intercom, providing live chat, in-app messaging, email campaigns, and a bot framework from a unified interface.
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none
Chatwoot
Chatwoot is a leading open-source customer engagement platform that provides omnichannel live chat, email, and social media support from a unified agent dashboard.
License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker, k8s · SSO: none
Crisp
Crisp is an all-in-one customer messaging platform designed for startups and small-to-medium businesses.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Drift (Salesloft)
Drift is a conversational marketing and sales platform that pioneered the “conversational revenue acceleration” category.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Freshchat (Freshworks)
Freshchat is the messaging and live chat product within the Freshworks customer service suite, taking a messaging-first approach with persistent async conversations and Freddy AI-assisted support.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Intercom
Intercom is a market-leading conversational support platform that combines live chat, AI-powered automation, and customer engagement tools into a unified workspace.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
LiveChat
LiveChat is a well-established live chat platform founded in 2002, known for its clean user experience and straightforward feature set.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Olark
Olark is a focused live chat solution designed for small businesses that value simplicity and accessibility.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Papercups
Papercups is a lightweight open-source live chat widget designed as a privacy-focused alternative to Intercom.
License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker, saas · SSO: none
Rasa
Rasa is an open-source framework for building conversational AI assistants, with natural language understanding and machine-learning-based dialogue management running on locally trained models.
License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker, k8s · SSO: none
Rocket.Chat Omnichannel
Rocket.Chat is an open-source team communication platform (similar to Slack) that includes a built-in Omnichannel module for live chat customer support.
License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker, k8s · SSO: OIDC
tawk.to
tawk.to is a completely free live chat platform that has become the most widely used chat widget on the internet, installed on over 4 million websites.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Tidio
Tidio is a live chat and chatbot platform designed primarily for small and medium-sized businesses, particularly e-commerce stores.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Typebot
Typebot is an open-source conversational form and chatbot builder that uses a visual drag-and-drop interface for creating interactive chat experiences.
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker, saas · SSO: none
Zendesk Chat
Zendesk Chat, formerly known as Zopim, is the live chat and messaging component of the Zendesk customer service platform.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
