# Alternatives to Tidio

Live chat with Lyro AI for small shops.

Tidio ranks #8 of 11 in Helpdesk software, with an Alt Score of 78. It is proprietary, freemium from $24.17/month and available on Web, iOS and Android. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tidio/
Category: Helpdesk software

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Small and mid-sized businesses, especially e-commerce stores, that need to handle customer support and sales conversations without a large dedicated support team.
- **What you get**: A single platform combining live chat widget, a shared helpdesk/ticketing inbox for support agents, and Lyro, an AI chatbot agent that answers customer questions and resolves issues automatically. It integrates with tools like Shopify, WordPress, and Mailchimp, and includes automation flows for proactive engagement and lead capture.
- **How it works**: You install a chat widget on your website, connect Lyro to your knowledge base and store data so it can auto-resolve common questions, and route conversations it can't handle to human agents in the shared inbox.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: $24.17/month (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Chatwoot](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/chatwoot.md) | 100 | MIT | Web, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [Zammad](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zammad.md) | 100 | AGPL-3.0 | Web |
| 3 | [Help Scout](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/help-scout.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Freshdesk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freshdesk.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [Intercom](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/intercom.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [Zendesk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zendesk.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 7 | [Crisp](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/crisp.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 8 | [LiveChat](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/livechat.md) | 73 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 9 | [osTicket](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/osticket.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Web |
| 10 | [FreeScout](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freescout.md) | 64 | AGPL-3.0 | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Helpdesk software checklist | Tidio | Chatwoot | Zammad | Help Scout | Freshdesk | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Subscription | Freemium | Subscription |
| Starts at | $24.17/month | $19/agent/month | €7/agent/month | $25/user/month | $19/agent/month | $39/seat/month |
| License | Proprietary | MIT | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Shared inbox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live chat widget | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Knowledge base | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automations & SLAs | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI answers / copilot | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No |
| Free tier limits | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Multi-channel (email, chat, social) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-seat price | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Tidio. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.tidio.com/faq/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Tidio is not open source; it's a proprietary AI customer service and help desk platform”
- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://www.tidio.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “$0/mo.”
- **Starts at**: $24.17/month — <https://www.tidio.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “$24.17/mo.”
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android — <https://www.tidio.com/mobile-sdk/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Our mobile SDK supports both iOS and Android platforms with native implementations.”
- **Status**: active — <https://www.tidio.com/lyro/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “On average, users automate around 67% of customer inquiries with Lyro”
- **Shared inbox**: Yes — <https://www.tidio.com/help-desk/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Manage email, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Live Chat widget from a single inbox.”
- **Live chat widget**: Yes — <https://www.tidio.com/live-chat/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Answer live chat, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger DMs in a single, easy-to-use dashboard.”
- **Knowledge base**: Partial — <https://www.tidio.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “FAQ upload”
- **Automations & SLAs**: Partial — <https://www.tidio.com/chatbots/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Automate no-code journeys that trigger at the right moments and guide customers with relevance and care.”
- **AI answers / copilot**: Yes — <https://www.tidio.com/lyro/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Lyro answers customer questions using only your content”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://www.tidio.com/faq/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Tidio is not open source; it's a proprietary AI customer service and help desk platform”
- **Free tier limits**: Yes — <https://www.tidio.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “50 Billable conversations / mo.”
- **Multi-channel (email, chat, social)**: Yes — <https://www.tidio.com/help-desk/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Manage email, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Live Chat widget from a single inbox.”
- **Reporting**: Yes — <https://www.tidio.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Understand how the audience interacts with your support system.”
- **Per-seat price**: Partial — <https://www.tidio.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “You can add up to 10 agents on self-serve plans and custom numbers on the Plus package.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/