Top 5 Zopim alternatives and competitors to try in 2026

In early 2024, Zendesk acquired Zopim, a live-chat tool popular among many businesses. Zendesk rebranded Zopim as Zendesk Chat and added a few extra features, including dedicated AI agents.

Zendesk Chat works well for organizations seeking reliable and fast customer support tools that can answer client questions and resolve simple problems. However, it is expensive, which may deter some businesses from adding it to their tech stack. Limits on customizations and integrations can also make it less attractive than other solutions. 

Fortunately, there are Zopim alternatives that offer similar features. 

Pros and cons of Zopim

Why use an AI chatbot builder like Zopim? And what are the drawbacks to know about before signing up for a plan? Here’s what to know.

• Pros 
  • Offers an all-in-one customer service solution, including ticketing, AI agents, and analytics
  • Integrates across multiple channels, including email, website messaging, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp
  • Answers queries based on your organization’s in-house knowledge sources, such as training manuals and guides
  • Provides customer support in 30 languages, including English, Spanish, and Japanese
  • Offers in-depth analytics with pre-built and customizable dashboards
• Cons
  • Steep learning curve and ongoing maintenance needs
  • Cost prohibitive, especially for small and midsize businesses
  • Low rate limits; per-response fees after exceeding the limit
  • Visible Zendesk branding on most plans
  • Support resources limited to a help center and on-demand training; hands-on assistance available as a paid add-on

Why look for a Zopim alternative

Zopim (now Zendesk Chat or Zendesk Messaging) is a leading choice among live-chat service providers. But many users search for Zendesk Chat alternatives for a variety of reasons, including 

• High pricing: Zendesk sets its plan costs on a per-agent basis, which you can pay monthly or annually. For businesses with multiple agents, the expense can be quite high. For example, a company with four agents on the monthly Suite Professional plan, which is Zendesk’s most popular option, will pay $149 per agent (or $596 monthly). 
• Limited AI automation tools: Zendesk AI agents can generate responses to customer queries using in-house knowledge resources, but its most advanced AI tools are available only with its most expensive plans.
• Complex report development: Zendesk comes with standard, built-in reports. You can customize your own analytics, but doing so requires some technical expertise.
• Data control and transparency requirements: High-level security features (such as an access log and advanced encryption) are available only with custom plans. 
• Integration concerns: Zendesk integrates with many programs, including HubSpot and Microsoft Office. However, in-depth integration may require a custom API to work properly. 

What to look for in Zopim alternatives

Whatever the reason that Zopim doesn’t cut the mustard for your business, it’s OK. So what should you look for in chat service providers? Should you go with a regular chatbot (and what is a chatbot, anyway?) or AI customer support? And what’s the difference between a chatbot and live chat? 

Knowing the answers to those questions, and keeping the following evaluation criteria in mind, can help you find the right solution for your business. 

• Pricing: Figure out the price you’re willing to pay for customer support ahead of time. Remember, many companies offer tiered plans. You can start small and scale up for more features as you need them.
• Implementation complexity: Consider the setup requirements of the software and what support resources are available.
• Usage requirements: Think about the use cases you have for a chatbot and how it can serve your business. Do you want live agents to connect with customers? Or are you seeking an AI-powered solution to be available 24-7? Or both? 
• Branding and customization options: Some AI chatbot packages include customizations for tone and special use cases. These options can make interactions feel more genuine to customers and vendors.
• Analytic capabilities: Insights gleaned from chatbot conversations can be useful for improving marketing, product development, and sales. Review the available analytics through the software to make sure they capture the insights you need.

Be sure to look into the terms and conditions of your top contenders. While most software includes a flat monthly or annual fee, some features may cost extra, which can affect your total plan costs.

Full comparison: Features and costs

The following breakdown of live-chat software comparison options details the pricing info and top features or use cases. 

Tool	Key feature	Pricing
Jotform AI Chatbot	Wide range of AI agents and customizations	Free plan available; paid plans start at $34 per month
Olark	Accessibility-friendly chats	Starts at $29 per month
LiveChat	Companies with multiple marketing channels	Starts at $19 per month
tawk.to	Businesses that are on a tight budget and have staff available to answer chats	Free
Pure Chat	Companies that provide human customer service help	Starts at $49 per month

Top 5 Zopim alternatives

Several companies offer chatbot and AI agent features that are just as good as, and even better than, Zendesk Chat. We’ve compiled a list of winners, along with their possible benefits for your business. 

1. Jotform AI Chatbot Builder

Few chat service providers can hold a candle to Jotform AI Chatbot Builder, which has an extensive library of customizable AI agents. It offers affordable pricing for businesses on a tight budget, but its assistants still retain the features you’d expect from an AI-powered chatbot, including the ability to take over the chat, live chat, and multichannel support. Plus users get access to a 24-7 customer support team that can answer implementation questions.

• Pros
  • Affordable pricing, including a free plan for users with limited customer service needs
  • Over 7,000 AI agent templates
  • Easy integration with Slack, Google Calendar, WooCommerce, and other apps
• Cons
  • Jotform branding with free plan
  • Limited storage space on entry-level plans
  • Custom branding available on only Enterprise plans
• Pricing
  • Starter: Free
  • Bronze: $34 per month for annual plans
  • Silver: $39 per month for annual plans
  • Gold: $99 per month for annual plans
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

2. Olark

Olark‘s bread and butter is live, human-driven chat. The platform provides the infrastructure to support timely conversations with website visitors and collects useful insights for your marketing campaigns. While Olark offers AI-powered chats and automations, most are available only through its custom-priced Pro plan. 

• Pros
  • Color customizations that match your website
  • Free 14-day trial for all plans
  • Accessibility focus, with features that work with screen readers and keyboards
• Cons
  • AI-powered automations and chatbots available only with an Olark Pro plan
  • Expensive add-ons can significantly raise monthly prices
  • Not an omnichannel chat solution
• Pricing
  • Olark Standard: Starts at $29 per month
  • Olark Pro: Custom pricing

3. LiveChat

Companies that want a marketing-focused chat tool with an omnichannel presence can’t go wrong with LiveChat. It integrates with multiple channels, including websites, social media, and text messages. The software is designed primarily for human chats, but you can benefit from AI-driven features with the AI chatbot add-on (albeit for a steep price). 

• Pros
  • Full-service, omnichannel chat support for websites, social media, SMS, and other mediums
  • Multilingual support (over 45 languages)
  • Built-in, proprietary Text Intelligence tool for drafting replies quickly in chatbot conversations
• Cons
  • AI-powered chatbot features available only as add-ons
  • Extra monthly fee for some marketplace integrations, such as Google Analytics and Stripe 
  • Limited reporting customizations within the app
• Pricing
  • Starter: Starts at $19 per month
  • Team: Starts at $49 per month
  • Business: Starts at $79 per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing
  • AI chatbot add-on: Starts at $52 per month

4. tawk.to

Tawk.to offers free customer chat tools you can integrate into your website with a bit of JavaScript code. Once implemented, the tool can handle customer chats for free, but you can also outsource the task to tawk.to reps for a nominal hourly fee. While tawk.to is primarily human-driven, it recently introduced a paid AI-powered chatbot that uses knowledge-base resources to answer customer queries. 

• Pros
  • Free chatbot tool with an unlimited number of agents
  • Simple to integrate into your website
  • Desktop and mobile app friendly
• Cons
  • Limited reporting options
  • Additional fee for extras such as AI-powered responses and removed branding 
  • Tech expertise required to implement integrations and advanced features
• Pricing
  • Free when you or your team answer customer queries 
  • Virtual support available starting at $1 per hour
  • AI Assist starting at $29 per month

5. Pure Chat

Pure Chat offers a website-driven live-chat tool for e-commerce stores, professional businesses, and other organizations. Your business can have an unlimited number of chats, and Pure Chat retains all your prior chats for easy reference. Unfortunately, Pure Chat hasn’t introduced any AI or automation tools, so companies seeking those features may be better off with other solutions. 

• Pros
  • Supports on-the-go live chats with an iOS and Android app
  • Integrates with over 5,000 software apps, including HubSpot and Salesforce
  • Offers customization features to align your chatbot with your brand
• Cons
  • Lacks AI chatbot features and automations
  • Imposes domain restrictions on Growth plan
  • Collects a limited amount of customer data
• Pricing
  • Growth: Starts at $39 per month
  • Pro: Starts at $79 per month

A Zopim alternative that makes sense for your business

Live-chat, chatbot, and AI-powered tools all connect your company with customers. It’s important that clients feel comfortable using these tools. Your solution should fit your budget and your tech stack, fulfill your data needs, include the features you need, and support your workflows and immediate and long-term growth.

Sometimes the right solution isn’t immediately obvious. That’s why it’s smart to take advantage of free trials. You’ll learn how the tool works before engaging in an ongoing financial commitment.

Jotform AI Chatbot Builder is a flexible, no-code solution. Our chatbots use your organization’s knowledge sources to answer FAQs, and if a customer needs more help, you can step in with our human-takeover feature. 

With Jotform, you’ll cover all your bases. Our solution integrates with hundreds of apps and includes advanced analytics to support your marketing and sales goals. Get started today with a free trial from Jotform.