Tidio vs Zendesk. Pricing, AI and which to pick.
Tidio bills by conversations, sells its Lyro AI separately and has a free plan. Zendesk charges per agent, starts live chat on Suite Team and bills its AI agents per automated resolution beyond those included, with a 14-day trial.
Every price and feature here comes from Tidio's and Zendesk'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
Zendesk
Zendesk is a customer service suite with ticketing, messaging and live chat, a help center and voice, with AI agents built in, priced per agent seat.
- Starts at
- $19per agent / mo, billed yearly. Live chat from $55
- Billing
- Per agent seat, plus per automated resolution
- Free option
- No (14-day trial)
Tidio vs Zendesk, side by side
"Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it on that company's site, not that it's missing.
| Feature | Tidio | Zendesk | 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/agent/mo billed yearly; live chat from $55 | $14/mo (2,000 AI messages) |
| How the AI is billed | Plan by conversations, Lyro AI billed separately | Per agent seat, plus per automated resolution | 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 Zendesk | 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 | 1,800+ apps | Not yet |
| Help desk ticketing | Yes | Yes | No |
Tidio details checked October 30, 2026; Zendesk 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 Zendesk'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
Zendesk's strengths
From Zendesk's own site. Check Tidio's column in the table above for the same rows.
A complete help desk
Ticketing, messaging and live chat, a help center and telephony in one suite, with prebuilt analytics dashboards. ChatBento is only the website chatbot.
zendesk.com/pricingEvery channel in one place
Zendesk connects Facebook, Instagram and X, and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Slack, WeChat and LINE. ChatBento runs on your website only.
zendesk.com/pricingAI agents beyond chat
Zendesk AI agents work across messaging, email and voice, support 80+ languages, and can learn from your help center plus sources like Google Drive and PDFs.
zendesk.com/service/ai/ai-agentsA large app marketplace
Zendesk lists 1,800+ apps and integrations, 90+ telephony providers, and agent mobile apps for iOS and Android.
zendesk.com/pricing
Tidio and Zendesk 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
Zendesk pricing
- Support Teamper agent / mo, billed yearly ($25 monthly). Email and ticketing, no live chat$19
- Suite Teamper agent / mo, billed yearly ($69 monthly). Adds messaging and live chat$55
- Suite Professionalper agent / mo, billed yearly ($149 monthly)$115
- Suite Enterprisetalk to salesCustom
No free plan; a 14-day free trial of Suite Professional. Checked October 23, 2026 on zendesk.com/pricing.
- Zendesk AI agents are billed by automated resolution. Plans include 5 per agent a month (10 on Suite Professional); more cost US$2.00 each pay-as-you-go, or a lower committed rate (shown only in pounds on its US page, checked October 30, 2026). 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 Zendesk if
- Your team works tickets across email, chat, phone and social, and needs one help desk for all of it.
- Several agents answer chats live, so a shared inbox and per-seat pricing make sense for you.
- You want AI agents on email and voice too, not only on your website.
- You rely on integrations from a large marketplace, or on telephony.
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 $14, $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 $14 a month.
Tidio vs Zendesk. Questions, answered.
Which is cheaper, Tidio or Zendesk?
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. Zendesk starts at $19 (per agent / mo, billed yearly. Live chat from $55), billed as: per agent seat, plus per automated resolution. Price your own monthly volume on both before you decide.
Do Tidio and Zendesk have free plans?
Tidio: Free plan with 50 billable conversations; 7-day trials of Starter and Growth. Zendesk: No free plan; a 14-day free trial of Suite Professional.
What is the main difference between Tidio and Zendesk?
Tidio bills by conversations, sells its Lyro AI separately and has a free plan. Zendesk charges per agent, starts live chat on Suite Team and bills its AI agents per automated resolution beyond those included, with a 14-day trial.
Which should I choose, Tidio or Zendesk?
Choose Tidio if you want live chat, ticketing and an AI agent from one vendor, with mobile apps for your team. Choose Zendesk if your team works tickets across email, chat, phone and social, and needs one help desk for all of it.
Do I need a live chat inbox at all?
Only if someone on your team will answer chats in real time. Tidio and Zendesk 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 Zendesk?
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 $14, $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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Tidio and Zendesk are trademarks of their owners; ChatBento is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
Sources: tidio.com/pricing, tidio.com/integrations, zendesk.com/pricing, zendesk.com/service/ai/ai-agents
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