About 24; min
Every website needs a way for visitors to ask questions. Crisp, Tawk.to, and LiveChat are three popular chat widgets that sit in the bottom-right corner of your site. Tawk.to is completely free. Crisp has a generous free tier. LiveChat charges $20+/user. Do you get what you pay for, or is free good enough?
Quick Pricing Comparison
| Plan | Crisp | Tawk.to | LiveChat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 2 seats, basic chat | Unlimited seats, unlimited chat | 14-day trial only |
| Pro/Starter | $25/workspace/mo | $0 (free forever) | $20/agent/mo |
| Business/Team | $95/workspace/mo | $19/mo (remove branding) | $41/agent/mo |
| Enterprise | $295/workspace/mo | Custom | $59/agent/mo |
Tawk.to: Completely Free Live Chat
Tawk.to is genuinely free with no feature limits. Unlimited agents, unlimited chat history, unlimited websites. The business model: Tawk.to sells branded removal ($19/month) and hired chat agents ($1/hour) — the core chat tool subsidizes these revenue streams.
Tawk.to’s Strengths
- Free everything: No agent limits, no chat limits, no feature gates. The most generous free chat tool available — period
- Full feature set for free: Ticketing, knowledge base, canned responses, file sharing, group messaging, video/voice chat — features that competitors charge $20–$60/agent for
- Hire agents service: If you can’t staff chat 24/7, Tawk.to provides trained agents at $1/hour. Cheaper than hiring, more personal than chatbots
- 150+ languages: Widget auto-translates to the visitor’s browser language. Broader language support than any competitor
Tawk.to’s Limitations
- Branding: “Powered by tawk.to” badge on the free plan. Removing it costs $19/month. Some businesses find the badge unprofessional
- Design: The chat widget and dashboard look dated compared to Crisp and LiveChat. Functional but not beautiful
- Automation: Basic triggers and canned responses only. No chatbot builder, no AI responses, no complex automation workflows
- Integrations: Fewer native integrations than LiveChat or Crisp. Webhook support exists but requires more manual setup
- Analytics: Basic reporting (chat volume, response time, satisfaction). No conversion tracking, no revenue attribution, no advanced segmentation
Crisp: The Modern Free Alternative
Crisp charges per workspace (not per agent), which changes the cost math. A workspace with 4 agents costs $25/month on Pro — that’s $6.25/agent. LiveChat would charge $80/month for the same 4 agents. Crisp’s workspace pricing makes it 70–80% cheaper than per-agent tools at small team sizes.
Crisp’s Strengths
- Workspace pricing: Pro at $25/workspace (4 seats) = $6.25/agent. LiveChat at $20/agent × 4 = $80. Crisp is 3x cheaper for a 4-person support team
- Modern design: The chat widget and dashboard are the most visually polished of the three. Clean, fast, and mobile-friendly
- MagicReply (AI): Unlimited plan includes AI-powered responses that suggest answers from your knowledge base. Agents review and send with one click. Reduces first-response time by 40–50%
- Co-browsing (MagicBrowse): See what the visitor sees and guide them through your website in real-time. Click elements on their screen to demonstrate. Unique feature not found in LiveChat or Tawk.to
- Multi-channel: Unified inbox for live chat, email, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram. One inbox for all channels
Crisp’s Limitations
- 2-seat free limit: Only 2 agents on the free plan (Tawk.to offers unlimited). A 3-person team must pay $25/month
- Knowledge base on Unlimited only: Help center / knowledge base requires the $95/month plan. Tawk.to includes this for free
- Seat limits per tier: Pro: 4 seats. Unlimited: 20 seats. Above 20, you need Enterprise ($295/month) or additional seat packs
LiveChat: The Premium Full-Featured Option
LiveChat is the most expensive option and positions itself as the professional customer support platform. The per-agent pricing ($20–$59) means costs scale linearly with your team — a 10-agent team on Team plan costs $410/month.
LiveChat’s Strengths
- Integration library: 200+ integrations including Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, WordPress, and every major CRM. The deepest integration library of any chat tool
- ChatBot product: LiveChat offers a separate ChatBot tool ($52+/month) that integrates natively. Build AI-powered chatbots with visual workflows that hand off to human agents when needed
- E-commerce features: Product cards in chat, order tracking, shopping cart preview. Purpose-built for online stores where chat drives sales
- Reporting depth: Response time analytics, customer satisfaction scores, chat tag reports, agent performance comparison. The most detailed analytics of the three
- Enterprise compliance: SOC2, HIPAA eligibility, GDPR tools, and advanced encryption. Meets compliance requirements that Tawk.to and Crisp can’t match
LiveChat’s Limitations
- No free plan: 14-day trial only. Tawk.to and Crisp offer permanent free tiers
- Per-agent pricing: $20–$59/agent scales fast. 10 agents on Team: $410/month. Same agents on Crisp Unlimited: $95/month. 4x the cost
- ChatBot is separate: AI chatbot requires a separate $52+/month subscription. Crisp includes AI responses in its $95 plan. LiveChat + ChatBot for 5 agents: $257/month
- 60-day history on Starter: Chat history expires after 60 days on the cheapest plan. Tawk.to stores history indefinitely for free
Cost Comparison
Solo founder (1 agent)
| Tool | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Tawk.to | $0 |
| Crisp Free | $0 |
| LiveChat Starter | $20 |
Small support team (5 agents)
| Tool | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Tawk.to | $0 (or $19 to remove branding) |
| Crisp Unlimited | $95 (includes AI, knowledge base) |
| LiveChat Team | $205 |
Growing support team (10 agents)
| Tool | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Tawk.to | $0 |
| Crisp Unlimited | $95 (up to 20 seats) |
| LiveChat Team | $410 |
Crisp Unlimited at $95/month for up to 20 agents is the best value for growing teams. LiveChat at $410/month for 10 agents costs 4.3x more. Tawk.to remains $0 regardless of team size — but you sacrifice design quality and AI features.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Tawk.to | Crisp | LiveChat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan agents | Unlimited | 2 | None (trial only) |
| AI chatbot | No | MagicReply ($95) | ChatBot ($52+ separate) |
| Knowledge base | Free | Unlimited ($95) | Separate tool (HelpDesk) |
| Co-browsing | No | Yes (MagicBrowse) | No |
| Video/voice chat | Free | Pro ($25) | No native |
| Multi-channel inbox | Basic | Best (chat, email, social, WhatsApp) | Good (chat, email, Apple, SMS) |
| E-commerce features | Basic | Basic | Best (product cards, cart preview) |
| Integrations | 100+ | 50+ | 200+ |
| Analytics depth | Basic | Good (Unlimited plan) | Best |
| Widget design | Dated | Best (modern) | Good |
| Compliance (SOC2) | No | No | Yes |
Who Should Pick What
Pick Tawk.to If:
- Budget is $0 and you need chat + ticketing + knowledge base for any team size
- Design polish isn’t critical (internal or B2B where the badge doesn’t matter)
- Video/voice chat for free is valuable for your support workflow
- You’d consider hiring Tawk.to’s agents ($1/hour) for after-hours coverage
Pick Crisp If:
- You want the best-looking chat widget that matches your modern brand
- Workspace pricing (not per-agent) saves you 3–4x vs LiveChat for small teams
- AI-powered responses (MagicReply) would reduce your agents’ workload
- Co-browsing would help you guide customers through complex processes
- Multi-channel inbox (chat + email + WhatsApp + social) consolidates your support
Pick LiveChat If:
- E-commerce chat features (product cards, cart preview) drive your online sales
- 200+ native integrations with your CRM, helpdesk, and e-commerce platform matter
- Advanced analytics and agent performance reporting are important for your support operations
- Enterprise compliance (SOC2, HIPAA) is a requirement
- Budget is not a constraint and you want the most polished professional platform
Best free chat: Tawk.to — unlimited everything at $0. The fact that a fully-featured chat tool with ticketing and knowledge base costs nothing in 2026 is remarkable.
Best value for growing teams: Crisp Unlimited at $95/month — up to 20 agents, AI responses, multi-channel inbox, and co-browsing. 4x cheaper than LiveChat for a 10-agent team.
Best for e-commerce: LiveChat — product cards in chat and the deepest Shopify/WooCommerce integration. Worth the per-agent premium if chat directly drives sales revenue.
Start here: Tawk.to (free) or Crisp Free (2 seats). Upgrade when you need AI responses (Crisp $95), advanced analytics (LiveChat $41/agent), or removed branding (Tawk.to $19).
FAQ
How does Tawk.to make money if it’s free?
Three revenue streams: branding removal ($19/month), hired chat agents ($1/hour), and AI Assist add-on. The free chat tool drives adoption — a small percentage of users pay for premium services. The model works: Tawk.to powers chat on millions of websites.
Do chat widgets slow down my website?
Modern chat widgets load asynchronously and don’t block page rendering. Impact is typically 50–100ms of additional load time. Crisp’s widget is the lightest (~30 KB). LiveChat and Tawk.to are slightly heavier (~50–80 KB). None significantly affect Core Web Vitals.
Can I use chatbots instead of live agents?
Crisp’s MagicReply suggests AI answers from your knowledge base — agents review and send. LiveChat’s ChatBot product ($52+/month) builds full conversational flows. Tawk.to has basic automated messages but no real chatbot builder. For AI-first support, consider Intercom’s Fin ($0.99/resolution) instead.
Which is best for WhatsApp Business?
Crisp includes WhatsApp integration in its multi-channel inbox (Pro plan, $25/month). LiveChat offers WhatsApp via integration. Tawk.to doesn’t have native WhatsApp support. For WhatsApp-heavy businesses, Crisp’s unified inbox is the best value.
