Top 13 Tawk.to Alternatives for Affordable Support 2026

If someone told you that you can get customer support software completely free, you'd assume this is too good to be true. But this is exactly what Tawk.to promises.

The basic features (which are more than enough for most business needs) are completely free, and if you want to remove the Tawk.to branding and get some extras, you pay a fee.

But is this enough to provide great support performance? And how does it compare to more established, paid players in the market? There are a few reasons why users look for Tawk.to alternatives, and today, we're showing you a few of the very best. 👇

In short - the best Tawk.to alternatives for customer support:

• ✨ Featurebase – Best modern AI support & product suite for fast-growing startups
• Tidio - Best live chat and AI chatbot tool for small to mid-sized businesses
• LiveAgent - Best live chat with built-in ticketing and call center tools
• Intercom - Best for real-time engagement and customer onboarding
• Zendesk - Best complete help desk with ticketing and knowledge base
• Crisp - Best modern chat with automation and omnichannel support
• Kayako - Best unified support tool across email, chat, and social channels
• Zoho SalesIQ - Best proactive chat with CRM integration for Zoho users
• Chatify - Best affordable live chat with AI support and unlimited agents
• Birdeye - Best for local businesses managing reviews and messaging
• Olark - Best simple live chat with strong analytics and reporting
• Robylon - Best AI-driven support with human-in-the-loop assistance
• ProProfs Chat - Best budget live chat with built-in automation

Why look at Tawk.to alternatives?

Tawk.to is a decent tool for your support team, but there are some notable downsides across user reviews. These are some of the most common complaints from real customers.

1. Customization issues

Tawk.to's free plan gives you all the tools you need to provide good customer support. However, there's an issue where it's far behind major competitors. That same free plan limits you in the ways you can customize the platform so it matches the rest of your website.

• "One downside of Tawk.to is the limited customization in terms of chat widget design, which may not align with all brand aesthetics. Additionally, the mobile app experience can feel clunky at times, with occasional delays in notifications. Some advanced features like white labeling require a paid upgrade, which might limit options for full branding control." (G2 review)

Even with a paid plan, users state that Tawk.to is not on par with enterprise tools such as Intercom or Zendesk.

2. The mobile app is underwhelming

Across different reviews, users complain about the UI and UX of the mobile app. If your support team is on the go a lot, prepare to struggle with the mobile application.

• "Mobile app is helpful but sometime it miss important visitor communication / chat." (G2 review)
• "Needs better mobile app and Ai fetaures. Also can improve canned responses page. New features can be added." (G2 review)

3. The knowledge base software requires lots of manual input

If you want to empower customers to solve their own problems, a knowledge base is the most efficient way to do that. Unfortunately, some users complain that using this aspect of Tawk is difficult, since you have to manually upload the knowledge base articles, one by one. There is no option of importing the content from elsewhere.

• "Despite marketing itself as a free service, I quickly discovered that the reality is far from the promise. First and foremost, the claim of being a "free" service is misleading. While they do offer a basic version for free, it's essentially a bait-and-switch tactic.
  
  Customization options are limited, and the design options for the chat widget are quite basic. The ticketing system only works with their knowledge base website and there is no option to import the data from your old knowledge base.
  
  One of the most disappointing aspects of my experience with Tawk.to was their inflexible and seemingly unfair refund policy. After realizing that the service did not meet my expectations, I decided to cut my losses and requested a refund on the very same day of purchase. To my dismay, Tawk.to outright refused any refund, leaving me stuck with a service that failed to deliver on its promises." (G2 review)

The best Tawk.to alternatives for customer conversations in 2025

If you're looking for an affordable, capable, and customizable tool to build better customer relationships, there are plenty of alternatives to Tawk to consider instead. 👇

1. Featurebase ✨

Featurebase is a modern Tawk.to alternative that combines AI-powered support, feedback, documentation, surveys, and changelogs into a single platform for startups. It's loved by thousands of support teams from companies like Lovable, Raycast, and Beehiiv. 💫

Top features:

• Unified inbox – manage your live chat & email conversations in one AI-enchanced inbox with your whole team
• Mobile app – respond to customers, receive notifications, and unblock users on the go
• AI agent & automations – fully automate your support with AI and endless custom workflows, like extending trials, offering discounts, qualifying leads, etc.
• Messenger widget – provide AI and human support from anywhere with a customizable in-app widget
• AI-powered Help Center – a knowledge base with instant AI answers that can be multilingual and private
• Feedback portal & roadmaps – centralize & keep track of all customer requests in one place, and show a public roadmap
• Product updates – publish and schedule release notes, push in-app notifications, and automatically email users
• Embedded surveys – run multi-step NPS, CSAT, or custom surveys targeted by user behavior or events
• Integrations – Slack, Linear, Jira, Discord, HubSpot, and many more

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Unlike Tawtk.to, which is primarily for customer support, Featurebase enables you to replace all your customer-facing tools by bringing your omnichannel support, help center, product updates, and feedback collection together in one place, providing powerful ecosystem advantages in modern support.

Pricing: Featurebase offers a generous Free plan, which includes unlimited support conversations. The paid plans start at $29/user/month + $0.29 for every AI resolution. You can start free without a credit card, so there's no downside to trying it. 👇

✨ Automate your support with the fastest AI-enhanced Inbox today →

2. Tidio

Tidio is a live chat and chatbot platform designed for small and mid-sized businesses that want to combine automation with personal support.

Top features

• Live chat widget: Simple and customizable for websites and mobile.
• AI chatbot builder: Automate replies and FAQs without coding.
• Email marketing tools: Send targeted campaigns from the same dashboard.
• Integrations: Works with Shopify, WordPress, and other platforms.
• Mobile app: Respond to customers from anywhere.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Tidio combines live chat with email and AI automation, offering more versatility for businesses that want marketing and support in one tool.

Pricing: Tidio's pricing starts at $24.17 per month (Starter plan).

3. LiveAgent

LiveAgent is a help desk and live chat solution aimed at businesses that want to manage customer conversations across multiple channels in one system. It combines chat with email, ticketing, and call center features.

Top features

• Live chat widget: Fast and customizable for websites.
• Ticketing system: Convert emails, calls, and chats into trackable tickets.
• Call center support: Handle voice calls directly inside the platform.
• Automation rules: Route, assign, and prioritize conversations automatically.
• Reporting tools: Monitor team performance and customer satisfaction.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: LiveAgent offers ticketing and call center capabilities, making it stronger for teams that need a complete help desk solution rather than just chat.

Pricing: starts at $9 per agent per month.

4. Intercom

Intercom is a customer support tool built around real-time customer engagement, offering live chat, bots, and in-app messaging. It’s often used by SaaS companies and fast-growing teams that need to stay close to users inside their product.

Top features

• Messenger widget: Chat with customers on websites and inside apps.
• AI chatbots: Automate replies, qualify leads, and route conversations.
• Product tours: Walk new users through onboarding steps directly in the app.
• Help center tools: Build searchable articles and connect them to chat.
• Integrations: Connect customer data with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Slack.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Intercom focuses on customer engagement and onboarding inside apps, which makes it better for SaaS businesses than a chat-only tool like Tawk.to.

Pricing: Intercom pricing starts at $29 per seat per month + extra for AI features.

5. Zendesk

Zendesk is one of the most established customer service platforms, combining live chat with ticketing, email, and self-service tools. It’s a good choice for companies that need a full-service desk in addition to chat.

Top features

• Ticketing system: Track and resolve customer requests across multiple channels.
• Live chat and messaging: Engage visitors in real time on web and mobile.
• Knowledge base builder: Create searchable help centers and FAQs.
• Automation and macros: Speed up responses with workflows and pre-set rules.
• Live chat analytics and reporting: Monitor team performance and customer satisfaction.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Zendesk adds structured ticketing and knowledge management, making it stronger for businesses that need more than just live chat.

Pricing: Zendek's pricing starts at $19 per agent per month.

6. Crisp

Crisp is a conversational support and marketing platform that combines live chat, chatbots, and omnichannel messaging.

Top features

• Shared inbox: Centralize messages from website, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.
• AI / workflow automation: Build chat automation flows and let AI assist responses.
• Knowledge base/self-service articles: Help users help themselves within chat.
• Chat triggers & shortcuts: Trigger messages based on behaviors, use canned replies.
• Integration & API: Connect with Slack, Zapier, e-commerce, customer relationship management tools, and more.
• Analytics and reporting dashboards: Track performance, agent metrics.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Crisp offers a more modern omnichannel experience combining chat, messaging, automation, and knowledge base in one, while Tawk.to remains focused mostly on chat.

Pricing: Crisp pricing starts at 45EUR per workspace, and there is a free plan available.

7. Kayako

Kayako is a customer service platform designed to unify live chat, email, and support workflows.

Top features

• Unified inbox: All conversations from chat, email, and social in one place.
• Custom routing & workflow rules: Direct queries to the right agents or departments.
• Internal notes & private mentions: Collaborate internally on tickets before responding.
• Multichannel message centralization: Pull in messages from Facebook, email, Instagram, etc.
• API & custom behaviors: Extend chat and behavior logic via APIs.
• Canned responses / templates: Predefine common replies to provide great customer support.
• Multisite / multi-website: Use chat across multiple domains under one account.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Kayako brings structured ticketing, unified communication across email and chat, and internal collaboration features that Tawk.to is lacking.

Pricing: starts at $79 per month.

8. Zoho SalesIQ

Zoho SalesIQ is a live chat and visitor engagement platform built to help businesses convert and support visitors across web and mobile.

Top features

• Multichannel chat: Support visitors via website chat, mobile apps, and messaging channels like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram.
• Typing preview & visitor insight: See what users are typing and view their entire customer journey, pages, device info, etc.
• Audio, calls & screen share: Enable calls or screen sharing directly from chat to solve complex issues.
• AI & chatbot support: Use Zoho’s Zia or rule-based chatbots for 24/7 automation.
• Chat routing & departments: Route incoming chats to teams or departments based on rules.
• Integration with Zoho Assist: Start a remote support or screen share session from the chat console.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Zoho SalesIQ adds advanced capabilities like proactive triggers, multilingual translation, audio/share screen, and deeper visitor context that go far beyond the basic chat features of Tawk.to.

Pricing: starts at 7EUR per operator per month. A free plan is available for up to three operators.

9. Chatify

Chatify is a live chat software and team collaboration tool with AI assistance and no per-agent pricing for its standard features. It’s a good choice for teams that want flexibility and scalability without agent-based fees.

Top features

• Unlimited agents, no per-agent fees: Add as many team members as you need without extra cost.
• Automated answers/chatbots: Handle repetitive questions automatically with AI.
• Internal team chat/discussion: Before replying to users, staff can discuss or annotate chats.
• Agent assist / suggestions: The system can suggest answers while agents respond.
• Multi-channel support in dashboard: Chatify brings in messages from the website and social into one dashboard.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Chatify allows unlimited agents without per-agent cost, and includes smarter AI and collaboration features built in rather than as add-ons.

Pricing: starts at 49EUR per month for up to 250 conversations. A free plan is available for up to 100 conversations.

10. Birdeye

Birdeye is a reputation, messaging, and experience management platform that also offers a chat/webchat capability. It’s best for local businesses looking to combine reviews, listings, and conversational tools.

Top features

• Webchat + AI chatbot: Engage visitors 24/7, qualify leads, and answer FAQs automatically.
• Smart handoff to humans: When the bot can’t handle a query, it routes to your agents.
• Train from website content: Use your site pages or FAQs to help the bot answer questions.
• Integrations across reputation & listing tools: Because Birdeye covers listings, reviews, messaging, it’s designed to unify multiple customer touchpoints.
• Team chat & internal messaging: Collaborate internally via chat to resolve issues.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Birdeye integrates deeper with local business tools (reviews, listings) and offers bot + live chat built into a broader experience management suite.

Pricing: not available publicly.

11. Olark

Olark is a live chat tool focused on real-time conversations and lightweight automation. It suits businesses that want a clean, usable chat interface without too much overhead.

Top features

• Customizable chat widget: Match the look and feel of your site.
• Chat routing & team management: Automatically assign chats and limit how many conversations each agent handles.
• Shortcuts / canned responses: Save common replies to speed up agent responses.
• Visitor insights / monitoring: See which pages a visitor is on, how long they’ve been active, etc.
• Integrations & plugins: Connect with CRM, helpdesk, e-commerce, and analytics tools.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Olark gives more refined control over chat routing and team workflows, with better monitoring and shortcuts for agent efficiency.

Pricing: Olark's pricing starts at $29 per agent per month.

12. Robylon

Robylon is an AI-driven customer support agent platform that handles chat, email, voice, and tickets via autonomous agents backed by human oversight. It’s ideal for teams that want to scale support automation while still retaining safety nets for tricky queries.

Top features

• Omnichannel support: Chat, email, voice, and tickets all managed in one platform.
• Human-in-the-loop oversight: Critical cases are escalated to humans, ensuring reliability and accuracy.
• Pay-per-resolution pricing: You pay only when a query is successfully resolved, not per seat.
• Integrations: Works with Zendesk, Freshdesk, CRMs and other support or messaging stacks.
• High automation rates: Capable of resolving ~80-90 % of customer queries automatically in many use cases.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: Robylon offers full automation across channels (chat, email, voice) with backup human review and a usage-based pricing model, meaning you don’t need to pay for unused seats.

Pricing: starts at $35 for 2,000 message credits, and there is a free plan available for up to 250 credits.

13. ProProfs Chat

ProProfs Chat is a live chat and chatbot tool that helps businesses engage visitors, offer support, and route leads in real time. It works well for teams that want to combine real-time support with simple automation without complexity.

Top features

• Unlimited chats: No limits on the number of conversations you can handle, even on lower tiers.
• Chatbot & automation: Automate responses, trigger messages, and deflect repetitive queries.
• Pre-chat forms & routing: Capture visitor info and route to appropriate departments or agents.
• Visitor tracking & insights: See what pages visitors viewed, location, time on site, etc.
• Integrations & API: Sync with CRM, analytics, help desk systems and more.
• Reports & analytics: Track operator performance, chat metrics, missed chats, ratings, etc.

How it’s better than Tawk.to: ProProfs Chat offers a robust free plan with full features for a single operator, along with chatbots and visitor intelligence, meaning you get more built-in automation without needing third-party add-ons.

Pricing: starts at $19.99 per operator per month. The free plan is available for up to one operator.

Conclusion

With an incredibly generous free plan and many features offered in expensive, enterprise-grade messaging apps, Tawk.to is a no-brainer choice for managing your chat conversations. But there are quite a few compromises you have to make, from the limited customization and branding, to issues with reliability and performance.

Featurebase is a modern Tawk.to alternative with an affordable AI-powered live chat & help center. It comes with a mobile app, omnichannel support, custom automations, and much more. It's loved by thousands of companies like Lovable, Polymarket, and Raycast.

What's best is that it comes with a Free plan and unlimited free AI resolutions, so there's no downside to trying it out! 👇

✨ Start today and get the fastest AI-powered inbox & knowledge base →