Crisp vs Gist (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Crisp and Gist share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan, and Gist starts cheaper, at $29 a month against $45 a month.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Crisp grades higher on features and platforms. Gist grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Crisp
Live chat and shared inbox priced per workspace, not per seat
Gist
Live chat, help desk and email marketing in one small-business app
Which one is for you
Pick Crisp if
- Fits if you want one flat monthly price instead of per-conversation billing
- Works for a team of up to 4 on a Shopify, WooCommerce or WordPress store that mostly needs chat and email
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're on your own, since the first paid plan is $45 a month
- Pricey if you need WhatsApp, Instagram or a help center, as they start on Essentials at $95 a month
- Tight if you lean on the AI agent, as Mini's $5 of credits covers around 90 conversations and top-up prices aren't listed
- Tight if you stay free: 2 seats, chat and a contact form only, 100 customer profiles and no AI
- Watch out: ticketing needs Plus at $295, and a workspace connects one account per messaging channel
Pick Gist if
- Fits if you are a very small team, as the free plan covers 2 support seats
- Works for teams that prefer a flat price for several seats
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 2 seats, and email forwarding is a paid feature
- Watch out: Premium's $99 is shown against a crossed-out $499 and marked ending soon, with no end date
- Watch out: marketing and all-in-one bundles are priced by contact count, and no annual rate is shown
- Watch out: the page mentions 30% off for new customers in India for a limited time
How we grade them
| 2.6GPACrispGood | 2.6GPAGistGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CMini is $45 a month for 4 seats, about $11 each, but $45 for one person. A team of five needs Essentials at $95 for 10 seats, $19 a head, a little under the middle of help desks. That's also where WhatsApp, Instagram and a help center start. | B$29 a month for up to 5 support seats on Professional. Premium's $99 is a promotion, shown against a crossed-out $499. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 2 seats, the chat widget, a contact form and the apps, plus a 14-day trial. The cap you'll hit is 100 customer profiles, and there's no email channel and no AI. | BA free plan with 2 support seats, live chat, team inbox, unlimited history and mobile apps, plus a 21-day trial. |
| Features | BChat with a live visitor map, a shared inbox for email, social, WhatsApp, SMS and phone, the Hugo AI agent, a chatbot and workflow builder and a multilingual help center. Across the plans it covers the job, though ticketing needs Plus. | CLive chat, inbox, knowledge base and bots. Email, bots and reports sit on paid plans, and marketing is sold separately. |
| Ease of use | C4.43 from 522 App Store ratings, below most support apps here. The chat box is quick to add, but the chatbot builder and channel connections take setting up. | CNo store rating on record. Chat, bots and a knowledge base to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android apps, with Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, Slack, HubSpot, Zapier, Stripe and Salesforce, and an API. Every device type is covered. | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with Zapier, WordPress, WooCommerce, Stripe, Google Calendar and Zoom. |
| Best for | flat-priced chat and inbox for small teams | live chat and a team inbox for a very small 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: Crisp and Gist. How we grade
Price against what you get
Crisp starts at $45 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Gist starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
Crisp scores higher, and starts $16 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Crisp for less, and 16 score higher than Gist 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
- Crisp also covers AI support agent.
- Gist also covers marketing automation, email campaigns and chatbots.
At a glance
| Crisp | Gist | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $45 per workspace / month, with 4 seats | $29 per month for 5 support seats |
| Free plan | 2 seats, the website chat widget, a contact form and shared inbox, mobile and desktop apps, store integrations and 100 customer profiles. No AI credits. | Gist Support Free: 2 support seats with live chat, team inbox, unlimited conversation history, saved replies and mobile apps. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of any plan | 21-day free trial of paid plans |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Crisp IM SAS | Gist |
| Price read from | crisp.chat | getgist.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Crisp
- The Free plan has 2 seats, chat and contact forms only, 100 customer profiles and no AI.
- AI use is capped by credits: $5 on Mini, $25 on Essentials and $75 on Plus. The pricing page does not say what extra credits cost.
- WhatsApp, Instagram, a help center and analytics need Essentials at $95 a month; ticketing and white labelling need Plus.
- A workspace connects one account per messaging channel; more require higher limits. Agents beyond 20 on Plus cost $10 a month each.
Gist
- Premium is shown at $99 against a crossed-out $499, marked "ending soon" with no end date; the regular price may apply later.
- Marketing and All-in-One bundle prices are separate and depend on contact count; only the Support plans are listed here.
- The pricing page was read with its billing toggle hidden, so these are monthly prices; the page did not show an annual rate.
- The pricing page says new customers based in India can get 30% off some plans for a limited time.
Key features
Crisp
- Chat widget
- A customizable chat box for websites with a live visitor map, proactive messages and, from Essentials, video and audio chat and live translation.
- Shared inbox for every channel
- Chat, contact forms, email, Messenger, Telegram and X from Mini; WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, Viber, LINE and phone from Essentials.
- Hugo AI agent
- An AI agent answers customers from Mini up, paid from included AI credits. Essentials adds knowledge training, an internal copilot and writing help.
- Chatbot and workflow builder
- A no-code builder for AI chatbots and automated flows with conditions, webhooks and CRM triggers, from the Essentials plan.
- Help center
- A multilingual help center with its own domain, search and SEO settings, included from Essentials.
- Unlimited conversations
- Every plan is a flat monthly price per workspace with no cap on the number of conversations handled.
Gist
- Live chat and team inbox
- A messenger for your site or app and a shared inbox for the team, with saved replies, office hours and iOS and Android apps.
- Knowledge base
- A multilingual help center that customers can search, with article ratings and feedback. The public knowledge base starts on the Professional plan.
- Chatbots and support bot
- A lead qualification bot comes on Professional and custom bots on Premium. A support bot that answers repeat questions is listed as an add-on.
- Email marketing and automation
- Email campaigns, workflows, event tracking, forms and a deal pipeline sit in a separate Marketing product line priced by contact count.
- Meetings and surveys
- Automated meeting scheduling syncs with Google and Office 365 calendars; surveys and product tours are on the Premium support plan.
Plans
Crisp
Free$0
2 seats, website chat and a contact form in a shared inbox, 100 customer profiles and Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress links. No AI.
Mini$45
per workspace / month, with 4 seats
Adds email, Telegram, Messenger and X, canned replies, internal notes, full history and the AI Agent with $5 of credits, around 90 automated conversations.
Essentials$95
per workspace / month, with 10 seats
Adds WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS and phone, a help center, a workflow and chatbot builder, analytics, round-robin and $25 of AI credits (about 450).
Plus$295
per workspace / month for 20 seats, plus $10 per extra agent
Adds a ticketing portal, white labelling, Stripe and Salesforce, AI spam filter and summaries, and $75 of AI credits, around 1,350 automated conversations.
EnterpriseCustom
A custom plan arranged with Crisp for larger needs.
Gist
Free (Support)$0
2 support seats, live chat, team inbox, unlimited conversation history, saved replies, office hours and mobile apps.
Professional (Support)$29
per month for up to 5 support seats
Adds email forwarding, Facebook and Twitter integrations, a public knowledge base, chat triggers, a lead qualification bot, satisfaction ratings and Zapier.
Premium (Support)$99
per month for unlimited support seats
Adds custom chatbots, surveys, product tours, assignment rules, reports and roles. Shown as $99 against a crossed-out $499, marked "ending soon".
Ways to pay less
Crisp
- Nonprofit
50% off for nonprofits
Crisp's pricing FAQ offers nonprofits a 50% discount through a promo code requested in chat.
- Education
50% off for students
Crisp's pricing FAQ offers students a 50% discount through a promo code requested in chat.
- Other savings
20% off extra workspaces
Accounts paying for several Essentials or Plus workspaces can get 20% off three additional workspaces by asking Crisp in chat.
Gist
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Crisp or Gist?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Gist is cheaper to start with: $29 a month, against $45 a month for Crisp. Crisp starts at $45 per workspace / month, with 4 seats, and Gist starts at $29 per month for 5 support seats.
Which has a free plan, Crisp or Gist?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Crisp and Gist have a free plan.
Which platforms do Crisp and Gist run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Crisp 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.