Pricing data
What live chat actually costs in 2026
Entry prices run from free to about $55 a seat. The bill rarely matches, because per seat multiplies, AI is billed separately, and removing the badge is its own line item. Here is all of it in one table.
Last checked 1 September 2026
The short answer
How much does live chat software cost?
Entry prices run from free to about $55 per seat per month. Tawk.to is free with a badge, Zoho SalesIQ starts near $10, Tidio near $24, Crisp at $45, and Zendesk around $55 a seat.
The sticker price is rarely the bill. Per seat pricing multiplies by your team, AI resolutions are usually charged on top at around $0.99 each, and removing the vendor badge can cost more than the plan. A three person team answering 500 AI conversations a month on a $29 per seat tool pays closer to $580.
| Tool | Free tier | From | Per seat? | Remove branding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TGLiveChat | 100 chats a month | $19 | No | Included on Pro |
| Elfsight Telegram Chat | Free plan with a view limit | $6 | No | Higher tier |
| Zoho SalesIQ | Free plan for a small number of operators | $10 | Yes | Higher tier |
| LiveAgent | Limited free plan | $15 | Yes | Higher tier |
| Smartsupp | Free plan with a conversation cap | $19 | No | Higher tier |
| Tidio | Free plan with a monthly conversation cap | $24 | No | Higher tier |
| LiveChat | None | $24 | Yes | Higher tier |
| Intercom | None | $29 | Yes | Higher tier |
| Tawk.to | Genuinely free, unlimited chats and unlimited agents, with a Tawk | $29 | No | $29/mo |
| Olark | None | $29 | Yes | $149/mo |
| Crisp | Free plan with two seats and basic chat | $45 | No | Higher tier |
| Zendesk Chat | None | $55 | Yes | Higher tier |
Entry price is the lowest paid tier a real business would use, not a trial. All figures checked on vendor pricing pages on 1 September 2026. Prices in this category change often, so verify before committing.
The per seat problem
Per seat pricing assumes chat is somebody's job. In a company with a support department that is true, and per seat is a fair way to charge, because the cost scales with the value.
In a five person startup it is not true. Chat is answered by whoever sees it, which means everybody needs an account, which means you buy five seats to handle the conversation volume of about a third of one person. The tool is not overpriced. It is priced for a shape of company you are not.
| Tool | 1 person | 3 people | 3 people, a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elfsight Telegram Chat | $6 | $6 | $72 |
| Zoho SalesIQ | $10 | $30 | $360 |
| LiveAgent | $15 | $45 | $540 |
| Smartsupp | $19 | $19 | $228 |
| Tidio | $24 | $24 | $288 |
| LiveChat | $24 | $72 | $864 |
| Intercom | $29 | $87 | $1,044 |
| Tawk.to | $29 | $29 | $348 |
| Olark | $29 | $87 | $1,044 |
| Crisp | $45 | $45 | $540 |
| Zendesk Chat | $55 | $165 | $1,980 |
| TGLiveChat Pro | $19 | $19 | $156 |
Assumes the entry tier and three people who all occasionally reply. Flat rate tools charge the same for one person or twenty, which is the entire difference this table is showing.
AI is usually a second bill
This is the change that has moved this market most in the last two years, and it is the one least visible on a pricing page. Intercom bills its AI agent at $0.99 per resolution on top of the seat price. Tidio sells Lyro separately from the base plan.
Usage pricing is defensible. An AI resolution has a real marginal cost and charging for it is honest. The problem is not the model, it is the unpredictability: you cannot answer the question "what will this cost next month" without forecasting your own conversation volume, and most small businesses cannot.
| Tool | How AI is billed | At 500 a month |
|---|---|---|
| Intercom Fin | $0.99 per resolution, $49 base including 50 | $494 |
| Tidio + Lyro | Separate product on top of the base plan | $68 to $150 |
| TGLiveChat Pro | Included, no usage charge | $19 |
Intercom's standalone Fin pricing is $49 a month including 50 resolutions, then $0.99 for each additional outcome. 500 resolutions is 49 + (450 x 0.99). Checked 1 September 2026.
The badge is the line item people miss
Every free live chat tool puts its name on your widget, and every one of them charges to take it off. The prices are wildly inconsistent and almost nobody checks before signing up.
Tawk.to charges $29 a month, and crucially that is per website rather than per account, so an agency running ten client sites pays ten times. Olark puts white label on a $149 a month plan. If your widget sits on a client site, this number decides your total far more than the headline price does.
Where we sit, plainly
TGLiveChat is $19 a month, or $13 billed yearly, flat, with white label and the AI agent included and no per seat charge. The founder deal is $299 once.
The honest caveat is that we are a narrower product than most of this table. There is no ticketing, no knowledge base, no reporting suite and no CRM. If you need those, a cheaper bill is not a saving. The comparison is only fair for someone who wants conversations to reach a human quickly and was never going to open the rest.
The bottom line
Check four things before you sign anything: whether it is per seat, whether AI is billed separately, what removing the badge costs, and what happens when you hit the conversation cap. Those four decide the bill far more often than the number on the pricing page.
If you have a support team, per seat is probably fair and the big platforms earn their price. If chat is one of nine things you do, flat rate is the shape that fits.
Frequently asked questions
How much does live chat software cost?
Why is per seat pricing so expensive for small teams?
What does it cost to remove live chat branding?
How much does an AI chat agent cost?
Is free live chat actually free?
What is the cheapest live chat with no branding?
Should I pay monthly or annually?
What hidden costs should I check before signing up?
Sources and references
- Intercom pricing Seat pricing and Fin at $0.99 per resolution. Checked 1 September 2026.
- Tawk.to pricing Free tier and the branding removal add on. Checked 1 September 2026.
- Crisp pricing Free, Mini, Essentials and Plus tiers. Checked 1 September 2026.
- Tidio pricing Base plans and Lyro billed separately. Checked 1 September 2026.
- Zendesk pricing Suite pricing per agent. Checked 1 September 2026.
- LiveChat pricing Per agent pricing. Checked 1 September 2026.
- Olark pricing Per seat pricing and the separate white label plan. Checked 1 September 2026.
Pricing in this category changes frequently and regional pricing varies. Every figure here was read off the vendor's own page on the date given, and none of it is a substitute for checking before you buy.