By platform

Live chat for plain HTML

One script tag, then every message arrives in your Telegram. Including the three ways this specifically goes wrong on plain HTML, which is the part the install docs leave out.

Last checked 1 September 2026

Live chat by platform/plain HTML

The short answer

How do you add live chat to plain HTML?

Immediately before the closing body tag.

With TGLiveChat that is one tag and about five minutes. The widget is roughly 39KB across 3 requests, replies arrive in Telegram rather than in another dashboard, and your visitors need no Telegram account of their own.

What plain HTML is, briefly

A static site, a hand written page, or anything served as HTML without a framework or a CMS in front of it.

The install, step by step

  1. 1Open the page or the shared footer include.
  2. 2Paste the script immediately before the closing body tag.
  3. 3If you have many pages and no include, add it to your template or build step rather than to each page by hand.
  4. 4Load the page and send a test message.

The full walkthrough with screenshots is in the install guide.

The three ways this goes wrong on plain HTML

Every one of these is a real failure that looks like a broken widget and is not. They are the reason this page exists rather than just a link to the docs.

Putting it in the head without defer blocks rendering

A synchronous script in the head stops the parser until it downloads. For a chat widget that is the worst possible placement. Before the closing body tag is correct and needs no attributes.

A strict Content Security Policy will block it

If you serve a CSP header, the widget origin needs to be allowed in script-src and connect-src. The browser console tells you exactly which directive refused, and that message is the fastest route to the fix.

Pasting it once per page means updating it once per page

Fine for three pages, painful for thirty. If your site has no template layer, a two line include is worth writing before you paste the script anywhere.

What plain HTML gives you instead

None, by definition. A static site has no chat unless you add one, which is also why static sites tend to stay fast: everything on them was a deliberate decision.

What a chat widget costs a plain HTML page

This is the case where widget weight matters most in relative terms. A static page can be 30KB in total. Adding a 749KB chat widget to it makes the chat widget twenty five times the size of the site it sits on.

Measured widget weights, heaviest first
WidgetTransfer sizeVersus ours
Tawk.to749KB19x heavier
Zendesk Chat533KB14x heavier
Drift464KB12x heavier
LiveChat385KB10x heavier
Intercom301KB8x heavier
Crisp155KB4x heavier
LiveAgent79KB2x heavier
TGLiveChat~39KBBaseline

Competitor figures are DebugBear's measurements, published 14 July 2019 and updated 10 November 2025. Ours is measured by gzipping the files we serve, and the command is on our methodology page.

Why the replies land in Telegram

The reason most small sites end up with a dead chat widget is not the widget. It is that answering means opening a dashboard that nobody keeps open, so messages sit unread for six hours and visitors stop bothering. Telegram is already open on your phone, so a message from your website arrives the same way a message from a friend does.

Your visitors see none of that. They get a normal chat window on your plain HTML site, they need no account, and they never learn which app you answered from. The AI agent handles the questions that have obvious answers while you are asleep, and hands anything else to you.

The bottom line

Adding chat to plain HTML is one tag in the right place. Getting it to keep working is about the platform specific traps above, and about whether you will actually answer the messages once they arrive.

The free plan covers 100 conversations a month and does not ask for a card, which is a faster way to find out than reading any more of this.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add live chat to a plain HTML site?
Immediately before the closing body tag. With TGLiveChat that is one script tag: connect Telegram, pick a theme, paste the tag, and messages start arriving on your phone. There is no plan requirement on the platform side.
Is there a free live chat for plain HTML?
Yes. Our free plan covers 100 conversations a month with our badge on the widget and no card required. Tawk.to is the other genuinely free option in this category, unlimited but with a heavier widget. Most other free tiers in this market are trials with a countdown on them.
Will a chat widget slow down my plain HTML site?
This is the case where widget weight matters most in relative terms. A static page can be 30KB in total. Adding a 749KB chat widget to it makes the chat widget twenty five times the size of the site it sits on. Ours is about 39KB across 3 requests. The heaviest widget DebugBear measured, Tawk.to, is 749KB. Both are third party scripts, so the honest answer is that any widget costs something and the size of the something varies by a factor of nearly thirty.
Do my visitors need Telegram?
No. They type into a normal chat window on your plain HTML site and never see Telegram at all. Telegram is where you read and answer from, on the phone already in your pocket. The confusion comes from widgets that are really deep link buttons to t.me, which is a different thing entirely.
Why does the widget not show up on my plain HTML site?
Putting it in the head without defer blocks rendering. A synchronous script in the head stops the parser until it downloads. For a chat widget that is the worst possible placement. Before the closing body tag is correct and needs no attributes.
What is the native plain HTML option?
None, by definition. A static site has no chat unless you add one, which is also why static sites tend to stay fast: everything on them was a deliberate decision.
Can I remove the branding?
Yes, on any paid plan. Pro is $19 a month and includes white label and the AI agent, with no per seat charge. There is also a one time Founder licence at $299. Several competitors bill branding removal as a separate line, which is the item people forget when they compare entry prices.
How long does the install actually take?
A few minutes if nothing surprises you. Connect Telegram, pick one of 33 themes, paste the tag where this page says to paste it, then send yourself a test message from a phone on mobile data rather than from the desk you built it on.

Sources and references

Related guides

Live chat on every platformThe same guide for eight platforms, each with its own traps.plain HTML install guideThe step by step version, in the docs.Widget sizes measuredFrom 79KB to 749KB, and what it costs your page.Alternatives comparedTwelve vendors, each with a reason to stay put.Live chat for WordPressBefore the closing body tag, added by our plugin or by a header and footer snippet plugin.Live chat for ShopifyIn theme.liquid, immediately before the closing body tag.Live chat for WebflowProject Settings, Custom Code, Footer Code.Live chat for SquarespaceSettings, Advanced, Code Injection, Footer.