Tidio AI's pricing: Is it worth it & what to expect (2025)?

Tidio AI’s pricing is known for steep usage-based jumps and restrictive feature caps, making it crucial for growing businesses to evaluate its true costs before committing.

In this article, we break down Tidio AI’s pricing tiers, free plan limits, feature availability, real-world user feedback, price increase patterns, and the overall value for money.

At the end, we’ll introduce an alternative to Tidio AI that addresses its product and pricing shortcomings.

Tidio AI's pricing overview

Tidio AI offers a chatbot and live chat platform for automating customer support and engaging website visitors.

The platform prices its software in four tiers, including a free plan and scalable paid options based on features and usage.

All plans vary in pricing based on # of conversations per month.

You can choose from four plans designed for different support needs and business sizes.

Here’s how each plan compares. 👇🏼

• Free plan - $0: Includes basic live chat and chatbot, conversations with up to 50 unique users monthly, and limited integrations.
• Starter plan - $29/month: Adds up to 100 monthly conversations with unlimited human-agent seats, live visitor tracking, and email support.
• Growth plan - $59/month: Expands to 250 monthly conversations, AI-powered chatbots, automation features, and analytics.
• Tidio+ plan - Custom pricing: Unlocks unlimited conversations, advanced AI, premium integrations, and a dedicated account manager.

💡 Businesses can start for free and only pay more as they automate additional conversations or require enterprise-level support.

Does Tidio AI offer a free trial or plan?

What does it include?

Tidio AI does have a free plan, as detailed on its official pricing page. The free plan provides users with basic live chat features. You get to add a live chat widget to your website and respond to incoming chats from a single inbox.

The free plan also includes up to 50 conversations per month using its AI-powered Lyro chatbot.

Note that once you get passed 50 conversations, the free plan isn't free anymore!

Limitations of the free plan

The main limitation is the cap of 50 Lyro chatbot conversations each month. After reaching this limit, AI automation stops unless you upgrade.

The free plan only supports up to three operators (users) for managing chats. Certain features like advanced automation options, premium integrations, analytics, and unlimited AI conversations are restricted to paid plans.

What do real customers think of the free plan?

On forums like Reddit and review sites such as G2, users note that the free plan is useful for small businesses or sites with low chat volume. Positive comments mention it covers basic needs and the setup is easy.

Several reviews mention the 50-conversation limit as restrictive if traffic increases, urging an upgrade for growing websites.

Customers generally describe the free plan as a risk-free way to test Tidio AI’s main features before deciding to switch to a paid subscription.

Are there surprises at renewal?

Tidio AI’s pricing page states that after any promotional period, plans renew at the regular rate and payments are charged automatically unless you cancel.

However, customer reviews on sites like G2 and Reddit mention that some users were caught off guard by higher renewal prices, especially after discounts expired.

A few users noted that automatic renewals and plan upgrades led to unexpected charges, mostly due to not noticing changes in usage or plan terms before the renewal hit their accounts.

Does Tidio AI tend to change or increase pricing often?

Customer reviews on platforms like G2 and Capterra mention that Tidio AI has adjusted its pricing several times in the past few years. Some users on the Tidio subreddit and in review forums note specific price hikes, usually tied to the introduction of new features or AI updates.

On X (Twitter), a few small business owners have shared frustrations about unexpected increases or changes in the number of free conversations allowed per plan. These posts mention needing to upgrade sooner than anticipated due to new usage caps.

According to vendr.com, Tidio modifies its plans and feature sets occasionally, often bundling new AI capabilities with higher-tier pricing or shifting core features out of lower-priced plans.

How does Tidio AI's pricing increase as you use it more?

Scaling up with Tidio AI triggers several rapid increases in cost driven by three main levers: the number of conversations your AI handles, the amount of advanced automation you activate, and the size of your agent or chatbot seat count.

Tidio starts with a free plan, but most real-world e-commerce or support teams hit limits fast. The main AI-powered conversational features are paywalled behind the "AI" add-on tier, which is priced starting at $39/month for up to 100 conversations per month. Surpassing either 100 conversations or needing more features, like higher chatbot limits or pro analytics, drives you to higher fixed-price tiers or custom quotes.

Each “conversation” is counted when your bot interacts with a user, regardless of resolution. This means busy stores can breach limits quicker than expected. User reports from forums like Reddit, Shopify Community, and Capterra mention hitting paywalls and price jumps—Tidio's model does not throttle or slow over limit, but prompts immediate plan upgrades.

Below is a breakdown of what triggers Tidio AI price jumps and how those increments are structured.

Reddit threads and Shopify store owners note that even modest growth can bring a sudden new invoice.

Scaling from 100 to 300 AI conversations leads to a monthly bill more than doubling. For teams with unpredictable spikes, budgeting is tough because overages default to forced plan upgrades.

Real-world users highlight the absence of flexible usage overages: it's stepwise “jump” pricing, not metered per conversation.

Do customers believe Tidio AI is worth the cost?

Feature limits feel restrictive for the price

Multiple Reddit threads and G2 reviewers mention frustration with Tidio AI’s plan tiers. Users repeatedly cite unexpected paywalls for basic automation, such as conversation volumes and chatbot workflows.

A founder on Product Hunt said, “I hit the limit fast and had to upgrade, but the jump didn’t feel justified by what I got.”

Support responsiveness declines at higher tiers

Several long-term customers on Facebook groups and Capterra reviews complain that proactive support does not scale with cost. Users paying for mid-to-high-level plans felt response and quality remained about the same as on free or entry tiers, making the upgrade less compelling.

Affordable for small teams needing quick setup

Owners of small online shops say Tidio AI provides instant value if you need multichannel chat out of the box. “It’s straightforward for launching chat widgets and isn’t expensive if you stay under limits,” shares one Shopify merchant on a forum.

Tidio AI's Free plan

How much does it cost?
No charge – $0/month

What does it include?

• Up to 50 live chat (human) conversations per month
• 50 AI (Lyro) chatbot conversations one‑time allotment, no refresh
• Unlimited chat support agents
• Email support from Tidio (business‑hours)
• Basic widget customization
• Access to chatbot templates (Flows)
• Visitor monitoring (Flows) for up to 100 unique monthly visitors
• Integrations: Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp

Limitations
✖️ Fixed limits: 50 human chats per month, one‑time 50 AI conversations
✖️ Basic customization only
✖️ No advanced CRM or e‑commerce integrations
✖️ Tidio branding visible
✖️ No automation beyond basic flows quota (100 visitors)
✖️ Lacks analytics, proactive messaging, multisite support

Starter plan

How much does it cost?
$24.17/month (billed annually) ≈ $29/month

What does it include?

• Up to 100 handled conversations per month (live chat or tickets)
• 50 Lyro AI conversations refreshed monthly
• Live visitors list, operating‑hours mode
• Basic analytics
• Unlimited agents, messenger integrations, desktop & mobile apps

Limitations
✖️ Conversation cap (100/month)
✖️ Basic analytics only
✖️ No advanced automation beyond included Flows quota
✖️ Tidio branding remains

Growth plan

How much does it cost?
$49.17/month (billed annually) ≈ $59/month

What does it include?

• Up to 250 handled conversations/month (scalable up to 2,000)
• Advanced analytics
• Ability to remove Tidio branding
• Enhanced AI features
• Unlimited agents, integrations, live visitors list

Limitations
✖️ Conversation limit remains
✖️ Some advanced CRM/e‑commerce integrations may still be unavailable
✖️ No multisite support or dedicated manager

Plus plan

How much does it cost?
Starts at $749/month (billed annually)

What does it include?

• Custom conversation quotas (negotiable)
• Up to 5,000 Lyro AI conversations/month
• Premium support & dedicated success manager
• Multisite support, multilingual widget
• OpenAPI access
• Unlimited agents, integrations
• Advanced analytics

Limitations
✖️ High price point
✖️ Some enterprise-grade SLA/features reserved for Premium

Premium plan

How much does it cost?
Starts at $2,999/month (billed annually)

What does it include?

• Unlimited handled conversations
• Up to 10,000 Lyro AI conversations/month
• Guaranteed ≥50% AI resolution rate
• Priority service, super‑admin role
• Managed Lyro AI service
• All Plus features: multisite, multilingual, OpenAPI, analytics, dedicated manager

Limitations
✖️ Price tailored to large enterprises—requires custom setup
✖️ May include e‑commerce/CRM integrations only upon request

Additional standalone add‑ons

• Lyro AI Agent: Starts at $39/month for 50 conversations, scalable by volume
• Flows (chatbot workflows): Starts at $29/month for 2,000 unique visitors, scalable

Is there a better alternative to Tidio AI?

Big Sur AI is the all-in-one customer engagement platform that many fast-growing teams are switching to after finding Tidio AI expensive, restrictive, or inflexible.

Customers switch to Big Sur AI for transparent pricing, better answer quality from the AI chatbots, and faster deployment.

How is Big Sur AI different from Tidio AI?

Many Tidio AI users complain that conversation and feature caps force them into sudden, costly upgrades once they outgrow a starter plan.

Big Sur AI offers all main features without abrupt usage ceilings or hidden paywalls, so you keep scaling smoothly. You don’t need to upgrade just to unlock AI workflows, pro analytics, or integrations. Big Sur AI’s platform includes multichannel automation, flexible integrations (CRM, e-commerce, and more), and advanced reporting in every tier.

Big Sur AI delivers quick onboarding with simple live chat and AI chatbot setup—no seat-based fees or per-conversation charges. Unlike Tidio’s limited support tiers, Big Sur AI provides premium onboarding and fast-response support to every plan from day one.

For teams needing proactive engagement, Big Sur AI includes built-in automated actions. Features that are either unavailable or require enterprise plans in Tidio AI.

Our native integrations with Shopify, Salesforce, and Zapier are one click away, without needing a custom quote or plan upgrade.

How does Big Sur AI's pricing differ from Tidio AI's pricing?

Big Sur AI has a flat, transparent pricing model with higher usage limits and no forced jumps as your business grows.

Big Sur AI’s pricing gives you more volume than Tidio, and doesn’t have as many volume paywalls that force you to upgrade (more on this below).

Choose from 3 plans:

• Free - $0/month, supports up to 1,000 monthly site visitors, unlimited user conversations, 100 web pages, 10 files (8MB each), and 5 team members.
• Pro 10K - $49/month (billed annually), supports up to 10,000 monthly site visitors, unlimited user conversations, 15,000 web pages, 50 files (8MB each), 50 team members, and one domain. Additional visitors at $6 per 1,000.

Custom - Contact for pricing, unlimited site visitors, conversations, pages, files, team members, multi-domain support, and a dedicated account manager with Slack channel.

The bottom line: Is Tidio AI worth it? Should you try Big Sur AI?

Key takeaways from Tidio AI pricing:

• Tidio AI’s free plan is best for very small sites or early testing but has strict conversation and feature limits.
• Most businesses outgrow the free tier quickly, triggering abrupt plan upgrades. AI-driven conversations, advanced features, and popular integrations are locked behind higher, more expensive tiers.
• Pricing scales aggressively based on usage, with costs jumping quickly once you cross conversation caps. Unexpected renewals and periodic price hikes are common pain points in user reviews.
• Adding agents and enabling advanced automation gets costly — fees stack up fast for growing or busy teams.
• User feedback consistently highlights frustrations with restrictive paywalls, lack of flexible overages, and difficulty budgeting at scale.

Consider Big Sur AI if you care about usage-based pricing and scalability

In short: If you want to avoid sudden cost jumps, paywalls, and feature gating as you grow, Big Sur AI is built for scalable customer engagement with pricing you can trust.

Ready to scale customer engagement without surprise costs? Give Big Sur AI a try today.