Live takeover
Step in while they are still there
Most of what comes in, you want the assistant to handle. Then one arrives that is worth your own answer: a job bigger than the rest, a question it would be wrong to guess at, somebody who is clearly about to leave. The useful moment for that is now, while they are still reading, not tomorrow morning off a transcript.
On every plan, including the trial. Nothing to switch on, and nothing you have to sit and watch.
- Priya Ramanasked for a person
“Is there any chance of somebody today?”
- Danayou're answering
“Do you cover Oak Park?”
- Someone
“what does a full rewire run to”
Is there any chance of somebody today?
Let me get somebody to confirm that for you.
Priya, it's Dana. I can be with you by four.
One question. Two answers.
It is twenty to five on a Thursday. Priya has four units that need looking at and is asking whether anybody can come out today.
Read at 9:12 the next morning.
- The answer was yes, and the only person who knew that was you.
- She said ok and closed the tab, which reads as fine and is not.
- You call at half nine and she has already booked somebody else.
Answered at 4:41, while she was still reading it.
- The one question worth your own answer got it, in a minute.
- She never started again, never repeated herself, never waited on hold.
- You went back to what you were doing and the assistant carried on.
The moment it changes hands
The thread does not break.
The worry about typing into a chat an AI is already having is that the visitor ends up talking to two things at once, or gets bounced to a queue and asked their question again. Neither happens. It is one conversation, it stays where it is, and only one of you is answering at any moment.
One conversation
Assistant answeringDo you take on commercial jobs? We have four units.
We do. Can I take the address and a number for the site?
Is there any chance of somebody today?
Dana here, I own the place. I can be there by six if that works?
That would be great. 1400 Chicago Ave.
The visitor did not start again.
Assistant pausedHand it back and it picks the conversation up where you left it.
Live takeover, in three parts
What is happening right now
A panel that appears when somebody is actually on your site, with their name and the last thing they asked. It is measured from the conversation rather than asserted, and it takes itself away when they leave, so it is never confidently wrong.
Step in and it steps back
Type one message and the assistant stops answering that conversation. The visitor is told you joined, by first name, and sees you typing. Every other chat on your site carries on as normal.
They can ask for you
Switch on a button that lets a visitor ask for a person, and the ones who have asked sit at the top of the list. The chat somebody is waiting on is the one you see first.
Worth knowing. Nobody has to be watching. If you never step in, the assistant answers exactly as it would have, which is the whole reason you have it. One person holds a conversation at a time, so a second person opening it is told who is already answering rather than typing over them. This is not a staffed live chat desk, and Formala will not tell a visitor somebody is there when nobody is.
Live takeover: the questions people ask
No, and nothing here assumes you will. The assistant answers whether or not you are anywhere near the dashboard. The live panel only appears when something is actually happening, so a dashboard with nothing on it means there is nothing you are missing.
Live takeover works with
Pricing
Simple pricing. Every core feature included.
Start with 30 free conversations over 30 days, no card. Every plan has every core feature. Bigger plans add volume, and Growth and up learn from real chats, Pro adds the AI follow-up engine, and Business adds auto-sent replies plus seats for your team. How billing works →
Growth
$39/mo
400 conversations / month
about 10¢ per conversation
- Every core feature
- Learns from real chats
- Team seats
Pro
$79/mo
1,000 conversations / month
about 8¢ per conversation
- Every core feature
- Learns from real chats
- Team seats
- AI follow-up engine
- Send from your own domain
Business
$149/mo
2,500 conversations / month
about 6¢ per conversation
- Every core feature
- Learns from real chats
- Team seats
- AI follow-up engine
- Send from your own domain
- Auto-sent AI replies
And it never switches off
$0 a monthNo card to start. Your first 30 conversations are answered by the AI, over 30 days. After that the AI stops answering and the rest of it keeps working, for nothing, for as long as you like, carrying a small “Powered by Formala” line that any paid plan removes.
- The contact formThe widget falls back to your own form, so a visitor who wants to reach you still can, and the lead still lands in your inbox.
- Direct messagesVisitors can still leave a message for you or for a named person on your team, and reply to yours from the same thread.
- BookingYour booking page keeps taking appointments, with the reminders and the calendar sync that go with them.
Add voice: let visitors talk to it out loud
A microphone in the chat. Visitors speak instead of typing and hear the answer back, and you get the same transcript and the same lead as any other conversation. Works with any plan, on as many forms as you like.
$59/mo200 spoken minutes a month
Not sure what something does? Every feature, explained in plain English →
Every plan starts with a free 30-day trial: no card required, cancel anytime. If Formala catches one job you'd have missed, it's paid for itself.
Priced for small businesses, not enterprises.
You get the qualifying, structuring, and follow-up you'd expect from tools that cost far more, at pennies per conversation.
| Formala | A plain contact form | Chat / chatbot suites | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turns vague visitors into qualified leads | — | Limited | |
| Clean, structured leads, no transcripts to read | Limited | — | |
| Answers 24/7 and follows up on its own | — | Limited | |
| Live in minutes. One line, no code or setup fees | Limited | — | |
| Your brand, no “powered by” badge (any paid plan) | Limited | — | |
| Typical cost | From $19/mo · ~6–13¢ a chat | Free, but converts like a form | ~$30–130/seat + ~$1 per AI chat |
You pay less at every size
| Chats / mo | A comparable AI form tool | Formala |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | $59/mo | $39/moGrowth · 400 included |
| 500 | $98/mo | $79/moPro · 1,000 included |
| 2,000 | $330/mo | $149/moBusiness · 2,500 included |
Up to ~2.5× cheaper per conversation, and it does more.
Other tools' prices reflect major providers' publicly listed rates (AI form tools by conversation tier; live-chat suites per seat plus a per-AI-answer fee) and may change, so compare current plans before deciding.
Stop losing the visitors who almost reached out.
Set Formala up in the time it takes to read this page.
Start free for 30 daysNo card required · cancel anytime · your data stays yours