Install Free Live Chat in Laravel

To add free live chat to your Laravel application, paste the LastWorker script snippet into your resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php file immediately before the closing body tag. After saving the file, run php artisan view:clear in your terminal to ensure the change appears. This connects your site to an unlimited shared inbox with no per-seat fees or monthly subscriptions.

Where does the script go in a Laravel project?

Most Laravel applications use a primary layout file to manage the HTML structure. In a standard installation, this is found at resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php. You need to open this file and scroll to the very bottom. Look for the line that says </body>. You will paste the script directly above that line.

This placement ensures the rest of your page loads before the chat widget initializes. It prevents the script from slowing down the initial render of your header or main content. The script uses an async attribute, which allows the browser to continue parsing the HTML while the widget code is fetched.

The code you need to paste looks like this:

<script src="https://lastworker.com/widget.js" data-agent-id="YOUR_AGENT_ID" async></script>

You will need to replace the placeholder ID with the actual ID provided in your dashboard. Once this is in place, every page that extends this layout will automatically show the chat widget to your visitors.

How do I clear the view cache to see the widget?

The most common reason a Laravel developer thinks a script installation failed is the view cache. Laravel compiles your Blade templates into plain PHP files to make your site run faster. If those compiled files already exist, the server might ignore your changes to the layout file until the cache is refreshed.

Open your terminal in the root directory of your project and run this command:

php artisan view:clear

This command deletes all the compiled view files. The next time you refresh your browser, Laravel will see the new script in your layout and regenerate the views. I have spent hours debugging script tags in the past only to realize the server was still looking at a version of the file I wrote three days ago. This step is mandatory if you are working in a production environment or if your local setup has view caching enabled.

Why is a per-seat fee model a bad fit for service teams?

I spent eighteen years running operations for businesses like a regional dental practice with eleven front desks. When you have eleven people answering phones and greeting patients, you cannot afford a software tool that charges you for every person who needs to log in. Many of the tools on the market are built for tech startups with high margins, not for service businesses that need every hand on deck.

If you look at the twelve most popular support tools, four of them do not offer a free tier at all. For example, Intercom starts at about $29 per seat and Zendesk starts at $19 per agent. If I wanted to give all eleven of my front desk staff access to a tool like Front, which starts at $25 per seat, I would be looking at a bill of $275 every single month just to let my team talk to customers.

When you are running a two-location restaurant group or a dental clinic, that $275 is better spent on marketing or staff bonuses. I have watched good leads die in a voicemail box because the business owner was trying to save money by only giving one person access to the support software. A shared inbox only works if everyone can actually share it.

How do other free live chat tiers actually work?

There are eight tools among the twelve we track that offer some version of a free plan, but they almost always come with a catch. I have audited these plans because I hate being surprised by a bill when a business starts to grow.

Six out of those eight free tiers put a hard cap on how many people can use the software. Crisp and Chatwoot limit you to two seats. Freshdesk and HubSpot also stop you at two. Zoho Desk allows three. Help Scout is a bit more generous with five users, but they limit you to one inbox.

If you have a team larger than two people, most "free" tools are actually just a trial that forces you into a paid plan the moment you try to scale. Tidio offers a free tier but shuts the widget off after 50 conversations in a month. In a busy service business, you could hit 50 conversations by Tuesday morning.

LastWorker is different because the live chat and email support are free forever for unlimited teammates. There is no credit card required to start, and there is no cap on how many conversations you can have. I have worked with shops where the volume spikes during the holidays, and the last thing a manager needs is a software company holding their customer communications hostage because they had a successful month.

What does it cost to use AI or phone features later?

The core of the system is the manual shared inbox, which costs nothing. I prefer it this way because AI should be a choice, not a default. In my dental practice experience, I would never want a robot answering medical questions unless I had specifically trained it and turned it on myself. That is why AI is off by default here.

If you decide to use AI to help answer chats or emails, you only pay when it actually generates a reply. That cost is $0.04 per message. It is a predictable way to handle high volume without hiring a new person.

The phone system is where the real value sits for a local business. You can get a phone number for $1 a month. If you want an AI to answer the phone, handle basic questions, or book appointments, it costs $0.10 per minute. This includes the carrier costs. For comparison, hiring a 24-hour answering service usually costs hundreds of dollars a month in base fees before you even pay for the minutes.

Outbound text messages are $0.03 per segment, and inbound texts are free. This is the kind of pricing that makes sense for a business owner. You pay for what you use, and you do not pay for "seats" or "access."

How do I handle the first few messages that come in?

Once the script is live on your Laravel site and you have cleared the cache, you will start seeing visitors in your dashboard. I recommend writing your own saved replies immediately. Even though the tool is free, your time is not.

I have written phone scripts at 2am for tired receptionists who were struggling to stay consistent. You can do the same thing for your live chat. Look at the three most common questions you get. Usually, they are about your hours, your location, or your pricing.

The shared inbox lets you create saved replies so your team can answer these in two clicks. Because the seats are free, you can have your most experienced person write the answers and your newest hire deliver them. This creates a level of consistency that is hard to achieve when everyone is typing their own responses from scratch.

You do not need a complex strategy to start. Just get the widget live, make sure your team has the mobile-friendly dashboard open, and stop letting leads disappear into the void. A customer who gets an answer in two minutes is much more likely to book an appointment than one who has to wait for an email reply the next day. This simple script in your app.blade.php file is often the difference between a bounce and a booking.