By platform

Live chat on the platform you already use

The script tag is the same everywhere. What differs is where the platform hides the field, which plan unlocks it, and the one mistake that makes a working install look broken.

Last checked 1 September 2026

The short answer

How do you add live chat to any website?

Paste one script tag before the closing body tag. That is the whole answer on every platform below, and anyone telling you otherwise is describing their own plugin rather than the web.

The parts worth reading are the platform specific ones: 4 of these 8 platforms gate custom code behind a paid plan, Shopify locks its checkout below Plus, and Webflow and Squarespace both refuse to run injected code in the editor, which is the single most common reason a correct install looks broken.

Pick your platform

Live chat for WordPressPluginBefore the closing body tag, added by our plugin or by a header and footer snippet plugin.Live chat for ShopifyPlan limitIn theme.liquid, immediately before the closing body tag.Live chat for WebflowPlan limitProject Settings, Custom Code, Footer Code.Live chat for SquarespacePlan limitSettings, Advanced, Code Injection, Footer.Live chat for WixPlan limitSettings, Custom Code, add code to Body end, on all pages.Live chat for ReactIn index.html before the closing body tag, or appended once from a top level effect.Live chat for Next.jsIn the root layout, using the next/script component with a lazy loading strategy.Live chat for plain HTMLImmediately before the closing body tag.

Where the field is, and what unlocks it

Custom code across eight platforms
PlatformWhere the script goesPlan requirement
WordPressBefore the closing body tag, added by our plugin or by a header and footer snippet plugin.None
ShopifyIn theme.liquid, immediately before the closing body tag.The checkout pages are locked on every plan except Shopify Plus, so no chat widget from anyone appears during checkout unless you are on Plus.
WebflowProject Settings, Custom Code, Footer Code.Custom code needs a paid Site plan. It cannot be published on the free webflow.io staging domain.
SquarespaceSettings, Advanced, Code Injection, Footer.Code Injection requires a Business plan or above. The Personal plan does not have it.
WixSettings, Custom Code, add code to Body end, on all pages.Custom code requires a Premium plan with a connected domain. Free Wix sites cannot add third party scripts.
ReactIn index.html before the closing body tag, or appended once from a top level effect.None
Next.jsIn the root layout, using the next/script component with a lazy loading strategy.None
plain HTMLImmediately before the closing body tag.None

Checked 1 September 2026 against each platform's own documentation. Plan gates change, so if one of these is out of date we would rather be told than left alone.

The four mistakes that account for most broken installs

Testing in the editor. Webflow, Squarespace and Wix all strip custom code from their editing and preview modes on purpose. The widget is not broken. Publish and open the real URL in a private window.

A caching plugin eating the loader. On WordPress, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, Autoptimize and Perfmatters all offer to combine or delay JavaScript, and all of them can swallow a third party loader. Exclude the widget file rather than turning the optimisation off.

Putting it in the head. Several platforms offer a Head field. A chat widget is not needed for your content to render, so loading it before your content is backwards on every platform, every time.

Editing a parent theme. On WordPress and Shopify, a script pasted straight into a theme file works perfectly and then vanishes on the next theme update or theme switch, usually weeks later, usually unnoticed until somebody asks why nobody replies.

What you are adding to the page

Whichever platform you are on, a chat widget is a third party script and it costs something. How much varies by roughly a factor of thirty across this category, which is a bigger spread than most people expect.

Measured widget weights, heaviest first
WidgetTransfer size
Tawk.to749KB
Zendesk Chat533KB
Drift464KB
LiveChat385KB
Intercom301KB
Crisp155KB
LiveAgent79KB
TGLiveChat~39KB

Competitor figures are DebugBear's measurements, not ours. Ours is measured by gzipping the files we serve.

The bottom line

The install is one tag on every platform here. The things that actually cost people an afternoon are the plan gate they did not know about and the editor preview that never shows custom code.

Pick your platform above and the page tells you where the field is, which plan you need, and the exact thing that will make a correct install look broken.

Frequently asked questions

Which platforms can I add live chat to?
Any platform that lets you put a script tag before the closing body tag, which is nearly all of them. We publish a detailed guide for 8: WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, React, Next.js, plain HTML. The differences between them are not really about the tag, they are about where the platform hides the field and which plan unlocks it.
Which platforms block third party chat widgets?
Three worth knowing about. Wix requires a Premium plan with a connected domain before custom code runs at all. Squarespace puts Code Injection behind the Business plan. Webflow needs a paid Site plan and will not publish custom code on a webflow.io address. Shopify allows the widget everywhere except checkout, which is locked on every plan below Plus.
Do I need a plugin or is a script tag enough?
A script tag is enough on all of them. We publish a WordPress plugin because WordPress users expect one and because it survives theme updates, which a hand edited footer does not. Everywhere else the tag is simpler and there is nothing a plugin would add.
Where exactly does the script go?
Before the closing body tag, on every platform, without exception. Putting a chat widget in the head means a script that is not needed for your content is loaded before your content. Several platforms offer you a Head field and it is the wrong answer every time.
Will the widget appear on my checkout pages?
On Shopify, only if you are on Plus, because Shopify locks the checkout. On Squarespace Commerce, no, because checkout is served separately from the pages your code injection reaches. Elsewhere, yes. This is a platform limit rather than a vendor one, and it applies to every chat widget equally.
Why does my widget work locally but not on the live site?
On WordPress it is almost always a caching or optimisation plugin combining or delaying JavaScript. On Webflow and Squarespace it is that custom code does not run in the editor or preview, only on the published site. On React it is StrictMode double invoking your effect in development. Each platform page has the exact fix.
How much does a chat widget slow a page down?
That depends entirely on which one. DebugBear measured the widgets in this category between 79KB and 749KB, and Zendesk at almost a full second of CPU time. Ours is about 39KB across 3 requests. On a desktop connection none of it is perceptible. On a mid range phone the difference between the ends of that range is visible in Largest Contentful Paint.
Is there a free plan?
Yes, 100 conversations a month with our badge on the widget, no card required. Paid starts at $19 a month flat with white label and the AI agent included, and there is no per seat charge on any plan.

Sources and references

Related guides

All install guidesThe step by step docs with screenshots.Widget sizes measuredFrom 79KB to 749KB, and what that costs your page.Alternatives comparedTwelve vendors, each with a reason to stay put.Live chat pricingEntry prices, seat maths and branding charges.Chat for ecommerceWhat changes when the visitor has a cart open.TGLiveChat pricingFree, then $19 a month flat.