Denser vs Tidio (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Tidio: it is second in our ranking of help desk and live chat tools, and it grades higher too, 3.2 against 2.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Tidio grades higher on value for money, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Denser
AI chatbot with cited answers and a helpdesk for handoffs
Tidio
Live chat, ticketing and the Lyro AI agent priced by conversations
Which one is for you
Pick Denser if
- Fits if you want an AI chatbot that cites its sources on a small site
- Works for teams that want to try one on a free plan first
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 50 queries a month and one team member
- Pricey if you want a ticket queue or escalation, which start at $96 a month
- Watch out: queries cap at 1,500 to 50,000 a month and extra query prices aren't listed
- Watch out: a private LLM deployment is an Enterprise add-on with no price
Pick Tidio if
- Fits if you run a small Shopify or WordPress store and want chat on the site
- Works for up to 10 people sharing support, since seats aren't charged one by one
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you get lots of chats, as Growth climbs to $349 a month at 2,000 conversations
- Not for you if you need a help center or phone support in the same tool
- Tight if you have more than 10 agents, since more seats need Plus from $300 a month plus usage
- Watch out: Lyro's 50 free conversations come once; after that it's $39 a month for 50, up to $700 for 1,000
- Watch out: Flows reach 100 visitors a month free, and more cost from $29 a month for 2,000
How we grade them
| 2.0GPADenserFair | 3.2GPATidioVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DThe useful support parts start at $96 a month on Standard, against a category middle of $29. | AGrowth, from 250 conversations, is $49.17 a month billed yearly for the whole team, about $9.83 a head for five, just under 60% of what the cheaper quarter of help desks charges. Starter is $24.17 for 100 conversations, under $5 a head. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 50 queries and 1 team member a month, plus a 7-day trial that needs a card. | CA free plan with 10 seats, live chat, ticketing and the social channels, plus a 7-day trial with no card. The cap you'll hit is 50 answered conversations a month, and Lyro's 50 free conversations come once, not monthly. |
| Features | CCited answers, actions, playbooks and ticket links. It is an AI answer tool first, a smaller job than a full help desk. | CLive chat with a visitor list, one inbox for five channels, ticketing, the Lyro AI agent, rule-based Flows and AI reply help. But the listing has no help center or phone support, and ongoing Lyro use is an add-on from $39 a month. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Content to load and bots to configure. | A4.76 from 4,767 App Store ratings, the top band for support apps. Adding the chat box to a Shopify or WordPress store is what it's built around. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, HubSpot, Shopify and Google Drive. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android apps for agents, with Shopify, WordPress, Zendesk, Salesforce and Zapier, and an API. That's every device type covered. |
| Best for | an AI chatbot that cites its sources, with a free trial plan | live chat for small online stores |
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: Denser and Tidio. How we grade
Price against what you get
Denser starts at $32 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Tidio starts at $24.17 a month and scores 3.3.
Tidio scores higher and starts $7.83 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 18 score higher than Denser for less, and none scores higher than Tidio 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
- Denser also covers AI search and chatbots.
- Tidio also covers live chat.
At a glance
| Denser | Tidio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $32 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly), for 1,500 queries | $24.17 per month for 100 conversations, billed annually ($29 monthly) |
| Free plan | 1 DenserBot, 1 team member, 50 queries a month, unlimited Ask AI messages and 100 pages or 50 MB per bot. | 50 billable conversations a month and 10 seats, with live chat, ticketing, email, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, 50 one-off Lyro AI conversations and 100 Flows visitors a month. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of paid plans, card required | 7-day free trial of all plans and add-ons, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | DenserAI | Tidio LLC |
| Price read from | denser.ai | tidio.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Denser
- The free plan allows 50 queries a month and one team member.
- The helpdesk, answer quality insights and escalation to a person start at Standard, $96 a month billed annually.
- Queries are capped at 1,500, 7,500, 15,000 and 50,000 a month on the paid plans, and the pricing page does not say what extra queries cost.
- A private LLM deployment is an Enterprise add-on with no listed price.
Tidio
- Plans are capped by conversations a human answers: 50 a month free, 100 on Starter and up to 2,000 on Growth; above that is Plus, from $300 a month plus usage.
- Lyro is free for 50 conversations once; ongoing use is an add-on from $39 a month for 50 conversations, up to $700 for 1,000, on monthly billing.
- Free, Starter and Growth are limited to 10 seats; more seats need Plus.
- Flows reach 100 visitors a month free; more cost from $29 a month for 2,000 visitors on monthly billing.
Key features
Denser
- Cited answers from your content
- Train a bot on websites and files such as PDF, Word, Excel and Google Drive; each reply cites the page it came from.
- Helpdesk handoff
- From Standard, conversations the AI cannot finish go to a ticket queue for staff, with talk-to-a-person escalation.
- Ticket integrations
- Standard and above can hand tickets to Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk or HubSpot instead.
- Actions and playbooks
- Bots can take actions such as booking meetings or calling an API, with caps per bot: 1 on Free, 5 on Starter, 10 on Standard, 20 above.
- Ask AI builder
- An assistant that reads your site, proposes changes as cards you apply, and tests the bot with real questions.
- Website, email and voice agents
- The site describes agents that answer on a website, by email and on the phone, plus a Shopify chatbot.
Tidio
- Live chat widget
- A chat box for websites and stores, with a list of visitors on the site right now, operating hours and live video calls.
- One inbox for every channel
- Chat, email, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp conversations arrive in a single inbox, with a ticketing system for issues that need follow-up.
- Lyro AI Agent
- Answers questions from your FAQ and website content and hands off to a person. It can also be bought alone and added to Zendesk or Salesforce.
- Flows
- Rule-based chat automations built in a visual editor from sales and FAQ templates, such as quote requests or capturing missed conversations.
- AI reply help
- An AI reply assistant and Copilot help agents write answers; Premium adds Advanced Copilot, AI insights and CSAT.
- Apps on every platform
- Agents can work in a browser or in apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.
Plans
Denser
Free$0
1 DenserBot, 1 team member and 50 queries a month. No card needed.
Starter$32
per month, 1,500 queries, billed annually ($39 monthly)
2 DenserBots, 1 team member, 5 actions, cards and playbooks per bot and 30-day query log retention.
Standard$96
per month, 7,500 queries, billed annually ($119 monthly)
4 DenserBots, 5 team members, answer quality insights, the helpdesk ticket queue, talk-to-a-person escalation and Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk and HubSpot tickets.
Business$320
per month, 15,000 queries, billed annually ($399 monthly)
8 DenserBots, 10 team members, up to 10,000 pages per bot, 360-day log retention and dedicated accuracy support.
Enterprise$720
per month, 50,000 queries, billed annually ($899 monthly)
50 team members, up to 50,000 pages per bot, priority support, SLAs and a private LLM deployment as an add-on.
Tidio
Free$0
50 billable conversations a month and 10 seats, with live chat, ticketing, social channels and 50 Lyro AI conversations for the life of the account.
Starter$24.17
per month for 100 conversations, billed annually ($29 monthly)
100 billable conversations a month and 10 seats, adding a live visitors list, operating hours and basic analytics.
Growth$49.17
per month from 250 conversations, billed annually ($59 monthly)
Adds advanced analytics, permissions, auto-assignment and macros. The price rises with volume, to $349 a month at 2,000 conversations on monthly billing.
Plus$300
per month, plus usage for AI and human conversations
Custom limits and seat counts, departments, several projects, custom branding, ticketing automations, OpenAPI and a success manager. Sold through sales.
PremiumCustom
From 3,000 Lyro conversations with a guaranteed 50% resolution rate, pay-per-resolution billing, a mobile SDK, SSO and Lyro run as a managed service.
Ways to pay less
Denser
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
The pricing page shows yearly plans at 20% off, for example Starter at $384 a year ($32 a month) against $39 billed monthly.
Tidio
- Annual discount
Two months free with annual billing
Tidio's pricing page gives two months free on annual billing: Starter works out to $24.17 a month billed annually against $29 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Denser or Tidio?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Tidio is cheaper to start with: $24.17 a month, against $32 a month for Denser. Denser starts at $32 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly), for 1,500 queries, and Tidio starts at $24.17 per month for 100 conversations, billed annually ($29 monthly).
Which has a free plan, Denser or Tidio?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Denser and Tidio have a free plan.
Which platforms do Denser and Tidio run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Tidio lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. 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.