ProProfs Live Chat 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 3.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
ProProfs Live Chat grades higher on the free plan. Tidio grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ProProfs Live Chat
Live chat with an AI agent, free for a single operator
Tidio
Live chat, ticketing and the Lyro AI agent priced by conversations
Which one is for you
Pick ProProfs Live Chat if
- Fits if one person answers the website chat
- Works for sites that want a basic bot before paying
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you have two operators: only one is free
- Watch out: AI conversations are capped at 100 a month on Essentials and 300 on Business
- Skip it if you want Copilot, appointment booking or WhatsApp without Business
- Watch out: only the yearly-billing view was readable, and the larger plans sit on tabs we could not read
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
| 3.0GPAProProfs Live ChatVery good | 3.2GPATidioVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree outright for one operator, and the paid plans are $19.99 and $29.99 an operator a month on yearly billing against a category middle of $29. We could not read monthly prices, and the page's rendering of the Essentials figure looked inconsistent with the listing. | 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 | BA free forever plan for one operator with unlimited domains and chat history. A solo person can live on it, but a second operator needs a paid plan. | 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 | CLive chat, an AI agent, visitor tracking, sentiment tags and co-browsing. The gaps are in the listing: AI conversations are capped, and Copilot, appointment booking and WhatsApp need Business. | 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. You add the widget and set up the bot and triggers. | 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 | AWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps, with WhatsApp, Slack, Shopify, Mailchimp and WordPress connections. | 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 | free live chat for a single operator | 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: ProProfs Live Chat and Tidio. How we grade
Price against what you get
ProProfs Live Chat starts at $19.99 a month and scores 2.7 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 $4.18 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 ProProfs Live Chat 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
- ProProfs Live Chat also covers whatsApp messaging and chatbots.
- Tidio also covers help desk.
At a glance
| ProProfs Live Chat | Tidio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19.99 per operator / month, billed annually | $24.17 per month for 100 conversations, billed annually ($29 monthly) |
| Free plan | Free forever for a single operator, with live chat, reports, sentiment tagging, translation and screenshare. | 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 | None listed | 7-day free trial of all plans and add-ons, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | ProProfs | Tidio LLC |
| Price read from | proprofschat.com | tidio.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ProProfs Live Chat
- AI conversations are capped: 100 a month on Essentials and 300 on Business.
- Prices shown are per operator and the figures read were the annual-billing view; monthly billing was not displayed.
- AI Copilot, appointment booking bot and WhatsApp are Business-plan features.
- Larger plans appear on the page's team and enterprise tabs, which were not readable in the default view.
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
ProProfs Live Chat
- AI customer service agent
- Trained on a website, help center, uploaded files and FAQs, it answers with cited sources and can be tested before going live.
- Live chat with visitor tracking
- Operators see what a visitor is typing, the pages they have viewed and their location, and can send proactive chat invitations.
- Sentiment and churn scoring
- AI tags each chat as angry, confused, happy and so on, and scores churn risk as high, medium or low.
- Screenshare and co-browsing
- Operators can see a visitor's screen and guide them through a task, and the Business plan adds a switch to audio chat.
- WhatsApp and chatbot flows
- A drag-and-drop bot builder with templates for lead capture and booking, and WhatsApp conversations in the same inbox on Business.
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
ProProfs Live Chat
Single Operator (Free)$0
One operator with unlimited domains and chat history, ratings and surveys, reports and a basic chatbot.
Essentials$19.99
per operator / month, billed annually ($239.88 a year)
Unlimited conversations with live agents, 100 AI conversations a month, no-code bot builder and proactive triggers.
Business$29.99
per operator / month, billed annually ($359.88 a year)
Adds 300 AI conversations a month, AI Copilot, audio chat, appointment bot and WhatsApp, plus dedicated onboarding.
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
ProProfs Live Chat
No public discounts listed.
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, ProProfs Live Chat or Tidio?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ProProfs Live Chat is cheaper to start with: $19.99 a month, against $24.17 a month for Tidio. ProProfs Live Chat starts at $19.99 per operator / month, billed annually, and Tidio starts at $24.17 per month for 100 conversations, billed annually ($29 monthly).
Which has a free plan, ProProfs Live Chat or Tidio?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both ProProfs Live Chat and Tidio have a free plan.
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.