Every AI chatbot on this list is sold on top of live chat, and each vendor counts usage in a different unit. A resolution is billed only when the bot closes the case; a session or conversation is billed whether the bot helped or not; a credit is billed per AI message or per token spend.
Compare units before prices, because the same traffic can produce very different bills. How live chat vendors bill for AI explains each unit, and live chat vs chatbot vs AI agent explains what you are buying.
Quick picks
- Per session: Freshchat — Freddy AI Agent costs US$49 per 100 sessions, each a 24-hour window.
- Free AI allowance: tawk.to — AI Assist includes 100 message credits a month on the free core.
- Per resolution: HubSpot Live Chat — Customer agent costs US$0.50 per resolution, but needs Service Hub Professional.
- Resolutions included: Zendesk — Suite Team includes 5 automated resolutions per agent a month.
The ranking
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.
HubSpot Live Chat
Two-person teams already on HubSpot CRM7.7- 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.
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.
Tidio
Small teams with low, predictable chat volume6.1- 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.
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.
Intercom
Support teams building around an AI agent5.4- Paid plans from
- US$29 per seat per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Seats plus AI usage
- Free plan
- No free plan · 14-day trial
- EU data hosting
- On some paid plans
Intercom is a customer service helpdesk whose live chat widget, the Messenger, comes with every plan, sold per full seat from US$29 a month on annual billing and US$39 on monthly billing. Its Fin AI Agent is available on all plans and billed separately at US$0.99 per outcome. The company behind it renamed itself Fin in May 2026 and has been owned by Salesforce since September 10, 2026; Intercom suits teams that want a full helpdesk with an AI agent built in and can pay per seat for it.
The catch: Intercom has no free plan and no included Fin allowance on standard plans, so the bill is seats at up to US$39 each plus US$0.99 for every Fin outcome, including customers who simply leave after Fin's answer.
Zendesk
Multichannel support teams wanting one helpdesk5.3- Paid plans from
- US$55 per seat per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Seats plus AI usage
- Free plan
- No free plan · 14-day trial
- EU data hosting
- On some paid plans
Zendesk sells live chat and messaging only as part of the Zendesk Suite, a per-agent helpdesk that starts with Suite Team at US$55 an agent a month billed annually or US$69 billed monthly; standalone Zendesk Chat is no longer sold to new customers. Zendesk AI agents are billed per automated resolution, with a small free allowance per agent each month. It suits teams that want chat, email, voice and social channels in one ticketing system and have the budget for per-agent Suite seats.
The catch: Live chat starts at Suite Team, US$69 an agent a month billed monthly, and the Zendesk branding can only be removed on Suite Enterprise, which is quote-only.
Comparison table
| Product | Score | Pricing model | Paid plans from | Free plan | AI chatbot | EU data hosting | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| HubSpot Live Chat | 7.7 | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Intercom | 5.4 | Seats plus AI usage | US$29 per seat per month, billed annually | No free plan · 14-day trial | Fin AI Agent — billed per resolution | On some paid plans | Support teams building around an AI agent |
| Zendesk | 5.3 | Seats plus AI usage | US$55 per seat per month, billed annually | No free plan · 14-day trial | Zendesk AI agents — billed per resolution | On some paid plans | Multichannel support teams wanting one helpdesk |
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 |
| Freshchat | 10 | Not documented | Not documented | No | No | Yes |
| HubSpot Live Chat | 2 | Unlimited | Not documented | No | No | Yes |
| Crisp | 2 | Unlimited | Not documented | No | No | Chat only |
| Tidio | 10 | 50 / month | Not documented | No | 50, one-off | Yes |
| LiveChat | No free plan · 14-day trial | |||||
| Intercom | No free plan · 14-day trial | |||||
| Zendesk | 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) |
| 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) |
| Crisp | Free (Free) | US$95 a month (Essentials) | US$95 a month (Essentials) |
| Tidio | US$29 a month (Starter) | US$129 a month (Growth) | US$349 a month (Growth) |
| LiveChat | US$118 a month (Team) | US$295 a month (Team) | US$590 a month (Team) |
| Intercom | US$78 a month (Essential) | US$195 a month (Essential) | US$390 a month (Essential) |
| Zendesk | US$138 a month (Suite Team) | US$345 a month (Suite Team) | US$690 a month (Suite Team) |
How to choose
If you want to pay only when the bot solves something, choose a resolution-billed product: Intercom (US$0.99 per outcome), HubSpot Live Chat (US$0.50), LiveChat through Text (US$0.99) or Zendesk (US$1.50 committed). Read each vendor's definition, because they differ on hand-offs and inactivity windows.
If you want a predictable monthly AI bill, choose a quota bought in advance: Tidio's Lyro tiers and Freshchat's session packs work this way. The trade-off is that unresolved chats count against the quota too.
If your bot will hold long conversations, be careful with per-message credits: tawk.to bills per AI message and Crisp per token spend, so a multi-turn chat uses more credits, while a resolution-billed product charges once per resolved conversation.
If you want to try AI before paying, tawk.to gives 100 AI Assist credits a month on its free core, Freshchat gives 500 one-off sessions on Growth, and Zendesk includes 5 resolutions per agent a month on Suite Team.
If the chatbot must answer in many languages, check the AI language list, not the widget's: Zendesk states 80 languages for its AI agents, Tidio 48 for Lyro and Intercom 45 for Fin.
Verdict
Freshchat is the default pick for AI answers: the Freddy AI Agent session is defined in writing, packs cost US$49 per 100 on monthly or annual billing, and 500 sessions come with the entry paid plan. Ignore it if you only want to pay for resolved conversations; Zendesk and Intercom bill that way, and Intercom vs Zendesk compares them.
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 does an AI resolution cost in live chat software?
Published prices per resolution: HubSpot Live Chat US$0.50, Intercom US$0.99 per outcome, LiveChat's AI Agent US$0.99, and Zendesk US$1.50 committed or US$2 pay as you go. Each vendor defines a resolution differently.
Is per-resolution billing cheaper than per-session billing?
Only if the bot resolves a large share of chats. A resolution is billed only when the bot closes the case; a session or conversation is billed either way. Vendor resolution-rate figures, such as the 76% Intercom claims for Fin, are marketing claims, not measurements.
Which free live chat includes AI?
tawk.to is the only free plan here with a recurring AI allowance: 100 AI Assist credits a month. Tidio's Free plan includes 50 Lyro conversations once, not every month. See the free live chat list.
Do I need a separate chatbot product?
Usually not: each vendor here sells its AI agent as an add-on or usage charge on top of live chat. LiveChat is the exception to check, because its AI Agent is sold through Text and ChatBot.com plans. See live chat vs chatbot vs AI agent.
Keep reading
- Best live chat software in 2026best list
- Best free live chat software in 2026best list
- Best live chat software for small businessbest list
- Best live chat software for ecommercebest 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
- tawk.to pricing — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- tawk.to add-ons — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- Add-on pricing and key features — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- Why is tawk.to free? — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- tawk.to live chat — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- 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
- Data Processing Addendum — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- Sub-processors — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- Data protection — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- GDPR — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- What languages does tawk.to support? — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- An introduction to integrations in tawk.to — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- How to add the tawk.to widget to your mobile application — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- Viewing, deleting and exporting your chat history — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- Q1 2026: omnichannel grows, automation expands and AI gets smarter — tawk.to · 18 September 2026
- tawk.to company profile — Dealroom · 18 September 2026
- Shopify integration — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- WordPress plugin — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshchat pricing — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- 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
- Freshchat live chat software — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshchat developer documentation — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshworks announces winners of the 2026 Global Customer Awards — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Shopify integration — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- WordPress plugin — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub pricing — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub Preise (hubspot.de) — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot Product & Services Catalog — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub pricing (HubSpot blog) — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub product page — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot live chat — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- AI customer service agent — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Understand the customer agent — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot cloud infrastructure and data hosting FAQ — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot security — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Create and customize a mobile chatflow — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Our story — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Tidio pricing — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- Lyro AI Agent — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- About Tidio — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- 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
- Tidio trust centre — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- Tidio integrations — Tidio · 18 September 2026
- Tidio mobile SDK — Tidio · 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
- Shopify integration — Fin (Intercom) · 18 September 2026
- WordPress plugin — Fin (Intercom) · 18 September 2026
- Intercom pricing — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin pricing — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin AI Agent outcomes — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Your workspace settings — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Early Stage program — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Usage-based channels — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Regional data hosting — Fin · 18 September 2026
- How data is hosted and processed in Intercom — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Intercom security — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Localize the Messenger to work with multiple languages — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Use Intercom in your preferred language — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Omnichannel helpdesk — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Intercom live chat — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Installing Intercom — Fin · 18 September 2026
- About Fin — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Today, Intercom becomes Fin — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin — Salesforce · 18 September 2026
- Salesforce completes acquisition of Fin — Salesforce · 18 September 2026
- Lightspeed customer story — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Intercom on the Vendr marketplace — Vendr · 18 September 2026
- Shopify integration — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- WordPress plugin — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk pricing — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk free trial — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- About automated resolutions for AI agents — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- About automated resolution tiers — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Announcing expanded access to AI agent capabilities for all Zendesk customers — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- About the Data Center Location add-on — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Regional Data Hosting Policy — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Messaging vs live chat: which is right for you? — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- About Zendesk Chat plan types (legacy) — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk Trust Center — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk live chat — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk AI agents — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk Copilot — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk for Startups — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Hello Sugar customer story — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk completes acquisition of Forethought — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Consortium led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira completes acquisition of Zendesk — Permira · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk press — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk on the Vendr marketplace — Vendr · 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