Tidio
Live chat and AI chatbot combo aimed at small e-commerce stores and service businesses
Tidio combines live chat with an AI chatbot (Lyro) in a package built for small online stores and service businesses. The free plan gives you 50 conversations per month and a 7-day trial of premium features. Paid plans start at $29/mo (Starter), jump to $59/mo (Growth), $749/mo (Plus), and $2,999/mo (Premium). It integrates with Shopify, WordPress, and Wix out of the box.
The visual chatbot builder is genuinely useful — you can create automated flows for common questions like shipping status or return policies without writing any code. The catch is the add-on pricing. That $29 or $59 base plan balloons once you add Lyro AI for automated answers ($39+/mo), extra Flows capacity ($29+/mo), and branding removal ($20/mo on Growth). A solo founder could easily hit $150/mo for what looked like a $59 plan. If you mostly need live chat without the AI extras, Crisp or tawk.to will cost less. If the AI chatbot is what you want, budget for the real price, not the sticker price.
What's good
- Free plan includes 50 conversations per month — enough to test with real traffic
- Visual chatbot builder (Flows) lets you set up automated responses without code
- Lyro AI chatbot can answer FAQs by learning from your content, no training needed
Watch out for
- Real-world cost is higher than advertised — Lyro AI ($39+), Flows ($29+), and branding removal ($20) are separate add-ons
- All plans cap at 10 agents; unlimited seats only on the $2,999/mo Premium tier
- Free plan branding on the widget cannot be removed without paying for a higher plan
Alternatives
Crisp
Live chat, shared inbox, and knowledge base in one — with a free tier that actually works
tawk.to
Completely free live chat with unlimited agents and chats — paid add-ons only for branding removal and AI
LiveChat
Dedicated live chat tool with a fast widget, 200+ integrations, and strong reporting
More in Customer Support
Chatwoot
Open-source customer support platform you can self-host for free or use their cloud starting at $19/agent
Crisp
Live chat, shared inbox, and knowledge base in one — with a free tier that actually works
Freshdesk
Traditional helpdesk with ticketing, knowledge base, and automation — with a usable free tier for up to 2 agents