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 $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 $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 agents8.5- 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 $39 a month billed monthly per property according to the help center, while the marketing pages say $29.
Tidio
Small teams with low, predictable chat volume7.2- Paid plans from
- $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 $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
- $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 $45 a month for 4 seats to Plus at $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 $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
- $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 $19 a month on annual billing. Its Freddy AI Agent is sold in packs of 100 sessions for $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
- $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: $7, $10 and $20 a seat a month.
LiveChat
Established teams with budget per agent5.2- Paid plans from
- $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 $19 a month on annual billing or $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 $59 per person a month billed monthly, or $49 billed annually.
Intercom
Support teams building around an AI agent4.9- Paid plans from
- $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 $29 a month on annual billing and $39 on monthly billing. Its Fin AI Agent is available on all plans and billed separately at $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 $39 each plus $0.99 for every Fin outcome, including customers who simply leave after Fin's answer.
Zendesk
Multichannel support teams wanting one helpdesk4.9- Paid plans from
- $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 $55 an agent a month billed annually or $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, $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 | 8.5 | 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 | $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 | $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 | $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 | $20 per seat per month, billed monthly | Yes — Free tools | Customer agent — billed per resolution | Yes | Two-person teams already on HubSpot CRM |
| LiveChat | 5.2 | Per seat | $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 | 4.9 | Seats plus AI usage | $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 | 4.9 | Seats plus AI usage | $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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| Tidio | $29 a month (Starter) | $129 a month (Growth) | $349 a month (Growth) |
| Crisp | Free (Free) | $95 a month (Essentials) | $95 a month (Essentials) |
| Freshchat | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise $46 a month (Growth) | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise $115 a month (Growth) | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise $230 a month (Growth) |
| HubSpot Live Chat | Free (Free tools) | $100 a month (Service Hub Starter) | $200 a month (Service Hub Starter) |
| LiveChat | $118 a month (Team) | $295 a month (Team) | $590 a month (Team) |
| Intercom | $78 a month (Essential) | $195 a month (Essential) | $390 a month (Essential) |
| Zendesk | $138 a month (Suite Team) | $345 a month (Suite Team) | $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 ($0.99 per outcome), HubSpot Live Chat ($0.50), LiveChat through Text ($0.99) or Zendesk ($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 $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 States
The United States has no general federal privacy law, so the expensive risk for a website chat widget is California's wiretapping statute. Plaintiffs sue site owners under Penal Code § 631 for helping a third-party chat vendor read messages in transit, and § 637.2 sets damages at $5,000 per violation with no proof of harm required. Show a short notice at the chat input before the first message: the chat is recorded, a named vendor processes it, and here is the privacy policy. This is general information, not legal advice.
The vendor contract matters as much as the notice. Courts are split on whether a chat vendor is a mere extension of your website or a separate listener, and some find it enough that the vendor is capable of using transcripts for its own benefit, such as model training. Ask for terms that limit the vendor to providing the service to you. Do not wait for California's SB 690: as of 18 September 2026 the official bill history shows it on the Governor's desk, neither signed nor vetoed, and the final text does not touch § 631 chat claims.
If an AI bot answers first, label it as a bot in its first message and make it answer "am I talking to a human?" truthfully; California, Utah and Maine each have a disclosure rule, and the FTC treats overstated AI claims as deception. Get prior express written consent before sending marketing texts to a number collected in chat. Health providers need a signed business associate agreement with the chat vendor before any patient information goes through the widget, and vendors often reserve that for higher plans.
Live chat, privacy and the law: what a US business should check
Frequently asked questions
What does an AI resolution cost in live chat software?
Published prices per resolution: HubSpot Live Chat $0.50, Intercom $0.99 per outcome, LiveChat's AI Agent $0.99, and Zendesk $1.50 committed or $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
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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