Crisp vs Pure Chat (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Crisp grades higher than Pure Chat: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
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. Pure Chat grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan and 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
Pure Chat
Live chat for websites with a flat price per plan
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 Pure Chat if
- Fits if two to four people share chat duty on one site
- Works for a small shop that wants a flat monthly price
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want ticketing, a help center or an AI agent, which the pages don't list
- Tight if you run more than one site, since Growth covers one and PRO at $79 is unlimited
- Tight if you send SMS alerts: 100 a month on Growth, 1,000 on PRO
- Watch out: no live demos are offered, so the trial is the only way to look
How we grade them
| 2.6GPACrispGood | 2.4GPAPure ChatFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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$39 a month billed annually covers 4 operators, about $10 each, which is under the cheapest quarter ($19) per head. A solo user still pays all $39, and extra operators are $13. |
| 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. | CA 30-day trial of PRO with no credit card. There is no free plan. |
| 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 with unlimited chats, canned responses and mobile apps. The listing's gap: no AI agent, ticketing or help center is listed, so it is a smaller job. |
| 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, and the widget and triggers need setting 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. Only 2 integrations are listed, and there is no desktop app. |
| Best for | flat-priced chat and inbox for small teams | flat-price live chat for a 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 Pure Chat. 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. Pure Chat starts at $39 a month and scores 2.3.
Crisp scores higher, and starts $6 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 18 score higher than Pure Chat 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 shared inbox, help center and AI support agent.
- Pure Chat also covers reports.
At a glance
| Crisp | Pure Chat | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $45 per workspace / month, with 4 seats | $39 per month for 1 website and 4 operators, billed annually ($49 billed monthly) |
| 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. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of any plan | 30-day free trial of the PRO plan, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Crisp IM SAS | Pure Chat |
| Price read from | crisp.chat | purechat.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.
Pure Chat
- Growth covers one website and 4 operators; more websites need PRO at $79 a month billed annually.
- SMS notifications are capped at 100 a month on Growth and 1,000 on PRO.
- The pages describe live chat only; they list no AI agent, ticketing or help center product.
- The vendor says it does not offer live demos; the 30-day trial is the way to try it.
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.
Pure Chat
- Unlimited chats
- Both plans list unlimited chats and unlimited chat history transcripts, with the plan fee covering a set number of operators.
- Visitor tracking
- A visitors view shows who is on the site, the page they are on, how often they have visited and where they came from.
- Widget editor
- The chat box can be customized for mobile and desktop, including design, size, position, text fields and behavior.
- Mobile apps
- iOS and Android apps let operators answer chats away from a desk, with push notifications.
- Canned responses
- Saved replies can be shared with the team or kept private.
- Triggers and file transfer
- Trigger-based actions and alerts, security roles, file transfer and an email form for when no one is available are listed.
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.
Pure Chat
Growth$39
per month for up to 4 operators, billed annually ($49 monthly)
One website and 100 SMS notifications a month. Extra operators are $13 a month billed annually ($15 monthly). Unlimited chats.
PRO$79
per month for up to 10 operators, billed annually ($99 monthly)
Unlimited websites and 1,000 SMS notifications a month. Extra operators are $8 a month billed annually ($10 monthly). Unlimited chats.
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.
Pure Chat
- Annual discount
Lower price when paid annually
The pricing page shows Growth at $39 and PRO at $79 a month paid annually against $49 and $99 paid monthly, and extra operators cost less too.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Crisp or Pure Chat?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pure Chat is cheaper to start with: $39 a month, against $45 a month for Crisp. Crisp starts at $45 per workspace / month, with 4 seats, and Pure Chat starts at $39 per month for 1 website and 4 operators, billed annually ($49 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Crisp or Pure Chat?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Crisp has a free plan. Pure Chat does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Crisp and Pure Chat 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.