Comparison · CRO and testing
Tidio vs Intercom: live chat and AI support compared
The short answer
Both put live chat and an AI agent on your website. Tidio is priced by conversations, has a free plan with 10 seats, and is built for small online stores and service businesses. Intercom is priced per seat, from $29 per seat per month, plus $0.99 for each outcome its Fin AI agent resolves, and adds ticketing, a help centre and workflow automation for larger support teams. Small teams watching cost usually start with Tidio; support organisations that need ticketing and help-centre depth look at Intercom.
On this page 5 sections
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Side by side
| Tidio | Intercom | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Billable conversations, with AI and Flows as add-ons | Per seat, plus a fee per Fin AI outcome |
| Free plan | Yes: 50 conversations and 10 seats | No; 14-day free trial |
| Entry paid plan | Starter $24.17 per month (100 conversations) | Essential $29 per seat per month |
| AI agent | Lyro: first 50 conversations free, add-on from $32.50 per month | Fin: from $0.99 per outcome |
| Automation | Flows (chatbot automations), add-on from $24.17 per month | Workflow builder from the Advanced plan |
| Help centre and ticketing | Not the focus | Shared inbox and ticketing on Essential; multilingual help centre on Advanced |
| Free trial | 7 days, no card | 14 days, no card |
When Tidio fits better
- You run a small online store or service business and chat volume is modest.
- Several people need to answer chats but you do not want to pay per seat.
- You want to try live chat on the free plan before committing.
When Intercom fits better
- You run a SaaS or ecommerce support team that needs tickets, a help centre and routing rules.
- You want an AI agent billed per resolved outcome and can forecast resolutions.
- You need SSO, HIPAA support or SLAs, which sit on Intercom's top plan.
Measuring whether chat helps conversions
Chat is a conversion tool as much as a support tool. Before and after you install either one, track chat starts and chat-assisted orders or leads as GA4 events, and compare conversion rate for sessions with and without a chat. A week of data is rarely enough; use the conversion rate calculator to check whether a difference is real.
Other options: best live chat software and Intercom alternatives.
Based on each vendor’s published features as of October 2026. We have not tested these products in a live account. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Questions
- Is Tidio cheaper than Intercom?
- For small teams usually yes, because Tidio is priced by conversations with 10 seats on its plans, while Intercom charges from $29 per seat per month plus $0.99 per Fin outcome (pricing pages read October 2026). At high volume the comparison depends on your conversation and resolution counts.
- Does Tidio have a free plan?
- Yes. Tidio's Free plan included 50 billable conversations, the first 50 Lyro AI conversations and 10 seats in October 2026.