Review
Tidio review
Small online stores and service businesses that want live chat on their site.
We check it out so you don’t have to.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend things we believe are useful. Read our full disclosure.
- What it is
- Live chat and AI chatbot
- Best for
- Small online stores that want live chat plus an AI agent
- Price
- Free; Starter $24.17/mo as shown, checked October 26, 2026
- Prices checked
- October 26, 2026
We researched Tidio's official pricing, plan terms, product pages and help documentation. We haven't used Tidio ourselves, so this is a research-based review, not a hands-on test.
Who it’s best for
- Small online stores and service businesses that want live chat on their site.
- Teams that want an AI agent (Lyro) to answer common questions.
- Businesses that want chat, email and social messages in one inbox.
Who should skip it
- Less suited to large support teams that need a full help-desk suite.
How it works day to day
This part draws on Tidio’s own product pages, help center and documentation, read October 26, 2026 (listed under Sources). We haven’t used Tidio ourselves.
You add Tidio's chat widget to your site, and conversations from chat (and other connected channels) land in one inbox. Lyro, the AI agent, answers common questions from your help content, and hands off to a person when needed. Flows run automated greetings, lead capture or cart-recovery messages.
Key features in use
- Live chat widget with typing preview and viewed-pages history.
- Lyro AI agent trained on your FAQs and content.
- Flows: no-code chatbot automations triggered by visitor actions.
- Shared inbox with macros for quick replies.
- Analytics on Growth and up.
Setup and learning curve
Installing the widget is a copy-paste snippet or a plugin for common store platforms. Training Lyro means adding your FAQ or help content and testing answers. Flows can start from templates.
Integrations
Tidio connects with common ecommerce and website platforms (such as Shopify and WordPress) and other tools. Check Tidio's integrations page for your platform.
Support
Tidio offers help center articles; Plus adds premium support and a dedicated contact.
Real-world use cases
- A small store lets Lyro answer shipping and returns questions overnight.
- A service business uses a flow to collect a visitor's email before a chat.
- A shop sends a cart-recovery message to visitors who leave checkout.
What it costs
Prices checked October 26, 2026, from Tidio’s own pricing page unless noted. Prices change often, so check the official page before you buy.
- Free: $0. 50 billable conversations, 50 one-time Lyro AI conversations, and flows for 100 visitors.
- Starter: $24.17 a month as shown on the pricing page (100 billable conversations).
- Growth: from $49.17 a month (from 250 billable conversations), adds advanced analytics and user permissions.
- Plus: from $300 a month plus usage, with premium support and separate rates for AI and human conversations.
- The pricing page offers yearly billing with 2 months free. Paid plans have a 7-day free trial.
What we like
- A free plan to start.
- Lyro AI agent answers common questions using your own content.
- Flows (chatbot automations) can greet visitors, collect leads or recover carts.
- 7-day free trial on paid plans.
What to watch for
- Pricing is usage-based (billable conversations), so costs grow with traffic.
- The free Lyro allowance is a one-time 50 conversations.
- AI conversations and higher volumes cost more on top of the base plan.
- Plus starts at $300 a month, a big jump from Growth.
The fine print
- Check what counts as a billable conversation on the pricing page before you pick a tier.
- Prices on the page vary with the conversation volume you select.
The main alternative: LiveChat
LiveChat is a long-running live chat tool aimed at support and sales teams, with chat routing, canned responses and reporting. It suits teams with dedicated agents.
What it costs: $19 per user/mo billed annually; free trial, checked October 26, 2026
Pick Tidio if you…
- run a small store and want chat plus an AI agent without a big budget.
- want to start free and pay as conversations grow.
Pick LiveChat if you…
- have a dedicated support team handling chat all day.
- want a chat tool built around human agents first.
Our take
Tidio is an easy way for a small business to add live chat, chatbot flows and an AI agent, and you can start free. Understand the billable-conversation pricing before you grow, since AI and volume add to the bill. Bigger support teams may prefer LiveChat.
Side by side
| Company | Best for | Starting price | Trial / refund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tidio | Small online stores that want live chat plus an AI agent | Free; Starter $24.17/mo as shown, checked October 26, 2026 | Free plan; 7-day free trial |
| LiveChat | Sales and support teams that want live chat with AI help on their website | $19 per user/mo billed annually; free trial, checked October 26, 2026 | Free trial |
From our company records. Check the official pages for current prices.
What we checked
- Tidio's pricing page and plan terms, read October 26, 2026
- LiveChat's details: its official website, read October 26, 2026
- Tidio's feature pages, help-center articles and integration pages, read October 26, 2026
Sources
How we review
We read the company's own terms, test the sign-up or booking steps where we can, and compare it with alternatives. A commission never changes what we write. Read our disclosure.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend things we believe are useful. Read our full disclosure.