Tawk.to vs Tidio. Pricing, AI and which to pick.
Both give you free live chat. Tawk.to keeps chat free for unlimited team members and sells AI Assist and branding removal as add-ons; Tidio's free plan is capped by conversations, and its Lyro AI agent is billed separately.
Every price and feature here comes from Tawk.to's and Tidio's own websites, with links. ChatBento, our product, appears as a third column so you can see where a simpler website chatbot fits.
Live chat and help desks
Tawk.to
Tawk.to is free live chat and shared inbox software, with ticketing, a CRM and a knowledge base, for unlimited team members. It earns from paid add-ons like AI Assist and branding removal, and from hired chat agents.
- Starts at
- Freelive chat; AI Assist add-on from $29/mo
- Billing
- Free chat, paid add-ons
- Free option
- Yes, live chat; AI has a limited free tier
Live chat and help desks
Tidio
Tidio is a customer service platform with a live chat widget, a help desk with ticketing, and an AI agent called Lyro, which is also sold on its own.
- Starts at
- $24.17per mo billed yearly, Starter (100 conversations)
- Billing
- Plan by conversations, Lyro AI billed separately
- Free option
- Yes, 50 conversations
Tawk.to vs Tidio, side by side
"Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it on that company's site, not that it's missing.
| Feature | Tawk.to | Tidio | ChatBentoOur product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, live chat; AI has a limited free tier | Yes, 50 conversations | Yes, 50 AI messages/mo |
| Lowest paid plan | Not confirmed | $24.17/mo billed yearly | $8/mo (2,000 AI messages) |
| How the AI is billed | Free chat, paid add-ons | Plan by conversations, Lyro AI billed separately | Flat monthly price, no seats |
| AI answers trained on your website | AI Assist add-on | Yes | Yes |
| Install with one script tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hand-off to a human | Yes | Yes, to your team | Yes, by email |
| Live chat inbox for your team | Yes | Yes | No |
| WhatsApp, Messenger and other channels | Yes | Yes | Not yet |
| Native integrations (CRM, Slack and others) | Not confirmed | Yes | Not yet |
| Help desk ticketing | Yes | Yes | No |
Tawk.to details checked October 23, 2026; Tidio details checked October 30, 2026. Prices change, so check each company's pricing page before you decide.
Where each one is stronger
Tawk.to's strengths
From Tawk.to's own site. Check Tidio's column in the table above for the same rows.
Free live chat for any team size
Tawk.to's live chat is free with unlimited team members, and it has native apps for iOS, Android, macOS and Windows.
tawk.toOmnichannel inbox
Live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS and Telegram land in one shared inbox.
tawk.to/products/inboxPeople on demand
You can hire trained human chat agents from $1 an hour, or virtual assistants, to answer for you.
tawk.to/pricingTicketing, CRM and a knowledge base
Enquiries become tickets on the contact and stay open until resolved, alongside a CRM and knowledge base.
tawk.to
Tidio's strengths
From Tidio's own site. Check Tawk.to's column in the table above for the same rows.
Live chat and ticketing, even on Free
Tidio's free plan includes live chat and ticketing, with mobile apps for Android and iOS and a desktop app. ChatBento has no live inbox; it hands visitors to you by email.
tidio.com/pricingMessaging channels
WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger are listed as native integrations from the Free plan up.
tidio.com/pricingShopify actions
On Growth, Tidio can check a customer's order history and cancel orders inside Shopify. ChatBento answers questions but doesn't take store actions.
tidio.com/pricingA long integrations list
Tidio names integrations with Shopify, WordPress, Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zendesk and Intercom, plus an open API.
tidio.com/integrations
Tawk.to and Tidio pricing
Each plan as the company lists it, with the fees that come on top.
Tawk.to pricing
- Live chat and inboxunlimited team members, with tawk.to brandingFree
- AI Assistper month; a free tier for sites with limited chat volumefrom $29
- Remove brandingper month per property$29
- Hired chat agentsper hour, people who answer chats for you$1
The core live chat is free forever, no credit card. Checked October 23, 2026 on tawk.to/pricing.
- We couldn't confirm AI Assist's paid tiers or limits on Tawk.to's site, so check its add-ons page for what $29 a month includes. Source
Tidio pricing
- Free50 billable conversations, 10 seats$0
- Starterper mo billed yearly. 100 billable conversations, 50 one-off Lyro AI conversations$24.17
- Growthper mo billed yearly, from 250 billable conversationsfrom $49.17
- Lyro AI Agentper mo, from 50 Lyro AI conversations a month (shown with the yearly-billing toggle)from $32.50
- Plusper mo plus monthly usage, through salesfrom $300
- Premiumcontact salesCustom
Free plan with 50 billable conversations; 7-day trials of Starter and Growth. Checked October 30, 2026 on tidio.com/pricing.
- Lyro AI conversations are billed separately from the human conversations above. Every account gets 50 Lyro conversations once; to refresh them monthly you need the Lyro AI Agent plan, which starts at $32.50 a month billed yearly for 50 conversations. Source
- Tidio's prices above are the yearly-billing figures its pricing page shows; monthly billing costs more. Source
Which to choose
It comes down to who answers your chats and how you'd rather be billed.
Choose Tawk.to if
- You want free human live chat and someone on your team will answer it.
- You need WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS and email in one free inbox.
- You'd like to hire people to answer chats by the hour.
Choose Tidio if
- You want live chat, ticketing and an AI agent from one vendor, with mobile apps for your team.
- Customers message you on WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger.
- You run a Shopify store and want the bot to look up or cancel orders.
Choose ChatBento if
Our product
- You want an AI chatbot on your website that answers from your own pages, Q&As and text, not a full support suite.
- You'd rather pay a flat $8, $30 or $100 a month than per seat or per resolution, or start on the free plan with 50 AI messages a month.
- An email hand-off is enough when a visitor needs a person.
Only need AI answers on your website?
ChatBento reads your site in about a minute and answers visitors from it. Free plan forever, paid plans from $8 a month.
Tawk.to vs Tidio. Questions, answered.
Which is cheaper, Tawk.to or Tidio?
It depends on how you'd use them, because they bill differently. Tawk.to is free to start (live chat; AI Assist add-on from $29/mo), billed as: free chat, paid add-ons. Tidio starts at $24.17 (per mo billed yearly, Starter (100 conversations)), billed as: plan by conversations, Lyro AI billed separately. Price your own monthly volume on both before you decide.
Do Tawk.to and Tidio have free plans?
Tawk.to: The core live chat is free forever, no credit card. Tidio: Free plan with 50 billable conversations; 7-day trials of Starter and Growth.
What is the main difference between Tawk.to and Tidio?
Both give you free live chat. Tawk.to keeps chat free for unlimited team members and sells AI Assist and branding removal as add-ons; Tidio's free plan is capped by conversations, and its Lyro AI agent is billed separately.
Which should I choose, Tawk.to or Tidio?
Choose Tawk.to if you want free human live chat and someone on your team will answer it. Choose Tidio if you want live chat, ticketing and an AI agent from one vendor, with mobile apps for your team.
Do I need a live chat inbox at all?
Only if someone on your team will answer chats in real time. Tawk.to and Tidio both include one. If you mostly want visitors' questions answered from your website, an AI chatbot with an email hand-off does that without a seat for each person.
Is there a simpler, flat-priced alternative to Tawk.to and Tidio?
ChatBento is an AI chatbot for your website that learns from your pages and Q&As, captures leads and hands off to you by email. It has a free plan with 50 AI messages a month, then $8, $30 or $100 a month, with AI answers included and no seats. It has no live chat inbox, ticketing or messaging channels, so it fits when the website chatbot is the job.
Keep comparing
- Tawk.to pricingPlans, costs and fees on top
- Tidio pricingPlans, costs and fees on top
- Tidio vs IntercomHead to head
- Tidio vs CrispHead to head
- LiveChat vs TidioHead to head
All comparisonsAI chatbot pricing guide
Tawk.to and Tidio are trademarks of their owners; ChatBento is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
Sources: tawk.to/pricing, tawk.to/products/live-chat, tawk.to/add-ons, tawk.to, tawk.to/products/inbox, tidio.com/pricing, tidio.com/integrations
Put AI answers on your site. Free to start, then $8 a month.
Free plan forever. No card required.