For a small business, the entry price matters less than what it becomes when the second and fifth person start answering chats. Per-seat plans multiply with every hire, per-workspace plans include a block of seats for one price, and free plans cap seats or conversations.
This list keeps to products a small team can buy self-serve at a published price. The worked examples below cost each one for two, five and ten agents, and per-seat vs per-workspace pricing explains the arithmetic.
Quick picks
- Spend nothing: tawk.to — The free core documents unlimited agents and conversations; you pay only for add-ons.
- Flat team price: Crisp — Essentials covers 10 seats for US$95 a month, with unlimited conversations.
- Already on HubSpot: HubSpot Live Chat — Free for 2 users; Starter lists at US$20 per seat a month.
- Small online shop: Smartsupp — Expert includes 5 operators for €99 a month, plus major store integrations.
The ranking
tawk.to
Budget teams wanting unlimited free agents8.5- 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.
Tidio
Small teams with low, predictable chat volume7.2- Paid plans from
- US$24.17 per workspace per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Tiers by conversation volume
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Tidio is a Polish live chat and help desk suite that sells three separately metered quotas: human-handled conversations, Lyro AI Agent conversations and Flows chatbot visitors. Every self-serve plan, including Free, includes 10 seats, so the bill grows with conversation volume rather than headcount, from US$29 a month billed monthly on Starter. Tidio suits small shops and support teams with several people but modest, predictable chat volume.
The catch: The Free plan covers only 50 human-handled conversations a month, and at the limit agents can neither see nor answer new messages until the quota resets or the plan is upgraded.
Crisp
Teams wanting flat pricing and EU hosting6.9- 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.
Freshchat
Teams wanting many agents on a free plan6.8- 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.
HubSpot Live Chat
Two-person teams already on HubSpot CRM6.5- Paid plans from
- US$20 per seat per month, billed monthly
- Pricing model
- Seats plus AI usage
- Free plan
- Yes — Free tools
- EU data hosting
- Yes
HubSpot Live Chat is the chat widget and shared inbox that come with HubSpot's free CRM, for up to 2 users at no charge. Removing the HubSpot branding, routing chats and adding the AI customer agent all require paid Service Hub seats, billed per seat, with the agent's resolutions billed in HubSpot Credits on top. It suits small teams that already use, or plan to use, HubSpot as their CRM.
The catch: The widget keeps HubSpot's branding until you buy a paid seat, and HubSpot's own pages list three different Starter prices: US$7, US$10 and US$20 a seat a month.
Smartsupp
Small online stores with up to three people6.1- 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 agent5.2- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tawk.to | 8.5 | Free, with paid add-ons | Free | Yes — Free | AI Assist — billed per credit | No | Budget teams wanting unlimited free agents |
| Tidio | 7.2 | 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 |
| Crisp | 6.9 | Per workspace | US$45 per workspace per month, billed monthly | Yes — Free | Hugo — billed per credit | Yes | Teams wanting flat pricing and EU hosting |
| Freshchat | 6.8 | 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 |
| HubSpot Live Chat | 6.5 | Seats plus AI usage | US$20 per seat per month, billed monthly | Yes — Free tools | Customer agent — billed per resolution | Yes | Two-person teams already on HubSpot CRM |
| Smartsupp | 6.1 | 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 | 5.2 | 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 |
Free-plan audit
| Product | Free seats | Conversations | Chat history | Remove branding | AI on the free plan | Beyond website chat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tawk.to | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Paid add-on | 100 / month | Yes |
| Tidio | 10 | 50 / month | Not documented | No | 50, one-off | Yes |
| Crisp | 2 | Unlimited | Not documented | No | No | Chat only |
| Freshchat | 10 | Not documented | Not documented | No | No | Yes |
| HubSpot Live Chat | 2 | Unlimited | Not documented | No | No | Yes |
| Smartsupp | 1 | 25 / month | 14 days | No | 10, one-off | Yes |
| LiveChat | No free plan · 14-day trial | |||||
Free-plan audit: does your team fit a free live chat plan?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| tawk.to | Free (Free) | Free (Free) | Free (Free) |
| Tidio | US$29 a month (Starter) | US$129 a month (Growth) | US$349 a month (Growth) |
| Crisp | Free (Free) | US$95 a month (Essentials) | US$95 a month (Essentials) |
| 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) |
| HubSpot Live Chat | Free (Free tools) | US$100 a month (Service Hub Starter) | US$200 a month (Service Hub Starter) |
| 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) |
How to choose
If you are two people, every free plan on this list except Smartsupp's has room for both of you. The difference is conversations: Tidio's Free plan stops at 50 a month, while tawk.to, Crisp and HubSpot Live Chat describe free conversations as unlimited.
If you are five people, compare a flat workspace price against five seats. Crisp Essentials (US$95 a month) and Smartsupp Expert (€99 a month) are one price for the team; HubSpot Starter at US$20, Freshchat Growth at US$23 and LiveChat Team at US$59 are charged per person.
If your team is large but your chat volume is low, Tidio's 10 included seats take seat count out of the price; you pay by conversation tier instead, and the Growth tiers run from 250 to 2,000 conversations a month.
If you are not sure you need to pay at all, start on tawk.to, and read tawk.to vs Tidio or Tidio vs Crisp before you commit to a paid plan.
Verdict
tawk.to is the default for a small business that wants to spend nothing as it hires, because agents are free on its core plan. Ignore it if your chat data must be hosted in the EU; Crisp hosts in the EU on every plan and charges a flat US$95 a month for up to 10 seats on Essentials.
For buyers in the United Kingdom
Under PECR regulation 6, as replaced on 5 February 2026, a chat widget must not store or read anything on a visitor's device without consent unless a listed exception applies, and none of the exceptions names live chat. The practical reading is to load the widget's non-essential cookies and local storage only after consent, or when the visitor clicks to open the chat. If the vendor is in the US, the UK-US data bridge covers the transfer only when the vendor's Data Privacy Framework certification includes the UK Extension; otherwise you need the IDTA or the UK Addendum. This is general information, not legal advice.
UK GDPR then governs the conversation itself. Tell visitors who receives the transcript and how long you keep it at the pre-chat form, not only in the footer, sign a written processor contract with the chat vendor, and set a retention period for transcripts. The order that commenced the new PECR rules also commenced new ICO enforcement powers on 5 February 2026; a law firm reports the maximum PECR fine is now £17.5 million or 4% of global annual turnover, a figure the ICO's own enforcement page had not yet confirmed on 18 September 2026.
A vendor's "EU data residency" is not UK residency. Of the products in our catalogue, only Zendesk documents a UK hosting region, available on Suite Professional and above; the rest document EU, EEA, German or US hosting, which we compare in EU-hosted live chat. The UK has no statute that makes you label a chatbot, but transparency duties still apply, and the EU AI Act's disclosure rule reaches bots that serve visitors in the EU.
Live chat, privacy and the law in the United Kingdom
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest live chat for a team of five?
tawk.to costs nothing for five agents on its free core. Among paid plans, Crisp Essentials and Smartsupp Expert cover five people at one flat price; the worked examples on this page show every total, in each vendor's currency.
Is per-seat pricing bad for small teams?
Not always. Per-seat pricing is cheap for a single agent: LiveChat Starter costs US$25 a month for its one user on monthly billing. It gets expensive as you add people, because every seat is billed. See LiveChat vs Tidio.
Does a small business need an AI chatbot?
Not to start. Most free plans here include no AI answers, and each vendor bills AI separately in its own unit. The live chat with AI chatbot list compares those units.
Why is Intercom not on this list?
Intercom has no free plan, bills every seat (Essential is US$39 a month on monthly billing) and charges Fin AI Agent outcomes on top, so this list leaves it out. See Intercom alternatives.
Keep reading
- Best live chat software in 2026best list
- Best free live chat software in 2026best list
- Best live chat software for ecommercebest list
- Best live chat software with an AI chatbotbest list
- Best live chat software with EU data hostingbest list
- Is a free live chat plan enough for your team?guide
- Per-seat vs per-workspace pricing: what your team size does to the billguide
Sources
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- How to manage billing for AI Assist — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- How to add message credits (overages) to your AI Assist plan — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- How to purchase tawk.to's Hired Agent service — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- Why do you need my personal data? — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
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- Lyro AI Agent — Tidio · 18 September 2026
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- The free version and downgrading your account — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- 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
- Lyro multilanguage support — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- Privacy Policy and GDPR compliance — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- How are security matters handled at Tidio — Tidio · 18 September 2026
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- Crisp pricing — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Getting started with the Free plan — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Hugo pricing and billing explained — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- How to increase my limits and quotas — Crisp · 18 September 2026
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- 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
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- Crisp live chat — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp AI Core Update (Hugo launch, AI replies become paid) — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Summer 2026 Crisp product update — Crisp · 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
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- Provide multilingual support to your customers — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Where are your data servers located? — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
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- Create and customize a mobile chatflow — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
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- Smartsupp pricing — Smartsupp · 18 September 2026
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- Introducing Abugo — ABUGO Group · 18 September 2026
- 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