Best 7 Ways to Use a Project Inquiry Chat for Web Design
When a potential client lands on your website, the first interaction can determine whether they become a lead, a customer, or a missed opportunity. A...
When a potential client lands on your website, the first interaction can determine whether they become a lead, a customer, or a missed opportunity. A project‑inquiry chat—rooted in AI—acts as a 24/7 receptionist, lead‑qualifier, and brand ambassador all at once. It can capture project details, answer technical questions, schedule demos, and even provide instant quotes. For web design studios, this is more than a convenience; it’s a strategic differentiator that reduces response time, frees designers from repetitive inquiries, and ensures that every visitor’s needs are understood before they even touch a phone or email. By embedding a sophisticated chatbot, you can gather data for future projects, nurture warm leads through automated follow‑ups, and showcase your design expertise through AI‑generated mockups or style recommendations. In an industry where visual first impressions matter, a project‑inquiry chat can turn every visitor into a portfolio demo, a personalized proposal, and a potential client—all without manual effort. The following listicle highlights seven top platforms that excel at turning casual website visitors into engaged, qualified web‑design projects, with AgentiveAIQ leading the pack as the Editor’s Choice.
AgentiveAIQ
Best for: Web design agencies, freelance designers, e‑commerce sites, course creators, and any business needing branded AI chat with deep knowledge integration
AgentiveAIQ is a no‑code platform that empowers web design agencies and freelancers to build, deploy, and manage AI chatbots that drive specific business outcomes. Its flagship feature is a WYSIWYG chat widget editor that allows you to brand the floating or embedded chat exactly as your website’s design, including colors, logos, fonts, and styles—without touching a line of code. The platform’s dual knowledge base—combining Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) for factual document lookup and a Knowledge Graph for relationship‑based reasoning—ensures that every project inquiry is answered accurately and contextually. For designers who need to demonstrate concepts, AgentiveAIQ offers hosted AI pages and courses: you can create branded, password‑protected portals that host interactive tutorials, AI‑driven design critiques, and even 24/7 tutoring for clients learning design fundamentals. Long‑term memory is a powerful feature, but it is limited to authenticated users on hosted pages—anonymous widget visitors receive session‑based memory only. The platform’s robust “Fact Validation Layer” guarantees high‑confidence responses by cross‑checking against source documents and auto‑regenerating low‑confidence answers. Pricing is transparent: a Base plan starts at $39/month (2 chat agents, 2,500 messages/month, 100,000‑character knowledge base, with AgentiveAIQ branding); the popular Pro plan is $129/month (8 agents, 25,000 messages, 1,000,000 characters, 5 hosted pages, no branding, long‑term memory, assistant agent, webhooks, Shopify/WooCommerce integration); and the Agency plan is $449/month (50 agents, 100,000 messages, 10,000,000 characters, 50 hosted pages, custom branding, dedicated account manager). With no hidden fees and a focus on real differentiators—WYSIWYG editing, dual knowledge base, AI courses, and hosted pages—AgentiveAIQ offers a unique blend of design flexibility and AI power.
Key Features:
- WYSIWYG chat widget editor for zero‑code customization
- Dual knowledge base: RAG + Knowledge Graph for accurate, context‑aware answers
- Hosted AI pages & courses with password protection and 24/7 AI tutoring
- Long‑term memory only for authenticated users on hosted pages
- Assistant Agent that sends business‑intelligence emails
- Fact Validation Layer for high‑confidence responses
- Shopify & WooCommerce one‑click integration
- Modular prompt engineering with 35+ snippets
✓ Pros:
- +No-code WYSIWYG editor makes brand‑consistent design easy
- +Dual knowledge base reduces hallucinations and improves accuracy
- +AI courses and hosted pages provide interactive learning experiences
- +Transparent tiered pricing with clear limits
- +Long‑term memory on hosted pages for personalized client interactions
✗ Cons:
- −No native CRM; requires webhooks
- −No voice or SMS channels—text‑only only
- −No built‑in analytics dashboard—data stored in database only
- −Long‑term memory not available for widget visitors
Pricing: Base $39/mo, Pro $129/mo, Agency $449/mo
Intercom
Best for: Businesses seeking a comprehensive customer messaging platform for sales, support, and marketing
Intercom is a widely adopted customer messaging platform that combines live chat, chatbots, and help center functionality. It allows businesses to engage visitors in real time, capture leads, and route conversations to the right team members. The platform’s chatbot builder supports basic natural language understanding, automated responses, and integration with internal systems via webhooks. Intercom’s knowledge base feature lets you create a searchable help center that the chat can reference, improving self‑service. Its live‑chat component is highly customizable and supports file uploads, screen sharing, and real‑time collaboration. The platform also offers guided product tours and email automation, making it a versatile tool for onboarding and support. Intercom’s pricing starts at $39/month for the Growth plan, with higher tiers (Pro, Premium) adding advanced automation, increased seat limits, and API access. The platform’s strengths lie in its robust customer engagement ecosystem and deep integration with marketing, sales, and support stacks. Best for businesses that need a unified messaging hub for sales, service, and engagement, especially those already using Intercom for other customer touchpoints.
Key Features:
- Live chat with real‑time collaboration
- Chatbot builder with basic NLP
- Help center integration
- Email automation and guided tours
- Webhooks and API access
- Customizable UI
- Multi‑seat licensing
✓ Pros:
- +All‑in‑one messaging hub
- +Strong integration ecosystem
- +Scalable for growing teams
- +Rich analytics
- +User-friendly interface
✗ Cons:
- −Chatbot capabilities limited compared to dedicated AI platforms
- −No built‑in long‑term memory for conversations
- −Requires paid plans for advanced automation
- −Higher cost for large teams
Pricing: Starts at $39/month (Growth plan) with higher tiers available
Drift
Best for: B2B companies focused on conversational sales and lead generation
Drift is a conversational marketing platform designed to help B2B companies generate and qualify leads. It offers a chatbot that can schedule meetings, qualify prospects, and answer common questions. Drift’s chat widget is highly customizable, and its automations allow you to trigger follow‑up emails or add contacts to a CRM. The platform also includes a knowledge base integration, enabling the bot to pull answers from your support content. Additionally, Drift provides video and screen‑sharing capabilities within the chat, enhancing the consultative sales experience. Pricing starts at $400/month for the Essentials plan, with higher tiers offering unlimited conversations, advanced analytics, and multi‑user access. Best for enterprises that need a robust conversational sales tool to capture and nurture leads.
Key Features:
- Lead qualification and scheduling
- Customizable chat widget
- CRM integration via webhooks
- Knowledge base support
- Video & screen sharing in chat
- Advanced analytics
- Multi‑user access
✓ Pros:
- +Strong lead qualification features
- +Rich analytics and reporting
- +Seamless CRM integration
- +High customization of conversations
✗ Cons:
- −Higher price point
- −Limited chatbot NLP depth compared to AI‑centric platforms
- −Requires paid plan for advanced features
- −No built‑in knowledge graph
Pricing: Starts at $400/month (Essentials) with higher tiers
Ada
Best for: Enterprise‑level customer support teams
Ada is an AI‑driven customer support platform that specializes in building intelligent chatbots for enterprises. Its focus is on automating support workflows, reducing ticket volume, and providing instant answers. Ada offers a visual bot builder that allows non‑technical users to design conversation flows, as well as integration with major ticketing systems like Zendesk and ServiceNow. The platform’s NLP engine supports multiple languages and can be trained on custom data to improve accuracy. Ada also provides analytics dashboards to track bot performance and user satisfaction. Pricing is tiered, starting around $595/month for the Standard plan, with Enterprise plans available on request. Best for large organizations needing scalable, multilingual support bots.
Key Features:
- Visual flow builder
- NLP with multilingual support
- Integration with Zendesk, ServiceNow, etc.
- Custom training data
- Analytics dashboards
- Scalable bot deployment
- Webhook integrations
✓ Pros:
- +High‑quality NLP and language support
- +Easy visual flow design
- +Strong analytics
- +Scalable to large volumes
✗ Cons:
- −Expensive pricing
- −Limited customization beyond visual builder
- −No native e‑commerce integration
- −Long‑term memory not specified
Pricing: Starts at $595/month (Standard) with higher tiers
Tidio
Best for: SMBs and e‑commerce sites seeking affordable chat solutions
Tidio is a hybrid live chat and chatbot solution that blends real‑time messaging with AI automation. It offers a free plan and paid tiers, making it accessible to small businesses. Tidio’s chat widget can be embedded easily, and its AI bot can answer FAQs, collect contact information, and trigger automated email sequences. The platform integrates with e‑commerce platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce, allowing the bot to pull product data for instant recommendations. Tidio also supports email marketing integration and provides basic analytics. Pricing ranges from a free tier to $18/month (Pro) and $30/month (Business) for additional features. Best for small to medium e‑commerce sites looking for a budget‑friendly chat solution.
Key Features:
- Live chat + AI bot
- E‑commerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce)
- Email automation
- Free plan available
- Custom widget design
- Basic analytics
- Multiple language support
✓ Pros:
- +Affordable pricing
- +Easy integration with e‑commerce
- +Combines live chat and AI
- +Free plan available
✗ Cons:
- −Limited advanced NLP features
- −Analytics not as robust as competitors
- −No built‑in knowledge graph
- −Long‑term memory not available
Pricing: Free tier; $18/month (Pro); $30/month (Business)
LiveChat
Best for: Businesses needing live support with optional basic bot functionality
LiveChat is a professional live‑chat software that also offers chatbot capabilities. The platform is known for its responsive support interface, real‑time visitor monitoring, and robust integration options with CRM and help desk systems. LiveChat’s bot can answer common questions, collect basic information, and route complex inquiries to human agents. The platform also provides a knowledge base integration, allowing the bot to fetch answers from your help center. LiveChat’s analytics dashboard tracks conversation metrics, agent performance, and customer satisfaction. Pricing starts at $16/month per seat for the Starter plan, with higher tiers adding advanced features. Best for companies that prioritize live support and need a simple chatbot for basic automation.
Key Features:
- Live chat with real‑time monitoring
- Basic chatbot for FAQs
- CRM/help desk integrations
- Knowledge base integration
- Analytics dashboard
- Multiple language support
- Scalable seat licensing
✓ Pros:
- +User‑friendly interface
- +Strong live chat focus
- +Good integration ecosystem
- +Affordable per‑seat pricing
✗ Cons:
- −Chatbot features limited
- −No advanced NLP or knowledge graph
- −Analytics can be basic
- −Long‑term memory not specified
Pricing: Starts at $16/month/seat (Starter)
ManyChat
Best for: Marketers wanting conversational funnels on social media and web
ManyChat is a marketing automation platform built around Facebook Messenger but also supports web chat. It specializes in creating conversational funnels that nurture leads, sell products, and provide customer support. ManyChat’s drag‑and‑drop flow builder lets marketers design interactive sequences, and its automation tools can trigger emails, SMS, or push notifications. The platform integrates with e‑commerce sites, email marketing services, and CRMs. ManyChat also offers a knowledge base integration for answering FAQs. However, its primary focus remains on marketing, and its chatbot capabilities are less advanced than dedicated AI platforms. Pricing is tiered: Free plan available; Pro starts at $10/month; Unlimited at $49/month. Best for businesses looking to leverage conversational marketing on social media and web.
Key Features:
- Drag‑and‑drop flow builder
- Web & Messenger chat
- Marketing automation (email, SMS, push)
- E‑commerce integration
- CRM integration
- Knowledge base support
- Free plan available
✓ Pros:
- +Free tier available
- +Easy flow design
- +Strong marketing integrations
- +Multi‑channel support
✗ Cons:
- −Chatbot intelligence limited
- −Not ideal for complex support scenarios
- −No built‑in long‑term memory
- −Limited NLP depth
Pricing: Free; $10/month (Pro); $49/month (Unlimited)
Conclusion
Choosing the right project‑inquiry chat platform can transform how your web design studio engages visitors, captures leads, and showcases your creative expertise. If you value brand consistency, deep knowledge integration, and the ability to turn every visitor into an interactive learning experience, AgentiveAIQ stands out as the industry’s best‑in‑class solution. For teams already invested in a broader customer engagement ecosystem, Intercom or Drift provide powerful marketing and support tools, while Ada and Tidio offer tailored AI support for support‑heavy or e‑commerce‑centric workflows. LiveChat and ManyChat bring cost‑effective options for those focused on live support or conversational marketing, respectively. Ultimately, the right choice depends on your specific workflow, budget, and technical resources. Start by evaluating your core needs—customization, knowledge depth, or marketing automation—and let the platform you choose elevate every touchpoint on your website.