Tidio vs Crisp chat: The #1 e-commerce option in 2025

Tidio - a quick overview

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Founded in 2013 in Szczecin, Poland by Tytus Gołas, Tidio is a global leader in AI-powered customer support software. Now headquartered in San Francisco with offices across Poland, Tidio empowers over 300,000 businesses worldwide—including major brands like The Body Shop and Under Armour—to deliver seamless customer service through live chat, chatbot automation flows, an AI agent (Lyro), help desk tools, and lead generation features.

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Tidio’s intuitive platform integrates effortlessly with websites and social channels to streamline real-time communication for sales teams, marketers, and support agents, especially those in e-commerce. Recognized as the 2025 Global Business Tech Awards’ AI Company of the Year, Tidio stands out for its advanced automation capabilities and user-friendly design.

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In the following section we’ll compare Tidio’s features, pros/cons, pricing, and user reviews against Crisp chat and Ringly.io to help you choose the best fit for your business needs.

Tidio's features

• Live Chat
  Tidio offers a real-time chat widget for websites, letting businesses instantly connect with visitors and answer questions as they browse. This is ideal for reducing bounce rates and increasing conversions. While Crisp chat also provides live chat, Ringly.io focuses on AI-powered phone support rather than web-based chats, which can be more effective for urgent or complex customer needs.
• AI Chatbots
  Tidio’s AI chatbots automate responses to common questions 24/7, handling FAQs and basic support tasks without human intervention. This helps small teams scale their support but is limited to text/web channels. Crisp offers similar chatbot automation; Ringly.io’s AI agents go further by handling voice calls and integrating with your business knowledge base for more accurate answers.
• Multichannel Messaging
  With Tidio, you can manage conversations from email, Messenger, Instagram, and website chat in one dashboard—streamlining omnichannel communication. Crisp also supports multichannel messaging but may lack some integrations found in Tidio. Ringly.io specializes in phone automation rather than social/text channels.
• Visitor Tracking & Engagement Triggers
  Tidio tracks website visitor behavior (pages viewed, time spent) and lets you set up automated triggers—like sending a message when someone lingers on checkout—to boost engagement or recover carts via webchat popups. While this is useful for proactive outreach online, it doesn’t match the conversion power of voice-based abandoned cart recovery offered by Ringly.io.
• Ticketing System
  Basic ticketing allows agents to convert chats into tickets for follow-up or escalation within the Tidio platform—a feature shared by most competitors including Crisp. However, these are primarily text/email based; Ringly.io automates issue resolution directly during live calls using custom actions that update CRMs or create tickets automatically.
• Integrations & Apps Marketplace
  Tidio connects with Shopify, WordPress/WooCommerce, Zapier (for workflow automations), Mailchimp (for marketing), plus many other tools through its app marketplace—making it easy to fit into existing tech stacks. Crisp has a comparable range of integrations; however, only Ringly.io enables no-code connections that trigger real-world actions during phone calls (e.g., sending SMSes mid-call).
• Chatbot Templates & Customization
  Pre-built templates help users quickly launch bots tailored to sales/support scenarios without coding skills required—a benefit shared by both Tidio and Crisp chat platforms. For deeper customization tied directly to business processes (like order lookups or CRM updates during conversations), only solutions like Ringly.io offer true end-to-end workflow automation over the phone.
• Analytics & Reporting
  Tidio provides dashboards showing metrics like response times and customer satisfaction scores so teams can optimize performance over time—a standard feature among leading live chat apps including Crisp. In contrast, Ringly.io delivers advanced call analysis powered by AI: tracking caller mood trends and providing actionable insights specific to voice interactions.

While Tidio excels at affordable web-based live chat with solid chatbot capabilities for e-commerce stores just starting out online—and matches up well against other text-first competitors—it lacks deep integration with voice workflows or advanced automations that solve problems before customers hang up the phone.

Pros

• Very easy to use – Users consistently praise Tidio’s intuitive interface, making it simple to set up live chat or automate responses without technical skills.
• Fast setup with no coding required – Getting started is quick; most users can launch a chatbot or live chat widget in minutes.
• Affordable plans (including a free tier) – The free plan covers basic needs for small businesses, while paid plans are considered reasonably priced compared to competitors.
• Strong AI-powered features – The built-in AI assistant (Lyro) helps answer questions instantly 24/7, improving customer satisfaction and reducing missed leads.
• Wide range of integrations – Tidio connects easily with popular eCommerce platforms (like Shopify), Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Zapier, and more—helping unify customer communication channels.
• Mobile app support – Users appreciate being able to respond on the go via mobile apps for iOS/Android.
• Helpful analytics tools – Provides insights into visitor behavior so teams can optimize service processes and boost conversions.

Cons

• Pricing jumps sharply as usage grows – Many reviewers mention that moving from the free plan to paid tiers can be expensive if your chat volume increases quickly; there are stepwise “jumps” rather than smooth scaling options. This makes budgeting hard for growing teams or those with unpredictable spikes in conversations. Ringly.io offers more flexible usage-based pricing without sudden jumps.
• Limited reporting capabilities – Some users feel that analytics are too basic out-of-the-box; advanced metrics may require third-party tools or integrations not included by default. Ringly.io provides deeper built-in analytics.
• Manual integration process for some apps – Integrations aren’t always seamless: connecting certain CRMs or email systems requires manual steps per conversation instead of automatic syncing. This slows down workflows when handling high volumes of chats or leads. With Ringly.io’s native integrations this pain point is minimized.
• Feature limitations on lower tiers/free plan – Key features like visitor location tracking are locked behind higher-priced plans—even though many competitors include these basics at no extra cost. Hitting limits often forces an upgrade sooner than expected. Ringly.io includes essential features even on entry-level plans.
• No advanced marketing automation on social channels – While you can connect Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp chats into one inbox, there’s little support for proactive marketing campaigns across these channels within Tidio itself—limiting its usefulness beyond support/chatbot functions compared to some alternatives.
• Some workflow quirks & notification issues reported by power users: For example: visitors don’t get notified if they leave your site before an agent replies; message boxes only refresh when open; validation messages sometimes show success even if errors occurred during integration syncs.

These insights reflect what actual customers experience day-to-day—not just feature lists—and highlight both where Tidio shines as well as areas where solutions like Ringly.io offer meaningful improvements without the same drawbacks.

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Crisp chat - a quick overview

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Founded in Nantes, France in 2015 by Baptiste Jamin and Valerian Saliou, Crisp is a customer support platform that makes it easy for businesses to chat with customers across email, social media, and messaging apps. With over 600,000 users and more than 200,000 brands worldwide trusting its service, Crisp helps startups and small companies deliver fast, friendly support from anywhere—no matter how big or small their team is.

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Crisp stands out with features like multi-channel chat (including WhatsApp and Messenger), helpdesk integration, automation tools for smarter workflows, detailed visitor tracking for better insights into customer behavior, and mobile apps so you can stay connected on the go. Its flat pricing means you get unlimited chats and agents at one low cost—perfect for growing businesses. In the next section we’ll look at Crisp’s features side by side with Tidio and Ringly.io to see which fits your needs best.

Crisp chat's features

• Multi-channel Messaging
  Crisp enables businesses to communicate with customers across multiple channels, including live chat, email, Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS. This unified inbox streamlines support and sales conversations in one place for better efficiency. Compared to Tidio—which also offers multi-channel messaging—Crisp’s integration is broader and more customizable for growing teams. However, neither platform natively handles phone or voice support like Ringly.io does through AI-powered calls.
• Chatbots & Automation
  Crisp provides automation tools such as chatbots that can answer FAQs, qualify leads, or route conversations based on customer input. These bots are effective for basic workflows but are less advanced than Tidio’s e-commerce-focused bots that deeply integrate with platforms like Shopify for automated cart recovery. For businesses seeking automation beyond chat (like phone-based abandoned cart recovery), Ringly.io stands out by automating entire customer journeys via AI phone agents.
• Knowledge Base & Help Center
  With Crisp’s built-in help center feature, you can create a searchable knowledge base so customers can self-serve answers 24/7. It supports custom reports and tracks help center metrics—a step up from Tidio’s more limited documentation options. Still, both require manual content updates; Ringly.io uniquely syncs its AI agent daily with your website content so answers stay current without extra effort.
• Team Collaboration Tools
  Crisp includes internal notes and shared inboxes so agents can collaborate on tickets without leaving the platform. This is especially useful for larger teams managing high volumes of inquiries—something Tidio doesn’t emphasize as strongly in its workflow design. While this boosts productivity compared to most live chat tools, it doesn’t match the seamless call transfer logic of Ringly.io where context-rich handoffs happen automatically during live calls.
• Analytics & Reporting
  The analytics suite in Crisp is robust: you get detailed insights into conversation trends, agent performance metrics, custom reporting options—even tracking how your help center performs over time. This level of reporting surpasses what Tidio offers out-of-the-box but still focuses mainly on text-based interactions; only Ringly.io delivers granular analysis (including mood detection) across both voice and text channels.
• Integrations & API Access
  Crisp integrates with a wide range of business tools (CRMs like HubSpot/Salesforce), marketing platforms (Mailchimp), e-commerce systems (Shopify/WooCommerce), plus Zapier/Make.com for no-code workflows. While this matches or exceeds most competitors—including Tidio—it lacks the direct action capabilities during live calls found in solutions like Ringly.io where actions such as ticket creation or CRM updates happen instantly while speaking to a customer.
• Campaigns & Customer Engagement Tools
  You can launch targeted campaigns via email or messages directly from Crisp based on user behavior triggers—helpful for upselling or re-engaging leads automatically. While similar campaign features exist in Tidio aimed at e-commerce stores specifically through chatbot flows and popups, neither solution leverages real-time outbound calling as an engagement channel—the way Ringly.io does when recovering abandoned carts by phone.

In summary: while Crisp excels at unifying digital communication channels with strong collaboration tools and analytics—making it ideal for scaling support teams—it remains focused on written interactions rather than true omnichannel automation that includes voice/phone experiences powered by AI agents as seen in newer platforms like ours.

Next, let's look at Crisp chat's pros and cons. We studied dozens of reviews from real Crisp chat users from platforms like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. Then we identified commonalities and summarized the main pros and cons of Crisp chat based on real user feedback for you here:

Pros

• User-friendly interface – Many users praise how easy it is to set up and use Crisp, even for those without technical backgrounds. The visual flow builder is especially highlighted as intuitive.
• All-in-one inbox with multi-channel support – Users appreciate being able to manage conversations from multiple channels (website, email, Messenger, WhatsApp) in a single place.
• Affordable pricing for startups/SMBs – Compared to competitors like Intercom or Zendesk, many reviewers find Crisp’s pricing reasonable given its feature set.
• Responsive customer support team – Numerous reviews mention that the support team is quick to respond and helpful when issues arise.
• Builtin AI chatbot & automation tools – The no-code chatbot builder receives positive feedback for enabling automation without complex setup; integrations with Zapier/Make are also valued.
• Live translation capabilities – Real-time translation helps teams serve international customers more effectively.
• Smooth scalability as business grows – Several SaaS companies note that Crisp has scaled well alongside their growth without major hiccups.

Cons

• Takes time to master advanced features/interface complexity – While basic setup is easy, some users report a learning curve when exploring deeper automations or analytics features; documentation helps but isn’t always enough.
• Lack of advanced analytics/customization options – Some reviewers wish for more customizable reports or deeper analytics beyond what’s currently offered out-of-the-box (e.g., user input dashboards).
• No broadcast/campaign tools for new leads in-app – Users note you can’t send marketing broadcasts or sequences directly through Crisp; this limits proactive outreach compared to some competitors.
• Mobile app notification delays (occasionally) – A few users have experienced late notifications on mobile devices, sometimes missing timely responses.
• Pricing increases at higher tiers/some features locked behind paywall – While affordable at entry level, a number of reviewers mention significant price jumps if you need premium features or higher usage limits.
• Limited CRM functionality – Crisp focuses on messaging/support rather than full customer relationship management, lacking some sales pipeline or contact management tools found in dedicated CRMs.
• Occasional bugs/performance issues after updates – A few users report temporary glitches following new releases, but say these are usually resolved quickly by the team.
• Personalized onboarding calls cost extra / limited live training options – Some customers would prefer direct video calls with support during onboarding or troubleshooting but find these require additional payment.

If you're considering alternatives like Ringly.io: while both platforms offer strong omnichannel messaging and automation capabilities, Ringly.io places special emphasis on campaign/broadcast flexibility, CRM integration, and personalized onboarding—areas where several real-world reviews suggest current gaps in the typical Crisp experience. Of course, the best fit depends on your team's specific needs.

Pricing - Tidio vs Crisp chat

Note: The pricing information below is accurate at the time of writing and may be subject to change. For the most up-to-date pricing, please visit each company's pricing page.

Tidio pricing

Crisp chat pricing

Contract Length:
No long-term contract required; all plans can be paid monthly.
Annual payment options are available and may offer discounts (details not specified).

Cancellation Fees:
No cancellation fees. You can downgrade to the Free plan at any time; cancellation is immediate with no penalties.

Refund Policies:
Yes. Refunds are available:
- Monthly plans: Refund within 7 days of initial payment.
- Yearly plans: Refund within 14 days of initial payment.

Additional Notes:
Every new account gets a free trial for any plan for 14 days.
Pricing is flat per workspace—no extra charges for number of conversations or contacts.
Plans scale by included seats and advanced feature sets.

Ringly.io pricing

Ringly.io has simple, usage-based pricing with no hidden fees or long-term commitments. Test drive it risk-free for 14 days, then scale up or down on month-to-month terms—or book a demo for fully tailored enterprise support.

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Online customer reviews: Tidio vs Crisp chat

What users are saying about Tidio:

Total reviews and average rating:
- G2: 1,800+ reviews, 4.7/5
- Capterra: 470+ reviews, 4.7/5

"Reliable, Easy-to-Use Chat Solution" – Péter T., G2 Reviewer
We've been using Tidio daily and are extremely satisfied with its performance... It's incredibly easy to use, and the built-in AI assistant is a huge asset... The analytics section is also very well-developed...

"Customer service seemingly non-existent" – Anonymous, Capterra Reviewer
Customer service seemingly non-existent so we had to leave...

What users are saying about Crisp chat:

Total reviews and average rating:
- G2: 270+ reviews, 4.5/5
- Capterra: 200+ reviews, 4.6/5

"Reliable and Scalable Chat Platform for Growing SaaS Businesses" – Tuan B., G2 Reviewer
All-in-one inbox with multi-channel support... Affordable pricing especially for startups... Excellent support team...

"Ticket Center plugin is very expensive & Magic Browse buggy compared to competitors like Intercom or Zendesk" – Summary of user feedback from GetApp/Capterra/Trustpilot aggregation
Email deliverability issues with Outlook users in particular; Ticket Center plugin is very expensive; the "Magic Browse" feature is buggy; Android app has some bugs...

Both platforms receive high marks for ease of use and core features but have distinct weaknesses: Tidio’s customer support can be lacking according to some reviewers (a point where Crisp often excels), while Crisp’s advanced features sometimes lag behind those of larger competitors or require costly add-ons—issues that may make alternatives more appealing depending on your needs.

What users are saying about Ringly.io:

Ringly.io is known for its simplicity, and a focus on e-commerce, with features like abandoned cart recovery and order status lookups. It has a 4.8 star rating from 12 reviews on Product Hunt and other platforms.

"it stands out significantly ahead" - Bertrand, Director. We are at the initial stage of testing and have made only a few calls so far. Consequently, I have rated the product with four stars for now. However, I must express that the product has shown significant promise. When compared to competitors, it stands out significantly ahead.

"This is such a great product" - Jim Miranda, Founder. This is such a great product. I have been with you for less than a week and already closed 3 deals with it."

"It really sounds like a human" - Laix, Founder. Tried Ringly.io today and the quality of the phone calls surprises me! It really sounds like a human, and it reacts really fast. Will need to deploy it in action to see the full capabilities.

"How to automate customer service? -> Ringly.io" - Sidra Husnain, Founder.

Tidio vs Crisp chat: Which is best for you?

Who Tidio is best for…

• Small businesses or e-commerce stores just starting out – Tidio offers an affordable, easy-to-setup live chat and chatbot solution, including a free plan that covers basic needs for low chat volumes. If your main focus is answering simple product questions and capturing leads on your website, Tidio is a solid choice.
• Teams looking for no-code automation – If you want to set up chatbots or automated responses in minutes without any technical skills or coding, Tidio's friendly interface makes it a breeze.
• Shops seeking web and social chat, but not phone-based support – Tidio brings together website chat, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and email messages in one place, which is great for teams that only communicate online.
• Budget-sensitive teams – With a generous free tier and flexible paid plans, Tidio is good for businesses who are watching costs and don't expect rapid jumps in support volume. Just watch for price jumps if you outgrow the free plan.

Who Crisp chat is best for…

• Growing teams who want to scale multichannel support – Crisp's flat pricing, unlimited conversations, and one inbox for email, WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS and more make it perfect for companies who expect to expand, hire more agents, or increase volume without worrying about price spikes.
• Businesses that need team collaboration – Crisp has features for notes, hand-offs, and shared inboxes, which help teams work together and keep track of customer history easily, making it a better pick for support teams with multiple agents.
• Companies that want a robust knowledge base and help center – If you want to offer 24/7 self-service support for common questions, Crisp’s help center tools make this easy to set up and manage.
• Startups and SaaS companies seeking affordable, all-in-one messaging – Crisp is a favorite for tech startups thanks to strong automation, broad integrations, and a visual workflow builder.

Who Ringly.io is best for…

• Any business wanting to automate customer phone support, sales, and order help with AI – Ringly.io is designed for businesses of all sizes who want to let AI agents handle phone calls, answer questions, look up orders, or recover abandoned carts without the need for staff to pick up the phone.
• Teams looking for true omnichannel automation, including voice – Unlike Tidio and Crisp, Ringly.io connects web, phone, SMS, and even CRMs in one platform so you can give fast, seamless support everywhere your customers are.
• Companies who want flexibility and predictable costs as they scale – Ringly.io’s usage-based pricing makes it easy to start small and grow steadily, with no sudden price jumps, and plenty of features even at lower tiers.
• Businesses who value simple setup and advanced automation – Ringly.io is praised for its quick onboarding, no-code integrations, and AI that updates itself by learning from your website and CRM—meaning less manual work for you and faster answers for your customers.

Bottom line: If you need to manage live chat or messaging only, Tidio and Crisp are strong options for web and social support. But if you want to truly automate customer service and sales—especially over the phone or across channels—Ringly.io is the overall best fit for businesses of any size. Its powerful AI, flexible pricing, and deep automation help you delight your customers round the clock, all while freeing up your team.

Why Ringly.io is a Better Choice

Highly Rated: 4.8/5

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Founded in 2024 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Maurizio Isendoorn and Ruben Boonzaaijer, Ringly.io is revolutionizing e-commerce customer service with AI phone agents. Designed for online businesses, Ringly handles customer calls on autopilot—solving support issues, recovering abandoned carts, and even boosting sales—at just 20% of the cost of human agents.‍

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With 2,300+ customers, Ringly.io is the go-to solution for e-commerce stores looking to scale without scaling their support team. With award-winning technology (BubbleCon 2024's "Most Innovative App"), Ringly.io transforms your phone system into a revenue-driving powerhouse—without the headaches of traditional call centers.‍

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Features that make Ringly.io the #1 alternative to Tidio and Crisp chat:

No-code setup, instant results – Ringly.io is ready to go in minutes. Just add your website, docs, or text—no engineering required—and your AI phone agent instantly understands your business. It even updates automatically as your website changes.‍‍‍

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AI-powered sales & support – Ringly.io does both inbound and outbound calls. Recover 35%+ of abandoned carts with automated follow-up calls, provide real-time order tracking from Shopify, and convert more customers with personalized AI-driven conversations—not just reactive support.‍‍

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Advanced analytics for smarter decisions – Ringly.io gives you real-time call data, customer intent tracking, and performance reports—helping you optimize support and sales strategies.‍‍‍

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Scalable pricing without enterprise contracts – Ringly.io offers transparent, scalable pricing—pay for what you use, no locked-in contracts.‍

Conclusion: Tidio vs Crisp vs Ringly.io

Choosing the right customer support platform comes down to your business needs and the level of automation you’re ready for. Tidio and Crisp both offer approachable, feature-packed solutions for live chat and text-based channels, while Ringly.io reimagines what’s possible with AI-driven voice automation and true omnichannel support—all at a predictable, scalable price.

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• Tidio: Perfect for small businesses and e-commerce brands looking for a simple, budget-friendly start with live chat and chatbots. Its interface and ease of use shine, but there are limits on reporting and automation—especially if your needs include phone or advanced voice workflows.
• Crisp: A strong fit for growing teams wanting to unify multichannel support, internal team collaboration, and an affordable upgrade path. It’s versatile, but some advanced features require higher plans, and native phone automation is missing.
• Ringly.io: The top choice for businesses ready to automate their phone support, convert more sales, and streamline every channel—web, SMS, CRM, and voice—in one place. Ringly.io offers advanced yet easy-to-use AI agents, flexible pricing without steep jumps, and hands-off integrations that save you time and boost customer satisfaction.

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If your goal is to cover the basics and stay on a tight budget, both Tidio and Crisp will work well—especially for web and social channels. But, when you’re ready to deliver a standout support experience, automate more (including phone), and grow without the “pain points” of traditional chat tools, Ringly.io gives you the edge with next-level AI automation, real human-like conversations, and a platform that evolves with your business.

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Ready to save time, recover more sales, and delight your customers 24/7? With Ringly.io, you get all the benefits of modern automation—without the complexity. See why more e-commerce businesses are making the switch.

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