Quick Verdict: Intercom is the best live chat for B2B lead generation if you can afford it ($39/mo per seat). Tidio is the best value with AI chatbots at $29/mo. Drift (now Salesloft) is the enterprise play for account-based marketing teams.
Here’s what happens on most B2B websites: a potential buyer visits your pricing page, has a question, looks for a chat widget, doesn’t find one, and leaves. You never know they existed.
Live chat software for B2B leads catches those visitors before they disappear. But not all chat tools are equal. Some are customer support tools pretending to be lead gen tools. Others are built from the ground up to qualify visitors, book meetings, and route hot leads to sales.
I’ve installed and tested each of these. Here’s the breakdown.
| Tool | Best For | Free Tier | Starts At | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom | Full-funnel B2B | No | $39/mo/seat | Fin AI agent + custom bots |
| Drift (Salesloft) | Enterprise ABM | No | Custom pricing (~$2,500/mo) | Revenue acceleration |
| Tidio | SMBs wanting AI chat | Yes (50 conversations) | $29/mo | Lyro AI chatbot |
| LiveChat | Support-first teams | No (14-day trial) | $20/mo/agent | Ticketing + chat |
| Crisp | Startups + small teams | Yes (2 seats) | $25/mo (4 seats) | Shared inbox + chatbot |
| HubSpot Live Chat | HubSpot CRM users | Yes | $0 (free CRM) | CRM auto-sync |
| Freshchat | Budget B2B teams | Yes (10 agents) | $19/mo/agent | Freddy AI + campaigns |
What Is Live Chat Software for B2B Leads?
Live chat software for B2B leads is a website chat tool designed to identify, qualify, and convert business visitors into sales opportunities. Unlike support-focused chat tools, B2B live chat includes features like visitor identification, lead qualification bots, meeting booking, and CRM integration — turning anonymous website traffic into pipeline.
Intercom — Best Full-Funnel B2B Chat
Intercom is the gold standard for B2B conversational marketing. The Fin AI agent can answer product questions, qualify leads, and book meetings — all before a human touches the conversation. When a lead is hot, Fin routes them to the right salesperson instantly.
The Messenger is customizable in ways other tools aren’t. You can embed product tours, surveys, news updates, and help articles directly inside the chat widget. It becomes a mini-hub on your site, not just a chat box.
What it does well:
- Fin AI resolves up to 50% of conversations without human involvement. It learns from your help docs and previous conversations.
- Custom bots qualify leads with questions before routing to sales. “What’s your company size? What’s your budget? What problem are you solving?” All automated.
- Targeted messaging shows different chat prompts based on visitor behavior. Pricing page visitors get a different message than blog readers.
- Product tours and tooltips are built into the same platform. Onboard new users without a separate tool.
What it does poorly:
- Pricing is not transparent. Starts at $39/mo per seat for the Essential plan, but most B2B teams need the Advanced ($99/mo/seat) or Expert ($139/mo/seat) plans. Fin AI charges per resolution ($0.99 each).
- The setup is complex. Getting custom bots, routing rules, and targeting right takes days, not hours.
- Can feel heavy on your site. The Messenger loads a decent chunk of JavaScript, which can impact page speed scores.
- No free tier. The 14-day trial isn’t enough time to evaluate a tool this complex.
Pricing:
- Essential: $39/mo per seat — Fin AI, shared inbox, basic bots, help center
- Advanced: $99/mo per seat — automation workflows, multiple inboxes, advanced reporting
- Expert: $139/mo per seat — SLA management, custom roles, HIPAA compliance
- Fin AI add-on: $0.99 per resolution
Who should pick Intercom: B2B SaaS companies with 10+ employees who want chat, bots, AND customer support in one tool. Teams spending real money on inbound.
Who this is NOT for: Solo founders or tiny teams. The pricing and complexity don’t make sense below ~$50K ARR.
Drift (Salesloft) — Best for Enterprise ABM
Drift was acquired by Salesloft and is now part of a larger revenue acceleration platform. If your sales team runs account-based marketing (ABM), Drift identifies target accounts visiting your site and routes them to the assigned account executive. A VP from your target account hits the pricing page? Drift pings the AE in real-time.
The meeting booking flow is the smoothest I’ve seen. Bot qualifies → shows the rep’s calendar → visitor books → confirmation sent. All inside the chat widget. No back-and-forth emails.
What it does well:
- Account-based targeting identifies companies visiting your site using reverse IP lookup. See which target accounts are browsing.
- Fastlane routing skips qualification for known accounts and sends them straight to their assigned sales rep.
- Meeting scheduling inside the chat widget is frictionless. Calendar availability, time zone detection, and confirmation — all automated.
- Revenue reporting ties chat conversations to closed deals. You can see exactly how much pipeline Drift influenced.
What it does poorly:
- Pricing is enterprise-only. Expect $2,500+/mo minimum. No self-serve plan. No free trial on the website.
- The platform is heavy. Implementation takes weeks with Salesloft’s team. This is not a plug-and-play widget.
- Drift’s acquisition by Salesloft means the product is being integrated into a larger suite. The standalone Drift experience is changing.
- Overkill for companies with fewer than 50 target accounts.
Pricing:
- Custom pricing only — typically starts at $2,500/mo
- Contact Salesloft sales for quotes
- Annual contracts required
Who should pick Drift: Enterprise B2B companies running ABM programs with 50+ target accounts and dedicated AEs. Teams where a single deal is worth $50K+.
Who this is NOT for: Any company spending less than $100K/year on sales and marketing. The ROI math doesn’t work at smaller scales.
Tidio — Best Value AI Chatbot
Tidio is the tool I recommend most often for small B2B teams. The free plan gives you 50 conversations/month with live chat. The paid plans unlock Lyro, their AI chatbot that learns from your FAQ and product pages to answer questions automatically.
Lyro isn’t just a decision-tree bot. It understands natural language and pulls answers from your knowledge base. I tested it on a client’s site — it answered 70% of pre-sales questions correctly without any custom training. Just fed it the FAQ page.
What it does well:
- Lyro AI chatbot handles pre-sales questions using your existing content. Setup takes 15 minutes.
- The visual chatbot builder lets you create custom flows without code. Drag conditions, actions, and messages.
- Live visitor tracking shows who’s on your site right now, what pages they’re viewing, and whether they’re a returning visitor.
- Multichannel: chat widget, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM, and email — all in one inbox.
What it does poorly:
- Lyro has a conversation limit. The $29/mo plan includes 50 Lyro conversations. Additional conversations cost extra ($0.50 each) or require the Lyro AI tier ($39/mo for 200 conversations).
- Reporting is basic compared to Intercom. No revenue attribution or pipeline tracking.
- CRM integrations exist (HubSpot, Pipedrive) but aren’t as deep as native solutions. Contact syncing can lag.
- The chat widget design is clean but not as customizable as Intercom’s Messenger.
Pricing:
- Free: 50 conversations/mo, live chat, basic chatbots, 3 operators
- Starter: $29/mo — 100 conversations, live visitor list, basic analytics, Lyro (50 conversations)
- Growth: $59/mo — up to 2,000 conversations, advanced analytics, Tidio power features
- Tidio+: $749/mo — custom limits, dedicated success manager, Lyro included
- Lyro AI: $39/mo add-on (200 AI conversations)
Who should pick Tidio: Small B2B teams (2-10 people) who want an AI chatbot without Intercom’s price tag. Service businesses that get repetitive pre-sales questions.
Who this is NOT for: Enterprise teams needing ABM features, revenue attribution, or deep Salesforce integration.
LiveChat — Best for Support-First Teams
LiveChat is the most mature product on this list. It’s been around since 2002, and it shows — in a good way. The interface is polished, the reliability is rock-solid, and the ticketing system is built for teams that handle both support AND sales conversations.
If your team’s primary job is answering customer questions but you also want to capture leads, LiveChat is the balanced choice. The chat-to-ticket workflow is seamless.
What it does well:
- Canned responses and chat transfer between agents work flawlessly. High-volume teams need this.
- Ticketing system handles conversations that need follow-up. Chat turns into a ticket automatically when unresolved.
- Pre-chat surveys collect company name, email, and question type before the conversation starts. Instant lead qualification.
- 200+ integrations including Salesforce, HubSpot, and most CRMs. Deep, well-maintained connections.
What it does poorly:
- AI chatbot is a separate product (ChatBot, $52/mo). LiveChat itself doesn’t include bot capabilities.
- No account-based identification. You can’t see which company a visitor works for without them telling you.
- The chat widget is functional but dated-looking compared to Intercom or Crisp.
- No meeting booking inside the chat. You’ll need Calendly or similar alongside it.
Pricing:
- Starter: $20/mo per agent — 60-day chat history, basic widget customization, ticketing
- Team: $41/mo per agent — unlimited history, basic reporting, agent groups
- Business: $59/mo per agent — advanced reporting, work scheduler, Apple Messages
- Enterprise: Custom pricing — dedicated account manager, HIPAA, security assistance
Who should pick LiveChat: B2B teams that handle high volumes of both support and sales conversations. Teams that need reliable, mature chat software.
Who this is NOT for: Teams that want AI bots included in their chat tool. You’ll pay for LiveChat + ChatBot separately.
Crisp — Best for Startups
Crisp is the scrappy underdog. The free plan gives you 2 seats with live chat and a shared inbox. The $25/mo plan gives you 4 seats, chatbots, and a knowledge base. For a startup with 2-4 people, Crisp covers chat, email, and basic automation without stacking three different tools.
The shared inbox is Crisp’s best feature. Email, chat, Facebook Messenger, Twitter DMs, and WhatsApp — all in one timeline per contact. Your team doesn’t switch between tabs.
What it does well:
- Shared inbox pulls in chat, email, and social messages. One view per contact.
- Video and audio calling from the chat widget. No external tool needed. Ask a prospect to jump on a quick video call right from the chat.
- MagicBrowse lets you co-browse with visitors. See their screen, guide them to the right page. Powerful for demos.
- Free plan with 2 seats is genuinely usable. Not crippled.
What it does poorly:
- Bot builder is visual but limited compared to Tidio or Intercom. Complex flows get messy.
- Reporting is minimal. No conversion tracking or revenue attribution.
- English support only. Documentation is sometimes unclear or poorly translated from French.
- Mobile app notifications can be delayed. Missed chats because the push notification came 30 seconds late.
Pricing:
- Free: 2 seats, live chat, shared inbox, contact form
- Pro: $25/mo (includes 4 seats) — chatbot, audio/video calls, knowledge base
- Unlimited: $95/mo (includes 20 seats) — AI chatbot, MagicBrowse, analytics, auto-translation
Who should pick Crisp: Early-stage startups with 2-4 team members who need chat, inbox, and basic bots without paying per seat. Teams that want video calling in the chat widget.
Who this is NOT for: Large sales teams or enterprise companies. Crisp’s bot and analytics features don’t scale well.
HubSpot Live Chat — Best for HubSpot Users
HubSpot’s free live chat connects directly to the free CRM. Visitor starts a chat → conversation logged → contact record created → deal pipeline visible. No integration needed. It just works.
For HubSpot CRM users, adding live chat is a 10-minute setup. You’re already managing contacts in HubSpot — now they can reach you directly from your site.
What it does well:
- Automatic contact creation in HubSpot CRM. Every chat conversation creates or updates a contact record.
- Chatbot builder (chatflows) qualifies leads and books meetings. Basic but functional.
- Targeting rules show different chat prompts on different pages. Blog pages get a newsletter prompt, pricing pages get “talk to sales.”
- Free. Not “free trial” — actually free. With the free HubSpot CRM.
What it does poorly:
- HubSpot branding on the free plan. “Powered by HubSpot” shows on every conversation.
- The chatbot builder is limited compared to Tidio or Intercom. No AI understanding — just decision-tree flows.
- Chat routing to specific reps requires paid Sales Hub ($20/mo/seat) or Marketing Hub.
- Widget customization is basic. You can change colors, but not the layout or structure.
Pricing:
- Free: Live chat with HubSpot branding, basic chatbots, CRM integration
- Starter ($20/mo per seat): Remove branding, simple automation
- Professional ($100/mo per seat): Advanced bot logic, chat routing, reporting
Who should pick HubSpot Live Chat: Teams already using HubSpot CRM who want to add chat without another tool or integration.
Who this is NOT for: Teams not on HubSpot. The chat tool alone isn’t good enough to justify adopting the entire HubSpot ecosystem.
Freshchat — Best Budget B2B Chat
Freshchat (by Freshworks) offers 10 free agent seats. That’s not a typo. Most tools charge per agent — Freshchat gives you 10 for free. The paid plans add Freddy AI, which can answer questions, suggest responses, and auto-categorize conversations.
If you’re a B2B team of 5-10 people and want live chat without paying per seat, Freshchat is hard to beat.
What it does well:
- 10 free agent seats. No other tool comes close on free team size.
- Freddy AI suggests responses to agents and can auto-resolve common questions.
- Campaigns let you send targeted messages to website visitors based on behavior. “Visited pricing 3 times in a week? Here’s a discount.”
- Multichannel: web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Apple Business Chat, LINE.
What it does poorly:
- The free plan is generous on seats but limited on features. No bots, no campaigns, no auto-assignment.
- Freddy AI isn’t as capable as Intercom’s Fin or Tidio’s Lyro. It handles simple questions but struggles with nuanced ones.
- Reporting requires the Pro plan ($49/mo/agent). The Growth plan reporting is basic.
- UI feels busy. Too many sidebar options and settings screens for new users.
Pricing:
- Free: 10 agents, live chat, inbox, contact properties
- Growth: $19/mo per agent — chatbots, campaigns, basic reporting
- Pro: $49/mo per agent — Freddy AI, auto-resolve, advanced reporting, IntelliAssign
- Enterprise: $79/mo per agent — custom bots, audit logs, skill-based routing
Who should pick Freshchat: B2B teams of 5-10 people who want free live chat with room to grow. Teams already using Freshworks products.
Who this is NOT for: Teams that need advanced AI chatbots or deep account-based features. Freddy AI is good, not great.
How to Choose Your Live Chat Tool
- “I want the best AI chatbot” → Intercom (Fin) or Tidio (Lyro)
- “I’m on a tight budget” → Freshchat (free, 10 seats) or Crisp (free, 2 seats)
- “I do account-based marketing” → Drift
- “I need chat + support ticketing” → LiveChat
- “I already use HubSpot” → HubSpot Live Chat
- “I’m a startup with 2-4 people” → Crisp
- “I want AI chat without enterprise pricing” → Tidio
FAQ
Does live chat actually generate B2B leads?
Yes. Companies using live chat on pricing and product pages see 10-40% more leads than those with only contact forms. The key is proactive messaging — don’t wait for visitors to start the conversation. Trigger a chat prompt when they’ve been on your pricing page for 30+ seconds.
Should I use chatbots or live agents for B2B lead gen?
Both. Use bots for initial qualification (company size, budget, timeline) and route qualified leads to live agents. Bots handle 50-70% of conversations, freeing your team for high-value interactions.
How fast do I need to respond to live chat?
Under 60 seconds. Response time directly correlates with lead conversion. After 5 minutes, your chances of qualifying the lead drop by 80%. If you can’t staff live chat during business hours, use a bot.
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