Live chat for WordPress
— chats stay in your database.
Chatfolk Live Chat is a free WordPress live chat plugin with a helpdesk inbox your team can install on their phones, and an optional AI chatbot that runs on your own API key. No account, no per-agent fees, and no third-party platform holding your support history.
Chatfolk Live Chat is a free WordPress live chat plugin with a team inbox app and an optional AI chatbot on your own API key. Every conversation is stored in your own WordPress database, with no account and no per-agent fees. It is free on WordPress.org.
Live chat, helpdesk
and an AI chatbot.
Everything runs inside your WordPress. Nothing to sign up for, nothing billed per seat.
Chat widget
Works on any theme. It renders in a shadow root, so your theme's styles and the widget never clash.
Inbox app
Agents answer from a full-screen inbox they can install on a phone or desktop, signed in with their normal WordPress login.
Notifications
Web push and email alerts for new chats, with quiet hours and per-queue muting.
AI chatbot
Optional. Answers from your own content with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini or OpenRouter, on your own key.
Help articles
A help article post type with search, shown right inside the chat widget.
Helpdesk tools
Private notes, statuses, assignment, tags, canned responses and file attachments.
Customer panel
Earlier chats, shared files and device details beside every conversation.
Free
No account, no per-agent pricing. Messages arrive by polling, so it works on any host with no third party.
Six reasons to keep
chats on your site.
1. Your support history is yours
Most live chat plugins load someone else's platform, and your conversations live on their servers. Chatfolk keeps them in your WordPress database, so they are backed up with the rest of your site.
2. No per-agent fees
Add the people who answer chats as WordPress users. Nothing is billed per seat or per month, however big your team gets.
3. AI at cost, with a ceiling
Bring your own key: requests go straight from your server to the provider, and you pay them directly. Spend ceilings stop a runaway bill.
4. Answers from your own content
The chatbot uses custom knowledge you type in, such as shipping times and refund policy, plus the post types you choose to index.
5. Privacy requests built in
Chatfolk registers with WordPress's own privacy tools, so an export or erasure request includes chat history, files and notification devices.
6. Works on any host
New messages arrive by polling every few seconds. No websocket server, no extra service to run, and it is fine on shared hosting.
Questions about
Chatfolk Live Chat.
Is Chatfolk Live Chat free?
Yes. It is free on WordPress.org, with no account and no per-agent pricing. The only cost is optional: if you turn on the AI chatbot, you pay your AI provider directly for what it uses.
Where are my chats stored?
In your own WordPress database, in tables prefixed fpchat_. Deleting the plugin keeps them, so a reinstall picks up where you left off, unless you choose under Privacy to delete everything when the plugin is deleted.
Which AI providers does the chatbot work with?
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini and OpenRouter. You add your own API key, and requests go straight from your server to that provider. Nothing is sent until you add a key.
Can my team answer chats from their phones?
Yes. The inbox is a full-screen app agents can install on a phone or desktop, with web push notifications. On iPhone, push works once the inbox is added to the home screen.
Do I need a third-party service for messages to arrive?
No. New messages arrive by polling every few seconds, which works on any host, shared hosting included.