Teams reconsider Crisp when seats stop being the cheap part: the plan ladder runs from $45 to $295 a month, and profile caps, AI credits and sub-inboxes all rise with it. The alternatives below include per-agent tools, bot-first builders, a self-hostable option and WhatsApp-led inboxes.
Short answer: Smartsupp, Tiledesk and Lime Connect (formerly Userlike) head the list of Crisp alternatives drawn from our chatbot software ranking. Challengers take places 1 to 3 here. Big brands follow in the order of our category ranking. Smartsupp is the one to try if you run an online shop and want an inexpensive entry plan plus a product-recommending bot. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Chatbot & Conversational Marketing Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Crisp.
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Pricing: Free (2 seats); Mini $45/month (4 seats); Essentials $95/month (10 seats); Plus $295/month (20 seats); Enterprise quoted; priced per workspace with a block of seats included, extra seats $10/month each
Established in: France
Built for: A small company where the whole team answers customers
Not for: A support organisation with queues, SLAs and shift reporting
01
Why buyers look past Crisp
01
Four steps, and the jump to Plus is large
Crisp's pricing page lists Mini at $45, Essentials at $95 and Plus at $295 a month per workspace, with 4, 10 and 20 agents included. A team of 11 therefore moves from $95 to $295, and the page lists extra agents at $10 each, so it is worth modelling both routes before choosing a tier.
02
Contact profiles and AI use are capped
The free plan holds 100 customer profiles, Mini 5,000, Essentials 50,000 and Plus 200,000. AI is metered in credits: $5 on Mini (about 90 automated conversations), $25 on Essentials (about 450) and $75 on Plus (about 1,350). A shop with a busy bot will do the arithmetic before the first month ends.
03
Details sit behind the app or a demo
The pricing page shows no yearly prices; the switch to yearly happens inside the app after subscribing. It also warns that paid integrations, additional contacts and more than 20 agents can cost extra, and Enterprise is priced after a demo request. Sub-inboxes start only on Essentials, with 2, and reach 5 on Plus.
automated resolution is the goal and paying per resolved conversation suits your volumes
#9
03
What each one does differently
1
Smartsupp
Czech Republic · Published
Smartsupp comes from the Czech Republic and counts operators, not workspaces: Solo $17, Plus $25, Expert $83 a month, with up to 30% off on annual billing. Paid plans carry unlimited conversations. Mira, an AI shopping agent that reads a product feed of up to 30,000 items, is sold on top from $16 a month for 100 conversations. The free tier is one operator and 25 conversations a month.
Switch from Crisp if you run an online shop and want an inexpensive entry plan plus a product-recommending bot.
Tiledesk, from Italy, is the one tool here with an open-source core, so a technical team can run it on its own servers. Pro is €149 a month (€124 billed annually) with 3 users, 20 AI agents, 5M AI tokens and 3,000 conversations; Business is €499 with 5 users and 50 agents. A 14-day trial is offered, and the visual flow builder deploys across channels.
Switch from Crisp if you have developers and want to host the chat stack yourself.
Lime Connect, the former Userlike, is a Cologne company within the Lime Technologies group. Pro starts at €105 a month, or €87 billed annually, and add-ons are itemised: Connect AI Agent from €99, AI Copilot from €19 per seat, Workflows from €50, WhatsApp Campaigns from €20 plus Meta fees. A free tier exists for testing before you commit.
Switch from Crisp if you want a German legal entity and prefer to buy AI and automation as separate, priced add-ons.
Landbot, from Spain, treats the bot as the product rather than the inbox. Free covers 100 chats and one seat; Starter is €32 a month annually for 500 chats and 100 AI chats; Professional is €80 for 2,500 chats. Overage runs €0.05 per chat and €0.10 per AI chat, and a WhatsApp tier costs €160. Design centres on qualifying leads.
Switch from Crisp if the chatbot should qualify leads and push them to WhatsApp, with the team inbox secondary.
Trengo is a Dutch shared inbox whose selling point is the handover from website chat to a WhatsApp Business number. Boost costs €299 a month on annual billing for 10 users and 6,000 conversations a year; Pro is €499 for 20 users. Conversations handled by AI carry a surcharge of €0.25 to €0.30 each, and broadcasting is an add-on.
Switch from Crisp if customers start on your site but should continue on WhatsApp, and you can budget around €300 a month.
Kindly is Norwegian and sells session-based AI agents on an annual commitment, quoted per organisation. Its agents mix branched dialogue with generated answers in more than 100 languages out of the box, and connect deeply to CRM and helpdesk systems. It is aimed at customer-service teams with heavy volume, so small teams should expect a sales process.
Switch from Crisp if one bot must serve many language markets and volume justifies a negotiated contract.
Tidio is a Polish chat widget built for small online shops. It has a free tier, and paid plans scale with the number of conversations reached, so a busy month raises the bill; AI answering is metered separately. Reporting and routing get thin once more than three people share the inbox, which limits it to compact teams.
Switch from Crisp if a shop owner answers chats alone or with one or two colleagues and wants to start free.
LiveChat, from Poland, charges per person: Starter $19, Team $49, Business $79 a month on annual billing, a little more monthly. Its distinguishing tool is campaign tracking, which reports how many proactive messages a visitor saw ended in a conversation. The contracting party is Text, Inc. in the US, which matters if EU entities are a requirement.
Switch from Crisp if sales teams send proactive messages and want conversion numbers for each campaign.
Chatfuel sells bots for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp messages, including replies to post comments and click-to-chat ads. Business is US$18 a month billed yearly with US$20 of AI credits included; Agency is US$90 for three companies. The price falls with light use, but heavy AI use depends on how many credits a bot consumes.
Switch from Crisp if most customer contact arrives as social direct messages instead of through a website widget.
Freshchat is the messaging product of Freshworks, a US group. A free tier exists, paid plans are priced per agent, and AI sessions are billed in blocks. It handles web chat, in-app messaging, WhatsApp and social channels, and works best next to Freshdesk or Freshsales. Plans are repackaged often, so renewals deserve careful reading.
Switch from Crisp if you already use Freshdesk or Freshsales and want chat to share that customer record.
Intercom is a US platform organised around its Fin AI agent. Seats cost $19 (Essential), $85 (Advanced) or $132 (Expert) a month on annual billing, and Fin is billed apart at $0.99 per outcome on every plan. SMS, WhatsApp, phone and email campaigns are metered on usage. A 14-day trial is offered.
Switch from Crisp if automated resolution is the goal and paying per resolved conversation suits your volumes.
Smartsupp: Paid plans start at $17 a month with unlimited conversations, and Mira can recommend products from a feed of up to 30,000 items.
02
You have developers and want to run the stack yourself
Tiledesk: The core is open source and can be self-hosted; hosted Pro is €149 a month for 3 users and 3,000 conversations.
03
You need customers to move from website chat to WhatsApp
Trengo: Boost is €299 a month annually for 10 users, with AI-handled conversations surcharged at €0.25 to €0.30.
04
You want the bot to qualify leads before anyone replies
Landbot: Starter is €32 a month annually with 500 chats and 100 AI chats; extra AI chats cost €0.10 each.
05
Most of your customer contact arrives as social messages
Chatfuel: Business is US$18 a month billed yearly with US$20 of AI credits, covering Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp.
04
When Crisp is still the right choice
Crisp remains a good choice for a small team that wants one French vendor, Crisp IM SAS, for web chat, email, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram in one inbox. Its site lists a no-code AI agent builder trained on your website and PDFs, a knowledge base, ticketing, campaigns and a status page, and a 14-day trial with all features and no card. A free plan for 2 agents is available, nonprofits and students get 50% off, and the per-workspace price is hard to beat while a team stays inside its seat block.
05
What moving off Crisp involves
01
Count agents, profiles and AI conversations
Export the number of seats that actually log in, the size of your contact list and last month's automated conversations. Those three figures decide which tier of any replacement fits and show whether the Plus jump was real.
02
Take your knowledge and chat history with you
Crisp trains its AI on your website and PDFs and holds a knowledge base, so collect those articles and source files first. Ask what each new vendor imports from conversation history, and keep Crisp's records until the new tool has covered a full week.
03
Swap the widget on one page, then the rest
Install the new chat code beside Crisp's on a single low-traffic page, rebuild the bot flows and canned replies there, and check WhatsApp or Messenger numbers have a reconnection path. Remove the Crisp snippet once volumes carry over.
06
Questions about replacing Crisp
7 answers
What is the best alternative to Crisp?
Smartsupp ranks first in our list of Crisp alternatives for online shops: a Czech vendor with unlimited conversations on paid plans from $17 a month and a free tier. Tiledesk, Lime Connect and Landbot follow, each fitting a different reason for leaving.
Which Crisp alternative is cheapest for a small team?
Smartsupp starts at $17 a month, Chatfuel at US$18 a month billed yearly, and Landbot at €32 a month annually, compared with $45 for Crisp Mini. These plans count differently, so compare seats, chats and AI credits before assuming a saving.
Is there a Crisp alternative you can host yourself?
Tiledesk has an open-source core that a technical team can self-host. Its hosted plans start at €149 a month for 3 users and 3,000 conversations, so self-hosting is the route when budget, rather than features, is the problem.
Which alternative to Crisp is best for WhatsApp?
Trengo is a Dutch inbox built around the move from website chat to WhatsApp Business, from €299 a month annually. Landbot has a WhatsApp tier at €160 a month, and Chatfuel serves WhatsApp alongside Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Do any Crisp alternatives stay within the EU?
Smartsupp (Czech Republic), Tiledesk (Italy), Lime Connect (Germany), Landbot (Spain), Trengo (Netherlands), Kindly (Norway), Tidio and LiveChat (Poland) are European vendors. LiveChat contracts with Text, Inc. in the US, so check the contracting entity as well as the country.
What replaces Crisp when AI answers cost too much?
Compare how each vendor meters AI. Crisp includes $5 to $75 of credits by tier, Trengo adds €0.25 to €0.30 per AI conversation, Landbot charges €0.10 per AI chat above the allowance, and Intercom bills $0.99 per outcome.
Can a growing support team leave Crisp for a per-agent tool?
Yes, if your team sits well beyond the 20 agents Plus includes or inside a Freshworks or Intercom setup. LiveChat at $19 to $79 per person and Intercom at $19 to $132 per seat are the per-agent models, so multiply by your headcount.
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Sources
Checked 4 November 2026
Crisp pricing: Plans Free, Mini $45, Essentials $95, Plus $295, Enterprise on demand; agents, profile caps, sub-inboxes, AI credits, extra agents $10, 14-day trial, nonprofit and student 50% off, yearly billing switch in app, extra-cost warning.
Crisp home page: Crisp IM SAS, France; channels; no-code AI agent builder trained on website and PDFs; knowledge base, ticketing, campaigns, status page; 10,000 companies; trial without card.
Smartsupp: Czech Republic; Solo $17, Plus $25, Expert $83, free tier of 1 operator and 25 conversations; Mira from $16 for 100 conversations, feed of 30,000 items.
Tiledesk: Italy; open-source core; Pro €149 (€124 annually), Business €499 (€416 annually); 14-day trial.
Lime Connect (Userlike): Cologne; Pro from €105 (€87 annually); Connect AI Agent from €99, AI Copilot from €19, Workflows from €50, WhatsApp Campaigns from €20.
Landbot: Spain; Free, Starter €32, Professional €80, WhatsApp tier €160; overage €0.05 per chat and €0.10 per AI chat.
Trengo: Netherlands; Boost €299 and Pro €499 annually; AI surcharge €0.25 to €0.30; broadcasting add-on.
Kindly: Norway; session-based pricing on annual commitment; 100+ languages; CRM and helpdesk integration.
Tidio: Poland; free tier; plans by conversations reached; AI metered separately.
LiveChat: Poland; Starter $19, Team $49, Business $79 per person annually; campaign tracking; contract with Text, Inc.
Chatfuel: Business US$18 and Agency US$90 yearly; AI credits; Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp.
Freshchat: Free tier; per-agent pricing; AI sessions billed in blocks; channels.
Intercom pricing: Essential $19, Advanced $85, Expert $132 per seat annually; Fin at $0.99 per outcome; 14-day trial.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Written, edited and fact-checked by Sebastiaan Smits. Last reviewed 5 November 2026. How we review.
