LobbyChat vs Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box

LobbyChat is a lightweight live-chat shoutbox you can drop into any WordPress page or sidebar with a single shortcode. Built for communities — fan sites, forums, fandoms, classrooms, internal teams — where you want a casual, always-on group chat without bolting on Slack or Discord. What you get Live chat feed with auto-refresh (configurable polling interval — no WebSocket server required) Guest posting — visitors can chat with just a display name, no signup wall Emoji reactions on every message — 👍 ❤️ 😂 🔥 🎉 Link previews for YouTube and any URL with Open Graph tags @mention highlighting — @username gets visually picked out Pinned messages — moderators can pin one important message above the feed Online presence — live count of members, guests, and search-engine bots in the room Moderator role — add a “LobbyChat Moderator” role to any user for pin/delete powers Reporting + auto-hide — 5 reports on a message and it’s hidden automatically Word blocklist for basic profanity filtering Rate limiting built in — separate cooldowns for guests vs members Fullscreen mode + collapse toggle Sound notification for new messages (toggleable per-visitor) Mobile responsive Optional: AI Chat Companion LobbyChat ships with an optional AI bot you can drop into your chat. The bot uses your own API keys — you bring your own Google Gemini key (the free tier works) or OpenAI key. The plugin does not route requests through any third-party server. Bring-your-own-key — Gemini (free tier) or OpenAI (paid) Configurable persona — name, system prompt, custom personality Smart triggers — replies to @mentions always; questions usually; random messages occasionally (all configurable) Hard rate limits — daily and hourly caps protect against runaway API costs Active-hours window — bot only chats during the hours you specify One-click test in the admin to verify the bot can post Privacy & data LobbyChat does not call any third-party server by default. The only network calls are: Fetching link previews when a user shares a URL (request goes from your server to that URL) Calling Google Gemini or OpenAI only if you explicitly enable the AI bot and provide an API key No telemetry, no analytics, no “phone home.” All data lives in your own wp_lobbychat* tables. Try it live See LobbyChat running in production at bejaunty.com/plugins/lobbychat. Roadmap LobbyChat is the free, standalone version. Premium add-ons with gaming-community features — looking-for-group buttons, platform tags, profile-card integration, and richer moderation tools — are in development. Updates and announcements at bejaunty.com. Support development LobbyChat is free and developed in spare time. If it helps your community, you can support development at wise.com/pay/me/asadk372. Every bit is appreciated. ♥ Usage After activating, drop this shortcode into any page, post, or text widget: [lobbychat] Then visit Settings → LobbyChat to configure rate limits, blocklist, and other options. For the AI bot, see Settings → LobbyChat AI Bot. Developer hooks LobbyChat exposes several filters and actions for theme/plugin developers: lobbychat_after_send — action, fires after a message is saved. do_action('lobbychat_after_send', $user_id, $message_id, $row) — the third arg is the database row object. lobbychat_profile_url — filter, override the URL linked from a username (default: WP author archive) lobbychat_allowed_reactions — filter, override the array of allowed reaction emoji lobbychat_report_threshold — filter, change the auto-hide report threshold (default: 5) lobbychat_emoji_set — filter, customize the array of emoji shown in the picker External services This plugin does not connect to any external service by default. Two optional features may, only when explicitly enabled by the site administrator, contact third-party services: 1. Link previews When the link-sharing feature is enabled (Settings → LobbyChat → “Allow link sharing”, which is on by default), and a logged-in user shares a URL in chat, the plugin’s server fetches that URL once to extract Open Graph / Twitter / metadata for a preview card. What is sent: The HTTP request from your server to the URL the user pasted. The request user-agent identifies as LobbyChatBot/1.0 and includes a link back to your site. When: Only at the moment a user posts a message containing a URL. What is received and stored: Title, description, and image URL extracted from the page’s metadata. Stored in the chat message row in your database. Special handling for YouTube URLs: YouTube URLs are first sent to YouTube’s public oEmbed endpoint (https://www.youtube.com/oembed) to retrieve title and author info. YouTube’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy apply. This feature can be fully disabled by un-checking “Allow link sharing” in plugin settings. 2. Optional AI chat companion When the AI bot is explicitly enabled by the administrator (Settings → LobbyChat AI Bot → “Enable bot”, which is off by default) and the administrator has provided their own API key for one or both of the providers below, chat messages are sent to that provider for the bot to generate replies. Google Gemini API (https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/) * What it is: Google’s generative AI service, used here to produce conversational chat replies. * What is sent: Up to 6 most recent chat messages (sender display name + message text), the bot’s system prompt, and the administrator’s Gemini API key. * When: Only when the administrator has enabled the bot AND a chat message satisfies the bot’s reply-trigger rules (mention, question, or random chance — all configurable). * Terms and privacy: Google APIs Terms of Service, Gemini API Additional Terms, Google Privacy Policy. OpenAI API (https://api.openai.com/) * What it is: OpenAI’s chat completions API, used here as a fallback when Gemini fails or as the primary if only an OpenAI key is configured. * What is sent: Same as Gemini above (recent messages + system prompt + administrator’s OpenAI API key). * When: Same conditions as Gemini above. * Terms and privacy: OpenAI Terms of Use, OpenAI API Data Usage Policies, OpenAI Privacy Policy. The AI bot is disabled by default and will not contact any external service unless the administrator explicitly enables it and provides an API key. 3. Optional Cloudflare Turnstile spam protection When Turnstile is explicitly enabled by the administrator (Settings → LobbyChat → Spam protection, off by default) and a site key and secret key are provided, the plugin uses Cloudflare’s Turnstile service to verify that the person posting is not a bot. Cloudflare Turnstile (https://challenges.cloudflare.com/) * What it is: Cloudflare’s privacy-focused CAPTCHA alternative, used here to block automated spam before a message is posted. * What is sent: When a user submits a message, the Turnstile token generated in their browser plus the user’s IP address are sent from your server to Cloudflare’s siteverify endpoint, along with your secret key, to confirm the token is valid. The browser-side widget also loads Cloudflare’s api.js script from challenges.cloudflare.com. * When: Only when Turnstile is enabled and a user attempts to post a message (optionally limited to guests only). * Terms and privacy: Cloudflare Website Terms of Use, Cloudflare Privacy Policy. Turnstile is disabled by default and will not contact any external service unless the administrator explicitly enables it and provides their own keys.

⭐ 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! 🙂