The strongest Joinchat alternative for most sites is Click to Chat, which offers an unusually wide set of placement settings and shortcodes for putting WhatsApp buttons exactly where you want them. For several contact channels in one widget, Chaty is the most flexible free option, while Social Chat suits teams routing chats to multiple agents. We ranked these from our index of 55,000+ WordPress plugins.

Why people switch from Joinchat

• Sites wanting more control over where and how the WhatsApp button appears move to Click to Chat for its extensive placement and shortcode options.
• Businesses needing several contact channels, not just WhatsApp, move to Chaty.
• Teams where multiple people answer chats move to Social Chat for per-agent routing.
• Sites focused on phone leads rather than chat move to Call Now Button.

Click to Chat – Placement flexibility

Click to Chat is a WhatsApp chat plugin from HoliThemes with an unusually deep set of options for button style, position, and shortcode placement. Against Joinchat, it gives you finer control over exactly where and how the WhatsApp button appears across the site. The drawback is that its many settings screens can feel cluttered, so a simple setup takes more clicking than a more opinionated widget.

Choose Click to Chat if you want granular control over WhatsApp button placement and styling.

Social Chat – Multiple agents

Social Chat adds a WhatsApp chat button that can route conversations to several agents or departments, each with its own hours. Against Joinchat, it is better suited to teams where more than one person answers chats. The drawback is that the free version limits the number of agents and design choices, nudging larger teams toward the paid plan.

Choose Social Chat if several team members answer WhatsApp chats and you need per-agent routing.

Chaty – Many chat channels

Chaty is a floating chat widget from Premio that surfaces many contact channels at once, including WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, SMS, email, and phone. Against Joinchat, it is the pick when you want more than WhatsApp behind a single button. The drawback is that the free tier caps the number of channels and reserves triggers, targeting, and analytics for Chaty Pro.

Choose Chaty if you want one button offering WhatsApp alongside several other contact channels.

Call Now Button – Click-to-call first

Call Now Button adds a prominent click-to-call button aimed at mobile visitors, and now also supports WhatsApp and other chat channels. Against Joinchat, it is the stronger choice when phone calls, not chat, are your primary goal. The drawback is that its design and extra channels stay fairly basic in the free version, with the richer widget behind the Pro upgrade.

Choose Call Now Button if your priority is phone calls from mobile visitors rather than WhatsApp chat.

wp-social-chat – Simple WhatsApp box

WP Social Chat places a straightforward WhatsApp chat box on your site so visitors can start a conversation in a tap. Against Joinchat, it keeps things deliberately simple and quick to configure. The drawback is that it is less actively maintained and lighter on features than the leading widgets, so advanced targeting and multi-channel support are missing.

Choose wp-social-chat if you want the simplest possible WhatsApp chat box and little else.

When to stay on Joinchat

Stay on Joinchat if its polished button, greeting box, and built-in conversion tracking already do what you need. It is free for the essentials, well maintained, and integrates neatly with Google Analytics and Ads, so if WhatsApp is your only channel and the widget is converting, switching mainly trades that polish for more settings you may not use.

How we ranked these

Every plugin here is scored by the WPS Score, a single 0 to 10 rating built from 21 signals covering maintenance, support responsiveness, compatibility, performance, and ratings quality across our index of 55,000+ plugins. Rankings are derived from that data, not editorial preference, and no plugin author can pay to change a score. How the WPS Score works.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Joinchat?

Click to Chat is the closest alternative to Joinchat, offering even more control over WhatsApp button placement and styling. If you need multiple contact channels, Chaty is a better fit, and Social Chat suits teams that route chats to several agents.

Is Joinchat free?

Yes, Joinchat has a free version that adds a WhatsApp button with a greeting box and basic analytics events. A premium version unlocks extra channels and features, but many small sites run comfortably on the free plugin.

Can I track WhatsApp button clicks in Google Analytics?

Yes. Joinchat and Click to Chat both send events you can pick up in Google Analytics, and Joinchat also supports Google Ads conversion tracking. This lets you measure how many visitors start a WhatsApp chat from your site.

The verdict

The best all-round Joinchat alternative is Click to Chat for its placement flexibility, with Chaty the pick for multiple channels and Social Chat for multi-agent teams. If Joinchat’s polished WhatsApp button and conversion tracking already suit you, staying on Joinchat is a perfectly good choice.