by Jeff Starr 4.9 (215 reviews)

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box

Name: Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box
Rating: 4.9 (215 reviews)
Author: Jeff Starr

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

Simple Ajax Chat ranks #4,553 among WordPress.org plugins with 2,000+ active installations, is #228 of 3,342 in the Communication category, a 4.9/5 rating from 215 reviews, and was last updated Aug 27, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1

v20260827 Current Version v20260827

Updated 2 weeks ago Last Update on 27 Aug, 2026

Refreshed 12 hours ago Last Refreshed on

#228 of 3,342 in Communication Top 10% by installs Downloads -38.8% this week Actively maintained

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#4,553

— No change

Active Installs

2K+

-31.7%

KW Avg Position

32.6

— No change

Downloads

173.8K

+24 today

Support Resolved

— No change

Rating

98%

Review 4.9 out of 5

4.9 (215 reviews)

Next Milestone 3K

Total Progress 91.9%

2K+ 3K+

322

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

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Rank Changes

Current #4,553

Change

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

4.9

215 reviews

Overall 98%

201 (93%)

6 (3%)

3 (1%)

2 (1%)

3 (1%)

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

9 known vulnerabilities on record · 2 in the last 24 months · checked 1 month ago

Mar 12, 2026

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20260301

CVE-2026-2987 · Fixed in v20260301
Feb 17, 2026

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20260217

CVE-2026-3075 · Fixed in v20260217
May 14, 2024

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20240412

CVE-2024-2470 · Fixed in v20240412
Mar 26, 2024

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20240216

CVE-2024-2956 · Fixed in v20240216
Mar 26, 2024

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20240223

CVE-2024-2957 · Fixed in v20240223
Mar 20, 2024

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20240223

CVE-2024-1983 · Fixed in v20240223
Apr 15, 2022

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20220216

CVE-2022-27849 · Fixed in v20220216
Apr 15, 2022

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20220216

CVE-2022-27850 · Fixed in v20220216
Feb 16, 2022

Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box [simple-ajax-chat] < 20220216

CVE-2022-25610 · Fixed in v20220216

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Plugin Details

Version: 20260827
Last Updated: Aug 27, 2026
Requires WP: 4.7+
Tested Up To: 7.1
PHP Version: 5.6.20 or higher
Author: Jeff Starr

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.9
Reviews: 215
Support Threads: 0
Resolved: 0%

Keywords

ajax chat chat box forum instant message

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

Simple Ajax Chat is for WordPress site owners who want to let visitors chat with each other on their pages. It solves the need for a self-hosted, no-registration chat box that adds instant messaging to any post or page via shortcode.

Ajax-powered chat without page refresh
Shortcode or template tag display
Multiple chat box locations
Built-in control panel for chats
Custom banned words list
Ascending or descending message order
Sound alert for chat messages
CSV export of chat messages

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box

Open the directory /resources/audio/ and replace the files msg.mp3 and msg.ogg with your desired audio files. You will notice lots of alternate sound files included in that same directory. Simply rename any pair of files to replace the defaults.

Check out sac.css located in the resources directory.

Yes, please see this post at WP-Mix.com: Auto-Clear Chats.

Yep, the chat plugin works great on iPhones, Android devices, and just about anything that supports JavaScript.. the functionality is achieved using Ajax.

Yes, check out Simple Ajax Chat .htaccess whitelist and/or Whitelist POST access with .htaccess

Add this CSS: #sac-latest-message { display: none; } You can add that to the plugin setting, "Custom CSS styles" or your theme styles, wherever. If adding via the plugin setting, make sure that the associated setting, "Enable custom styles" also is enabled.

Add this CSS: #sac-form label { display: none; } You can add that to the plugin setting, "Custom CSS styles" or your theme styles, wherever. If adding via the plugin setting, make sure that the associated setting, "Enable custom styles" also is enabled.

You can hide the "say it" submit button, so the user must press enter to submit chats. Add this CSS: #sac-user-submit { display: none; } You can add that to the plugin setting, "Custom CSS styles" or your theme styles, wherever. If adding via the plugin setting, make sure that the associated setting, "Enable custom styles" also is enabled.

Simple Ajax Chat is designed to look great on any of the default WP themes and most other themes as well. Even so, every theme is different, and it's impossible to test on the hundreds of thousands of themes that are available. So if the chat form is not looking awesome on your theme, it's because your theme for whatever reason is applying its own particular styles. If this is the case, you can try disabling the plugin setting to "Enable custom styles". If that doesn't help, you can include your own custom CSS, or customize the plugin's default styles. Alternately, you may include custom CSS via your theme's stylesheet, and/or modify your theme's CSS as needed to make things display as desired. Tip: to see how the chat form should look, check it out using any of the default WP themes.

If this is happening, and/or if you are receiving a "Failed opening required" error message, most likely your site's wp-load.php file is not located in the usual default location (i.e., it has been moved to a custom location). If this is the case, you will need to edit the paths in /simple-ajax-chat-core.php (line 4) and /resources/sac.php (line 10). At some point I will be revamping the plugin so that this modification won't be necessary.