Automate Basics

LiveChat vs Crisp vs Tidio vs Intercom

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 7 November 2026.

Compared on
LiveChat

Free trial · from $19/user/mo

Crisp

Free plan · from $45/mo

Tidio

Free plan · from $24.17/mo

Intercom

Free trial · from $19/seat/mo

What it isLive chat software for websites and online stores, priced per user, with AI reply toolsWebsite chat and shared inbox with a free plan, priced per workspace rather than per agentLive chat, ticketing and an AI agent (Lyro) for customer serviceCustomer service helpdesk with a built-in AI agent, Fin
Free planNo2 agent seats and 100 customer profiles; website chat widget, shared inbox and mobile apps50 billable conversations a month, 10 seats, live chat and ticketing, 50 Lyro AI Agent conversations (one-off, lifetime), 100 visitors reached by Flows a monthNo
Cheapest paid plan$19/user/mo billed annually (Essential)LiveChat pricing$45/mo (Mini)Crisp pricing$24.17/mo billed annually (Starter)Tidio pricing$19/seat/mo billed annually (Essential)Intercom pricing
What it coversAnnual billing is $228 per user a year; includes 1 AI Agent and 10 AI resolutions a month.Per workspace, monthly billing; includes 4 agent seats and 5,000 customer profiles. Annual prices are not on the page.100 billable conversations/month; annual billing is advertised as 2 months free.Fin AI Agent is charged separately at $0.99 per outcome; minimum of 1 full seat.
Free trial14-day free trial, no credit card needed14-day free trial of all plans, no card required according to the page footer7-day free trial of all features and plans, no credit card needed; the account moves to the Free plan at the end unless you upgrade14-day free trial, no credit card required; includes all features, Fin and add-ons
PlatformsWebWebWebWeb
Integrations (vendor's figure)more than 200 toolsNot statedNot statedNot stated
Open sourceNoNoNoNo
Good for
  • Online stores and SaaS sites that sell or support through chat
  • Small teams that need a chat tool with a short learning curve
  • Small teams that want live chat on a website for free
  • Teams that prefer a flat workspace price over per-agent pricing
  • Adding live chat and an AI agent to a small online shop's website
  • Answering repetitive customer questions automatically
  • Collecting leads or quote requests with automated chat flows
  • Answering routine customer questions automatically before they reach support staff
  • Running a shared support inbox and help centre for a small support team
  • Adding an AI agent to an existing helpdesk such as Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshdesk
Watch out for
  • Every person answering chats needs a paid seat
  • AI resolutions are capped per month (10 on Essential, 200 on Growth); extra packs cost $49.50 per 50
  • No free plan
  • Free plan limited to 2 seats and 100 customer profiles
  • Extra agents cost $10 a month, but the page does not say which plans this covers
  • What happens after included AI credit runs out is not stated
  • Free plan is limited to 50 billable conversations a month and 100 Flows visitors
  • Lyro's free allowance is a one-off 50 conversations; more needs a paid Lyro quota (from $39 a month, or $32.50 billed annually, for 50 conversations)
  • Starter includes 100 billable conversations a month; Growth starts at 250
  • No free plan; a 14-day free trial is offered
  • Fin is billed per outcome on top of seat fees, and using Fin with another helpdesk carries a minimum monthly commitment (the page's example is 50 outcomes)
  • Multiple team inboxes and workflow automation start on Advanced; SSO and HIPAA support need Expert
Made byTextCrispTidioFin (the company formerly named Intercom)

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

Every tool in AI customer support tools is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.