9 Tidio Alternatives Priced for 1,000 Chats a Month (2026)

Key Takeaways

• Tidio charges the same for a refund dispute as for a shipping question once Lyro replies. The largest self-serve Lyro tier covers 1,000 conversations for $700 a month ($583.33 billed yearly).
• At 9 November 2026 list prices, nine Tidio alternatives cost five people from $89 ($82.50) on tawk.to to $1,295 ($1,225) on Zendesk. Tidio costs them $829 ($690.83), with AI replying first on all 1,000 conversations and resolving half.
• Help Scout, Zendesk and Gorgias bill when the AI resolves a chat, and Intercom per Fin outcome. Tidio bills once Lyro replies, and Freshchat for each session Freddy joins.
• Helply's Team plan costs $499 a month ($415.83 billed yearly) for 5 seats and 15,000 AI credits pooled across the team. Each AI action costs 1 to 10 credits, and one conversation never uses more than 15.

Tidio Alternatives and Competitors at a Glance

Totals use 9 November 2026 list prices for five people and 1,000 monthly conversations, with AI replying first on each and resolving half. Helply's figure is the Team price, and Helply says that plan fits about 1,000 conversations with AI on all of them. Zendesk's range runs from committed to pay-as-you-go resolutions.

What Tidio Costs in 2026

At 1,000 conversations a month, Tidio's Growth and Lyro lines cost the five-person team $829 ($690.83), before any Flows tier. Tidio's pricing calculator shows the human side and the AI side as separate lines.

One Shopify merchant summed up the bill in a July 2025 review: "paying for flows, then chats, then customer service."

Three Products, Three Meters

• Billable conversations. Any chat, ticket, email or social thread with a reply from your team; Lyro and Flows replies don't count. Growth runs from $59 for 250 to $349 for 2,000 ($49.17 to $290.83).
• Lyro AI conversations. Any conversation with at least one Lyro reply. Tiers start at $39 for 50 ($32.50) and top out at $700 for 1,000 ($583.33).
• Flows visitors. Visitors your automated Flows reach. The first 100 cost nothing, and 2,000 cost $29 ($24.17).

For the five-person team, 500 chats reach a person. Growth's tiers jump from 400 to 600, so the 600 tier applies at $129 ($107.50). Lyro replies first on all 1,000, and the Lyro line lands on the 1,000 tier at $700 ($583.33).

Lyro Counts Every Chat It Answers

Each conversation with a Lyro reply counts once against your tier, whatever the customer asks.

Tidio deducts nothing when Lyro hands off immediately. Tidio's help center adds that a thread closes after 15 minutes without a message. A returning visitor's next message then starts a new Lyro conversation.

The free plan includes 50 Lyro conversations once per account, and Lyro stops at that limit. On newer monthly projects, Tidio alerts you at 80% of a quota, then moves you up a tier at 95% by default.

Ten Agents and Three Lyro Actions, Then Plus From $300 a Month

Free, Starter and Growth allow up to 10 agents with no per-seat fee. An 11th agent means Plus, at $300 a month plus usage and a custom number of seats.

Lyro Actions call your APIs to check orders or change addresses, and your plan sets how many you get. One comes free, a paid Lyro plan allows three, and Plus allows up to 10.

What Does Each Tidio Alternative Cost for a 5-Person Team?

At 9 November 2026 list prices, five people handling 1,000 monthly conversations spend $499 ($415.83) on Helply's Team plan. Tidio costs that team $829 ($690.83). Of the rest, tawk.to costs least at $89 ($82.50) and Zendesk pay-as-you-go most at $1,295 ($1,225).

In every row, AI replies first on each conversation and resolves 500 without a person.

The 9 Best Tidio Alternatives in 2026

Five tools replace the chat widget, Lyro and the help desk together: Helply, Intercom, Zendesk, Help Scout and Gorgias. Freshchat and Crisp cover chat and Lyro, and Chatbase replaces Lyro alone. On tawk.to, chat and ticketing cost nothing.

1. Helply: Best for Replacing Tidio and Lyro With AI That Can Look Things Up and Resolve

Helply replaces Tidio's inbox and Lyro together: one help desk and AI agents that investigate and act. Both the Support Agent and the Assist Agent are part of every Helply plan. More than 1,400 companies worldwide trust Helply.

On every channel, the Support Agent talks with customers and can resolve issues from start to finish. It investigates with the knowledge base, the customer's history and your connected tools.

What You Get When You Move From Tidio to Helply

• One bill in place of three meters. Team's $499 ($415.83) covers 5 seats, the help desk and 15,000 AI credits pooled across the team. A drafted reply uses 2 credits, an investigation across tools 6 and an end-to-end resolution 10.
• Lookups the agent runs itself. Connect Stripe, and the Support Agent can check a double charge against the payment record; billing Actions stay off until you enable them. Team adds custom API actions and MCP connectors.
• Some work costs no credits. The help desk with AI off, spam, notifications, auto-replies and handoffs to a person after an AI attempt use none.
• View-only seats for the rest of the company. On Team, teammates who only read conversations and leave notes get unlimited view-only seats.
• Skills that teach the agent your process. From Team up, each Skill shows an agent how to handle one kind of request. Agents chain several Skills while they investigate.
• Hand-offs with the investigation attached. You set escalation rules, and the Support Agent escalates and hands your team its findings plus the customer's context.
• Drafted replies for the chats your team takes. The Assist Agent prepares replies from the thread, the customer's details and the Guidelines you write. It also takes supported Actions without leaving the chat whenever a teammate asks.
• The help desk comes with it. Ticketing, a knowledge base on your own domain and up to 10 rules come on Starter. Team adds SLAs and unlimited rules.
• Channels in one inbox. Every plan covers email, Facebook, Instagram and the live chat widget, and Team adds WhatsApp, SMS, Discord and Slack Connect.
• Background Agents on higher plans. Helply ships five: Churn, Knowledge, Revenue, Feature Request and Insights. Team includes 2 of them, and Pro includes all five.

MixWave makes audio plugins and virtual instruments, and its customers kept writing in about installs, license activation and DAW setup. Helply's Support Agent took 58% of MixWave's incoming questions from first message to resolution. Prospective customers who got instant help were also more likely to complete a purchase.

Pricing

Starter costs $79 a seat a month ($65.83 billed yearly) for up to 3 seats, with 500 AI credits per seat. Team runs $499 a month for 5 seats and 15,000 credits, and Pro $999 for 5 seats and 50,000. Growth, at $1,999, comes with 10 seats and 100,000 credits.

Extra seats cost $99 each on Team and $150 on Pro and Growth. Annual billing gives 2 months free, so Team works out to $415.83 a month billed yearly. Background Agents draw from the team's pooled credits: 1 for each active customer account they follow and 10 per report or alert.

Helply says a team handling about 1,000 conversations a month, with AI on all of them, fits inside Team. On Starter and Team, AI pauses at the credit limit, and you can top up in the app or move up a plan. Usage alerts warn you before you get there.

The free trial lasts 14 days without a card, and a person from Helply's team sets it up with you.

Watch-Outs

• Starter stops at 3 seats. Five people pay $499 a month ($415.83) for Team, and each seat past 5 costs $99.
• Tidio isn't on the migration list. Helply provides migration from Help Scout, Zendesk, Intercom, Front and Freshdesk. Team's price covers an onboarding call and free migration, so ask on that call how your Tidio content moves over.
• Some features need Pro or Growth. Team covers SLAs, WhatsApp and Skills. All five Background Agents start on Pro, and custom apps on Growth.

2. Intercom: Best for Software Teams Chatting Inside the Product

Intercom charges per seat, then adds $0.99 whenever Fin, its AI agent, delivers an outcome. It suits software companies that want chat inside their own app and can budget seats plus outcomes.

Pricing

Intercom's Essential plan lists at $39 per seat ($29 billed yearly), Advanced at $99 ($85) and Expert at $139 ($132). As of 9 November 2026, Intercom offers new customers Essential at $29 a month ($19 billed yearly) while they stay subscribed.

Each Fin outcome, like a resolved chat or a Procedure hand-off, costs $0.99. Intercom bills at most one outcome per conversation and charges nothing if the customer asks for a person or Fin escalates.

Live chat, a shared inbox and ticketing start on Essential.

Watch-Outs

• Outcomes grow with volume. At 500 resolved chats a month, Fin adds $495 to the seat bill.
• Copilot costs extra past 10 conversations. Unlimited agent assist runs $35 per agent a month ($29).
• Fin on another help desk is sales-led. It carries a minimum monthly commitment, for example 50 outcomes.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Intercom

Helply's Team plan covers 5 seats and unlimited view-only seats for $499 ($415.83), and the Assist Agent drafts replies at 2 credits each. Intercom's Copilot costs $35 per agent ($29) past 10 free conversations. See the Helply and Intercom comparison.

3. Gorgias: Best for Shopify Stores That Want AI to Change Orders

Gorgias sells plans by ticket volume, and its AI Agent can cancel orders or change shipping addresses in Shopify. Choose it if order changes make up most of your queue.

Pricing

Gorgias Starter costs $10 for 50 tickets, monthly only. Basic costs $60 for 300 ($50 billed yearly), Pro $360 for 2,000 ($300) and Advanced $900 for 5,000 ($750).

Each automated interaction by AI Agent costs $1.00 ($0.90), or $1.50 past the plan's allowance. An interaction counts only if AI Agent resolves the request and no person replies within 72 hours. Pro with AI Agent covers 2,000 tickets and 190 interactions for $550 ($471).

Gorgias doesn't price per agent: Starter comes with 3 user seats, and Basic and up come with 500.

Watch-Outs

• AI interactions count twice. Each one uses a ticket from your plan as well as the AI line.
• Overage costs $1.50 an interaction. Past the 190 on Pro, 310 more add $465.
• Order actions start on Basic. Starter at $10 doesn't include them.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Gorgias

On every plan, Helply connects Stripe and lists Shopify as an integration, and Team adds custom API actions. Helply pauses AI at Team's credit limit, while Gorgias bills $1.50 for each interaction past its allowance. For more options, see the roundup of Gorgias alternatives.

4. Zendesk: Best for Teams That Want a Per-Agent Suite With AI Agents

Zendesk charges per agent and includes AI agents on every Support and Suite plan. Past a monthly allowance, Zendesk bills each automated resolution. On Suite Team, one per-agent price covers messaging, live chat and AI agents.

Pricing

Zendesk Support Team costs $25 per agent ($19 billed yearly). Suite Team runs $69 ($55) and Suite Professional $149 ($115).

Each agent brings 5 automated resolutions a month on the Team plans and 10 on Suite Professional. Zendesk then charges $1.50 for each extra resolution on a commitment and $2.00 on pay-as-you-go.

Zendesk bills a resolution only when its AI agent closes the request with no human involved.

Watch-Outs

• You pay per agent first. Five agents on Suite Team cost $345 ($275) before any AI.
• The allowance runs out early. Five agents bring 25 resolutions, so 475 more cost $712.50 to $950.
• Full messaging needs a Suite plan. Messaging and live chat start on Suite Team, at $69 ($55) per agent against $25 ($19) for Support Team.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Zendesk

Helply prices Team per company: $499 ($415.83) covers 5 seats, SLAs and 15,000 pooled AI credits, and extra seats cost $99 each. Zendesk includes 5 automated resolutions per agent on Suite Team, then bills $1.50 or $2.00 for each one after that. See the Helply and Zendesk comparison.

5. Freshchat: Best for a Free Start With up to 10 Agents

Up to 10 agents can use Freshchat's live chat free, and Freshworks bills its Freddy AI Agent by the session. Teams of 10 or fewer can start there and buy AI sessions later.

Pricing

Freshchat's free tier includes the chat widget, a shared inbox and email, with no AI agent. Growth costs $23 per agent ($19 billed yearly), Pro $59 ($49) and Enterprise $95 ($79).

Each block of 100 Freddy AI Agent sessions costs $49, after 500 free sessions once per account. A chat session covers every interaction within 24 hours.

Watch-Outs

• Sessions add up at volume. AI on all 1,000 chats means 1,000 sessions, or $490 a month.
• No Copilot on Growth. Freddy Copilot needs Pro or Enterprise, at $35 per agent ($29).

Where Helply Fits Better Than Freshchat

Freddy costs the same for every session, while Helply charges 2 credits to draft a reply and 10 to resolve a chat. No Helply conversation uses more than 15 credits. See how Helply compares with Freshdesk, the Freshworks help desk.

6. Help Scout: Best for Email-First Teams Adding Chat

Help Scout charges per user and adds AI Answers at $0.75 per resolution. Live chat joins email as a second channel from Standard.

Pricing

Help Scout Standard costs $30 per user ($25 billed yearly) for up to 25 users, and Plus $54 ($45) for up to 50. Pro costs $90 ($75) with a 10-user minimum. Free covers five users and one inbox.

From Standard, Help Scout sells AI Answers through its Envoy add-on and bills $0.75 per resolution, once per conversation. It counts a resolution only when AI Answers solves the request without human help. You can set a monthly spending cap.

Watch-Outs

• Each user adds $30 ($25). Five users on Standard cost $150 a month ($125).
• The free plan has no chat. Live chat starts on Standard.
• The free AI months end. New accounts get three months of unlimited AI Answers resolutions, then 500 a month add $375.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Help Scout

For email-first teams adding chat and AI lookups, Team's $499 ($415.83) covers 5 seats and 15,000 AI credits. The Support Agent can check Stripe subscriptions, invoices and payments without leaving the chat. See the Helply and Help Scout comparison.

7. Crisp: Best for a Like-for-Like Chat Widget Swap

A Crisp workspace comes with a fixed number of seats, and its Hugo AI agent runs on token-based credits. Small teams pay one workspace price for a Tidio-style widget.

Pricing

Crisp's Mini plan costs $45 a month with 4 seats, Essentials $95 with 10 and Plus $295 with 20 or more. Crisp shows no yearly price on its pricing page.

Mini includes $5 of Hugo credits, Essentials $25 and Plus $75. Crisp estimates $0.05 to $0.10 for one full Hugo conversation.

Hugo stops at the allowance until you switch on Pay-As-You-Go.

Watch-Outs

• Essentials holds 10 seats. Crisp sells extra agents only on Plus, at $10 each a month.
• Stripe needs Plus too. The Stripe inbox app sits on the $295 plan.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Crisp

Crisp costs the five-person team less, at $120 to $170. For $499 ($415.83), Helply's Team plan covers a help desk with SLAs, Stripe lookups and 2 Background Agents.

8. Chatbase: Best for Replacing Lyro Alone

Chatbase sells an AI agent on its own and bills it in message credits. If Lyro is the only part you're replacing, Shopify order lookups come with the $40 ($32) Hobby plan.

Pricing

Chatbase Hobby costs $40 a month ($32 billed yearly), Basic $150 ($120) and Business $500 ($400). Message credits run 700, 4,000 and 15,000 a month, with 2, 3 and 5 team members.

A reply costs 1 to 5 credits depending on the model. Extra team members cost about $25 a month each.

Hobby includes the Shopify integration, with order lookup and tracking.

Watch-Outs

• Extra credits come through auto recharge. Chatbase adds 1,000 credits for $40 once your balance drops below a threshold you set, and those credits don't expire.
• The inbox starts on Basic. Hobby has the AI agent without a human help desk.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Chatbase

Helply suits teams that want ticketing, a help center and the Support Agent together. Team adds SLAs, 2 Background Agents and unlimited view-only seats. For AI-agent-only options, see these Chatbase alternatives.

9. tawk.to: Best for Free Live Chat With Unlimited Agents

tawk.to charges nothing for live chat, ticketing or a knowledge base, and sells AI Assist in credits. Chat stays at $0 for any number of agents, and you pay for AI by the reply.

Pricing

Live chat on tawk.to costs $0, with no agent limit and no conversation cap. AI Assist Growth costs $29 a month for 1,000 credits ($290 a year), and Business $99 for 5,000 ($990 a year). The free Hobby tier includes 100 AI Assist credits.

A reply on the Auto model costs 3 credits, and each extra 1,000 credits costs $30. AI Assist stops joining new conversations when credits run out.

Watch-Outs

• Branding stays on the free plan. Removing it takes the Whitelabel add-on at $29 a month per property.
• Credits scale with replies. One AI reply on each of 1,000 conversations uses 3,000 credits, or $89 a month ($82.50).

Where Helply Fits Better Than tawk.to

Helply fits teams that have outgrown free chat. Its Support Agent can check a Stripe charge or look in another connected tool, then resolve or hand off with the findings. Ticketing comes in the same product, and SLAs start on Team.

How to Move off Tidio Without Dropping Chats

Switch in stages: keep Tidio live, give the new tool one channel for a week, then move the rest.

1. Gather what Lyro answers from. Collect your help center articles, FAQs and saved replies first.
2. Bring that content and one channel into the new tool. In Helply, you can import existing support content during the 14-day trial.
3. Run the new widget on one page or channel. Keep Tidio on the rest, and check whether the new AI looks up real orders and charges or quotes the help center.
4. Watch Tidio's quotas in the switch month. Tidio upgrades newer monthly projects a tier at 95% of a quota by default, so check that setting before you split traffic.
5. Move the remaining channels. Cancel Tidio at the end of its billing period.

When Tidio Is Still the Right Choice

At low volume, Tidio's meters stay small. A team answering 250 chats a month, with 200 Lyro conversations, pays $199 ($165.83).

• Your queue stays at 250 human chats or fewer. Growth starts at $59 ($49.17) for 250.
• Lyro handles 200 conversations or fewer. That tier costs $140 ($116.67).
• You sell on Shopify and want order tools for your team. Growth adds Shopify actions in the inbox: cancel, refund and edit an address.
• You use Flows for sales prompts. The first 100 visitors cost nothing, and 2,000 cost $29 ($24.17).

As of November 2026, Tidio holds a 4.8 rating from 1,357 reviews on the Shopify App Store. Tidio puts its customers' average Lyro resolution rate at 75%. A Capterra reviewer wrote in July 2025 that setting up Tidio's AI took about 10 to 15 minutes.

Keep Paying Lyro by the Chat, or Move to Pooled AI Credits?

Pick by the part you're replacing: tawk.to or Crisp for the widget, Chatbase or Fin for Lyro, and Gorgias for Shopify order edits. For the five-person team, tawk.to costs $89 ($82.50) and Crisp $120 to $170. Helply's Team plan covers the help desk and 15,000 pooled credits for AI that can resolve with lookups.

Moving to Helply replaces Tidio's three meters with one bill, and a conversation tops out at 15 credits. A handoff to a person after an AI attempt uses no credits. On Team, AI pauses once the month's 15,000 credits run out, and topping up is your call.

Team includes 5 seats and unlimited view-only seats. The Support Agent can look things up in Stripe and other connected tools, then hand off with its investigation done. MixWave, a company of 1 to 10 people, redirected one full-time role to docs and product quality.

At list prices, with AI resolving half of 1,000 conversations, Tidio charges five people $829 ($690.83). On Helply's Team plan, the same five people pay $499 ($415.83). Start the trial on one channel, and set the Support Agent's first week beside Lyro's.