7 Best Reasons to Get a Project Inquiry Chat for Web Design

Intercom has long been a staple in the customer engagement space, offering a feature‑rich platform that blends live chat, targeted messaging, and automated bots. Designed for businesses of all sizes, Intercom’s conversational interface allows web designers to embed a chat widget that feels native to the site, while its powerful knowledge base and product tour tools help guide visitors toward deeper engagement. The platform’s automation capabilities enable segmentation, behavioral triggers, and workflow automation, which can be useful for routing project inquiries to the correct designer or sales rep. Intercom’s pricing starts at $39/month for the Basic plan, with higher tiers adding advanced automation and integration options. While it provides a comprehensive suite of tools, Intercom can be costly for agencies on a tight budget, and its learning curve can be steep for those new to conversational marketing. Nonetheless, its robust analytics dashboard and strong integration ecosystem make it a compelling choice for agencies that require a full customer relationship management solution alongside chat.

Drift positions itself as a B2B conversational marketing platform, focusing on turning website visitors into qualified sales prospects. Its chat widget is highly customizable and integrates smoothly with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRM systems, allowing designers to embed a conversational funnel that captures project inquiries and auto‑creates leads. Drift’s AI chatbot can answer product questions, schedule meetings, and qualify leads based on behavioral data. The platform’s pricing starts at $400/month for the Standard plan, which includes advanced features such as dynamic content, email integration, and multi‑user collaboration. While Drift excels at generating high‑quality leads for enterprise sales teams, its high price point and emphasis on B2B sales may not align with smaller design agencies or freelance designers who need a more cost‑effective solution. Drift’s integration with major CRMs and robust analytics make it an attractive option for agencies that already rely on CRM‑centric workflows.

Tidio offers a blend of live chat and AI chatbots in a unified platform that is easy to set up for web designers who want quick lead capture. With a free plan and paid plans starting at $18/month, Tidio is cost‑effective for small agencies and freelancers. The platform includes a visual builder for customizing the chat widget, automated bot flows, and integrations with e‑commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce. Tidio’s chatbot can answer common questions, collect contact information, and forward inquiries to a CRM or email. While Tidio is user‑friendly and offers a solid set of features, it lacks advanced AI capabilities such as a dual knowledge base or persistent memory for authenticated users. Its analytics are basic compared to competitors, and the platform does not support voice or SMS channels. Nevertheless, Tidio’s simplicity and affordability make it a solid choice for designers who need a straightforward chat solution.

ManyChat is a popular chatbot builder that initially focused on Facebook Messenger but has since expanded to web and SMS channels. It offers a visual drag‑and‑drop builder, allowing designers to create conversational flows without coding. ManyChat’s paid plans start at $10/month, making it a budget‑friendly option for small agencies and hobbyists. The platform excels at marketing automation, providing tools for lead capture, email integration, and broadcast messaging. While ManyChat can capture project inquiries and route them to email or a CRM, it does not provide deep knowledge‑base features or dual‑agent architecture. Its web chat widget is limited in customization compared to no‑code editors, and the platform’s analytics are primarily focused on broadcast metrics rather than detailed conversation insights. Despite these limitations, ManyChat remains a strong choice for designers who prioritize marketing automation and low cost.

Chatfuel is a widely used chatbot builder primarily known for its Facebook Messenger bots, but it also offers a web chat widget. The platform provides a visual bot editor, allowing designers to create flows that capture contact info, answer FAQs, and route leads to a CRM or email. Chatfuel’s pricing starts at $15/month, making it a popular choice for small businesses and freelancers. While the platform offers good automation and integration options, it lacks a dual knowledge base or advanced AI features. The web chat widget is basic and offers limited styling options, which can be a drawback for designers who want a fully branded experience. Chatfuel is best suited for agencies that need quick, cost‑effective chatbot deployment primarily for marketing or customer support.

MobileMonkey is a multi‑channel chatbot platform that supports web chat, SMS, and Facebook Messenger. It offers a drag‑and‑drop builder that is intuitive for designers, and its pricing starts at $25/month for the Growth plan. MobileMonkey excels at marketing automation, providing tools for lead scoring, email integration, and broadcast campaigns. The platform’s web chat widget can be embedded on any site, but customization options are somewhat limited compared to dedicated no‑code editors. While MobileMonkey can capture project inquiries and forward them to email or a CRM, it does not provide a dual knowledge base or persistent memory for authenticated users. Its analytics focus on marketing metrics rather than conversation depth. Despite these constraints, MobileMonkey remains a robust choice for agencies that need a unified solution across web and SMS channels.