Meanwhile, there is a wide range of LiveChat software on the market. Many providers want to participate in the huge demand and the megatrend LiveChat. However, the offer on the Internet is rather intransparent and an adequate comparison of possible software applications takes a lot of time. It takes time for consultations, own research and comparisons of features and prices.
We help you to gain an objective insight more quickly. In the following, we will present the six most used LiveChat software providers for use by corporate companies (large corporations) – first with the essential data of the companies, the positioning on the market and the top reference customers. This selection is based on empirical values and a research of the widespread LiveChat applications (at Corporate Enterprises) in the German-speaking market (DACH).
This resulted in a selection and presentation of 6 companies:
LivePerson, LiveChat.Inc, Zendesk Chat, iAdvize, optimise-it and Userlike.
LivePerson (USA) – global market leader
LivePerson has been on the market for over 20 years with its LiveChat solution LiveEngage (founded in 1995). It is the world’s largest provider with more than 18,000 customers. LivePerson is headquartered in New York City and employs more than 1,000 people. LivePerson is present in 7 countries with local offices. In Germany, LivePerson operates with a branch in Mannheim.
LivePerson offers far more services and possibilities than LiveChat. The company positions its solution as the SaaS platform LiveEngage for multi-channel interaction with users via various contact points. In addition to LiveChat, other advertised channels and key features include Facebook Messenger, In-App Messaging, SMS, Adwords Click to Message, Click to Call and Co-Browsing. All channels are brought together centrally in the LiveEngage platform. LivePerson has announced a partnership with IBM Watson regarding the topic of chatbots and the automation of interactions. Click here for more information and data about LivePerson.
Hosting and data storage will take place in the data centers in Ashburn (USA) and for Europe in London (UK), therefore no data storage on servers in Germany is planned.
Top References: Deutsche Telekom / T-Mobile, Microsoft, Verizon, Sky, Walt Disney, QVC.
LiveChat (PL) – most users
LiveChat.Inc was founded in Warsaw (Poland) in 2002. In total, the company employs about 70 people. In terms of company size, it is astonishing that more than 23,000 companies have been acquired as customers. Unlike LivePerson, LiveChat.Inc has positioned itself in the market to give SMBs cost-effective access to their SaaS solution LiveChat.
In terms of customer size, LiveChatInc is ranked among the 3 most successful LiveChat providers according to WebsiteToolTest.com.
As extensions of its LiveChat solution, the company offers a chatbot solution called BotEngine, as well as a manually adaptable LiveChat construction kit (chat.io) for the development of its individual LiveChat software. Thirdly, an application in the area of knowledge management is mentioned in order to integrate and automate ideal FAQs into the chat (ChatBot). The core piece is clearly the LiveChat platform, to which further applications can be docked. Other contact channels such as Click2Video, Click2Call, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp are not possible (as with LivePerson, iAdvize or optimise-it).
Hosting and data storage will take place in Frankfurt and Amsterdam and full compliance with EU data protection directives will be stated.
Via the following link we present LiveChat.Inc in more detail with its features and possibilities regarding a use for your company.
Top References: IKEA, TELE2, orange, easycredit, Paypal, Xerox, Roku.
Zendesk (USA) – Extension to Ticketing
In 2008 the company Zopim, a live chat specialist, was founded in Asia. The well-known US company Zendesk then took over Zopim in 2014 and integrated its LiveChat solution into its comprehensive customer care ticketing platform. Zendesk is headquartered in San Franciso and employs more than 2,000 people. Zendesk leads approximately 119,000 customers globally. Its German office is located in Berlin.
The LiveChat of Zendesk is offered differently than with LivePerson and LiveChat.Inc as Freemium product. This means that it can be used free of charge as an entry-level version, but in a very limited form. So the usage barriers are low. Especially if a company is already working with the Zendesk Ticketing / Customer Care solution.
iAdvize (FR) – Specialist for Conversational Marketing
iAdvize is a French company founded in Nantes in 2010. It has a German office in Düsseldorf and around 200 employees globally with offices in Madrid, London and Boston. iAdvize serves more than 600 companies and positions itself as Europe’s market leader in conversational marketing. Since 2017 iAdvize has also had a local presence in Boston (USA) with its newest office.
Similar to LivePerson, the Conversational Marketing SaaS platform enables multi-channel interaction with users via various contact points and channels. In addition to LiveChat, other advertised channels and key features include Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Click to Call, Click to Video, ChatBot, SMS, Mirroring and Co-Browsing. All channels are brought together centrally in the iAdvize platform.

A special feature of iAdvize is that the company has created an innovative service crowdsourcing option that can be used in conjunction with the platform solution. In this way, iAdvize recruits enthusiastic product users and suggests the most suitable experts. The customer can select and train the on-demand experts online and then use them as an additional resource for product consulting (usually in the evening and at weekends, as needed). Through the iAdvize platform, the external consultants have access to advise website visitors in real time during product selection.
Hosting and data storage will take place in Frankfurt and full compliance with EU data protection directives will be stated.
Top references: RWE Innogy, TUI, Cosmos Direkt, Air France, Maxdome, Cdiscount, Entega.
optimise-it (DE) – local multi-channel provider
Optimise-It is a German provider of a LiveChat solution headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The enterprise was created 2002 and employs approx. 40 coworkers. The enterprise aligned itself purposefully to German-language Enterprise customers and shows a customer master of 50-100 enterprises.
Optimise-it positions its application as a customer engagement solution for real-time communication and calls it RealPerson. Similarly as with LivePerson and iAdvize a multi-channel strategy is made possible. Beside the LiveChat various channels and key features are advertised like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Click to Video, Click to Call, Flyer to Chat, Chat to E-Mail, ChatBot, In-App Messaging, Peer to Peer Chat, Mirroring and Co-Browsing.
Hosting and data storage take place in Germany and full compliance with EU data protection directives is stated. Optionally, an on-premise installation on customer servers is offered.
Top references:1&1, Deutsche Bahn, Ergo, Verivox, BASF, Tchibo, s.Oliver, Holiday Check.
Userlike (DE) – German LiveChat Specialist
Like optimise-it, Userlike is a German provider of live chat software and has its headquarters in Cologne. The company was founded in 2012 and employs about 30 people. With a full focus on the German-speaking region (DACH), it has more than 1,000 customers.
The company is fully specialized in the application of a LiveChat SaaS solution. Like Zendesk Chat, Userlike offers low usage barriers with a Freemium pricing model. Small businesses and startups can gain their first experience with the Userlike solution free of charge. The Flex complete package then includes unlimited functions and licenses for corporate companies.
The platform has also been expanded and the following channels and key features are available in addition to the pure LiveChat: Facebook Messenger, Telegram Messenger, SMS and ChatBot. No co-browsing is offered yet and targeting only works via static integration into certain subpages.
Hosting and data storage will take place in Frankfurt and full compliance with EU data protection directives will be stated.
Top references: Daimler, BMW, Trivago, Allianz, Cyberport, Nivea, Continental, ADAC.
With this overview we give a first insight into the suitable supplier search regarding the suitable LiveChat software for large enterprises. Soon we will present you the mentioned software solutions in more detail in its respective functional scope and with the respective advantages.