Deskwhale vs Tidio
Tidio’s free AI allowance is 50 conversations for the lifetime of the account — not per month. That is the number worth knowing before you build on it.
Everything below was checked against Tidio’s own pages on 1 October 2026. Prices change — if you are reading this much later, check the links at the bottom.
| Tidio | Deskwhale | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 50 billable conversations per month, up to 10 operators, and 50 Lyro AI conversations in total — a one-time allowance, not a monthly one. | Free to start, no credit card. Add operators as you need them. |
| Paid from | Starter is around $24.17/month billed annually and raises the cap to 100 conversations per month. | — |
| AI | Lyro AI is priced separately from the chat plan and trains on a knowledge base you upload. | Included. Answers strictly from the knowledge base you write, and hands off to a person when the answer is not in it. |
When Tidio is the better choice
Genuinely — these are not softened weaknesses, they are things Tidio does that Deskwhale does not do at all.
- Tidio has mobile apps, and channels Deskwhale does not touch: email, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp.
- It carries 120+ integrations and Zapier. Deskwhale has none — if the chat has to talk to your CRM, this is the wrong tool.
- It has ticketing and contact profiles. Deskwhale keeps conversations, not a CRM.
When Deskwhale is the better choice
- No conversation counter on the free start. Tidio’s free tier stops at 50 billable conversations a month, and its AI allowance runs out once and does not refill.
- One price to understand. Users on G2 and Capterra repeatedly describe Tidio’s bill as hard to predict because conversations, Lyro and Flows are metered separately.
- The bot answers strictly from what you wrote, and hands off when it cannot.
The short version
Deskwhale is a live chat widget with an AI bot that answers from your own knowledge base, and stops when it runs out of it. It has no mobile apps, no WhatsApp or Instagram, no ticketing and no CRM integrations — if you need those, take Tidio and do not look back. If you want a chat on your site and a bot that will not invent your refund policy, this is the simpler trade.
Try it on your own site
One snippet, free to start. You will know within a day whether it fits.
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