Tidio prices by conversation volume: 10 seats are included on every self-serve plan, but the Free plan stops at 50 conversations a month and the Growth tiers climb to US$349 a month. Teams usually look elsewhere when volume, not headcount, starts to drive the bill.
The alternatives below either do not cap conversations or charge per seat instead, each listed for a reason documented by that vendor. The worked examples further down show list-price costs for teams of 2, 5 and 10. For head-to-heads, see Tidio vs Crisp, LiveChat vs Tidio and tawk.to vs Tidio; for the background, the Tidio review.
Why teams look beyond Tidio
- The free plan locks at the cap. Tidio Free allows 50 conversations a month, and at the cap agents cannot see or answer new messages until the quota resets or the plan is upgraded.
- The price follows volume. Growth starts at US$59 for 250 conversations and reaches US$349 for 2,000.
- AI is a separate meter. Lyro AI Agent is sold from US$39 a month for 50 Lyro conversations, and the free allowance of 50 is one-off and never resets.
- Tidio's own pages disagree on the rules. The pricing page and help centre define a billable conversation differently, and give three different descriptions of when quotas reset.
- No published price beyond the included seats. Self-serve plans stop at 10 seats; Plus has a US$300 platform fee plus usage at unpublished rates.
The alternatives, ranked
tawk.to
Budget teams wanting unlimited free agents8.8- Paid plans from
- Free
- Pricing model
- Free, with paid add-ons
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- EU data hosting
- No
tawk.to is a US-based live chat, ticketing and knowledge base platform whose core product is free with unlimited agents, conversations and chat history. The vendor earns from optional add-ons bought per property (roughly one website or brand), such as branding removal, AI Assist credits and hired human agents. tawk.to suits small businesses and solo operators who want real support on a free plan and can accept US data hosting.
The catch: Data is stored only in the United States, and removing the Powered by tawk.to badge costs US$39 a month billed monthly per property according to the help centre, while the marketing pages say US$29.
Freshchat
Teams wanting many agents on a free plan8.1- Paid plans from
- US$19 per seat per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Seats plus AI usage
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Freshchat is Freshworks' live chat and messaging product, with a Free plan for up to 10 agents and paid plans billed per agent from US$19 a month on annual billing. Its Freddy AI Agent is sold in packs of 100 sessions for US$49, available from the entry paid plan. It suits small and mid-sized teams that want several people on chat for free and may later move up to Freshworks' helpdesk.
The catch: Freddy AI Agent is billed per 24-hour session whether or not the question gets resolved, and rule-based bot flows and builder previews draw from the same session pool.
Crisp
Teams wanting flat pricing and EU hosting7.2- Paid plans from
- US$45 per workspace per month, billed monthly
- Pricing model
- Per workspace
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Crisp is a French customer support suite (shared inbox, chat widget, CRM, knowledge base) that charges a flat monthly price per workspace with a fixed number of seats and no conversation cap. Paid plans run from Mini at US$45 a month for 4 seats to Plus at US$295 for 20, and the Hugo AI agent is metered through included USD credits. Crisp suits small and growing teams that want a predictable bill, many channels and data held in the EU.
The catch: The Crisp watermark stays on every plan below Plus at US$295 a month, and the Free plan has no full conversation history and caps you at 100 customer profiles.
Chatwoot
Technical teams willing to self-host, or US-based teams6.7- Paid plans from
- US$19 per seat per month, billed monthly
- Pricing model
- Per seat
- Free plan
- Yes — Hacker
- EU data hosting
- No
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support inbox from Chatwoot Inc. in San Francisco, sold as a US-hosted cloud service billed per agent and as a free, MIT-licensed Community Edition you run on your own servers. The cloud plans cover website chat, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS, Telegram and, on Business and Enterprise, voice. Its Captain AI is metered in credits, with 1 credit per AI message or action.
The catch: Chatwoot Cloud is hosted only on AWS in the United States, so keeping data in the EU means self-hosting and maintaining the software yourself.
Smartsupp
Small online stores with up to three people6.7- Paid plans from
- €14 per workspace per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Per workspace
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- EU data hosting
- Not documented
Smartsupp is a live chat, WhatsApp and Messenger inbox from Brno, Czechia, sold per workspace: Solo covers 1 operator, Plus 3 and Expert 5. Its Mira AI Agent is an add-on billed in blocks of 100 conversations a month, and prices are published in EUR, USD, CZK and PLN. The "Powered by Smartsupp" logo stays on the widget on every plan, paid ones included.
The catch: The "Powered by Smartsupp" branding cannot be removed or hidden on any plan, including Expert and Enterprise.
LiveChat
Established teams with budget per agent5.5- Paid plans from
- US$19 per seat per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Per seat
- Free plan
- No free plan · 14-day trial
- EU data hosting
- Yes
LiveChat is a paid live chat and messaging platform from Text, a Polish company, billed per agent account from US$19 a month on annual billing or US$25 billed monthly. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and the autonomous AI Agent is sold in Text and ChatBot.com plans rather than in classic LiveChat plans. LiveChat suits established sales and support teams that want wide channel coverage and can afford a price that rises with every seat.
The catch: LiveChat has no free plan and Starter holds a single user, so any team of two or more pays the Team rate of US$59 per person a month billed monthly, or US$49 billed annually.
Comparison table
| Product | Score | Pricing model | Paid plans from | Free plan | AI chatbot | EU data hosting | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tidio | 6.1 | Tiers by conversation volume | US$24.17 per workspace per month, billed annually | Yes — Free | Lyro AI Agent — billed per conversation | Yes | Small teams with low, predictable chat volume |
| tawk.to | 8.8 | Free, with paid add-ons | Free | Yes — Free | AI Assist — billed per credit | No | Budget teams wanting unlimited free agents |
| Freshchat | 8.1 | Seats plus AI usage | US$19 per seat per month, billed annually | Yes — Free | Freddy AI Agent — billed per session | Yes | Teams wanting many agents on a free plan |
| Crisp | 7.2 | Per workspace | US$45 per workspace per month, billed monthly | Yes — Free | Hugo — billed per credit | Yes | Teams wanting flat pricing and EU hosting |
| Chatwoot | 6.7 | Per seat | US$19 per seat per month, billed monthly | Yes — Hacker | Captain AI — billed per credit | No | Technical teams willing to self-host, or US-based teams |
| Smartsupp | 6.7 | Per workspace | €14 per workspace per month, billed annually | Yes — Free | Mira AI Agent — billed per conversation | Not documented | Small online stores with up to three people |
| LiveChat | 5.5 | Per seat | US$19 per seat per month, billed annually | No free plan · 14-day trial | AI Agent (sold in Text and ChatBot.com plans) — billed per resolution | Yes | Established teams with budget per agent |
What it costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats
| Product | 2 seats · 100 conversations a month | 5 seats · 500 conversations a month | 10 seats · 2,000 conversations a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tidio | US$29 a month (Starter) | US$129 a month (Growth) | US$349 a month (Growth) |
| tawk.to | Free (Free) | Free (Free) | Free (Free) |
| Freshchat | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise US$46 a month (Growth) | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise US$115 a month (Growth) | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise US$230 a month (Growth) |
| Crisp | Free (Free) | US$95 a month (Essentials) | US$95 a month (Essentials) |
| Chatwoot | Free (Hacker) | US$95 a month (Startups) | US$190 a month (Startups) |
| Smartsupp | €30 a month (Plus) | €99 a month (Expert) | €244 a month (Expert) |
| LiveChat | US$118 a month (Team) | US$295 a month (Team) | US$590 a month (Team) |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Tidio?
tawk.to documents unlimited agents and conversations for free. Crisp Free has no conversation cap for 2 agents. Chatwoot's Hacker plan allows 500 conversations a month. All three keep the vendor logo on the free plan. See free live chat software.
Which Tidio alternative is cheaper at high chat volume?
Products that do not meter conversations. Crisp Essentials stays at US$95 a month whatever the volume, and tawk.to's free core documents unlimited conversations, while Tidio's Growth tier reaches US$349 a month at 2,000 conversations. Run your numbers in the free-plan audit.
Which alternative bills AI more simply than Lyro?
tawk.to sells AI Assist credits at US$30 per 1,000, with one credit per AI message, and Freshchat sells AI sessions in packs. The units differ, so compare them with the AI billing guide.
Related pages
- Tidio reviewreview
- Tidio pricing explainedpricing
- Best live chat software in 2026best list
Sources
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- The monthly conversations limit — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- The Lyro AI agent limit — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- The monthly flow limit — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- Automatic upgrades — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- Chat history — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- Change and add languages in your chat widget — Tidio · 18 September 2026
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- WordPress plugin — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
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- Freddy AI Agent and chatbot sessions FAQs — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Understanding Freddy AI features and pricing — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- How can I remove the Freshworks branding from the widget? — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Provide multilingual support to your customers — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Where are your data servers located? — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshworks sub-processors — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshworks Trust Center — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- What is Freshchat? — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
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- Freshworks announces winners of the 2026 Global Customer Awards — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Crisp pricing — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Getting started with the Free plan — Crisp · 18 September 2026
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- How to increase my limits and quotas — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp EU GDPR compliance status — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp compliance status with SOC 2 — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp compliance with ISO 27001 — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp sub-processors — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- What languages are supported by Crisp — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Chatbox SDKs — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- About Crisp — Crisp · 18 September 2026
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- Crisp AI Core Update (Hugo launch, AI replies become paid) — Crisp · 18 September 2026
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- WooCommerce integration — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat pricing — Text · 18 September 2026
- Text pricing (plans with the AI Agent) — Text · 18 September 2026
- ChatBot.com pricing — Text · 18 September 2026
- Pay-per-agent pricing model — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat subscription policy — Text · 18 September 2026
- Data storage policy — Text · 18 September 2026
- Data Processing Addendum — Text · 18 September 2026
- List of sub-processors — Text · 18 September 2026
- How to change the chat widget language — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat Marketplace — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat features — Text · 18 September 2026
This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not installed or tested these products ourselves. Method: How we review