GhostChat – Live Chat, AI Chatbot & Customer Support vs Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box

GhostChat is live chat and an AI chatbot for WordPress, built for people who do not want another app to check. Answer visitors straight from Gmail — reply to the email, the visitor sees it in the chat widget. The mobile dashboard and the web dashboard are there when you want them. Why GhostChat? Answer from Gmail – A new chat arrives as an email. Reply to it and the visitor gets your message in the widget. No new inbox to learn. No cookie banner – Zero cookies and zero tracking, so the widget adds nothing to your consent requirements AI chatbot (Claude) — included in every plan, even Free – Answers visitor questions 24/7 from a knowledge base it can draft by reading your site, then hands off to you when it cannot Will not slow your site down – The widget is ~15KB — up to 58x smaller than Intercom, Tidio, Tawk.to or Crisp (measured August 2026) — and it does not move your Lighthouse or Core Web Vitals scores Real-time messaging – 15-30ms edge-powered delivery worldwide Reply from your phone – The dashboard is a mobile PWA. Install it and answer chats like WhatsApp. WooCommerce auto-integration – Real-time cart & page context, zero configuration (Pro and up) Team inbox – Invite teammates to a shared inbox (2 seats on Pro, up to 10 on Team) CRM Lite – Built-in contacts, conversation history, and notes Auto-translate – 133+ languages, real-time visitor message translation (Pro and up) Canned responses – Save time with pre-written replies Webhooks & Bot Agent API – Integrate with your stack, or bring your own LLM (all paid plans) How it works: Sign up free at GhostChat Create a site and get your Site ID Enter your Site ID in the plugin settings The chat widget appears on your site automatically Pricing: The AI assistant is included in every plan — there is no AI add-on to buy. Flat monthly prices, no per-seat fees; current pricing is always at ghostchat.dev/pricing. Free (forever): 1 site, 1 seat, 30-day history, AI assistant included (25 AI replies/mo, 10-entry knowledge base), no credit card required Pro: 2 seats, 3 sites, 1-year history, bigger AI allowance (200 replies/mo, 25-entry knowledge base), business hours, visitor context & page journey, WooCommerce cart context, CSV export, auto-translate (133+ languages), webhooks, Bot Agent API (bring your own LLM) Team: Everything in Pro plus up to 10 team members, unlimited sites, unlimited history, biggest AI allowance (600 replies/mo, 50-entry knowledge base), remove GhostChat branding, custom visitor context, identity verification, and priority support Perfect for: Small businesses Freelancers E-commerce stores Support teams Anyone who values privacy and performance WooCommerce Integration: Running a WooCommerce store? The plugin auto-detects WooCommerce and sends your agents real-time context — zero configuration required. Your agents see: Page type, product name, cart items, total, and item count — Pro and up Custom data via GhostChat.setContext() — Team Updates in real-time on AJAX cart changes Privacy Policy GhostChat does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data from your WordPress site. The plugin only: Stores your Site ID in your WordPress database (wp_options table) Loads the chat widget script from api.ghostchat.dev When WooCommerce is active, sends page context and cart data (page type, product name, items, total, count) on paid plans, and custom setContext() data on the Team plan Does not set any cookies Does not track visitors Does not send any data to third parties besides the GhostChat service Chat conversations are handled by GhostChat service. Please review GhostChat’s privacy policy at https://ghostchat.dev/privacy for details on how chat data is handled. Support Need help? We’re here for you: Email: [email protected] WordPress Setup Guide: https://ghostchat.dev/chat-widget-for-wordpress Dashboard: https://app.ghostchat.dev Website: https://ghostchat.dev About GhostChat GhostChat is a privacy-first live chat platform that prioritizes page speed and visitor privacy. We believe live chat shouldn’t slow down your site or compromise your visitors’ privacy. Learn more at ghostchat.dev

⭐ Lightweight and fast, persistent chat solution! ⭐ Fully self-hosted: No 3rd-party account required 🙂 Simple Ajax Chat makes it easy for your visitors to chat with each other on your website. Simply add a shortcode to any post or page and done! Instant chat forum anywhere. The chat form is fully customizable with many options, so you can create the perfect chat box for your visitors. 👉 Check out a Live Demo of Simple Ajax Chat at WP-Mix » 👉 Pro version supports unlimited chat forms! Simple Ajax Chat is fully self-hosted with NO 3rd-party service required. Many (if not all) of the other free chat plugins require registration and monthly service from a 3rd-party provider. With Simple Ajax Chat, there is no 3rd-party: WordPress is all that’s required. Own your chats! Difference between SAC free and SAC Pro The main difference between SAC free and SAC Pro? Easy: SAC free supports 1 chat form SAC Pro supports unlimited chat forms Pro can do everything free can do and SO much more. Customize each chat form with unique features. SAC Pro is an all new plugin written with smarter, faster code and all the latest techniques. Get SAC Pro » SAC Features The simplest possible persistent chat Fully self-hosted: No 3rd-party account required Ajax goodness loads new chats without page refresh Smart chat processing optimizes for performance Works with all browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) Works with all mobile devices (iPhone, Android, etc.) Display easily via shortcode or template tag Display chat box in multiple locations Regularly updated & “future proof” Supports custom CSS styles Strong anti-spam security Clean HTML markup More Features Plug-&-play: no configuration required Built-in control panel to edit and delete chats Define your own list of banned words and phrases Display chat messages in ascending or descending order Display custom content before/after the chat form Option to play sound alert for chat messages Option to restrict chat to logged-in users Option to restore default plugin settings Option to enable browser notifications Export all chat messages via CSV file Supports emoticons and emojis 🙂 Customize Everything Limit maximum number of chat messages Limit maximum length of each chat message Advanced customization via filter hooks Option to use textarea for larger input field Option to use logged-in username as the chat name Option to enable/disable URL field for chat names Load JavaScript only when chat box is displayed Customize the update interval for Ajax requests Customize the fade-in colors for new chats Customize the fade-duration for new chats Plus much more! 👉 That’s a LOT of features, but the Pro version has WAY more. Compare features (free vs. pro) » Exclusive Pro Features Enable Google reCaptcha (invisible) for all chat forms Choose from six form styles, or use custom styles Advanced chat management tools and user statistics Mute any user so they are not allowed to chat Ban any non-admin users from any chat session Enable customizable emoji picker for any chat form Display user avatars next to chat messages Display the user role next to chat messages Define your own Bang (!bang) shortcuts Email notifications for new chat messages Limit number of users for any chat form Create private chat boxes between users Banned phrases in text messages and user names Fine-grain control over allowed chat content Built with vanilla JavaScript (jQuery not required) Optionally display inline images in chat messages Automatically clear chat messages and send email alert Display a “current online users” widget for any form Displays a max-character counter for messages Display a role-based chat box on the WP Dashboard Choose from six sound alerts for new chat messages Option to include your own CSS and JavaScript 👉 Learn more and get SAC Pro » Privacy This plugin collects voluntary user chat data (i.e., Name, Chat Message, and optional URL field). It also gives the administrator the option to collect or not collect user IP information. Aside from those two things, this plugin does not collect or store any user data. This plugin uses a few cookies for the chat functionality. It does not connect to any third-party locations. Minimal impact on privacy. Translations This plugin supports translation into any language » Developer Simple Ajax Chat is developed and maintained by Jeff Starr, 15-year WordPress developer and book author. Support development I develop and maintain this free plugin with love for the WordPress community. To show support, you can make a donation or purchase one of my books: The Tao of WordPress Digging into WordPress .htaccess made easy WordPress Themes In Depth Wizard’s SQL Recipes for WordPress And/or purchase one of my premium WordPress plugins: BBQ Pro – Blazing fast WordPress firewall Blackhole Pro – Automatically block bad bots Banhammer Pro – Monitor traffic and ban the bad guys GA Google Analytics Pro – Connect WordPress to Google Analytics Head Meta Pro – Ultimate Meta Tags for WordPress REST Pro Tools – Awesome tools for managing the WP REST API Simple Ajax Chat Pro – Unlimited chat rooms USP Pro – Unlimited front-end forms Links, tweets and likes also appreciated. Thank you! 🙂