Tidio vs Intercom. Pricing, AI and which to pick.
Both bundle live chat, ticketing and an AI agent. Tidio bills by conversations and sells its Lyro AI separately; Intercom bills per seat and adds a fee for every outcome its Fin AI Agent resolves. Tidio has a free plan, Intercom a 14-day trial.
Every price and feature here comes from Tidio's and Intercom'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
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
Live chat and help desks
Intercom
Intercom is an AI-first customer service help desk with a shared inbox, ticketing, a help center and Messenger live chat, priced per seat, with its Fin AI Agent charged per outcome.
- Starts at
- $19per seat / mo billed yearly, new-customer price; plus $0.99 per Fin outcome
- Billing
- Per seat, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome
- Free option
- No (14-day trial)
Tidio vs Intercom, side by side
"Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it on that company's site, not that it's missing.
| Feature | Tidio | Intercom | ChatBentoOur product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, 50 conversations | No (14-day trial) | Yes, 50 AI messages/mo |
| Lowest paid plan | $24.17/mo billed yearly | $19/seat/mo billed yearly, plus Fin | $8/mo (2,000 AI messages) |
| How the AI is billed | Plan by conversations, Lyro AI billed separately | Per seat, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome | Flat monthly price, no seats |
| AI answers trained on your website | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Install with one script tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hand-off to a human | Yes, to your team | Yes, to agents in the inbox | 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) | Yes | Hundreds, incl. Slack, Jira, Salesforce | Not yet |
| Help desk ticketing | Yes | Yes | No |
Tidio details checked October 30, 2026; Intercom details checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so check each company's pricing page before you decide.
Where each one is stronger
Tidio's strengths
From Tidio's own site. Check Intercom'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
Intercom's strengths
From Intercom's own site. Check Tidio's column in the table above for the same rows.
A full help desk
Shared inbox, ticketing system, public help center, reports and automation, with workflow builders and SLAs on higher plans.
intercom.com/pricingFin works everywhere
Fin answers across channels including email, live chat, phone, WhatsApp and SMS, transfers to agents in the inbox, and can run on top of Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshdesk.
fin.aiHundreds of integrations
Intercom says Fin connects to hundreds of integrations out of the box, including Slack, Jira, Linear, Salesforce and HubSpot, with Shopify and Stripe data in the inbox.
intercom.com/pricingMobile apps for your team
Intercom Conversations for iOS and Android lets teammates reply, add notes, and tag and assign conversations.
intercom.com/help/en/articles/447-respond-to-users-and-visitors-on-the-go-with-the-intercom-conversations-app
Tidio and Intercom pricing
Each plan as the company lists it, with the fees that come on top.
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
Intercom pricing
- Essentialper seat / mo billed yearly, new-customer price (list $29)$19
- Advancedper seat / mo billed yearly$85
- Expertper seat / mo billed yearly$132
- Fin AI Agentper outcome, on any plan$0.99
No free plan; a 14-day free trial, no card required. Checked October 23, 2026 on intercom.com/pricing.
- Intercom counts a Fin outcome when a customer confirms their issue is resolved or doesn't ask for more help after Fin responds. Fin can also run on another help desk at $0.99 per outcome with a minimum monthly commitment. Source
Which to choose
It comes down to who answers your chats and how you'd rather be billed.
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 Intercom if
- You run a support team that needs a shared inbox, ticketing and a help center in one place.
- You want one AI agent across chat, email, phone and WhatsApp.
- Paying per seat plus $0.99 per resolved outcome fits your volume.
- You need SSO, HIPAA support or SLAs (Expert plan).
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.
Tidio vs Intercom. Questions, answered.
Which is cheaper, Tidio or Intercom?
It depends on how you'd use them, because they bill differently. Tidio starts at $24.17 (per mo billed yearly, Starter (100 conversations)), billed as: plan by conversations, Lyro AI billed separately. Intercom starts at $19 (per seat / mo billed yearly, new-customer price; plus $0.99 per Fin outcome), billed as: per seat, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome. Price your own monthly volume on both before you decide.
Do Tidio and Intercom have free plans?
Tidio: Free plan with 50 billable conversations; 7-day trials of Starter and Growth. Intercom: No free plan; a 14-day free trial, no card required.
What is the main difference between Tidio and Intercom?
Both bundle live chat, ticketing and an AI agent. Tidio bills by conversations and sells its Lyro AI separately; Intercom bills per seat and adds a fee for every outcome its Fin AI Agent resolves. Tidio has a free plan, Intercom a 14-day trial.
Which should I choose, Tidio or Intercom?
Choose Tidio if you want live chat, ticketing and an AI agent from one vendor, with mobile apps for your team. Choose Intercom if you run a support team that needs a shared inbox, ticketing and a help center in one place.
Do I need a live chat inbox at all?
Only if someone on your team will answer chats in real time. Tidio and Intercom 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 Tidio and Intercom?
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.
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All comparisonsAI chatbot pricing guide
Tidio and Intercom are trademarks of their owners; ChatBento is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
Sources: tidio.com/pricing, tidio.com/integrations, intercom.com/pricing, fin.ai, intercom.com/help/en/articles/447-respond-to-users-and-visitors-on-the-go-with-the-intercom-conversations-app
Put AI answers on your site. Free to start, then $8 a month.
Free plan forever. No card required.