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.
Bottom line
- Best for: Budget teams wanting unlimited free agents
- Not for: tawk.to is not for businesses that need EU data residency, because the vendor stores data in the United States and offers no EU region.
- Paid plans from: Free
- 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.
Score breakdown
tawk.to scores 8.8 out of 10 on rubric v1.0. The rubric rates what can be verified from public information, not how the widget performs on a live site.
A free plan with no documented cap on seats or conversations, where vendor branding can be removed without moving every agent to a paid seat.
50 a month or less. A free plan counts as 0 only where the vendor documents room for both 5 people and 500 conversations; an undocumented cap does not count.
Price, unit and edge cases are defined in writing, and an allowance is included on the free or entry paid plan, so the AI can be tried before buying usage.
Everything in level 3 plus WhatsApp, Shopify and WooCommerce, and a widget in German and Spanish.
A data processing agreement and a documented hosting location, but data is hosted outside the EU only, or the vendor's own statements about location conflict.
Key facts
- Vendor
- tawk.to Inc.
- Headquarters
- Las Vegas, Nevada, USA · founded 2012
- Pricing model
- Free, with paid add-ons
- Paid plans from
- Free
- Prices published in
- USD
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- AI chatbot
- AI Assist — billed per credit
- Channels
- Website chat, Email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, SMS, Voice
- Languages
- Widget in 49+ languages · German: Yes · Spanish: Yes
- EU data hosting
- No
- Compliance
- GDPR DPA (SCCs, UK Addendum), Data Privacy Framework (self-certified), CCPA notice, FERPA support, UK ICO registration
- Integrations
- Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, WordPress, Wix, Zapier, viaSocket
Strengths
- The free core documents unlimited agents, unlimited conversations and unlimited chat history, with no time limit.
- Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Twilio SMS, Gmail and Outlook are part of the free product, alongside Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and WordPress integrations.
- AI Assist includes a free Hobby tier of 100 message credits a month per property, and extra credits are priced publicly at $30 per 1,000.
- The widget is available in 49 languages, including German and Spanish, and the agent dashboard in 25.
- Chat history can be exported on the free plan, as a ZIP of JSON files that only admins can request.
Weaknesses
- Data is stored in the United States on Google Cloud, with no EU hosting option, and no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 attestation for the core platform was found.
- tawk.to's pages contradict each other on the Remove Branding price: $29 a month on the pricing and add-ons pages, $39 billed monthly in the help center.
- Add-ons apply to one property only and are not shared, so a business with several websites pays for each add-on once per site.
- AI Assist bills every AI message, and Smart Reply and AI Commands used by human agents, against the same credits; when credits run out the account can go into a negative balance.
- There is no customer-facing mobile SDK; the help center recommends loading the chat link in a WebView and says an SDK is on the roadmap.
What the free plan allows
| Free plan | Free plan | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Free seats | Unlimited — no practical limit | Source |
| Conversations | Unlimited — no practical limit | Source |
| Chat history | Unlimited — no practical limit | Source |
| Remove branding | Paid add-on — capped | Source |
| AI on the free plan | 100 / month — capped | Source |
| Beyond website chat | Yes — no practical limit | Source |
tawk.to's free plan documents unlimited agents, unlimited conversations and unlimited chat history, which the help center says is kept until the customer asks for deletion. It includes live chat, chat pages, ticketing, a knowledge base, contacts, Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Twilio SMS, Gmail and Outlook, and 100 AI Assist message credits a month per property. Where it stops: the Powered by tawk.to badge stays unless you buy Remove Branding for each property, SMS needs your own Twilio account, and voice and video are paid add-ons. The vendor claims that 99% of businesses use tawk.to entirely for free. See how it ranks among free live chat plans.
Free-plan audit: does your team fit a free live chat plan? · Is a free live chat plan enough for your team?
Published prices
| Plan | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Remove Branding, per property | $39 per month, billed monthly | Source |
| Remove Branding, per property | $29 per month, billed annually | Source |
| Remove Branding, as advertised on the pricing page | $29 per month | Source |
| Video + Voice + Screensharing, per property | $49 per month, billed monthly | Source |
| Video + Voice + Screensharing, per property | $29 per month, billed annually | Source |
| AI Assist Growth, per property | $29 per month | Source |
| AI Assist, 1,000 extra credits | $30 | Source |
| AI Assist, extra credit (sold in blocks of 1,000) | $0.03 per credit | Source |
| Hired Agents Part-time, per property | $129 per month, billed monthly | Source |
| Hired Agents Full-time, per property | $380 per month, billed monthly | Source |
| Hired Agents Double-Shift, per property | $520 per month, billed monthly | Source |
| Hired Agents Evenings and Weekends, per property | $610 per month, billed monthly | Source |
| Hired Agents 24x7-365, per property | $728 per month, billed monthly | Source |
| Virtual Assistants, per hour (from) | $7 | Source |
| Voice Agents (from, plus usage) | $49 per month | Source |
| Data Enrichment, per property (from) | $59 per month | Source |
tawk.to has no paid plans: the core product is free, and everything sold is an add-on priced per property per month. A team of 2, 5 or 10 pays nothing for agents or conversations, because the free product documents unlimited agents and unlimited chats. Costs appear only when you buy add-ons: Remove Branding at $39 billed monthly or $348 a year per the help center, AI Assist Growth at $29 a month, Video + Voice + Screensharing at $49 a month, or Hired Agents from $129 a month for the Part-time package. The headline hourly rate for Hired Agents of $1 applies only to the round-the-clock package at $728 a month. See LiveChat vs tawk.to and tawk.to vs Tidio for how this compares with paid models.
How the AI is billed
tawk.to bills AI Assist in message credits: one credit is deducted for every message AI Assist sends on any channel, and also for every Smart Reply suggestion and AI Command a human agent uses. The Hobby tier includes 100 credits a month for free, Growth costs $29 a month for 1,000 credits, and extra credits cost $30 per 1,000, or $0.03 each; the Business and Enterprise tiers (5,000 and 20,000 credits) are priced only in an image in the help center. The catches are that billing is per message rather than per conversation, so a long chat uses many credits, that allowances are per property and not pooled, and that when credits run out AI Assist keeps answering on excess credits and the account goes into a negative balance to settle later. Test chats do not consume credits, and purchased credits do not expire. The AI billing guide compares per-message credits with per-resolution pricing. Source
Data hosting and languages
tawk.to's help center states that data is stored in the United States on Google Cloud, and its DPA describes tawk.to as a recipient of European data in the United States; the sub-processor list also names DigitalOcean in the US and AWS in the US and Ireland. No EU hosting option was found. EU transfers rely on standard contractual clauses with a UK Addendum and a self-certification under the EU-U.S., UK and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks, and the DPA gives 10 days' notice of new sub-processors. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 attestation for the core platform was found. The widget is available in 49 languages, including German and Spanish, while Hired Agents work in English only, although the pricing page describes them as native speaking. For EU-hosted options see the EU-hosted live chat ranking and the guide to live chat and the law.
Verdict
tawk.to is the clear choice for a small business or solo operator who needs several agents on live chat and cannot justify a monthly bill, because the free product documents unlimited agents, conversations and history. Budget for Remove Branding if the badge matters, and watch AI Assist credits, which are counted per message. Businesses that need EU data residency should look at Crisp, which hosts data in the EU on every plan including Free, and teams that want a vendor with a SOC 2 report should compare Tidio.
Related pages
- tawk.to pricing explainedpricing
- The best tawk.to alternativesalternatives
- tawk.to vs Tidiovs
- LiveChat vs tawk.tovs
- Best live chat software in 2026best list
Frequently asked questions
Is tawk.to really free?
Yes. tawk.to's core live chat, ticketing and knowledge base are free with unlimited agents, unlimited conversations and unlimited chat history, and there is no trial clock. The vendor earns from optional add-ons such as Remove Branding, AI Assist credits and Hired Agents, each bought per website. The Powered by tawk.to badge stays unless you pay to remove it.
How much does tawk.to cost for 5 agents?
Nothing: tawk.to documents unlimited agents on its free product, so 5 agents cost the same as one. You pay only for add-ons, such as Remove Branding at $39 a month billed monthly per the help center, or AI Assist Growth at $29 a month. Each add-on is billed per property, not per agent.
How much does it cost to remove tawk.to branding?
tawk.to's own pages give two prices. The pricing and add-ons pages say $29 a month, while the help center says $39 billed monthly or $348 billed yearly, which works out to $29 a month. The lower figure is most likely the annual-billing equivalent, and the price applies to each property separately.
Does tawk.to have EU hosting?
No. tawk.to states that data is stored in the United States on Google Cloud, and no EU region is offered. EU transfers are covered by a DPA with standard contractual clauses and a Data Privacy Framework self-certification. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 attestation for the core platform was found.
How is tawk.to's AI Assist billed?
AI Assist is billed in message credits: one credit for every message the AI sends, and one for every Smart Reply or AI Command a human agent uses. The free Hobby tier gives 100 credits a month per property, Growth gives 1,000 for $29, and extra credits cost $30 per 1,000. If credits run out, the AI keeps answering and the account goes into a negative balance.
Sources
- tawk.to pricing — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- tawk.to add-ons — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Add-on pricing and key features — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Why is tawk.to free? — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- tawk.to live chat — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- How to manage billing for AI Assist — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- How to add message credits (overages) to your AI Assist plan — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- How to purchase tawk.to's Hired Agent service — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Why do you need my personal data? — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Data Processing Addendum — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Sub-processors — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Data protection — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- GDPR — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- What languages does tawk.to support? — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- An introduction to integrations in tawk.to — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- How to add the tawk.to widget to your mobile application — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Viewing, deleting and exporting your chat history — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- Q1 2026: omnichannel grows, automation expands and AI gets smarter — tawk.to · September 18, 2026
- tawk.to company profile — Dealroom · September 18, 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