Gist vs Text by LiveChat (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Gist grades higher than Text by LiveChat: 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
Gist grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Text by LiveChat grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Gist
Live chat, help desk and email marketing in one small-business app
Text by LiveChat
Website chat, ticketing and an AI agent from the LiveChat team
Which one is for you
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
Pick Text by LiveChat if
- Fits if you sell online and want chat that shows what a shopper has in their cart
- Works for teams who answer from desktops as well as phones
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you need unlimited chat history or multilingual chat, as both wait on Growth at $79 a user
- Not for you if you want a help center or phone support in the same tool
- Tight if your AI agent gets busy, since Essential has 10 resolutions a month and 50 more cost $49.50
- Watch out: Essential gives 5 AI reply suggestions per user a month, tracks 50 live visitors and allows 3 campaigns
- Skip it if you're on an older LiveChat plan and want Text features, as they aren't part of those plans
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAGistGood | 2.4GPAText by LiveChatFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$29 a month for up to 5 support seats on Professional. Premium's $99 is a promotion, shown against a crossed-out $499. | CEssential is $19 a user a month billed yearly ($25 monthly), between the cheaper quarter and the middle of help desks. It already has chat, tickets and an AI agent, but only 10 AI resolutions a month, and the next plan, Growth, is $79 a user. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with 2 support seats, live chat, team inbox, unlimited history and mobile apps, plus a 21-day trial. | CA 14-day free trial of Essential or Growth with no card needed. There's no free plan, and once it ends every person who answers chats or tickets needs a paid seat. |
| Features | CLive chat, inbox, knowledge base and bots. Email, bots and reports sit on paid plans, and marketing is sold separately. | CWebsite chat that shows who's browsing and what's in their cart, one inbox for chat, WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS and email, tickets, an AI agent and reply help. The gaps: no help center or phone channel on the listing, and Essential keeps 60 days of history. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Chat, bots and a knowledge base to set up. | CNo store rating on record. You add the chat box to your site, connect each channel and point the AI agent at your knowledge sources before it does much on its own. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with Zapier, WordPress, WooCommerce, Stripe, Google Calendar and Zoom. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android apps for agents, with Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Webflow, WhatsApp, Instagram and Klaviyo, and an API. Every device type is covered. |
| Best for | live chat and a team inbox for a very small team | website chat with an AI agent included |
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: Gist and Text by LiveChat. How we grade
Price against what you get
Gist starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Text by LiveChat starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Text by LiveChat scores higher and starts $10 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 16 score higher than Gist for less, and 1 scores higher than Text by LiveChat 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
- Gist also covers shared inbox, marketing automation, email campaigns, help center and chatbots.
- Text by LiveChat also covers help desk and AI support agent.
At a glance
| Gist | Text by LiveChat | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month for 5 support seats | $19 per user / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Gist Support Free: 2 support seats with live chat, team inbox, unlimited conversation history, saved replies and mobile apps. | None |
| Free trial | 21-day free trial of paid plans | 14-day free trial of Essential or Growth, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Gist | Text, Inc. |
| Price read from | getgist.com | livechat.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Text by LiveChat
- New sign-ups now get Text plans; the older LiveChat plans stay only for existing customers, and Text features are not part of them.
- AI resolutions beyond the monthly allowance (10 on Essential, 200 on Growth) cost $49.50 per pack of 50.
- There is no free plan, and every person who answers chats or tickets needs a paid seat.
- Essential keeps chat and file history for 60 days and tracks 50 live visitors; unlimited history and multilingual chat need Growth.
Key features
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.
Text by LiveChat
- Website chat with visitor tracking
- A chat widget for websites and stores that shows who is browsing, which pages they view and, for Shopify stores, what is in their cart.
- One inbox for several channels
- Website chat, WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS through Twilio and email arrive in one inbox, with a ticketing system for follow-ups, on every plan.
- AI Agent
- Answers customers from your knowledge sources and hands over to a person. Essential includes 1 agent and 10 resolutions a month, Growth 10 agents and 200.
- AI Copilot for agents
- Suggests replies and edits text for the team: 5 suggestions per user a month on Essential and 50 on Growth, which also adds chat and ticket summaries.
- Proactive campaigns
- Chat invitations and cart recovery messages shown to visitors, with sales reports tied to chats. Essential allows 3 campaigns and Growth 30.
- Apps for desktop and phone
- Agents can work in a browser or in apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.
Plans
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".
Text by LiveChat
Essential$19
per user / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly)
Chat, inbox and ticketing, 1 AI Agent with 10 AI resolutions a month, 50 live visitors tracked, 3 proactive campaigns and 60 days of chat history.
Growth$79
per user / month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
Adds 10 AI Agents and 200 AI resolutions a month, chat supervision, shared canned replies, unlimited history, 400 live visitors and team reports.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom AI agents built for you, flexible usage limits, a white-label widget, SSO and audit logs, SLAs and a dedicated account team. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Gist
No public discounts listed.
Text by LiveChat
- Annual discount
About 20% to 24% off with annual billing
The pricing page puts the annual saving at about 24% on Essential ($19 against $25 per user a month) and about 20% on Growth ($79 against $99).
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Gist or Text by LiveChat?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Gist starts at $29 per month for 5 support seats, and Text by LiveChat starts at $19 per user / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly). 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, Gist or Text by LiveChat?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Gist has a free plan. Text by LiveChat does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Gist and Text by LiveChat run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Text by LiveChat 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.