Text vs Tidio
This comparison comes down to one question: does your cost grow faster with people or with conversations? Text bills per seat. Tidio bills per conversation. Prices verified .
- Pick Tidio if you are starting small or your volume is spiky. Free plan, low commitment, fast to install. Cost tracks traffic, not headcount.
- Pick Text if you have a staffed queue and predictable volume. $25/user/mo is easy to forecast, and the routing and reporting are built for a team.
- The deciding question: how many people answer, and how many conversations arrive?
Pricing side by side
| Text (LiveChat) | Tidio | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay per | User / seat | Billable conversation |
| Entry price | $25/user/mo $19 billed yearly | Free — 50 conversations $24.17/mo Starter (100) $29 monthly (reported) |
| Growth tier | $99/user/mo $79 billed yearly | from $49.17/mo Growth from 250 up to 2,000 conversations |
| Cost grows with | Headcount | Human-handled conversations |
| Free tier | Trial only | Permanent free plan |
| AI agent | 1 agent entry, 10 mid | Lyro, separate conversation quota |
| AI resolutions | 120/yr entry → 2,400/yr mid +50 = $49.50 | first 50 free, then 50–1,000/mo AI replies do not count as billable |
| Best at | Staffed queue, stable headcount | Low or spiky volume |
Tidio — free to start Text — see plans Affiliate links
Where the two models cross over
Per-seat pricing is flat as volume rises. Per-conversation pricing is flat as headcount rises. That means each one wins in the situation the other handles badly:
- Few people, lots of traffic: Tidio. You would be paying for seats you do not need on Text.
- Several people, moderate traffic: Text. Conversation billing would punish you for volume your team handles anyway.
- Spiky, seasonal traffic: Tidio. You are not locked into seats during the quiet months.
- Growing team, growing volume: model both. This is the only case where you genuinely have to do the arithmetic.
AI capability and metering
Both now lead with an AI agent, and the meters work in opposite ways. Text charges for AI work — 120 AI resolutions a year on the entry tier, 2,400 on the mid tier, extra packs of 50 at $49.50. Tidio charges only for conversations a human replied to, and Lyro’s own resolutions are excluded from that count; Lyro runs on its own quota, with the first 50 conversations free and paid limits of 50 to 1,000 a month.
Practical upshot: with Text, growing AI usage raises your bill. With Tidio, growing AI usage lowers the number of human-handled conversations — so it can reduce your tier rather than raise it. That is the strongest structural argument for Tidio’s model, and it is easy to miss when you compare headline prices.
Setup and time to live
- Tidio: the fastest of the three platforms we cover. A free plan and a widget you can install in minutes. Ideal if you want to test AI support before committing budget.
- Text: a conventional helpdesk install. If you have used one before, the concepts transfer. Longer to configure properly, more capable once configured.
Who should pick which
Tidio
- Solo founder or a very small shop
- Ecommerce with spiky, seasonal traffic
- You want to test AI support before paying
- One or two people handle all conversations
Text (LiveChat)
- A support team of three or more
- Stable, forecastable conversation volume
- You need routing, assignments and reporting
- You want a single per-seat number to budget
FAQ
Which one is cheaper?
Neither, universally. Tidio is cheaper at low volume because there is a free plan and you only pay for conversations. Text is cheaper once your traffic is high enough that conversation-based billing outpaces the cost of a few seats. Count your monthly conversations and your headcount, then compare.
Does Tidio really have a free plan?
Yes, and it is the main reason we suggest it as a starting point. You can put AI support in front of real customers before committing a budget. Text offers a trial rather than a permanent free tier.
Which is better for a growing team?
Text, in most cases. Per-seat pricing stays predictable as you add people, and the routing and reporting are built for a staffed queue. Tidio’s conversation model becomes harder to forecast exactly when growth makes forecasting matter most.
What if I outgrow Tidio?
That is a reasonable path: prove the value of AI support on Tidio’s free plan, then migrate to a per-seat platform once volume and headcount justify it. Migration is annoying but the cost of guessing wrong on day one is worse.
Tidio — start free Text — see pricing
Affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Related: every plan and limit compared · HighLevel vs Text.