Pure Chat vs tawk.to (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick tawk.to: it is third in our ranking of help desk and live chat tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.4.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
tawk.to grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Pure Chat
Live chat for websites with a flat price per plan
tawk.to
Free live chat, ticketing and help center, with paid add-ons
Which one is for you
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
Pick tawk.to if
- Fits if you want chat on your site and don't want to pay per seat
- Works for anyone who'd rather hire someone to answer chats, at $1 an hour
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if the "Powered by tawk.to" badge bothers you, as removing it costs $29 a month per site
- Watch out: AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month
- Not for you if you need phone support, as voice agents (from $49 a month plus usage) were still waitlist-only
- Too light for teams that need lots of integrations, with only Shopify and WordPress listed and no API
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAPure ChatFair | 3.0GPAtawk.toVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | AThe whole platform is free, chat, inbox, tickets, help center and CRM, with no seat charges, which is free and substantial. You'd pay only for add-ons: $29 a month for the AI agent or for removing the badge. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 30-day trial of PRO with no credit card. There is no free plan. | AFree outright for every seat, with no cap on chats in the listing. The catch is the "Powered by tawk.to" badge on your widget, chat page and help center, which costs $29 a month per site to remove. |
| Features | 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. | CWebsite chat, chat pages for businesses without a site, an inbox for chat, email and forms, tickets, a help center, a CRM, and people you can hire to answer for $1 an hour. The gap: no phone, as voice agents were still waitlist-only. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and the widget and triggers need setting up. | CNo store rating on record. It's free to start, but you still paste the chat box into your site, set up the help center and, if you want it, teach the AI agent. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps. Only 2 integrations are listed, and there is no desktop app. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps, so every device is covered. What keeps it off an A is the connections: the listing names just Shopify and WordPress, and no API. |
| Best for | flat-price live chat for a small team | free website chat for any size of 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: Pure Chat and tawk.to. How we grade
Price against what you get
Pure Chat starts at $39 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. tawk.to starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and tawk.to starts $10 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 18 score higher than Pure Chat for less, and 16 score higher than tawk.to 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
- Pure Chat also covers reports.
- tawk.to also covers help desk, help center and AI support agent.
At a glance
| Pure Chat | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $39 per month for 1 website and 4 operators, billed annually ($49 billed monthly) | $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on |
| Free plan | None | The whole platform is free: live chat, inbox, ticketing, knowledge base, chat pages and CRM, with no seat charges. A "Powered by tawk.to" badge stays unless removed for a fee. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the PRO plan, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Pure Chat | tawk.to |
| Price read from | purechat.com | tawk.to |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
tawk.to
- Removing the "Powered by tawk.to" badge from the widget, chat page and knowledge base costs $29 a month per property.
- AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month.
- Hired chat agents cost $1 an hour and dedicated virtual assistants from $7 an hour.
- Voice Agents (from $49 a month plus usage) and Data Enrichment (from $59 a month) were waitlist-only when read.
Key features
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.
tawk.to
- Live chat widget
- A chat box for websites that can be styled to match a brand, plus chat pages that turn a link into a conversation for businesses without a site.
- Inbox and ticketing
- Chat, email, form and messaging conversations arrive in one dashboard, with free ticketing for issues that need follow-up.
- Knowledge base
- A free hosted help center where customers can look up answers, which the AI Assist add-on also draws on.
- AI Assist
- AI agents and workflows that answer routine questions and hand off to a person with the conversation's history attached.
- Hired chat agents
- Trained human agents who answer chats on your behalf around the clock for $1 an hour, offered as a paid service.
- CRM and pipeline
- Contact records built from conversations, segments and tags, a deal pipeline and booking activities in the same dashboard.
Plans
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.
tawk.to
Free$0
Live chat widget, shared inbox, ticketing, a hosted knowledge base, chat pages and contacts, with the tawk.to badge shown. AI Assist has a free tier for limited volume.
AI Assist$29
per month and up
Add-on: AI agents that answer from your knowledge base and AI workflows that route and follow up, handing off to a person when needed.
Whitelabel$29
per property / month
Add-on: removes the tawk.to badge and puts the chat page, knowledge base and ticketing emails on your own domain and address.
Ways to pay less
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.
tawk.to
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Pure Chat or tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, tawk.to is cheaper to start with: $29 a month, against $39 a month for Pure Chat. Pure Chat starts at $39 per month for 1 website and 4 operators, billed annually ($49 billed monthly), and tawk.to starts at $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on.
Which has a free plan, Pure Chat or tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only tawk.to has a free plan. Pure Chat does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Pure Chat and tawk.to run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only tawk.to 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.