Chat jobs are some of the most sought-after non-phone work at home positions. It seems there are almost as many people who want to do this at home as there are people wanting to do work at home data entry!
Sadly, there are not as many opportunities out there for this as there are work at home phone jobs.
But, if you have small children at home with you, the majority of the phone-based jobs may not work.
This is because of the “no background noise” requirement these companies typically have. So chat and/or email based customer service positions do seem ideal if that's your situation.
I've dug around today and compiled a list of companies that hire (at least occasionally) for chat jobs. Please note the companies listed might not be hiring now for these positions. I recommend keeping tabs on Indeed or a work at home jobs site like FlexJobs to check for new chat-based openings weekly.
Chat Jobs From Home
1 – Apple Chat Jobs
Apple regularly has openings from work from home iTunes chat advisors. This is a good position that pays well where you are considered an employee.
You get paid training and benefits! The rate of pay varies from person to person depending on background, experience, and geographic location. However, I've never seen anyone claim it's a low amount and I believe for most it is in the teens.
There is a lot of competition for these positions. Therefore, your chances of landing employment improve if you know at least something about Apple products. Apple will also send you an Apple computer to do your work on if you are hired.
If you can't get in on this job via Apple, you will sometimes see the same job posted through Kelly Services, so check there, too.
Read my review of the Apple chat position here for more details.
2 – Site Staff Chat Hosts
Site Staff occasionally hires work at home chat hosts. The nature of the chat support you provide will depend on the client. Pay is around $10 an hour and shifts last roughly four to five hours each.
Note – Do not ask them about their work at home employment via the live chat on their site. You will get a canned response saying they do not respond to employment inquiries via chat.
Go here to see if they are hiring.
3 – The Chat Shop Chat Jobs
The Chat Shop is a company based in the UK who provides chat agents for major companies.
Even though they are based in the UK, it states on their job description for chat agents that your location is not important. However, you must have native-level English skills to qualify. Additionally, they require that you are able to put in 35 to 40 hours of work per week.
You can visit The Chat Shop here to see if this position is open now, or read our Chat Shop review for more details on how it works.
4 – Ginger.io Mental Health Virtual Chat Jobs
This company offers comprehensive, 24/7 care for stress, anxiety, and depression. They hire work at home chat agents to live chat with people who are suffering from these problems. You do need to have experience and a degree in the mental health field before they will consider you for employment.
You can go here to check for openings at Ginger.io, or read our review of Ginger.io.
5 – Gubagoo Remote Chat Specialists
Gubagoo specializes in communication solutions for automotive dealerships. They are occasionally looking for remote chat specialists to work for them. According to a current job listing, they offer part-time and full-time positions with mornings, afternoons, evenings, and weekends as options.
You must be able to type at least 35 words per minute and they do prefer if you've had prior customer service experience, but it's not required.
Go here to check for chat specialist openings with Gubagoo.
6 – Cannabiz Media
This is a tech support position with a company that specializes in marketing solutions for cannabis/hemp companies. This is 100 percent virtual, offers lots of benefits, and requires 40 hours per week. You need your own equipment, and they do prefer that you've had past experience in email marketing.
7 – Ana Luisa
This comany is sometimes hiring work at home chat agents (you will also be responding to emails). Phone work is not mentioned. Full-time, seasonal work. You must have at least a few years of experience in live chat support.
8 – Healthy Back Institute
This company is occasionally hiring for a remote customer service rep to provide support to their clients via phone, email, and chat. So with this job, you would need to be OK with occasional phone work. They pay $13 hourly to start and claim there is lots of potential for growth.
Other Companies With Occasional Chat Jobs
Most of the companies I'm about to list are best known for their work at home customer service/phone support jobs, but they have all occasionally had some chat openings. So keep tabs on the openings at Sutherland, Teletech, Amazon, Simple Texting, and Sykes.
Always use the phrase “work from home” in quotations in the job search boxes for these sites to see openings if you are prompted to search the jobs. This makes it easier because lots of times there will be many, many jobs listed.
A Few Tips For Finding More Chat Agent Jobs
You may want to keep your eyes on freelancer sites like Upwork for chat/email support positions because sometimes companies and individuals recruit workers for chat jobs through there.
Also, you can do your own search for chat work at home via Indeed.com and FlexJobs.
If you sign up for FlexJobs, be sure to use promo code AFFILPROMO to get 30 percent off your membership. I'm a member with them and have so far been very pleased with it!
If we come across any new companies, we always try to include these in our free weekly newsletter as well.
Related Articles
- 100 Non-Phone Jobs You Can Do From Home
- Working as a Chat Agent For The Chat Shop
- What It's Really Like to Work as a Chat Agent For Apple
- 150 Work at Home Jobs & Exactly How To Find More of Them
Post originally published on May 23, 2012. Updated and republished on May 4, 2020.
Iris Jackson says
You can work at www.alpineaccess.com or www.workatsykes.com it is a great company but the jobs pay normally 9.00 per hour but you get benefits after 30 days.
suzie says
Please tell me a bit about it.
Dorothy Oden says
sitel.com offers w@home email and phone support for many companies. I have been with them for 9months and I still love it, like it was my first day. They are hiring too!
Ray says
For Sitel dont you have to train and live near a main call center ?
Marilyn says
No you don’t. They have several states that they let you work from home. I was hired in March but I had to quit during training due to an emergency and I have to wait 6 months to reapply.
RWaggoner says
Sitel has a current hiring freeze in New York state and perhaps more because of wage increases. They ‘can’t afford’ to pay. Try to find out before you spend precious time applying only to be rejected.
Samantha says
definitely would not be because they can not afford to pay people Sitel is a Global Company and works with Hundreds of corporations
layla says
It says you have to take inbound calls. What is the call volume like? I worked at Apple and the call volume was insane. 1000+ calls waiting it was stressful
RWaggoner says
Call volume at Sitel was very heavy – likely depends on client. $9.00 per hour for one of the most difficult jobs ever invented.
Mary says
My experience with Sitel was so horrible. (Ethics) I worked in their actual call center in WI. I think I was a great employee for them. I did all kinds of things to help the Co. The contract is was working with is a HUGE Health insurance company. 3 yrs. Sitel told us that our jobs were so secure!!! Everything’s great. One month later they left for a different state about 400 miles away. The had known this was going to happen for at least 4 months but didn’t say anything because it was the busiest time of year. They renewed the contract with the Insurance company for a lot more money.. We (500 of us) were out of work.. (They were able to pay the new employees less money. That’s why they went to this particular state. We had the option to move..We would have to pay our expenses and take the pay cut. Last year they came back to WI with the work from home option. (same insurance company) I applied, told them I would love to come back..I was pretty much trained already.(or could adjust to the changes easily. They said I didn’t have enough skills for the position!!!! I should have known that they could sell us out so easily…..The honesty is lacking!!!!
I just don’t think much of them any longer.
TVmobile Togo says
Wow, this is what has happened to me now with a major cable company that I have worked for 27 years, new owners now down sizing big time moving many departments to Texas, here in NY everyone is worried about what will happen next with layouts, being moved and not offered to move. 700 plus offered voluntary retire, some not at retirement age its crazy.
Miranda says
Thanks for the list Anna!