Guide
How LiveChat compares, in detail
Before comparing alternatives, you need to know what LiveChat sells now. As of November 2026, livechat.com/pricing no longer offers LiveChat plans to new customers. Its FAQ says LiveChat pricing for new trials “now lives here, as Text plans.”
Text is the newer product from the same company. That company is Text S.A., which renamed itself from LiveChat Software in 2023. Existing LiveChat customers keep their plan, price, and login on the legacy pricing. Text’s features, including its autonomous AI agent, aren’t added to LiveChat plans.
So a “LiveChat alternative” can mean three things:
- staying on legacy LiveChat
- moving to Text
- leaving for another tool
This guide covers all three. Fetchply publishes it. Facts come from livechat.com, text.com, and Text’s help and partner documentation, checked on November 9, 2026.
What LiveChat does well
LiveChat built its reputation on human chat:
- Polished tools. A clean agent app and widget.
- Team management. Routing, transfers, supervision, a work scheduler, and staffing prediction.
- Support. The vendor offers support 24/7, every day of the year.
- Plan extras. Depending on plan: Apple Messages for Business, HIPAA with a signed business associate agreement (BAA), US or EU data centers, SSO, and widgets in 48 languages.
It has 4.6 stars from 1,729 reviews on Capterra. Reviewers consistently praise ease of use and support quality.
Why teams look for LiveChat alternatives
1. Seat costs climb with headcount
Legacy LiveChat bills every created user account, whether or not that person logs in. Starter allows one user. A second person means moving to Team at $49 per person per month on annual billing. Text also prices per user: Essential is $19 and Growth is $79 per user per month, billed annually.
2. The autonomous AI is in a different product
On legacy LiveChat, AI helps human agents with Copilot, reply suggestions, and, on Business, chat summaries. On the legacy pricing page, the rows for the autonomous “AI Agent” link to Text.
3. Text meters AI by resolution
Essential includes 10 AI resolutions a month and Growth includes 200. Extra resolutions cost $49.50 per 50, about $0.99 each. Text counts a resolution as a chat in which the AI directly solved the customer’s question.
4. The product line is fragmented
The legacy price list sells ChatBot.com, HelpDesk.com, and KnowledgeBase as separate subscriptions. Text combines chat, tickets, and the AI agent. KnowledgeBase is still a separate product, at $49 a month on annual billing.
5. Mobile reliability
Reviewers on G2 and the Shopify App Store mention delayed notifications on the mobile app and being logged out. This is a moderate pattern, not a universal one.
Pricing: where Text Essential becomes more expensive than Growth
Here is a team of three, billed annually, with different amounts of AI usage on Text:
Scroll sideways to see every column.
| AI resolutions a month | Text Essential (3 × $19 + packs) | Text Growth (3 × $79 + packs) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $57 | $237 |
| 200 | $57 + 4 packs ($198) = $255 | $237 |
| 500 | $57 + 10 packs ($495) = $552 | $237 + 6 packs ($297) = $534 |
For this three-person team, Essential stops being the cheaper plan at about 200 resolutions a month. Above that, Growth costs less, and it also includes 10 AI agents instead of 1.
Fetchply bills a different unit. Each AI reply uses one message on the default model, whether or not it resolves the question. To compare, estimate total AI conversations, not only resolved ones.
Take the 500-resolution month. If the AI also handles 150 chats it can’t resolve, that’s 650 conversations. At 4 replies each, it uses about 2,600 messages. That fits Fetchply Starter at $18 a month, which includes 3 seats.
One honest caveat: Text charges nothing for AI chats that fail. Fetchply does use messages on them. If your AI resolves only a small share of chats, the gap narrows. Your team’s replies are free on Fetchply.
Human-first or AI-first?
Your answer to this question matters more than any feature list.
- Human-first: your team answers most chats, sales reps qualify visitors live, and AI helps them write faster. LiveChat, or Text on Growth, is designed around this, with routing, supervision, staffing forecasts, and agent productivity tools.
- AI-first: the AI answers most chats, and people step in for exceptions. You want a strong AI that’s included in the plan and a shared inbox for takeovers. Fetchply is built this way, with human handoff in the same inbox.
Many teams sit somewhere in between. A rough check is to look at last month’s chats. If more than half were questions your website or policies already answer, you’re closer to AI-first.
How Fetchply compares with LiveChat and Text
Scroll sideways to see every column.
| Item | LiveChat (legacy) | Text | Fetchply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it’s sold to | Existing customers | New buyers | New buyers |
| AI that answers customers | No (Copilot assists agents) | AI agent; 10 or 200 resolutions included | AI agent; AI messages included in every plan |
| Channels | Website, in-app, chat page, Messenger, Apple Messages (Business plan); others through the Marketplace | Website, in-app, chat page, Messenger, SMS through Twilio, WhatsApp, Instagram | Website, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Slack, Discord, business email |
| Ecommerce | Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce integrations | Shopify and WooCommerce; product cards; order status | Verified Shopify and WooCommerce order lookups, live tracking, Add to cart on Shopify |
| Team tools | Routing, supervision, scheduler, staffing prediction | Routing, Playbook automations, campaigns | Assignment, availability, notes, shortcuts. No staffing tools |
| Compliance extras | HIPAA BAA, SSO, data residency | SOC 2 Type 2; HIPAA listed as coming soon | Roles and permissions, audit log on paid plans |
| Trial | Not available to new buyers | 14 days, no card | Ongoing free plan |
When LiveChat or Text is the better choice
- Your team staffs chat all day and you value supervision, transfers, and staffing forecasts.
- You need Apple Messages for Business, HIPAA with a BAA, or data stored in the EU. Check which product, LiveChat or Text, supports each of these.
- You’re on a grandfathered LiveChat plan that suits you and don’t need autonomous AI.
- You want vendor support around the clock.
When Fetchply is the better fit
- You want AI to answer most chats, with an allowance included in your plan instead of resolution packs.
- WhatsApp, Instagram, and business email matter as much as the website widget.
- You run a store and need verified answers to “where is my order?” without building custom skills.
- You want one plan that includes seats: 3 on Starter, 5 on Pro, and 20 on Business.
Before you switch
- On legacy LiveChat: ask Text in writing what carries over if you move, including price locks and chat history, before choosing between Text and another tool.
- Exports: export chat transcripts and canned responses. Fetchply won’t import them, but canned responses can become inbox shortcuts or Q&A pairs.
- Widget: replace the LiveChat widget on one site or page group first, and remove the old script so visitors don’t see two chat buttons.
- AI testing: test the AI on your 30 most common chats, plus five it shouldn’t answer.
- Related products: ChatBot.com comes from the same company; see our ChatBot.com alternatives guide.
Leaning AI-first?
Start a free Fetchply agent, place it on one page group next to LiveChat, and see how many chats it closes on its own.
Start a free agentSources
Checked . Vendor pages can change after this date.