Unlimited free chats vs a capped free plan

MyLiveChat vs Chatra

Chatra and MyLiveChat compete for the same small-team buyer, and both offer a one-agent free plan — but the caps differ where it matters. Chatra’s plans page caps the free tier’s monthly chats, with unlimited conversations starting on Essential at $31/agent/month ($25 annual). MyLiveChat’s free plan is one agent with unlimited chats, and paid plans start at $15/month flat.

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Where Chatra wins

A polished small-team messenger.

Chatra’s widget and agent apps are clean and friendly, with a group-messenger feel, typing insights, and an easy setup that small stores in particular have always liked.

Where MyLiveChat wins

The free plan that stays useful.

A free plan with a monthly chat cap stops being a plan the day your site gets traffic. MyLiveChat’s free tier is unlimited chats forever, so you upgrade for seats and features — not because a counter ran out.

Decision rule

Cap-driven upgrades versus growth-driven upgrades.

Pick MyLiveChat when you want the free plan to survive real traffic and paid plans to start cheaper. Pick Chatra when its specific messenger UX is the thing your team wants.

Side-by-side

How the two products separate in practice.

Buying factor MyLiveChat Chatra
Free plan 1 agent, unlimited chats, free forever 1 agent free, monthly chat cap
Paid entry price $15/mo flat Essential $31/agent/mo ($25 annual)
Higher tier Seat-based, flat Pro $41/agent/mo ($33 annual)
Unlimited chats On every plan, including free On paid plans
Knowledge base Built-in public help center Not the core product
AI assistant Optional AI trained on your content Bot features on paid tiers
Longevity Running since 2003 Founded 2015
Best-fit buyer Team that wants a durable free plan Small team that loves its messenger UX

Source check, July 17, 2026

  • Chatra’s public plans page shows a free plan for one agent with a monthly chat cap, Essential at $31/agent/month ($25/agent/month billed annually), and Pro at $41/agent/month ($33/agent/month billed annually), with unlimited monthly chats on the paid plans.
  • Official source: chatra.com/plans. Competitor pricing changes over time — confirm current figures on that page before deciding.
  • MyLiveChat figures reflect our own pricing page: 1 agent free forever with unlimited chats, paid plans from $15/month, no per-conversation charge.
Choose MyLiveChat if

You want the flat, focused option.

  • You want a free plan that does not stop working when traffic arrives.
  • You want a lower paid entry ($15/month flat versus $31/agent/month).
  • You want a knowledge base and optional AI in the same product.
Choose Chatra if

Its model matches your plan.

  • Chatra’s messenger-style UX is what your team wants day to day.
  • One agent and a modest chat volume fit inside its free cap.
  • Per-agent pricing is comfortable at your team size.
Run it yourself

How to test the free-plan question with your own traffic.

The axis on this page is what happens to a free plan when your site gets busy. That is arithmetic, not opinion, and you already have the numbers you need in your analytics.

Step one

Do the cap arithmetic before you commit.

  • Take your busiest month in the last year, not your average one, and estimate conversations from sessions rather than pageviews.
  • Assume a good month is two or three times a normal one — a mention in a newsletter or a seasonal peak is exactly when you least want chat to stop.
  • Check what a plan does when a cap is reached: whether the widget hides, queues, or quietly stops accepting new chats.
  • Decide what the first capped day would cost you in missed sales, then compare that with a month of the paid plan.
Step two

Then judge the product, not the tier.

  • Run each widget for a week with identical hours and greetings so you are comparing the agent experience, not two different configurations.
  • Watch how quickly a new agent gets useful, since messenger polish matters most to the people typing all day.
  • Track missed and abandoned chats, which is where a small team feels its real limits.
  • Note every question your knowledge base could have answered without a human.
Before you move

What switching actually involves.

For a small team this is a short job. The widget is a script tag, so the install is minutes; the hour of real work is rebuilding your canned replies and your business hours, and deciding which of your existing help articles are worth carrying across.

Export your transcripts from your current tool before you cancel. That archive is the only copy you keep, and it is the thing you will want when a customer disputes something months later.

MyLiveChat’s free tier is one agent with unlimited chats, which means you can leave the new widget running on a quiet section of the site while you finish setting it up, rather than cutting over on a deadline.

A step-by-step version of this lives in our guide to moving from another live chat provider.

Decision checklist

Questions to ask before you decide.

Ask about cost

The numbers that decide it.

  • Would a good traffic month break the free plan you are considering?
  • What does the widget do the moment a limit is hit?
  • How many agents will really be answering in six months?
Ask about the work

The questions nobody demos.

  • Is the upgrade triggered by growth you wanted, or by a counter?
  • Which features sit behind the next tier up?
  • How long does it take a new hire to run a shift unsupervised?

One caution about any comparison page, including this one: pricing and packaging move. The Chatra figures above carry the date they were checked, and anything material to your decision is worth confirming on the vendor’s own pricing page on the day you decide. Our own plans are listed on the pricing page, and if you want a structured way through the shortlist, start with the launch checklist.

Verdict

Chatra is a likeable product for very small teams, but its free tier is capped where it counts. MyLiveChat gives the same small team unlimited free chats forever, then cheaper paid plans — so the upgrade happens when the team grows, not when a counter runs out.

Searching for a Chatra alternative? MyLiveChat covers the same core job — website live chat with optional AI, a built-in knowledge base, and human handoff — with 1 agent free forever, unlimited chats, and flat paid plans from $15/month. Start free and compare on your own site.

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