Tidio is one of the most popular live chat tools for small businesses and online stores. Its free live chat plan is generous, and its Lyro AI agent can answer common questions. So why do so many people search for a Tidio alternative?
Usually for one of three reasons: the AI is priced on top of the plan, the cost climbs as more conversations come in, or the business wants the AI to do most of the answering, with live chat as the backup rather than the main job.
A note before we start: we make ConvoAsk, so we're not neutral. To keep this useful, every price below comes from each company's own public pricing page (checked on 14 and 15 October 2026), and we say where each tool is stronger than ours. Prices change, so check their sites before you decide.
Tidio alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Paid plans start at | How the AI is charged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ConvoAsk | An AI chatbot that answers most questions, with live chat and bookings | No; 7-day free trial, no card | $19/month | Message credits included in the plan |
| Crisp | One shared inbox for chat, email and messaging apps | Yes, without AI | $45/month | AI credits by plan; AI chatbot from $95 |
| LiveChat | Teams that chat with customers all day | 14-day trial | $19 per user/month, billed yearly | AI resolutions by plan, extra packs of 50 |
| Chatbase | Integrations, voice agents and enterprise needs | 7-day trial | $40/month | Message credits by plan |
| Intercom | Larger teams needing a full support platform | 14-day trial | $29 per seat/month | $0.99 per resolved conversation (Fin) |
| Zendesk | Support teams needing a complete helpdesk | 14-day trial | $19 per agent/month, billed yearly; live chat from $55 | $2.00 per automated resolution after a few included |
For reference, Tidio has a free plan (live chat with 10 seats, 50 billable conversations, and the first 50 Lyro AI conversations once), paid plans from $24.17 a month, and Lyro AI from $32.50 a month for 50 AI conversations.
Why look for a Tidio alternative?
- The AI is a separate bill. On Tidio, Lyro AI is priced on top of your plan, starting at $32.50 a month for 50 AI conversations.
- You want AI first, people second. Tidio is built around your team answering chats. If you'd rather the AI handle the routine questions, an AI-first tool can be simpler and cheaper.
- You want bookings in the chat. Booking calls isn't listed on Tidio's pricing page.
Why you might stay with Tidio
To be fair, Tidio is strong where many alternatives aren't. It offers Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp channels on every plan, desktop and mobile apps for your team, live video calls, and a free live chat plan with 10 seats. If your team mainly answers chats by hand, or social channels matter most to you, Tidio is a good choice.
The alternatives, one by one
1. ConvoAsk: AI replies included in the price
ConvoAsk is an AI chatbot built for small businesses. Paste your website and it learns your services, prices and policies, then answers customers day and night in their own language. Every answer shows the page it came from, and when it isn't sure, it says so instead of guessing.
When a person is needed, your team can take over in live chat, or the visitor can reach you on WhatsApp, by phone, by email or with a message form. It can also book calls (Cal.com and Calendly) and save leads.
- Price: 7-day free trial (Pro features, 300 message credits, no card); Starter $19/month (2,000 message credits, 3 chatbots, 3 team members); Pro $49/month (5,000 credits, helpdesk, API and no ConvoAsk branding).
- Good for: small businesses that want the AI to answer most questions at a flat price.
- Watch out for: ConvoAsk doesn't answer inside WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger (it hands website chats over on WhatsApp instead), and there are no mobile apps, just phone notifications.
Read the full comparison: ConvoAsk vs Tidio
2. Crisp: one inbox for every channel
Crisp brings website chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS and more into one shared inbox, priced per workspace rather than per user.
- Price: free plan with 2 seats (no AI credits); Mini $45/month with 4 seats; the AI chatbot and knowledge base start on Essentials at $95/month.
- Good for: teams that want every channel in one place.
- Watch out for: AI is a smaller part of the lower plans, and removing branding needs the Plus plan ($295/month). ConvoAsk vs Crisp
3. LiveChat: the classic live chat tool
LiveChat is built for teams who chat with customers all day, with ticketing, reply suggestions and 200+ integrations.
- Price: $19 per user/month billed yearly ($25 monthly), with 10 AI resolutions a month; Growth is $79 per user with 200.
- Good for: teams with people answering chats most of the day.
- Watch out for: per-user pricing, and a small AI allowance on the entry plan. ConvoAsk vs LiveChat
4. Chatbase: an AI agent platform
Chatbase builds an AI agent from your website and documents, with many integrations, voice agents and enterprise options.
- Price: 7-day trial; Hobby $40/month (700 message credits); Standard $150/month (4,000 credits) adds the helpdesk and API.
- Good for: businesses that need integrations like Salesforce or Zendesk, or voice agents.
- Watch out for: removing branding is a $99/month add-on, and live chat with your team starts on the $150/month plan. ConvoAsk vs Chatbase
5. Intercom: a full customer service platform
Intercom combines inboxes, a help center, workflows and its Fin AI agent.
- Price: from $29 per seat/month, plus $0.99 for each conversation Fin resolves.
- Good for: growing and larger support teams.
- Watch out for: costs grow with both team size and AI usage. ConvoAsk vs Intercom
6. Zendesk: the complete helpdesk
Zendesk is a full helpdesk with tickets, workflows, SLAs and AI agents.
- Price: from $19 per agent/month billed yearly; live chat from Suite Team at $55 per agent; AI resolutions $2.00 each after the few included.
- Good for: support teams with processes and reporting needs.
- Watch out for: it's more than most small businesses need. ConvoAsk vs Zendesk
What it costs: a worked example
Say you want AI answers on a small business website, with live chat for the rest.
- Tidio: Starter ($24.17/month) plus Lyro from $32.50/month for 50 AI conversations: from $56.67 a month.
- ConvoAsk: Starter, $19 a month, including 2,000 message credits for AI replies, plus live chat and bookings.
Your numbers will depend on how many chats you get, so count last month's conversations before you choose.
How to switch from Tidio
- List your top 20 questions. Pull them from your current chat history: prices, delivery, opening hours, bookings, returns.
- Create a free ConvoAsk account and paste your website. It reads your pages and builds your chatbot's knowledge in a few minutes. Add files, Notion pages or Google Drive documents if your answers live there.
- Test it with those 20 questions, in your customers' own words, plus one question your website doesn't answer. Each answer shows the page it came from, and the chatbot should say when it isn't sure.
- Set up the handoff: live chat with your team, WhatsApp, phone, email or a message form, so people can always reach a person.
- Swap the code on your website. Remove the old chat script and paste ConvoAsk's one line in its place. We have step-by-step guides for WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow, and a 2-minute video for the first three.
Our verdict
If your team answers most chats by hand, or you need Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp in one place, Tidio remains a strong choice. If you want the AI to answer most questions itself, at one simple price, with live chat and bookings for the rest, ConvoAsk is built for exactly that.
You can try ConvoAsk free for 7 days, with every Pro feature and no card needed, and see how it answers your own customers' questions before you change anything on your website. Our step-by-step guide to adding an AI chatbot to your website and its video walkthrough cover the whole setup.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Tidio?
For human live chat, yes: Crisp's free plan covers 2 seats, without AI, and Tidio's own free plan is strong. For AI answers, ConvoAsk has a 7-day free trial with every Pro feature and no card needed, then starts at $19 a month with AI replies included.
Is ConvoAsk cheaper than Tidio?
For AI answers, usually yes. ConvoAsk Starter is $19 a month with AI replies included. On Tidio, AI (Lyro) is priced on top of the plan, from $32.50 a month for 50 AI conversations, plus the plan itself.
Does ConvoAsk work with WhatsApp and Instagram like Tidio?
Not as chat channels. ConvoAsk answers on your website, by email and through share links, and it can hand a website chat over to your team on WhatsApp. If you need to answer inside Instagram or Messenger, Tidio or Crisp suit you better.
Can I move from Tidio to ConvoAsk without losing my setup?
Your knowledge moves easily: paste your website into ConvoAsk and it learns your pages again, then add your common questions and answers. Then replace Tidio's chat code on your website with ConvoAsk's one line.