Support and chat
Crisp vs Tidio
Crisp if several people will answer chats and you want a flat bill with a help centre included. Tidio if you run an online store, want a free plan to start, and its AI agent handling order questions would save you time.
- No affiliate links
- Public pricing only
- Updated by hand
Add your website — see your ranked plan in about a minute, free.
PREVIEW FREE — NO CARD7-DAY TRIAL — CARD TO START
Crisp or Tidio — which should you use?
Crisp if several people will answer chats and you want a flat bill with a help centre included. Tidio if you run an online store, want a free plan to start, and its AI agent handling order questions would save you time. Crisp starts at From roughly $45 per workspace per month (free tier: Free plan with basic chat for two seats.); Tidio starts at Paid plans from roughly $49/month (free tier: Free plan with a monthly conversation limit.). Prices are list prices and change, so check the vendor pages before buying.
Last updated 3 August 2026
Both are the affordable alternatives to Intercom, and both do the fundamentals well: a widget, a shared inbox, canned replies and simple bots.
The split is who they're built for. Crisp leans towards SaaS and service businesses with its help centre and multi-channel inbox. Tidio leans ecommerce, with Shopify integration and product-aware AI replies.
Side by side
Crisp and Tidio in short.
Crisp
Multi-channel shared inbox and live chat with unlimited seats per workspace.
- Free
- Free plan with basic chat for two seats.
- Paid from
- From roughly $45 per workspace per month
Good at
- Unlimited teammates on paid plans
- Help centre, chatbot and CRM view included
- WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and email in one inbox
Weak at
- AI is basic compared with dedicated agents
- Ecommerce integrations are lighter than Tidio's
Tidio
Live chat and AI support agent aimed at ecommerce, with strong Shopify support.
- Free
- Free plan with a monthly conversation limit.
- Paid from
- Paid plans from roughly $49/month
Good at
- Genuine free plan you can run a small store on
- Lyro AI agent answers common product and order questions
- Shopify integration surfaces order data in the chat
Weak at
- Conversation-based limits mean costs jump with traffic
- Seats are limited on lower tiers
The differences
Where they actually diverge.
| Feature | Crisp | Tidio |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Basic, 2 seats | Yes, conversation-limited |
| Seats | Unlimited on paid | Limited by tier |
| AI agent | Basic bot | Lyro, ecommerce trained |
| Ecommerce integration | Adequate | Strong on Shopify |
| Help centre | Included | Available |
Pick one
Which one fits you.
Choose Crisp if
- A whole team answers messages
- You want a knowledge base in the same tool
- Social channels need to land in one inbox
Choose Tidio if
- You run a store and get repetitive order questions
- You want to start free
- AI handling tier-one questions is the goal
When neither is the answer
If chats mostly ask questions your product page should answer, fix the page. Every chat you prevent is cheaper than every chat you answer.
Questions
Common questions.
How fast do people expect a reply?
Within a couple of minutes while the widget shows you as online. If you can't hold that, set the widget to away mode and collect email instead — a slow chat is worse than no chat.
Can I move between them?
Conversation history rarely transfers cleanly. Help centre articles export as text, and widget installation is a script swap. Plan to lose historical transcripts.
Prices are list prices published by each vendor and change often — check the linked pricing pages before you buy. We take no affiliate commission and nobody pays to appear here.
Related elsewhere on gtm.help
How do I get more customer reviews for my ecommerce or local store?
Review requests sent at the right moment — 5-7 days after delivery for ecommerce, immediately after service for local b…
ChecklistMarketing checklist for Shopify stores
12 tasks to turn store traffic into repeat customers, ranked by return.
PlaybookWhat to do when your Shopify store has no traffic
Most stores with no traffic have a discoverability problem, not a product problem. Here's the order to fix it.
Tool guideAI marketing agents: what they do and which are worth paying for
Eight options, real prices, and a straight answer on what agents can safely run unattended.
Elsewhere on gtm.help
Keep exploring.
Free marketing tools
Calculators and generators that run without a signup.
BrowseGrowth playbooks
Step-by-step plans by industry and goal.
BrowseTool guides
What to use, what it costs, when it earns its keep.
BrowseMarketing checklists
Task lists by business type and competitive situation.
BrowseStraight answers
The growth questions founders ask, answered with numbers.
Browsegtm.help
Skip the tool research. Get the plan first.
Paste your website and gtm.help reads it, then writes a ranked growth plan for your business — with the tools each task needs, what they cost, and what to do first. Seven days free.
Add your website and judge it on your own plan.