How this shortlist was built

This comparison focuses on the operating constraints that determine whether a small team can use the software consistently. It is not a feature-count ranking, and affiliate status does not determine placement.

Best CRM With Live Chat shortlist at a glance

EngageBay: Best value all-in-one CRM with live chat

EngageBay is one of the clearest fits for this query because live chat is not an afterthought bolted onto an unrelated database. The free Sales Bay includes contacts, deals, tasks, email tracking, scheduling and live chat, while Service Bay provides free help desk and live chat functionality. Paid plans then add more contacts, calling, scoring and automation. For a small business, that means a website conversation can live near the sales and support record without paying for several products immediately. The limitation is depth: larger organizations may want more sophisticated routing, analytics or workforce controls than an SMB-focused suite provides.

HubSpot: Best for CRM context across the whole customer journey

HubSpot is compelling when chat is one touchpoint in a broader customer platform. Marketing, sales and service teams can work from the same Smart CRM, and basic tools are available free for up to two users. Paid Sales and Service Hubs add deeper automation, routing and AI functionality. The benefit is longitudinal context: the same contact can carry website, email, deal and support history. The cost risk is the platform upgrade path. Professional tiers are substantially more expensive, so a small business should identify the exact routing and automation features that require an upgrade before standardizing on HubSpot.

Freshsales Suite: Best for sales teams turning chat into pipeline

Freshsales Suite combines CRM, chat, email and phone on the Growth tier, currently $9 per user per month billed annually. That makes it a strong option when website chat is primarily a lead qualification channel. Reps can move from conversation to contact and deal follow-up inside the same environment, and Pro adds scoring, insights and sales sequences. The platform is less support-centric than a full omnichannel help desk, but for sales-led small businesses that can be an advantage. It keeps the live-chat workflow close to the pipeline rather than forcing every conversation into a service model.

Brevo: Best for email-led businesses adding chat and CRM

Brevo now combines marketing, built-in sales tools and live chat in a way that makes it relevant beyond email marketing. Its current plans include free sales capabilities such as open deals, one pipeline, meeting scheduling, live chat and basic performance reporting. Sales Essentials is a $31 monthly add-on that expands pipelines, automation, connected calendars/mailboxes and chat capabilities, while Sales Advanced adds sequences, AI follow-up and calling. This packaging works well for a business already attracted to Brevo’s email economics. The trade-off is modularity: the complete sales experience is assembled through packages rather than one simple CRM tier.

Bitrix24: Best for flat-rate team pricing and a broad workspace

Bitrix24 combines CRM with team communication, tasks, calendars and other business tools. Its current cloud lineup uses flat organization pricing with user limits instead of charging every CRM user individually, which can be attractive for teams where many employees need some customer context. The Free and Basic tiers cover foundational CRM and collaboration, while higher tiers add deeper sales automation and marketing. Bitrix24 is broad, and breadth can become complexity. It is best for a company that wants a business workspace with CRM and communication built in—not a minimalist sales CRM with a tiny learning curve.

Zoho CRM + SalesIQ: Best for teams already using the Zoho ecosystem

Zoho CRM can pair with Zoho SalesIQ for website visitor engagement and live chat, creating a connected route from conversation into CRM records. The ecosystem approach is useful when the company already uses Zoho applications and wants to expand without leaving the vendor. Zoho CRM itself starts at relatively low per-user pricing and offers deep customization as editions rise. The caveat is packaging: CRM plus live chat spans connected products, so buyers should verify the exact SalesIQ and CRM editions required for routing, bots, scoring and data sync. It is integrated, but not as simple as a single all-in-one SKU.

“Integrated” can mean native, bundled or merely connected

Before buying, ask the vendor to demonstrate the exact handoff from anonymous visitor to identified contact, then to deal or ticket. Confirm whether chat history is stored on the CRM record, whether automation can trigger from chat events, and whether agents need licenses in two separate products. A marketplace integration can be excellent, but it should not be described or budgeted like a native module if the workflow still crosses multiple subscriptions.

Which option should you shortlist?

Shortlist EngageBay for an economical native all-in-one stack, HubSpot for broad lifecycle context, Freshsales Suite for sales-led chat, Brevo for email-centric businesses expanding into sales, Bitrix24 for flat-rate teams that want a broad workspace, and Zoho CRM plus SalesIQ when the company already values the Zoho ecosystem and can manage multi-product configuration.