Tidio vs LiveChat, and where each one’s AI agent comes from
Tidio charges nothing for up to 10 seats, bills for the conversations your team answers and sells its AI agent, Lyro, in monthly packages. LiveChat charges for each user, and the plans it now sells new customers, Text plans from the same company, come with an AI agent billed by the resolution. The third column is Deacon, an AI customer support agent that answers visitors before they reach you. There’s a free plan, and it needs no card.
Prices read on tidio.com/pricing on 23 September 2026 and on livechat.com/pricing on 14 October 2026
Where the AI comes from on Tidio and LiveChat
On Tidio, the AI is a package you add
Tidio’s plans bill for the conversations your team answers, and its AI agent, Lyro, has a meter of its own. Every account gets 50 Lyro conversations once, for its lifetime. After that you buy a monthly package, from 50 conversations for $39, or $32.50 a month billed yearly, up to 1,000 for $700. A Lyro conversation is any one Lyro replies in at least once, and the package sits beside whichever plan you’re on, the free one included.
On LiveChat, the AI agent comes with the plan
New customers on livechat.com now buy Text plans. Text is the next product from the company behind LiveChat, with live chat, tickets and an AI agent in one inbox. You pay for each user, and the AI is counted in resolutions, the chats where it solved a customer’s question. Essential is $25 a user a month, or $19 billed yearly, with 10 a month, and Growth is $99, or $79 billed yearly, with 200. Past that, you add packs of 50 for $49.50.
The figures in these cards are from tidio.com/pricing, read on 23 September 2026, and livechat.com/pricing, read on 14 October 2026. Tidio pricing goes through each Tidio plan and Lyro package.
Here’s what that means for a founder answering alone, with 150 chats a month, where an AI could settle 90 and pass 60 to you. The sums are our arithmetic on monthly billing.
On LiveChat’s Essential, your one seat is $25 a month with 10 resolutions. The AI settles 90, so the other 80 take two packs of 50 at $49.50 each, and the month comes to $124. The 60 it passes on are yours to answer from the same inbox.
On Tidio, Lyro replied in all 150 chats, so you need its 150-conversation package, at $110 a month. The 60 you answered go past the free plan’s 50, so you need Starter as well, and the month comes to $139. Tidio counts every chat Lyro replies in, and LiveChat counts only the ones its AI solves.
Tidio, LiveChat and Deacon, row by row
| Feature | Tidio | LiveChat | Deacon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, with no end date. Up to 10 seats and 50 billable conversations a month, with live chat, ticketing, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram | None. A 14-day trial of Essential or Growth, with no card | 50 answers every month on one seat, with every feature and no card. It has no end date, and an account is kept through quiet months, closing for inactivity only after a year unused and a warning |
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter, $29 a month, or $24.17 a month billed yearly, for 100 billable conversations and up to 10 seats | Essential, $25 a user a month, or $19 billed yearly, with the AI agent and 10 AI resolutions a month. Growth is $99 a user a month, or $79 billed yearly | Starter, $50 a month, or $40 a month billed yearly, for 1,000 answers on three seats |
| What you’re billed for | Conversations your team replies in, counted once per thread. Seats cost nothing | Each user who logs in to answer chats or tickets, plus packs of AI resolutions past the plan’s allowance. The plans differ in AI resolutions, visitors tracked, chat history and reporting | Each reply Deacon writes on your live site. Chats in the Playground and on localhost never count |
| An AI agent that answers customers | Lyro, bought beside any plan or on its own, from $39 a month, or $32.50 a month billed yearly, for 50 Lyro conversations | On every plan. Essential has 1 AI agent and 10 AI resolutions a month, and Growth has 10 AI agents and 200 | Deacon itself, on every plan. Its answers are what the plan sells |
| What the AI is counted by | Any conversation Lyro replies in at least once, solved or not. One it hands over straight away isn’t taken from the quota | A resolution, when the AI directly solves a customer’s question. One per chat however many it solves, and none when it passes the chat on without answering | Each reply Deacon writes on your live site |
| When the AI’s allowance runs out | A spent free Lyro quota never resets, and Lyro stops. A paid package resets monthly, and on a new project billed monthly it moves up a level at 95% unless you switch that off | You add packs of 50 resolutions at $49.50 each from your billing settings. Unused ones don’t carry over to the next billing cycle | Nothing more is billed. Visitors get a short reply saying Deacon can’t look into that one right now, and are asked for their email unless they’ve already left it in that conversation |
| When your team’s allowance runs out | At the monthly conversation limit, your team can’t reply to new messages or see their details until the quota resets | Its pricing page lists no conversation limit on any plan. You pay for each person instead | You can always read and answer every conversation in the dashboard |
| Seats | Up to 10 on every self-serve plan, at no charge | One for each user who answers chats or tickets. There’s no minimum team size, and no fixed cap on Essential or Growth | one seat on Free and three seats on Starter, included in the price |
| Removing their branding | Not on Free or Starter. A $20 a month add-on on Growth, or $16.67 a month billed yearly, and included on Plus | Only on Enterprise, which is priced on a call. Its white-label widget removes the “Powered by Text” branding | No plan shows a “powered by” line, so there’s no badge to pay to remove |
| Handing over to a person | By default Lyro passes the chat to your inbox. During your hours it offers Talk to a person, and it can create a ticket instead | Human takeover is on every plan, so your team can step in and take the chat from the AI agent at any time | It says when it doesn’t know and asks for the visitor’s email. You’re emailed when they leave it or ask for a person, and your reply appears in their chat, which stays open for three days while they wait |
| Tickets and email | Ticketing and email on every plan, Free included | Ticketing on every plan, with email landing in the same inbox as your chats | No tickets and no email inbox. You reply from Deacon’s own dashboard |
| Channels | Live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, on every plan, Free included | Your website, your mobile app, a chat page you share by link, Messenger, SMS through Twilio, WhatsApp and email, on every plan | The chat widget on your own website |
| Seeing what customers ask | Basic analytics on every plan and advanced analytics from Growth. AI insights are listed with Premium, which is priced through sales | Chat and ticket metrics on every plan. Chat topics, a weekly report on what customers ask about most, come with Growth | Every conversation, searchable by what visitors asked, and Topics that group questions, count who asked and label most of them, and What needs you to point at the first thing to do, on every plan |
| What the AI learns from | Website pages, up to 60 on a priority scan, Q&A pairs, CSV or PDF files, a Zendesk help centre, and Shopify or WooCommerce products | Help articles, internal docs, web addresses and PDFs, up to 50 MB a file | Your website’s main pages, or the whole site on a paid plan, single pages, files (PDF, Word, Markdown, text, CSV or HTML), pasted text and the answers you write |
| Actions in other systems | From Growth, your team can cancel a Shopify order, change its shipping address or offer a refund from the chat. Lyro Actions can check an order’s status or change an address, with one Action free | Custom skills tell the AI agent what to do in a given situation, such as offering a discount or bringing in a person, 10 per agent on Essential and Growth. Workflows connect apps such as Slack or your CRM on every plan | None. It answers questions, and it declines any about the visitor’s own account, order or data |
Free plan
- Tidio
- Yes, with no end date. Up to 10 seats and 50 billable conversations a month, with live chat, ticketing, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram
- LiveChat
- None. A 14-day trial of Essential or Growth, with no card
- Deacon
- 50 answers every month on one seat, with every feature and no card. It has no end date, and an account is kept through quiet months, closing for inactivity only after a year unused and a warning
Cheapest paid plan
- Tidio
- Starter, $29 a month, or $24.17 a month billed yearly, for 100 billable conversations and up to 10 seats
- LiveChat
- Essential, $25 a user a month, or $19 billed yearly, with the AI agent and 10 AI resolutions a month. Growth is $99 a user a month, or $79 billed yearly
- Deacon
- Starter, $50 a month, or $40 a month billed yearly, for 1,000 answers on three seats
What you’re billed for
- Tidio
- Conversations your team replies in, counted once per thread. Seats cost nothing
- LiveChat
- Each user who logs in to answer chats or tickets, plus packs of AI resolutions past the plan’s allowance. The plans differ in AI resolutions, visitors tracked, chat history and reporting
- Deacon
- Each reply Deacon writes on your live site. Chats in the Playground and on localhost never count
An AI agent that answers customers
- Tidio
- Lyro, bought beside any plan or on its own, from $39 a month, or $32.50 a month billed yearly, for 50 Lyro conversations
- LiveChat
- On every plan. Essential has 1 AI agent and 10 AI resolutions a month, and Growth has 10 AI agents and 200
- Deacon
- Deacon itself, on every plan. Its answers are what the plan sells
What the AI is counted by
- Tidio
- Any conversation Lyro replies in at least once, solved or not. One it hands over straight away isn’t taken from the quota
- LiveChat
- A resolution, when the AI directly solves a customer’s question. One per chat however many it solves, and none when it passes the chat on without answering
- Deacon
- Each reply Deacon writes on your live site
When the AI’s allowance runs out
- Tidio
- A spent free Lyro quota never resets, and Lyro stops. A paid package resets monthly, and on a new project billed monthly it moves up a level at 95% unless you switch that off
- LiveChat
- You add packs of 50 resolutions at $49.50 each from your billing settings. Unused ones don’t carry over to the next billing cycle
- Deacon
- Nothing more is billed. Visitors get a short reply saying Deacon can’t look into that one right now, and are asked for their email unless they’ve already left it in that conversation
When your team’s allowance runs out
- Tidio
- At the monthly conversation limit, your team can’t reply to new messages or see their details until the quota resets
- LiveChat
- Its pricing page lists no conversation limit on any plan. You pay for each person instead
- Deacon
- You can always read and answer every conversation in the dashboard
Seats
- Tidio
- Up to 10 on every self-serve plan, at no charge
- LiveChat
- One for each user who answers chats or tickets. There’s no minimum team size, and no fixed cap on Essential or Growth
- Deacon
- one seat on Free and three seats on Starter, included in the price
Removing their branding
- Tidio
- Not on Free or Starter. A $20 a month add-on on Growth, or $16.67 a month billed yearly, and included on Plus
- LiveChat
- Only on Enterprise, which is priced on a call. Its white-label widget removes the “Powered by Text” branding
- Deacon
- No plan shows a “powered by” line, so there’s no badge to pay to remove
Handing over to a person
- Tidio
- By default Lyro passes the chat to your inbox. During your hours it offers Talk to a person, and it can create a ticket instead
- LiveChat
- Human takeover is on every plan, so your team can step in and take the chat from the AI agent at any time
- Deacon
- It says when it doesn’t know and asks for the visitor’s email. You’re emailed when they leave it or ask for a person, and your reply appears in their chat, which stays open for three days while they wait
Tickets and email
- Tidio
- Ticketing and email on every plan, Free included
- LiveChat
- Ticketing on every plan, with email landing in the same inbox as your chats
- Deacon
- No tickets and no email inbox. You reply from Deacon’s own dashboard
Channels
- Tidio
- Live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, on every plan, Free included
- LiveChat
- Your website, your mobile app, a chat page you share by link, Messenger, SMS through Twilio, WhatsApp and email, on every plan
- Deacon
- The chat widget on your own website
Seeing what customers ask
- Tidio
- Basic analytics on every plan and advanced analytics from Growth. AI insights are listed with Premium, which is priced through sales
- LiveChat
- Chat and ticket metrics on every plan. Chat topics, a weekly report on what customers ask about most, come with Growth
- Deacon
- Every conversation, searchable by what visitors asked, and Topics that group questions, count who asked and label most of them, and What needs you to point at the first thing to do, on every plan
What the AI learns from
- Tidio
- Website pages, up to 60 on a priority scan, Q&A pairs, CSV or PDF files, a Zendesk help centre, and Shopify or WooCommerce products
- LiveChat
- Help articles, internal docs, web addresses and PDFs, up to 50 MB a file
- Deacon
- Your website’s main pages, or the whole site on a paid plan, single pages, files (PDF, Word, Markdown, text, CSV or HTML), pasted text and the answers you write
Actions in other systems
- Tidio
- From Growth, your team can cancel a Shopify order, change its shipping address or offer a refund from the chat. Lyro Actions can check an order’s status or change an address, with one Action free
- LiveChat
- Custom skills tell the AI agent what to do in a given situation, such as offering a discount or bringing in a person, 10 per agent on Essential and Growth. Workflows connect apps such as Slack or your CRM on every plan
- Deacon
- None. It answers questions, and it declines any about the visitor’s own account, order or data
Tidio’s prices come from tidio.com/pricing, read on 23 September 2026, and LiveChat’s from livechat.com/pricing, read on 14 October 2026. The other pages used are listed at the end.
Choosing between Tidio and LiveChat
Pick Tidio if a few of you share the chat and you’d like to start free. Up to 10 teammates get live chat, ticketing, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram on the free plan, and you can add Lyro in packages whenever you want an AI to answer first. It suits a shop too, with Shopify order tools for your team from Growth.
Pick LiveChat if people chatting with visitors in real time is the whole point, and you’d rather pay per person than per conversation. The AI agent comes with every plan, so it can answer first, and your team can take over from it at any time. Chats, tickets, email, WhatsApp and SMS share one inbox. Chat supervision and the weekly chat topics report wait for Growth.
Both are built around a team sitting in a chat inbox, with the AI answering in front of them.
Deacon, for founders who can’t sit in a chat inbox
Live chat only works when someone is there to chat. When the someone is you, the same questions interrupt whatever you were building. Deacon answers them first, in seconds, at any hour, from your own docs and in the customer’s own language, with nothing to build before it starts. When your docs don’t cover a question, it says it doesn’t know instead of guessing, and asks for the visitor’s email. You’re emailed when they leave it or ask for a person, and your reply from Deacon’s dashboard appears in their chat under your name and, if they left an address, it’s emailed to them when they don’t read it there. That’s human handoff without watching an inbox all day.
It gets better as you answer. In the example above, 60 chats a month came to you. Every one your docs missed gets an Answer this button, and what you write becomes part of what Deacon knows, so it can answer the next person who asks. Pressing Save puts it in your help document, or in your Instructions when it’s about how Deacon behaves, and shows you how Deacon now answers the question. When it lands in the help document, Deacon also checks similar open questions from those chats and lists the ones your answer covers.
And it shows you what customers need, from every conversation rather than the few you happened to catch live. Conversations are saved and searchable by what visitors asked. Topics group the questions, count the people behind each and label most of them, as a feature ask, a bug report, a how-to and so on. That’s on every plan, the free one included. The same script runs your website analytics, with visits, sources, goals and funnels.
The price is one line, too. The seats come with the plan, where LiveChat charges for each user. There are no packs of answers to buy, the way LiveChat sells resolutions in packs of 50, and no plan moves itself up a level. Nothing is billed past a plan’s answers.
FAQ
What people ask about Tidio and LiveChat
Where each figure was read
Every figure above was read on 23 September 2026 for Tidio and 14 October 2026 for LiveChat, from these pages.
- Tidio www.tidio.com/pricing/ · www.tidio.com/multichannel/ · www.tidio.com/features/ · www.tidio.com/ai-agent/lyro-actions/ · help.tidio.com/hc/en-us/articles/5423925248412-The-free-version-and-downgrading-your-account · help.tidio.com/hc/en-us/articles/11874534946460-The-monthly-conversations-limit · help.tidio.com/hc/en-us/articles/13924459295900-The-Lyro-AI-agent-limit · help.tidio.com/hc/en-us/articles/13590446473372-Automatic-upgrades · help.tidio.com/hc/en-us/articles/9003475527196-Lyro-the-conversational-AI-agent · help.tidio.com/hc/en-us/articles/14543666652316-Data-sources-Lyro-s-knowledge-base
- LiveChat and Text www.livechat.com/pricing/ · www.livechat.com/ai/ · www.text.com/help/ai-agent-resolutions-and-automatic-refill/ · www.chatbot.com/integrations/livechat/
Try Deacon for free
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ChatBot.com sells Text’s AI Agent, and Deacon vs ChatBot sets it against Deacon directly. Tidio meets another rival in Tidio vs Intercom, more options are priced in Tidio alternatives and LiveChat alternatives, and Deacon’s plans are on the pricing page.