Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box icon

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box

by Jeff Starr

View on WordPress.org
77 Quality Score
Active Installs
15/30

With 2,000 active installs, it sits well below category leaders like Joinchat at 700,000, so popularity is a relative weak spot even though the score is boosted by user engagement.

Update Freshness
25/25

Last updated 2026-04-22 and tested against WordPress 7.0 shows the developer is actively maintaining this plugin against current core releases.

User Rating
15/15

A 98/100 rating from 215 reviewers is exceptional and signals consistently high satisfaction among those who use it.

Support Health
8/15

Zero support threads, with none resolved, makes health hard to judge: either users have no issues or the developer is not engaging on the forum.

WP Compatibility
15/15

Tested with WordPress 7.0 and requiring only PHP 5.6.20 and WordPress 4.7, this plugin is broadly compatible with very old and very new environments.

Scores higher than 55% of indexed plugins

About

Display an Ajax-powered chat box anywhere. Lightweight, flexible, fast, and secure. Fully customizable with many options.

Active Installs 2k+
Rating ★★★★½ 4.9/5
Last Updated 2026-08-27 5:07pm GMT
Requires WordPress 4.7+
Tested Up To 7.1
Requires PHP 5.6.20+

Security History

10 known vulnerabilities, all patched
3 High 7 Medium

Most recent: September 10, 2026

View details ▸

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What It Does

Simple Ajax Chat renders a lightweight, Ajax-powered chat box that you can drop onto any page or post via a shortcode. Messages refresh automatically without page reloads, and the plugin offers templates, filters, and hooks for styling and behaviour changes. It runs entirely on your own WordPress install with no third-party service required.

Who It's For

This plugin suits site owners who want a self-hosted, no-subscription chat room or live support widget on their own domain without sending visitors to an external platform. It fits small communities, classroom sites, event pages, and small business sites that need a simple, low-overhead conversation tool rather than a full customer support suite.

Who Should Skip It

If you need modern features like AI chatbots, shared inboxes, mobile apps, visitor analytics, or integrations with CRMs and helpdesk platforms, this plugin is too basic. High-traffic support teams and ecommerce stores needing proactive chat triggers, agent routing, or multi-channel messaging should look at Tidio or Chatway instead.

The Bottom Line

Simple Ajax Chat delivers exactly what its name promises: a fast, no-frills, self-hosted chat box that is highly rated by its users. It is not a replacement for modern customer support platforms, but for sites wanting a lightweight, dependency-free conversation tool on their own domain, it is a strong pick. The lack of visible support activity is the main caveat worth watching.

Tags

ajax chat chat box forum instant message