Teams leave tawk.to once the free widget has done its testing job. The usual triggers are the wish to drop the vendor badge without paying for the privilege, doubts about where chat transcripts are stored, and the discovery that the business model leans towards selling hired agents and add-ons rather than deepening the inbox. Alternatives range from other free tiers to self-hosted software and European desks.
Short answer: Smartsupp, Tiledesk and Lime Connect (formerly Userlike) head the list of tawk.to alternatives drawn from our live chat ranking. Smaller vendors fill the top three places where the category offers them, and the household names start at place 4. Smartsupp is the one to try if you run a small shop and want a cheap paid step above free. All 10 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Live Chat Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from tawk.to.
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Pricing: Free; paid add-ons for branding removal, AI Assist and hired agents
Established in: United States
Built for: Sites testing whether their visitors will use chat at all
Not for: Regulated businesses handling sensitive personal or financial customer information
01
Why buyers look past tawk.to
01
Free covers the core, add-ons cover the rest
The core software costs nothing and carries no per-seat charge, but the vendor's pricing page lists branding removal at $29 a month and AI Assist from $29 a month. Hired chat agents are $1 an hour. Once a site wants its own look and automated answers, the cost shows up as a stack of small items.
02
Several parts are still unfinished
On the pricing page, in-chat payments are marked alpha, while messaging across Facebook, RCS, Telegram and SMS and the phone feature are marked beta and not yet live. A team that needs social channels or voice in one queue today has to look elsewhere or wait.
03
Where the data sits is not stated up front
The data protection page shows a GDPR claim, a Data Processing Addendum and EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certification. It does not name a hosting country, pointing instead to a separate storage page. Buyers who must name a region in their records often prefer vendors that state it on the front page.
your support desk or CRM is already from Freshworks
#12
03
What each one does differently
1
Smartsupp
Czechia · Published
Smartsupp, from Czechia, has a free plan with one operator and 25 conversations a month, covering chat, WhatsApp and Messenger. Solo costs $17 a month and Plus $25 for three operators, both with unlimited conversations. The Mira AI agent starts at $16 a month for 100 conversations. Prices exclude VAT and can be shown in euros.
Switch from tawk.to if you run a small shop and want a cheap paid step above free.
Tiledesk is an Italian company that describes itself as open source and fully GDPR compliant. It can be deployed on-premises behind your own firewall, and it pairs that with a visual flow designer for bots and local models such as Mistral. The pricing page we tried returned an error, so cloud prices are not quoted.
Switch from tawk.to if you want a bot builder you can run on your own servers.
Userlike is now sold as Lime Connect and states it is developed in Germany and hosted only on European servers certified to ISO 27001. Free gives one seat, one website channel and 200 conversations. Pro starts at 105 euros a month with a three-seat minimum. The AI agent starts at 99 euros a month on top.
Switch from tawk.to if you need a stated German or European location for transcripts.
Chatwoot publishes a cloud ladder: Hacker is free for two agents and 500 conversations a month with 30 days of retention, Startups costs $19 per agent, Business $39 and Enterprise $99. Captain AI credits are $20 per 1,000 extra. It is also offered as self-hosted open source software.
Switch from tawk.to if you want to keep a free tier but gain a real upgrade path.
HelpCrunch combines chat, a shared inbox, a help centre and outbound email and pop-ups in one subscription, charged per seat. Contacts are not metered, so a growing mailing audience does not move the invoice. The AI agent is billed by conversation volume. Its reporting and email features stay basic.
Switch from tawk.to if you want chat plus outbound messages without a second tool.
Olark sells human chat at $29 per agent a month with a 14-day trial. Its classic chatbox is described as independently rated WCAG 2.1 AA, which helps schools and public bodies. The AI website agent costs a flat $400 a month with unlimited conversations and one human seat included.
Switch from tawk.to if accessibility of the widget is a procurement requirement.
Trengo, a Dutch company with EU hosting, treats website chat as one of several channels feeding a single queue with shared rules, alongside email, WhatsApp and social messages. Plans bundle a fixed number of users and conversations, with extras charged. As a bare widget it is heavier than the specialists.
Switch from tawk.to if chat is only one of the channels your team answers.
LiveAgent, from Slovakia, sells chat, ticketing and calls from the same vendor, in four bundled plans priced per agent with a 30-day trial. The call centre module begins on the second plan and social channels on the third, so the working price usually exceeds the headline one.
Switch from tawk.to if you would rather pay one vendor for chat, tickets and phone.
Zoho SalesIQ adds visitor tracking and lead scoring to chat, with a free tier and paid plans per operator. Those scores flow into Zoho CRM without integration work. Away from the Zoho products the advantage shrinks, and setup takes more effort than the price suggests.
Switch from tawk.to if your contacts already live in Zoho CRM.
Freshchat from Freshworks covers web chat, in-app messaging, WhatsApp and social channels, with a free tier and per-agent paid plans. AI sessions are sold in blocks. Useful features sit on higher plans, and it works best next to Freshdesk or Freshsales rather than alone.
Switch from tawk.to if your support desk or CRM is already from Freshworks.
Chatwoot: Hacker is free for two agents and 500 conversations a month, and Startups at $19 per agent adds all channels and a help centre.
02
You need the transcripts hosted in Europe, named on the page
Lime Connect (formerly Userlike): The vendor states development in Germany and hosting on European ISO 27001 servers; Pro starts at 105 euros a month for three seats.
03
You run a small shop and want WhatsApp in the inbox cheaply
Smartsupp: The free plan covers one operator with WhatsApp and Messenger, and Solo at $17 a month lifts the conversation limit.
04
You must meet accessibility rules on a public website
Olark: The classic chatbox is described as independently rated WCAG 2.1 AA, and human chat costs $29 per agent a month.
05
You want to run the software on your own infrastructure
Tiledesk: It supports on-premises deployment behind your firewall and describes itself as open source from an Italian company.
04
When tawk.to is still the right choice
tawk.to remains a fair choice when the aim is to test whether visitors will chat at all. The core software is free with no per-seat charge, includes a free hosted knowledge base and ticketing, and its support is staffed around the clock according to the vendor. If the badge does not bother you and you do not handle sensitive data, there is little reason to pay elsewhere yet.
05
What moving off tawk.to involves
01
Transcripts and contacts need an export plan
Decide what history you must keep before closing the account, and check each target's retention: Chatwoot's free plan keeps 30 days. Settle how contacts and consent records will be carried over so that a regulator request can still be answered.
02
Rebuild shortcuts and knowledge content by hand
AI Assist on tawk.to answers from your knowledge base and shortcut FAQs, so those texts are the asset worth moving. Copy them into the new help centre first, then test the new bot on real questions before removing the old widget from your pages.
03
Count seats and units before you commit
Moving from a no-seat model to paid plans changes the bill. Userlike counts every user as a seat, Chatwoot and Olark charge per agent, and Smartsupp steps up in operator bundles. List who really answers chats before choosing.
06
Questions about replacing tawk.to
6 answers
Is tawk.to really free?
The vendor says live chat, its knowledge base and ticketing are free, with no per-seat charge. Paid items are branding removal at $29 a month, AI Assist from $29 a month, hired chat agents at $1 an hour and virtual assistants from $7 an hour.
What does removing the tawk.to badge cost?
The pricing page lists $29 a month for removing the Powered by tawk.to line. Keeping it leaves the product free.
Which alternatives have a free plan?
Smartsupp, Chatwoot and Userlike all list one. Smartsupp allows one operator and 25 conversations a month, Chatwoot two agents and 500 conversations, and Userlike one seat and 200 conversations.
Where does tawk.to store data?
The data protection page we read lists a GDPR claim, a Data Processing Addendum and EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certification, but names no hosting location there. Ask the vendor or read its storage page before relying on a region.
Can I self-host a replacement?
Chatwoot describes itself as open source and self-hosted, and Tiledesk supports on-premises deployment. Running either means you handle updates, backups and security.
Does an alternative offer AI answering?
Yes, usually as an add-on: Smartsupp's Mira from $16 a month, Userlike's Connect AI Agent from 99 euros, Chatwoot's Captain credits within plans, and Olark's flat $400 monthly agent.
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Sources
Checked 4 November 2026
tawk.to why free: Free core, branding removal $29 a month, AI Assist from $29, hired agents $1 an hour, virtual assistants from $7.
tawk.to pricing: No per-seat charge, in-chat payments alpha, messaging and phone beta, 27 languages.
tawk.to data protection: GDPR claim, DPA, EU-U.S. DPF certification, no hosting location on the page.
Smartsupp pricing: Free 1 operator 25 conversations, Solo $17, Plus $25, Mira from $16 for 100 conversations.
Lime Connect pricing: Free 1 seat 200 conversations, Pro from 105 euros with 3 seats, AI Agent from 99 euros, German development, European ISO 27001 hosting.
Olark pricing: Live chat $29 per agent, AI agent $400 a month flat, 14-day trial.
Tiledesk: Italy-based, open source, on-premises deployment, GDPR claim.
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.
Sebastiaan Smits wrote and checked this page, most recently on 6 November 2026. See how we review.
