The best chatbots plugins for WordPress in 2025

Chatbots have become an essential tool for businesses looking to streamline communication with their customers and enhance their online experience. In WordPress, the most widely used platform for building websites, these intelligent systems offer practical and efficient solutions to automate responses and tasks. With the arrival of 2024, chatbot technology in WordPress has reached new levels of integration and functionality, making it even easier for small business owners to efficiently manage their customer interactions.

What Is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is a software program designed to simulate conversations with human users through digital interfaces. These systems use artificial intelligence techniques to understand and respond to questions, making interactions feel natural and human-like. In the context of WordPress, chatbots are implemented through plugins that allow website owners to configure them based on their specific needs. Whether to provide customer support, facilitate transactions, or gather information, chatbots can be adapted to perform various functions that help optimize business processes and improve user experience.

Benefits of Chatbots for Small Businesses

Chatbots offer multiple advantages for small businesses, enabling efficient resource management and enhancing customer interaction. Here are some of the key benefits:

1. Customer Service Automation: Chatbots can handle common customer inquiries instantly and continuously, without human intervention. This frees up employees to focus on more complex tasks and improves operational efficiency.
2. 24/7 Availability: As online programs, chatbots are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This ensures customer inquiries are addressed at any time, offering a level of service that can be hard to achieve with human staff.
3. Data Collection: Chatbots are also useful tools for gathering information about customer preferences and behaviors. This data can be analyzed to improve products, services, and the overall user experience.
4. Cost-Efficiency: Integrating a chatbot into a WordPress site can be more cost-effective than hiring additional customer service staff, especially outside of regular business hours.

These benefits show how chatbots can be a valuable addition for small businesses, helping improve customer service quality and optimize internal resources.

Best WordPress Chatbot Plugins in 2024

Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots

Tidio is one of the most comprehensive and popular chatbot solutions for WordPress. This plugin combines live chat with AI-based chatbots, allowing you to automate customer support and maintain smooth communication with website visitors. Its intuitive and modern interface makes customization easy and offers integrations with tools like Messenger, Instagram, and Shopify.

Tidio’s standout feature is its AI-powered assistant, capable of understanding natural language and automatically responding to frequently asked questions, managing bookings, or sending personalized follow-up messages. It also includes ready-to-use automation templates, ideal for businesses with no technical knowledge.

Pros:

• Integration with multiple messaging platforms.
• Powerful conversational AI that’s easy to set up.
• Excellent user experience on both desktop and mobile.

Cons:

• Some advanced features are only available in the paid version.

Ratings: 384 total

Active Installations: Over 100,000

Link: Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots

Joinchat

Joinchat is one of the most widely used plugins for integrating WhatsApp as a customer support channel in WordPress. Its main strength lies in its simplicity and how well it adapts to businesses seeking direct, frictionless communication with customers.

Once installed, it adds a fully customizable floating WhatsApp button. It also lets you set welcome messages, activate automations via Google Tag Manager, and detect devices to better redirect users to the appropriate channel. It’s also compatible with WooCommerce, making direct support from product pages easier.

Pros:

• Very easy to set up and use.
• Compatible with WooCommerce and Google Tag Manager.
• Allows you to customize entry messages and triggers.

Cons:

• Limited to WhatsApp; not a full-featured AI chatbot.
• Some advanced options require the PRO version.

Ratings: 184 total
Active Installations: Over 600,000
Link: Joinchat

HiveSupport

HiveSupport is a modern solution that combines live chat with automation and AI, designed specifically for WordPress users. Unlike other plugins, it stands out for its “plug & play” approach and premium experience even in the free version.

The system allows you to create visual, personalized conversational flows, and automatically respond to frequently asked questions using AI. It also includes features like integration with external platforms (CRM, email marketing, etc.), a built-in knowledge base, and multilingual support. It’s ideal for businesses that want to offer automated support without losing the human touch.

Pros:

• Intuitive platform with a very low learning curve.
• Built-in knowledge base.
• Modern, user-focused design.

Cons:

• Still a young tool, continuously evolving.
• Some integrations require higher-tier plans.

Ratings: Not available in the WordPress repository
Active Installations: Over 60
Link: HiveSupport

Crisp – Live Chat and Chatbot

Crisp is an all-in-one platform that combines live chat, automated chatbots, and conversational marketing tools. Its WordPress integration is quick and easy, letting you set up professional customer support in minutes.

Besides chat, Crisp offers features like automated messages, an integrated CRM, a shared inbox, and the ability to see what users are typing in real-time. It also connects with tools like Messenger or Telegram. Its chatbot system is based on easy-to-design predefined flows.

Pros:

• Very complete platform with extra marketing tools.
• Integrated CRM and team inbox.
• Modern, attractive interface.

Cons:

• The most powerful features (like advanced chatbots) are in paid plans.
• May be more complex than needed for small websites.

Ratings: 69 total
Active Installations: Over 30,000
Link: Crisp – Live Chat and Chatbot

Smartsupp – Live Chat, Chatbots, AI & Lead Generation

Smartsupp focuses on customer service automation, offering a well-balanced combination of live chat and AI-powered chatbot. One of its strengths is session recording, which lets you see how visitors navigate your site — a valuable tool for improving user experience.

Its chatbot system allows you to automate answers to FAQs, activate conversational flows, and segment users. It also integrates with tools like Google Analytics, WordPress, and Shopify. Ideal for online stores looking to boost conversions.

Pros:

• Session recording for behavior analysis.
• Intuitive interface and attractive design.
• Customizable chatbots with simple flows.

Cons:

• Some features are limited to premium plans.
• Session recording may slightly impact performance if not managed well.

Ratings: 126 total
Active Installations: Over 20,000
Link: Smartsupp – Live Chat, Chatbots, AI & Lead Generation

AI ChatBot

AI ChatBot is a plugin designed to add an AI-based virtual assistant to any WordPress site. It works as a “smart FAQ” chatbot, automatically answering common visitor questions with clear, personalized replies.

This plugin also lets you connect the chatbot to your content database to provide more advanced contextual answers. It’s especially useful for support pages, technical services, or blogs that produce a lot of informative content. Compatible with GPT-4 (requires your own API key).

Pros:

• Real AI (GPT) with contextual response capabilities.
• Ideal for sites with lots of documentation or content.
• Custom chatbot styling.

Cons:

• Requires external API key (OpenAI) for advanced features.
• No built-in live chat.

Ratings: 100 total
Active Installations: Over 5,000
Link: AI ChatBot

WP-Chatbot for Messenger

This plugin allows direct integration of Facebook Messenger as a chat system in WordPress. It’s perfect for businesses with a strong Facebook presence that want to centralize customer service on a single platform.

WP-Chatbot for Messenger lets website visitors chat with you via Messenger without leaving your site, and also saves the chat history in their Facebook account, making follow-ups easier. Very easy to install and compatible with most WordPress themes.

Pros:

• Leverages the reach and features of Facebook Messenger.
• No need for third-party systems to operate.
• Conversation history accessible via the Messenger app.

Cons:

• Requires an active Facebook Page.
• No advanced AI or customization features.

Ratings: 53 total
Active Installations: Over 5,000
Link: WP-Chatbot for Messenger

Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin

Formilla provides a professional customer support solution with real-time chat and chatbot-powered response automation. It’s targeted at both small and medium-sized businesses looking for a complete solution to manage customer relationships from their website.

It offers features like behavior-based auto-messages, multichannel live chat (web, mobile, apps), and widget customization. While its chatbot isn’t the most powerful, it enables basic automated responses and helps filter requests.

Pros:

• Very complete and clear admin dashboard.
• Mobile-friendly and works with messaging apps.
• Customizable widget design.

Cons:

• Chatbot capabilities are more basic compared to competitors.
• Some key features are only in the paid version.

Ratings: 113 total
Active Installations: Over 4,000
Link: Live Chat by Formilla

LiveChat – WP live chat plugin for WordPress

LiveChat is a professional real-time support solution that goes beyond a simple WordPress plugin. This tool is designed for businesses that want fast, efficient, and sales-oriented chat service. It lets you manage multiple conversations from a centralized dashboard, integrate with CRM, eCommerce, and email marketing tools, and automate proactive messaging.

Although it doesn’t include an advanced chatbot by default, you can connect it with external AI systems or use integrations like ChatBot.com (from the same group). It’s highly customizable and very fast-loading, making it a solid option for performance-focused websites.

Pros:

• Stable and highly professional platform.
• Compatible with sales and CRM tools.
• Ideal for support and sales teams.

Cons:

• Most features require a subscription.
• No native chatbot without external integrations.

Ratings: 91 total
Active Installations: Over 20,000
Link: LiveChat – WP live chat plugin for WordPress

Conclusion

Integrating a chatbot into your WordPress site can significantly transform how your business interacts with customers. In addition to chatbots, it’s essential to consider other factors to optimize your site, like SEO. We recommend checking out the 5 best SEO plugins for WordPress to complement your site’s functionality. Choosing the right chatbot plugin, along with a solid SEO strategy, will boost both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction for your small business.