Formbricks
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Comparison · Support
LiveChat vs Chatway
A side-by-side editorial comparison of LiveChat and Chatway — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:live-chatecommerce
LiveChat vs Chatway: at a glance
What is LiveChat?
LiveChat layers Workflows automation onto chat, then leans hard into Shopify checkout integration.
The two substantive moves visible are a January 2026 Workflows release — a visual automation builder for the kind of trigger-action work support teams have historically wired up in Zapier — and an April push to embed LiveChat into Shopify checkout and thank-you pages plus product-card and order quick access for agents. Several of the most recent feed entries are 'Copy link' share-button captures from news.livechat.com rather than the post content itself, so the feed quality has degraded over the last month.
What is Chatway?
Chatway's bot learned to read the store; now the store can listen back
Chatway is a live chat widget for small e-commerce sites, weighted toward WooCommerce and Shopify, with an AI support agent attached. The last three weeks added the two things that decide when and where the agent operates: webhooks that push conversation, contact, assignment and resolution events out to external tools from the existing Developer Tools panel, with per-event subscriptions and delivery logs; and AI Availability settings that schedule the agent by weekly time range, timezone and special dates rather than leaving it always on. Underneath, self-service and routing shipped earlier in August.
LiveChat vs Chatway: editorial side-by-side
LiveChat
1.7SUPPORTCOMMS
LiveChat layers Workflows automation onto chat, then leans hard into Shopify checkout integration.
◆ Current state
The two substantive moves visible are a January 2026 Workflows release — a visual automation builder for the kind of trigger-action work support teams have historically wired up in Zapier — and an April push to embed LiveChat into Shopify checkout and thank-you pages plus product-card and order quick access for agents. Several of the most recent feed entries are 'Copy link' share-button captures from news.livechat.com rather than the post content itself, so the feed quality has degraded over the last month.
◆ Where it's heading
LiveChat is repositioning beyond the live-chat widget into two adjacent jobs: automate the repetitive support work (Workflows), and shadow the buyer through the commerce funnel (Shopify checkout integration, in-conversation product cards and orders). Both are direct responses to Intercom and Tidio expanding into AI-assisted support and conversational commerce respectively. The product is still chat-first, but the surrounding pipeline of automation and commerce context is where the new investment is going.
◆ Prediction
Expect AI-assisted reply suggestions inside Workflows (using the trigger-action graph as guardrails) and the Shopify integration to extend into other commerce platforms — BigCommerce or WooCommerce next. Worth fixing the feed: the recent share-button captures are crowding out actual release posts.
Chatway
6.3SUPPORT
Chatway's bot learned to read the store; now the store can listen back
◆ Current state
Chatway is a live chat widget for small e-commerce sites, weighted toward WooCommerce and Shopify, with an AI support agent attached. The last three weeks added the two things that decide when and where the agent operates: webhooks that push conversation, contact, assignment and resolution events out to external tools from the existing Developer Tools panel, with per-event subscriptions and delivery logs; and AI Availability settings that schedule the agent by weekly time range, timezone and special dates rather than leaving it always on. Underneath, self-service and routing shipped earlier in August.
◆ Where it's heading
The product keeps widening from a widget into a support stack, and the recent work is about control and connection rather than new answering ability. The August spark grounded the AI agent in live store data; since then Chatway has added the Help Center it can point to, routing that decides who takes a conversation, an outbound event stream so other systems can react, and now a schedule that says when the AI is allowed to be the one responding. The consistent thread is that merchants are being given switches over an agent they were first given a reason to trust.
◆ Prediction
With events flowing out and a schedule governing the agent, the obvious next gap is inbound control — triggering Chatway actions from outside, or handing off to a human on a rule rather than a reply. The entries do not indicate which, and no API beyond webhooks is mentioned.
Alternatives to LiveChat and Chatway
Other Support products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either LiveChat or Chatway.
SolarWinds Service Desk
SolarWinds Service Desk is loading its Labs pipeline with native Entra ID automation, IT asset tracking, and compliance-ready task management.
Freshchat
Freshchat keeps product moves off the public record — changelog offers nothing to track.
Freshdesk
Freshdesk's changelog feed contains only marketing copy — no substantive release data available.
TeamViewer
TeamViewer's scraped feed contains only community marketing fragments—no actual release data.
LiveAgent
LiveAgent launches Svelte 5 frontend migration and multi-model AI simultaneously.
See all LiveChat alternatives → · See all Chatway alternatives →
Recent activity from LiveChat and Chatway
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 16d agoChatwayConnect Chatway to other tools with Webhooks
- 19d agoChatwayMore control over AI agent availability
- 23d agoChatwayIntroducing the Chatway Affiliate Program
- 27d agoChatwayRoute chats based on visitor replies
- 1mo agoChatwayCreate your own Help Center
- 1mo agoChatwayYour AI agent can now access WordPress & WooCommerce data ⚡
- 5mo agoLiveChatQuick access to product cards and orders in chat
- 5mo agoLiveChatLiveChat extends to Shopify checkout and thank-you pages
- 5mo agoLiveChatExternal outreach webinar promo
- 8mo agoLiveChatAutomate your work with Workflows ⚡
- 10mo agoLiveChatYour emails now link customers straight to the conversation
- 1y agoLiveChatLightbox images in widget (older release)
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between LiveChat and Chatway?
Both compete on the same themes — live-chat, ecommerce — within Support. Chatway is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 1.7), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is LiveChat better than Chatway?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Chatway is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 1.7), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Support products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to LiveChat?
Top LiveChat alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "LiveChat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/livechat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Chatway?
Top Chatway alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Chatway alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/chatway for the full list with editorial commentary on each.