Alternatives / tawk.to
A tawk.to alternative when the AI agent matters more than a free chat box
tawk.to is free. Live chat, an omnichannel inbox, a knowledge base, ticketing, and a CRM cost nothing, with no limit on agents or chat volume. It makes money from optional add-ons: AI Assist, removing its branding, voice agents, and hired human agents. For a small business that wants humans to answer chats at no cost, tawk.to is hard to beat, and SupportHQ is not free.
The comparison is closer once AI does the answering. tawk.to's AI Assist add-on starts at $29 a month, with a free tier for limited volume, but the add-ons page does not say how many AI conversations each tier includes. SupportHQ Starter is also $29 a month and publishes its limit: 2,000 conversations, with the agent escalating to your team with a reason and summary.
The comparison below quotes tawk.to's add-ons page as of the date shown. tawk.to's pricing URL redirects to its Why Free page. Channel details come from its Omnichannel Inbox page. Where a detail is not published, this page says so.
tawk.to pricing quoted from its pricing page as of October 1, 2026. Prices change. Check the source before deciding.
SupportHQ vs tawk.to at a glance
tawk.to is free live chat for human agents, with AI as a paid add-on. SupportHQ is a paid AI agent with an inbox for your team. Pick by whether you need free human chat or an AI agent that answers first.
| SupportHQ | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plan. No per-seat fees, no per-resolution fees. | Free platform. Optional add-ons billed per property, not per seat. |
| Entry price | Starter $29/month or $290/year. Growth $49/month or $490/year. | $0. AI Assist from $29/month. Whitelabel (remove the tawk.to badge) $29/month. Voice Agents from $49/month plus usage. |
| Team seats | Unlimited team members on every plan. | Unlimited agents for free. |
| AI agent pricing | Included. 2,000 conversations/month on Starter, 3,000 on Growth. Resolving more costs nothing extra. | AI Assist add-on from $29/month, with a forever-free tier for limited volume. The AI conversations included per tier are not stated on the add-ons page. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial. Card required, not charged if you cancel before it ends. | Free forever. No credit card to start. |
| Channels | Website widget, Telegram (chats and groups), Discord (servers). WhatsApp coming soon. | Website chat, Chat Pages, and an omnichannel inbox with email, WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS, and Telegram. Discord is not listed. |
| Human handoff | On every plan. The agent escalates with its own reason, urgency, and summary into a unified inbox. Team notified by email, Telegram, or SMS. | AI Assist hands off to a human with full context. Human agents can also be hired from tawk.to at $1 per hour (per its Why Free page). Its hire-agent pages now redirect to the add-ons page, which does not list the service, so confirm it is still sold. |
| How the AI answers | Answers only from approved content: files, synced website, articles, past conversations. Says when it does not know. | AI Assist answers from your tawk.to Knowledge Base and stays in sync when articles change. |
Feature by feature
| Feature | SupportHQ | tawk.to |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plan | Free, with paid add-ons per property |
| Free plan | No (7-day trial, card required) | Yes, free forever with unlimited agents |
| AI agent price | Starter $29/month | AI Assist from $29/month (free tier for limited volume) |
| AI conversations included | 2,000/month on Starter, 3,000 on Growth | Not stated on the add-ons page |
| Website chat widget | Yes | Yes |
| Telegram | Yes | Yes |
| Discord | Yes | Not listed |
| WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS, email | WhatsApp coming soon; others not supported | Yes, in the free omnichannel inbox |
| Agent escalates on its own with reason and summary | Yes, on every plan | Hands off with full context; reason and summary not described |
| Team notified on handoff | Email, Telegram, or SMS | Not stated on the add-ons page |
When tawk.to is the better choice
- You want live chat, ticketing, and a knowledge base for free, with no limit on agents.
- People on your team answer most chats and you do not need AI yet.
- You need WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS, or email from customers in one inbox today.
- You want to hire human chat agents from the vendor instead of staffing chat yourself.
When SupportHQ is the better choice
- You want the AI agent to answer first, with a published monthly conversation limit you can plan around.
- Your community or customers are in Discord as well as on your website and Telegram.
- You want the agent to escalate on its own with a reason, urgency, and summary.
- You want your team notified on handoff by email, Telegram, or SMS.
Switching from tawk.to
- Bring your content. Point SupportHQ at your public help center or website to sync it, upload exported articles as files, or write articles directly. The agent answers only from what you approve.
- Add the widget. One script tag on your site. Connect Telegram and Discord in a few clicks if your customers are there.
- Set escalation rules. Plain English, per channel. Start strict and relax as the knowledge base covers more.
- Run both during the trial. Keep tawk.to live for 7 days while you compare answers, handoffs, and the bill.
For the reasoning behind flat pricing, read how AI support pricing models compare. For the full plan detail, see pricing.
FAQ
tawk.to is free. Why pay for SupportHQ?
If people answer your chats, you may not need to. tawk.to's free plan is generous. SupportHQ is for teams that want an AI agent to answer most questions from their docs and hand off the rest. On tawk.to, AI is the AI Assist add-on: a free tier for limited volume, then paid tiers from $29 per month.
How many AI conversations does tawk.to AI Assist include?
As of the date on this page, the tawk.to add-ons page says AI Assist starts at $29 per month and has a forever-free tier for limited volume. It does not state how many AI conversations each tier includes. SupportHQ Starter includes 2,000 conversations a month.
Does SupportHQ support WhatsApp like tawk.to?
Not yet. WhatsApp is coming soon. SupportHQ supports a website widget, Telegram, and Discord. If you need WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS, or email from customers today, tawk.to covers more channels.
Can SupportHQ answer from my tawk.to knowledge base?
Yes, if it is public. Sync the knowledge base URL as knowledge, upload exported articles, or write articles in SupportHQ. The agent answers only from that content and says when it does not know.
Is there a free trial?
SupportHQ has a 7-day free trial on every plan, card required, not charged if you cancel before it ends. tawk.to has no trial because the core product is free forever.