10 Best Tawk.to Alternatives & Competitors in 2026 (by Use Case)

Key takeaways

tawk.to is free live chat with optional paid extras, and for one site and a small team that is a strong deal. The catch comes later: removing the “Powered by tawk.to” badge, adding an AI agent and adding voice are all separate monthly add-ons, billed per property. We compared 10 tools that replace tawk.to’s core job, a chat widget with a shared inbox, and checked every pricing page and G2 profile in October 2026. Tidio sits first because it fits small and mid-sized teams and online stores best, and we say where it is lighter than tawk.to. Each entry also names where that tool falls short.

Why teams look for a tawk.to alternative

tawk.to does one thing very well: its homepage says the platform is 100% free, and its add-ons page says 99% of businesses use it entirely for free. If you run one or two sites, are happy with a small “Powered by” badge and want live chat without a card on file, you should probably stay.

Teams that leave usually hit one of four limits, all listed on tawk.to’s own add-ons page (checked October 2026):

1. The badge costs money. Whitelabel removes “Powered by tawk.to” and moves your chat page and knowledge base to your own domain for $29 a month. It is billed per property, so a team with three sites pays it three times.
2. AI is an add-on. AI Assist, which answers from your knowledge base and hands off to a human, is $29 a month, with a free tier only for limited volume.
3. More extras are priced separately. Voice agents start at $49 a month plus usage, and data enrichment starts at $59 a month. Both were on a waitlist when we checked.
4. Pricing follows the property, not the team. That helps a lone site and gets less attractive for agencies and multi-brand teams, who pay per site for each extra.

Your reason decides where to look. A cheaper managed chat points to Tidio or Freshchat, a flat team price to Crisp, free tiers with a CRM behind them to Zoho SalesIQ or HubSpot, and full control of your data to Chatwoot. For a feature-by-feature read of the product itself, see our tawk.to review.

Tawk.to alternatives at a glance

Short answer: Tidio for small and mid-sized teams and online stores, Freshchat, Zoho SalesIQ or HubSpot for another free plan, Crisp for a flat workspace price, LiveChat or LiveAgent for chat with bundled AI, Chatwoot for open source, and Zendesk or Intercom for larger teams.

Tool	Best for	Starting price (billing basis)	Free plan / trial	G2 rating
Tidio	Small and mid-sized teams and online stores	$24.17/mo billed annually ($29 monthly), flat for up to 10 seats	Free plan · 7-day trial	4.6
Crisp	Small teams that want a flat price per workspace	Mini $45/workspace/mo for 4 seats	Free plan, 2 seats · 14-day trial	4.5
LiveChat	Teams that want chat with AI resolutions included	Essential $19/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly)	14-day trial	4.5
LiveAgent	Teams that want chat and email tickets with no AI fees	Starter $15/agent/mo billed annually ($19 monthly), up to 5 agents	30-day trial	4.5
Zoho SalesIQ	Teams that want visitor tracking and a free plan	Basic $7/operator/mo billed annually	Free, 3 operators · 15-day trial	4.4
Freshchat	Teams that want a free shared inbox for chat	Growth $19/agent/mo billed annually	Free, up to 10 agents · free trial	4.4
HubSpot Service Hub	Support tied to CRM records	Starter $7/seat/mo billed annually ($20 monthly)	Free for 2 users	4.4
Chatwoot	Teams that want open source and self-hosting	Startups $19/agent/mo	Hacker plan, 2 agents · 15-day trial	4.5
Zendesk	Larger teams with SLAs, routing and many channels	Suite Team $55/agent/mo billed annually ($69 monthly)	Free trial	4.3
Intercom	Chat-first teams that can budget for usage	Essential $29/seat/mo billed annually ($39 monthly), plus $0.99 per Fin outcome	Free trial	4.5

How we evaluated these alternatives

We started from the tools that rank for this search, the ones AI answers name for tawk.to, and the previous edition of this article, then kept 10 that replace a live chat widget with a shared inbox. Pure chatbot builders, reputation tools, sunset products and tools we couldn’t price from the vendor’s own page are out. Five criteria map to why teams leave tawk.to:

1. Price model. Free, flat, per user or per property, and what five agents pay.
2. Branding. Whether the vendor badge is part of the free plan or a paid add-on.
3. AI billing. What the AI agent costs and what triggers a charge.
4. Channels. Live chat, email, social and WhatsApp in one inbox.
5. Fit. Team size, store or SaaS, and how much setup is on you.

Our sources are vendor pricing pages and G2 profiles; vendor claims stay labeled as claims. We didn’t run trials for this edition: screenshots are public product images from Tidio’s media library. Tidio goes first as the pick for small and mid-sized teams and stores; the rest run roughly from the closest chat-first tools to the heaviest suites.

The 10 best tawk.to alternatives in 2026

1. Tidio

Best for: small and mid-sized teams, including Shopify stores, that want live chat, email tickets and an AI agent in one inbox at flat plan prices.

Tidio starts with the chat widget on your site and adds email, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp to the same inbox. Plans are priced by billable conversations, so a new teammate adds no seat fee, and up to 10 agents fit on every self-serve plan. That is the closest match to tawk.to’s per-property model for a growing team. On Shopify, the inbox shows a customer’s cart and order history, and native Shopify actions come with Growth and up.

The Lyro AI agent takes the repeat questions, like delivery times and returns, and can resolve up to 75% of support requests. Flows send proactive messages and capture contact details. A free plan lets you test it before you pay.

Pros

• Chat, email, social messages and AI in one inbox.
• Free plan to start, and flat prices for up to 10 seats on self-serve plans.
• Native Shopify integration with cart and order data beside the chat.

Cons

• Conversations, Lyro and Flows each have their own quota, which keeps you paying only for what you use but means a few limits to watch.
• Built for small and mid-sized teams, so a very large queue may suit an enterprise desk better.
• You pay for it, where tawk.to’s base product costs nothing.

Pricing: on Tidio’s pricing page, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Free $0 (50 billable conversations a month); Starter $24.17 ($29) for 100; Growth from $49.17 ($59) for 250 up to 2,000; Plus from $300 plus usage; Premium by quote. Lyro alone starts at $32.50 ($39) for 50 conversations, and every account gets 50 Lyro conversations free once.

Rating: G2 4.6/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain flat seat pricing, native e-commerce data and an AI agent that sits in the plan ladder. You give up tawk.to’s free-for-everything base. See the full Tidio vs tawk.to comparison.

2. Crisp

Best for: small teams that would rather pay one price per workspace than per seat.

Crisp prices the workspace, not the seat. The Free plan includes 2 seats, Mini is $45 a month for 4 seats, Essentials is $95 for 10 seats and adds the omnichannel inbox and a workflow builder, and Plus is $295 for 20 or more seats and adds ticketing. Paid plans include AI credits, and the pricing page lists Shopify, WooCommerce and other integrations.

Pros

• Predictable flat prices, with 20 or more seats on Plus.
• A free plan and a full-access 14-day trial.

Cons

• AI credits are a bundled allowance, so heavy AI use needs an upgrade or extra credits.
• Ticketing starts at Plus, $295 a month.

Pricing: per workspace per month as shown on the page (yearly payment is optional): Free $0; Mini $45; Essentials $95; Plus $295.

Rating: G2 4.5/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain a flat team price and bundled AI credits. You give up tawk.to’s fully free base for teams larger than 2.

3. LiveChat

Best for: teams that want live chat with AI resolutions and an AI agent included in the plan.

LiveChat is a long-running paid chat tool. Its pricing page now shows Text plans to new trials: Essential at $19 per user a month billed annually ($25 monthly) and Growth at $79 ($99). Both include an AI Agent, 10 and 200 AI resolutions a month, and a shared inbox with ticketing, and the vendor says current LiveChat customers keep their plans. Extra AI resolutions come in packs of 50 for $49.50, about $0.99 each.

Pros

• AI Agent included, with AI resolutions in the plan.
• Chat, inbox and ticketing in one workspace.

Cons

• No free plan, only a 14-day trial with no card.
• Per-user pricing, and extra AI resolutions are billed per pack.

Pricing: per user per month, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Essential $19 ($25); Growth $79 ($99); Enterprise by quote.

Rating: G2 4.5/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain AI resolutions in the plan and a managed ticketing workspace. You give up a free base, and a five-person team pays $95 a month on the cheapest plan. See our LiveChat alternatives guide.

4. LiveAgent

Best for: small support teams that want live chat and email tickets together and don’t want to pay per AI resolution.

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat attached. Starter is $15 per agent a month billed annually ($19 monthly) for up to 5 agents, with email ticketing, live chat, a chatbot and a knowledge base. Team is $29 ($35) for up to 15 agents and adds social channels and a call center, and Business is $49 ($59) for any team size. LiveAgent’s pricing page says AI is included on every plan with no per-resolution fees.

Pros

• Chat and tickets from the entry plan, with AI included on every plan.
• Clear public prices for four plans.

Cons

• Starter has no social channels, call center or reporting.
• Per-agent pricing, with a 5-agent cap on Starter.

Pricing: per agent per month, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Starter $15 ($19); Team $29 ($35); Business $49 ($59); Enterprise $3,199 a month billed annually ($3,999 monthly).

Rating: G2 4.5/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain tickets, reporting on higher plans and AI without a usage meter. You give up free chat, and you pay per agent.

5. Zoho SalesIQ

Best for: teams that want visitor tracking and a chatbot builder with a free plan, especially if they already use Zoho.

Zoho SalesIQ is a live chat and visitor tracking tool. The Free plan gives 3 operators and tracks up to 10,000 visitors a month. Paid plans are priced per operator: Basic $7, Professional $12.75 and Enterprise $20 a month billed annually. Zoho lists branding, business hours and departments from Basic and its Zia AI features on higher plans.

Pros

• A free plan with 3 operators, and low per-operator prices.
• Visitor tracking, routing and chatbot building in one tool.

Cons

• Visitor tracking limits rise by plan (10K, 50K, 100K, 200K a month).
• Extra brands are paid add-ons.

Pricing: per operator per month, billed annually: Free $0 (3 operators); Basic $7; Professional $12.75; Enterprise $20. 15-day trial.

Rating: G2 4.4/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain visitor tracking and a chatbot builder on a free plan, and it suits teams that already use Zoho. You give up tawk.to’s flat per-property model.

6. Freshchat

Best for: teams that want a free shared chat inbox and a path into the Freshworks suite.

Freshchat’s Free plan covers up to 10 agents and includes the chat widget for web and mobile apps, a shared inbox, email and roles and permissions. Growth is $19 per agent a month billed annually and adds the Freddy AI Agent at $49 per 100 sessions, social messengers and text messaging, with reporting. Pro is $49 and adds intelligent routing and multiple SLA policies.

Pros

• Free for up to 10 agents, with a shared inbox.
• Public prices, and a path into Freshdesk.

Cons

• AI is a $49 per 100 sessions add-on on Growth, and Copilot is $29 per agent on Pro.
• Social channels and reporting start at Growth.

Pricing: per agent per month, billed annually: Free $0 (up to 10 agents); Growth $19; Pro $49; Enterprise $79. Freddy AI Agent $49 per 100 sessions.

Rating: G2 4.4/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain a larger vendor’s roadmap, SLAs on Pro and a free plan with roles and permissions. You give up tawk.to’s free-for-all and its single add-on price.

7. HubSpot Service Hub

Best for: teams that already run HubSpot CRM and want chat tied to customer records.

HubSpot is strongest when sales and support share one CRM. Service Hub is free for up to 2 users, and HubSpot’s pricing page says the Starter plan removes HubSpot branding from live chat. Starter is $7 per seat a month billed annually ($20 monthly). Professional is $90 per seat billed annually ($100 monthly), adds the Help Desk Workspace and a customer agent, and carries a $1,500 one-time onboarding fee.

Pros

• Chat, CRM, sales and marketing data in one place.
• A free tier, and a low-cost Starter plan that removes the badge.

Cons

• Professional costs $90 a seat plus $1,500 for onboarding.
• You are buying a CRM platform, so chat alone is more tool than you need.

Pricing: per seat per month, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Free $0; Starter $7 ($20); Professional $90 ($100); Enterprise $150.

Rating: G2 4.4/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain CRM-native context and a badge-free Starter plan at $7. You give up tawk.to’s independence from a bigger platform.

8. Chatwoot

Best for: teams that want an open source, self-hostable inbox and control over their data.

Chatwoot describes itself as the open source, self-hosted customer support platform. The cloud Hacker plan is $0 for up to 2 agents and 500 conversations a month. Startups is $19 per agent a month, Business $39 and Enterprise $99. Captain, its AI, runs on credits: 300, 500 or 800 included depending on the plan, then $20 per 1,000.

Pros

• Open source and self-hostable.
• Low per-agent prices, and a free plan.

Cons

• A small G2 presence, so there is less independent feedback.
• If you self-host, updates and uptime are yours to run.

Pricing: per agent per month as shown on the page: Hacker $0 (2 agents); Startups $19; Business $39; Enterprise $99. Captain credits extra at $20 per 1,000.

Rating: G2 4.5/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain the option to host it yourself. You give up tawk.to’s free base. More in our open source help desk guide.

9. Zendesk

Best for: larger teams that need deep ticketing, routing and SLAs across many channels.

Zendesk suits a team that has outgrown a chat widget. Support Team is $19 per agent a month billed annually, but it covers email and ticketing only. Chat and AI come with Suite Team at $55 ($69 monthly): AI agents, a knowledge base, messaging and live chat, telephony and omnichannel routing. The trade-off is scale of setup: more admin work, and a higher seat price once you want chat.

Pros

• Deep ticketing, routing, triggers and automations.
• Chat, email, phone and social in one suite on Suite Team.

Cons

• Chat and AI need Suite Team, almost three times the Support Team price.
• Skills-based routing and the App Builder start at Suite Professional, $115 per agent a month.

Pricing: per agent per month, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Support Team $19 ($25); Suite Team $55 ($69); Suite Professional $115; Enterprise by quote. Free trial.

Rating: G2 4.3/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain mature ticketing, routing and SLAs. You give up a free chat base, and the entry price for chat is $55 per agent. More in our Zendesk alternatives guide.

10. Intercom

Best for: chat-first SaaS teams that want an AI-first desk and can budget for usage.

Intercom is the chat-first platform: live chat, a shared inbox, tickets, a help center and the Fin AI agent. Essential is $29 per seat a month billed annually ($39 monthly), Advanced $85 and Expert $132. Fin adds $0.99 for every outcome, which Intercom defines as a resolved conversation or a completed workflow, charged once per conversation. There is a free trial but no free plan.

Pros

• A chat-first inbox with an AI agent built in.
• Outbound messages and product tours on add-ons.

Cons

• Two meters run at once: seats and $0.99 per Fin outcome.
• Multiple inboxes and the workflow builder start at Advanced, $85 per seat.

Pricing: per seat per month, billed annually: Essential $29 ($39 monthly); Advanced $85; Expert $132. Fin $0.99 per outcome.

Rating: G2 4.5/5

Versus tawk.to: you gain a mature AI-first inbox. You give up a free base, and you pay per seat plus per outcome. See our Intercom alternatives guide.

What 5 agents cost

Free, per-user and per-workspace prices don’t compare directly, so here is one team on every tool: 5 agents, the cheapest paid plan that covers live chat, billed annually, before AI usage. Prices come from the pages above.

Tool	Plan	Math	Per month
tawk.to	Free	free, per property	$0
Tidio	Starter	flat, up to 10 seats	$24.17
HubSpot	Starter	5 × $7	$35
Zoho SalesIQ	Basic	5 × $7	$35
LiveAgent	Starter	5 × $15	$75
Freshchat	Growth	5 × $19	$95
LiveChat	Essential	5 × $19	$95
Chatwoot	Startups	5 × $19	$95
Crisp	Essentials	flat, 10 seats	$95
Intercom	Essential	5 × $29	$145
Zendesk	Suite Team (chat and AI agents)	5 × $55	$275

Then the AI line, per 1,000 conversations an AI agent handles. LiveAgent lists no AI fees on any plan. Intercom charges $0.99 per Fin outcome, about $990. LiveChat includes 10 AI resolutions on Essential and 200 on Growth, then sells packs of 50 at $49.50, about $0.99 each. Freshchat’s Freddy AI Agent is $49 per 100 sessions, about $490. tawk.to’s AI Assist starts at $29 a month with a free tier for limited volume, and Chatwoot’s extra credits cost $20 per 1,000, though the page doesn’t say how many credits one answer uses. Tidio sells Lyro by conversation tier, from $32.50 a month billed annually for 50 conversations, so check the tier for your volume on its pricing page. Price your busiest month, not your average one.

Tidio vs tawk.to

	Tidio	tawk.to
Best for	Small and mid-sized teams, including Shopify stores, that want chat, tickets and AI	Teams that want free live chat and optional extras
Pricing unit	Billable conversations, flat per plan	Free platform; add-ons billed per property
Entry price	Free plan; Starter $24.17/mo billed annually	Free; AI Assist and Whitelabel $29/mo each
Free plan	Yes: 50 billable conversations, 10 seats	Yes: the platform is free
AI agent	Lyro, from $32.50/mo billed annually for 50 conversations; can resolve up to 75% of requests	AI Assist, $29/mo, with a free tier for limited volume
Channels	Live chat, email, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp in one inbox	“Every channel, answered in one place” on its homepage
E-commerce	Cart preview and order history for Shopify in the inbox	Check its integrations list for your store platform
CRM and pipeline	Contacts and Flows inside the inbox	CRM and pipeline views listed on its homepage
Badge removal	See Tidio’s pricing page for your plan	Whitelabel, $29/mo per property

tawk.to is stronger on price and on built-in CRM and pipeline views, and its platform is free. If you run one site and want chat for free, it is a fair choice. If your team is growing, you sell through Shopify or you want AI and tickets under one flat plan, look at Tidio’s live chat.

How to switch from tawk.to

Plan for a week of parallel running, not a weekend:

1. Export what you need. Pull contacts, tags, saved replies and knowledge base articles before you cancel anything.
2. List your add-ons. Note which of AI Assist, Whitelabel and voice you pay for, and which plan of the new tool covers each.
3. Check your integrations. Note which apps feed customer data into your inbox, such as your CRM or store.
4. Check how you pay. tawk.to bills add-ons per property, so list every site you run.
5. Run both for a week. Install the new widget on a test page, route part of the traffic, then swap the widget everywhere.

We found no one-click tawk.to import advertised on the vendors’ pricing pages, so expect to rebuild saved replies and automations by hand.

How to choose

Match the tool to your bottleneck:

• You run a small or mid-sized team or an online store. Choose Tidio.
• You want a flat team price. Choose Crisp.
• You want another free plan. Choose Freshchat for up to 10 agents, Zoho SalesIQ for 3 operators, or HubSpot for 2 users.
• You want chat with AI included. Choose LiveChat, or LiveAgent if you also want email tickets.
• You want open source or full data control. Choose Chatwoot.
• You have outgrown chat. Choose Zendesk for ticketing depth, or Intercom for a chat-first, AI-first desk.

Bottom line

tawk.to stays a fair choice when you want free chat on one or two sites. Move when badge removal, AI and voice add-ons start to add up per property, when you need a flat team price, or when you want chat tied to a CRM or a store. Small and mid-sized teams and online stores that want chat, tickets and an AI agent without paying per seat should start with Tidio. For a flat workspace price, look at Crisp; for another free plan, Freshchat, Zoho SalesIQ or HubSpot; for open source, Chatwoot.

Related guides

• tawk.to review
• Tidio vs tawk.to
• LiveChat alternatives
• Intercom alternatives
• Zendesk alternatives
• Free live chat software

Frequently asked questions