10 Best Simple Ajax Chat Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Simple Ajax Chat has 2,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. These 10 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.
The 10 closest alternatives to Simple Ajax Chat
- 1
Private groups
Closest match4.9 (49) 1,000+ active installsFor bbPress - Creates private forum groups
Shares the forum tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, last updated 18 days ago.
- 2
4.9 (99) 6,000+ active installsFor bbPress - Lets you style bbPress, and add display features
Shares the forum tag on WordPress.org. About 3 times the installs, last updated 18 days ago.
- 3
4.8 (208) 10,000+ active installsAsgaros Forum is the best forum-plugin for WordPress! It comes with dozens of features in a beautiful design and stays simple and fast.
Shares the forum tag on WordPress.org. About 5 times the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.9, last updated March 21, 2026.
- 4
4.7 (390) 20,000+ active installsNumber one WordPress forum plugin with AI features. Full-fledged forum solution with modern forum design. Community builder WordPress forum plugin.
Shares the forum tag on WordPress.org. About 10 times the installs, rated 4.7 against 4.9, last updated 22 days ago.
- 5
4.2 (23) 300+ active installsThe most versatile and feature-rich forum plugin for WordPress. Create unlimited forums with awesome features directly in your WordPress site.
Shares the forum tag on WordPress.org. 300+ installs against 2,000+, last updated January 29, 2026.
- 6
FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses
4.9 (90) 8,000+ active installsGet a fast & all-in-one community plugin. Create unlimited communities, and courses with robust social networking and LMS features.
Shares the forum tag on WordPress.org. About 4 times the installs, last updated 3 days ago.
- 7
MyLiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WordPress
4.4 (27) 900+ active installsFree live chat and AI chatbot for WordPress. Answer visitors in real time, see who is browsing, and start free with one agent.
Shares the chat tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, last updated 3 days ago.
- 8
Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin
4.8 (116) 2,000+ active installsLive chat software with real-time visitor monitoring and chatbots! Live chat with your visitors for free or use a chatbot to automate self-help.
Shares the chat tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, rated 4.8 against 4.9, last updated 21 days ago.
- 9
4.4 (105) 5,000+ active installsAdvanced chat plugin for WordPress with AI ChatGPT bots. Requires no server, supports multiple channels, appearance settings, moderation, bans.
Shares the chat tag on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, rated 4.4 against 4.9, last updated March 9, 2026.
- 10
Chat Widget: Floating Customer Support Button for 30+ Channels, Supporting SMS, Calls, and Chat – Bit Assist
4.9 (111) 10,000+ active installsFloating sticky chat button for WhatsApp Chat, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, SMS, Call, Discord chat, TikTok, Line & 30+ channels
Shares the chat tag on WordPress.org. About 5 times the installs, last updated July 29, 2026.
Switching from Simple Ajax Chat: common questions
What is the best alternative to Simple Ajax Chat?
Private groups is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 1,000+ active installs with a 4.9 out of 5 rating.
Which Simple Ajax Chat alternative has the most users?
wpForo Forum, with 20,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Simple Ajax Chat alternative is rated highest?
Bit Assist, rated 4.9 out of 5 by 111 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Simple Ajax Chat alternatives free?
Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.
How are alternatives chosen?
Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Simple Ajax Chat score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.
How we choose these alternatives
Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Simple Ajax Chat on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.
The bottom line
Private groups is the closest match to Simple Ajax Chat by the data we track, and wpForo Forum has the widest reach with 20,000+ active installs. MyLiveChat shipped the most recent release, on September 4, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.