Chatra vs tawk.to (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick tawk.to: it is third in our ranking of help desk and live chat tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
tawk.to grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Chatra
Live chat with chatbots, email and social inboxes, now part of Brevo
tawk.to
Free live chat, ticketing and help center, with paid add-ons
Which one is for you
Pick Chatra if
- Fits if you run a Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce store
- Works for a solo owner who needs one agent seat
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, with 5 chats a month
- Skip it if you want email, Facebook Messenger or Instagram, as those aren't on the free plan
- Pricey if you add agents: it is per agent, and the page shows no volume discounts
- Watch out: the Pro plan's extras are only marked in a comparison table
Pick tawk.to if
- Fits if you want chat on your site and don't want to pay per seat
- Works for anyone who'd rather hire someone to answer chats, at $1 an hour
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if the "Powered by tawk.to" badge bothers you, as removing it costs $29 a month per site
- Watch out: AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month
- Not for you if you need phone support, as voice agents (from $49 a month plus usage) were still waitlist-only
- Too light for teams that need lots of integrations, with only Shopify and WordPress listed and no API
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAChatraFair | 3.0GPAtawk.toVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$25 an agent a month billed yearly on Essential ($31 monthly), which is in the middle of the category. | AThe whole platform is free, chat, inbox, tickets, help center and CRM, with no seat charges, which is free and substantial. You'd pay only for add-ons: $29 a month for the AI agent or for removing the badge. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan for one agent, but only 5 chats a month, plus a 10-day trial with no card. | AFree outright for every seat, with no cap on chats in the listing. The catch is the "Powered by tawk.to" badge on your widget, chat page and help center, which costs $29 a month per site to remove. |
| Features | CChat widget, visitor list, triggers and bots, email, Messenger and Instagram on paid plans. Chat and email only, with no wider ticketing. | CWebsite chat, chat pages for businesses without a site, an inbox for chat, email and forms, tickets, a help center, a CRM, and people you can hire to answer for $1 an hour. The gap: no phone, as voice agents were still waitlist-only. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A widget and triggers to set up. | CNo store rating on record. It's free to start, but you still paste the chat box into your site, set up the help center and, if you want it, teach the AI agent. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, WordPress, Slack and Zapier. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps, so every device is covered. What keeps it off an A is the connections: the listing names just Shopify and WordPress, and no API. |
| Best for | live chat for an online store | free website chat for any size of team |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Chatra and tawk.to. How we grade
Price against what you get
Chatra starts at $25 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. tawk.to starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Chatra starts $4 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 14 score higher than Chatra for less, and 16 score higher than tawk.to for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Chatra also covers shared inbox and chatbots.
- tawk.to also covers help center and AI support agent.
At a glance
| Chatra | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $25 per agent / month, billed yearly ($31 billed monthly) | $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on |
| Free plan | Free plan for one agent, with the chat widget and basic visitor info, limited to 5 chats a month. | The whole platform is free: live chat, inbox, ticketing, knowledge base, chat pages and CRM, with no seat charges. A "Powered by tawk.to" badge stays unless removed for a fee. |
| Free trial | 10-day free trial of paid plans, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Chatra | tawk.to |
| Price read from | chatra.com | tawk.to |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Chatra
- The free plan allows one agent and 5 chats a month, so it suits testing more than steady use.
- Email, Facebook Messenger and Instagram channels are not on the free plan.
- Pricing is per agent per month; the page does not show volume discounts.
tawk.to
- Removing the "Powered by tawk.to" badge from the widget, chat page and knowledge base costs $29 a month per property.
- AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month.
- Hired chat agents cost $1 an hour and dedicated virtual assistants from $7 an hour.
- Voice Agents (from $49 a month plus usage) and Data Enrichment (from $59 a month) were waitlist-only when read.
Key features
Chatra
- Live chat widget
- Chat on unlimited websites with customization and SSL encryption, in a live mode or a messenger mode that lets agents reply later.
- Email, Facebook and Instagram
- A multichannel dashboard collects email, Facebook Messenger and Instagram messages next to website chats on paid plans.
- Visitor list
- A real-time list shows who is on the site, with browsing history and origin, so agents can greet them with a relevant message.
- Chatbots and triggers
- A chatbot handles routine questions and a form bot captures lead details; targeted messages fire on visitor behavior.
- Mobile apps and API
- iOS and Android apps plus a JavaScript API, REST API and outgoing webhooks for connecting other software.
tawk.to
- Live chat widget
- A chat box for websites that can be styled to match a brand, plus chat pages that turn a link into a conversation for businesses without a site.
- Inbox and ticketing
- Chat, email, form and messaging conversations arrive in one dashboard, with free ticketing for issues that need follow-up.
- Knowledge base
- A free hosted help center where customers can look up answers, which the AI Assist add-on also draws on.
- AI Assist
- AI agents and workflows that answer routine questions and hand off to a person with the conversation's history attached.
- Hired chat agents
- Trained human agents who answer chats on your behalf around the clock for $1 an hour, offered as a paid service.
- CRM and pipeline
- Contact records built from conversations, segments and tags, a deal pipeline and booking activities in the same dashboard.
Plans
Chatra
Free$0
One agent, free forever, capped at 5 chats a month, with the online and offline widget and basic visitor info.
Essential$25
per agent / month, billed yearly ($31 billed monthly)
Unlimited chats, the email helpdesk, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, a real-time visitor list and agent tools.
Pro$33
per agent / month, billed yearly ($41 billed monthly)
Everything in Essential, with the extra features the comparison table marks for Pro. Unlimited chats.
tawk.to
Free$0
Live chat widget, shared inbox, ticketing, a hosted knowledge base, chat pages and contacts, with the tawk.to badge shown. AI Assist has a free tier for limited volume.
AI Assist$29
per month and up
Add-on: AI agents that answer from your knowledge base and AI workflows that route and follow up, handing off to a person when needed.
Whitelabel$29
per property / month
Add-on: removes the tawk.to badge and puts the chat page, knowledge base and ticketing emails on your own domain and address.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Chatra or tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Chatra starts at $25 per agent / month, billed yearly ($31 billed monthly), and tawk.to starts at $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Chatra or tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Chatra and tawk.to have a free plan.
Which platforms do Chatra and tawk.to run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only tawk.to lists macOS and Windows apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.