How to Add a Live Chat to Squarespace
A note on pricing: all prices mentioned in this post are accurate as of the date this article was written, but can change at any time. This includes Squarespace plans, third-party tools, plugins, templates, and any other services referenced. Always check directly with the provider for the most current pricing before committing.
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Table of Contents Show
Can you add live chat to a Squarespace website?
Quick Answer: Yes, you can add live chat to your Squarespace site. Squarespace doesn't have a built-in live chat feature, but you can add one through third-party tools like Tidio, LiveChat, tawk.to, or JivoChat by pasting a code snippet into your site's code injection settings. Most of these tools have free plans or free trials, and the whole setup takes about 10 minutes.
KEY FACTS:
Squarespace does NOT have a native live chat feature; you'll use a third-party tool
Code injection (where you'll paste the chat widget code) is available only on Core, Plus, and Advanced plans. It is NOT available on the Basic plan ($16/mo). If you're on Basic, you'll need to upgrade to Core to add a chat widget through code injection.
tawk.to is 100% free with unlimited agents and chat history
Tidio's free plan includes 50 live chat conversations per month
LiveChat starts at $20/agent/month (billed annually) with no free plan, but has a 14-day free trial
JivoChat's free plan supports up to 5 agents
Most chat tools also offer chatbots, automated responses, and mobile apps so you can reply from your phone
Why you might (or might not) want live chat on your Squarespace site
Before we get into the HOW, let's talk about the SHOULD.
Live chat can be a really great fit for certain types of businesses. If you sell products or services where people tend to have quick questions before buying; things like pricing, availability, shipping, sizing, booking details; a chat widget lets you answer in real time and potentially close a sale that would've otherwise bounced. Service-based businesses, online shops, consultants, coaches; basically anyone where a fast reply could be the difference between "I'll think about it" and "take my money."
But here's what I'd want you to think about: can you actually respond?
A live chat widget that sits there with no one answering is arguably worse than not having one at all. It sets up an expectation ("oh cool, I can get an instant answer!") and then immediately breaks it. If you're a solopreneur who's in client sessions half the day, or you just don't have the bandwidth to monitor a chat window, that little bubble in the corner of your site might do more harm than good.
So before you add it, ask yourself:
Do you get the same questions over and over? If yes, a chatbot with pre-written answers could handle those while you sleep. That's a great use case.
Are you actually available to respond in real time? If not, you might be better off with a contact form or a well-written FAQ page.
Is your product or service something people need to ask about before buying? If people are buying $25 candles, they probably don't need to chat with you first. If they're booking a $3,000 service package, they might.
If you landed on "yes, this would genuinely help my business," keep reading.
The best live chat tools that work with Squarespace
There are a LOT of live chat tools out there. I've narrowed it down to four that play well with Squarespace, are relatively easy to set up, and won't require you to become a developer overnight.
tawk.to - best if you want free (actually free)
tawk.tois the one I'd point you to first if budget is a concern, because it's genuinely, completely free. Not "free for 14 days" or "free but you can only do two things." Free-free. Unlimited agents, unlimited chat history, unlimited sites. They make their money by selling optional add-ons like removing their branding ($29/mo) or hiring live chat agents through their service.
What you get with tawk.to:
Real-time live chat with visitors
Canned responses (pre-written replies to common questions)
Visitor monitoring so you can see who's on your site
File sharing within chats
A mobile app so you can respond from your phone
Ticketing system for when you're offline
100+ integrations
The interface isn't going to win any design awards, but it's functional and it works. If you're just getting started with live chat and want to test whether it's even useful for your business before spending money, tawk.to is the move.
Tidio - best all-around option
Tidio is probably the most popular live chat tool I see on Squarespace sites. Which makes sense. It looks polished, it's easy to set up, and their free plan is pretty generous for small businesses.
Free plan: 50 live chat conversations/month, 100 chatbot triggers/month, email integration, and a mobile app.
Paid plans start at $29/month and unlock unlimited live chat conversations, more chatbot triggers, analytics, live typing preview (you can see what someone is typing before they hit send; which is a little creepy but also super useful), and more.
What makes Tidio stand out is the chatbot builder. You can set up automated flows that answer common questions, collect email addresses, or even recommend products; all without you being online. Their templates make this pretty painless even if you've never built a chatbot before. And the widget itself looks clean and modern, which matters when it's sitting on your carefully designed Squarespace site.
LiveChat - best for established businesses with a team
LiveChat is the more "enterprise-y" option on this list. No free plan; it starts at $20/agent/month (billed annually). But if you have a small team handling customer inquiries and you want robust reporting, a shared inbox, and a ton of integrations, it's worth looking at.
What you get with LiveChat:
Unlimited chat history on all plans
Canned responses and file sharing
Chat ratings so customers can rate their experience
Ticketing system
200+ integrations (Slack, HubSpot, Shopify, etc.)
Detailed analytics and reporting
LiveChat is overkill for a solopreneur, full stop. But if you have even two or three people who handle customer communication and you want to get organized about it, it's a really polished tool. They have a 14-day free trial so you can test it out.
JivoChat - best if you want to consolidate multiple channels
JivoChat is interesting because it's not just live chat; it pulls in messages from Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, email, and phone into one dashboard. So if you're the kind of business owner who has customers reaching out from five different places and you're losing track of conversations, JivoChat could simplify that.
Free plan: up to 5 agents, basic live chat, 2-month chat history.
Paid plans start at $19/agent/month (billed annually) and add unlimited chat history, canned responses, visitor monitoring, callback requests, departments/routing, and integrations with CRMs.
The widget design is clean and it comes with a mobile app. If the multi-channel inbox is appealing to you, this one's worth a look.
How to add live chat to your Squarespace site
No matter which tool you pick, the process of getting it on your Squarespace site is basically the same. You're copying a code snippet from the chat tool and pasting it into Squarespace. That's it. One important note: code injection requires a Core, Plus, or Advanced plan. If you're on Basic, you'll need to upgrade to use this method.
Here's the step-by-step:
Step 1: Sign up for your chat tool and grab the code
Create an account with whichever tool you chose. During setup, you'll customize your chat widget (colors, welcome message, position on screen, etc.). At some point in the setup process, the tool will give you a JavaScript code snippet. It'll look like a block of text that starts with `<script>` and ends with `</script>`. Copy that entire thing.
Pro Tip: Most of these tools let you match the widget color to your brand.
Step 2: Open Code Injection in Squarespace
From your Squarespace dashboard, go to Settings
Click Developer Tools (under the Website section)
Click Code Injection
You'll see several fields: Header, Footer, Lock Page, Order Confirmation, etc.
Step 3: Paste the code in the Footer field
Paste the code snippet into the Footer field. Not the Header; the Footer. This is important because it means the chat widget loads after the rest of your page content, so it won't slow down your site.
Click Save at the top.
Step 4: Check your site
Open your live site (not the Squarespace editor preview; the actual published URL) and you should see your chat widget in the corner. Click it, send yourself a test message, make sure it works.
That's it. Truly. The whole process takes maybe 10 minutes, and most of that is customizing the widget appearance in your chat tool's dashboard.
If you only want chat on specific pages
Code injection in the Footer field adds the widget to EVERY page on your site. If you only want it on certain pages (like your shop or contact page), you can use page-level code injection instead:
Go to the page you want the chat on
Click the gear icon to open Page Settings
Click Advanced
Paste the code snippet in the Page Header Code Injection field
Save
Repeat for any other pages where you want the widget to appear.
A few things I'd recommend
Start with the chatbot, not live chat. Set up automated responses to your 3-5 most common questions first, like “What are your hours?" "How much does X cost?" "Do you offer refunds?" Let the bot handle those. Then, if someone has a question the bot can't answer, it routes to you for a live response. This way you're not chained to your computer waiting for a chat to come in.
Set your online hours. Every one of these tools lets you set business hours so the widget shows a different message when you're offline. Use this! Something like "Hey! We're not available right now, but leave a message and we'll get back to you within 24 hours" is way better than someone sitting there watching three dots animate for 20 minutes.
Don't forget mobile. Download the mobile app for whatever tool you choose. Most of your site visitors are probably on their phones, and if they send a chat message, being able to reply from your phone is great, and kind of the whole point.
Test it as a visitor. After setup, open your site in an incognito/private browser window and go through the experience as a customer would. Does the widget load quickly? Is the welcome message clear? Does the chatbot flow make sense? Is the color readable? I've seen soooo many chat widgets where the text color nearly matches the background color of the bubble. Takes two seconds to fix, but you won't catch it unless you test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Squarespace have a built-in live chat feature?
Nope. As of 2026, Squarespace does not have a native live chat tool. You can add live chat to your Squarespace site using third-party tools like Tidio, tawk.to, LiveChat, or JivoChat by pasting their code snippet into Squarespace's code injection. On Core, Plus, and Advanced plans, you can add it site-wide through Settings > Developer Tools > Code Injection. On the Basic plan, site-wide code injection isn't available, but you can still add the widget to individual pages using page-level code injection in each page's Advanced settings.
Is there a free live chat option for Squarespace?
tawk.to is completely free with unlimited agents, unlimited chat history, and no conversation limits. Tidio also has a free plan that includes 50 live chat conversations per month and 100 chatbot triggers. JivoChat offers a free plan for up to 5 agents with a 2-month chat history. So you've got options depending on what you need.
Will adding a live chat widget slow down my Squarespace site?
It can add a small amount of load time, but if you paste the code snippet in the Footer code injection field (not the Header), the widget loads after your page content, which minimizes the impact. Most modern chat tools like Tidio and tawk.to are designed to load asynchronously, so the effect on page speed is typically minimal.
Can I add live chat to only certain pages on my Squarespace site?
You can! Instead of using the site-wide Footer code injection (which adds the widget to every page), use page-level code injection. Go to the specific page's settings, click Advanced, and paste the chat widget code in the Page Header Code Injection field. This way the chat only appears on the pages you choose, like your shop or contact page.
Do I need a specific Squarespace plan to add live chat?
Yes, you need ANY plan that’s not the Basic plan, so Core or higher. Code injection is available on the Core, Plus, and Advanced plans, but NOT on Basic. If you're on Basic, you'll need to upgrade to at least Core to add a live chat widget through code injection
