Tidio vs Chatbase (2026): Which AI Chatbot to Pick
A live chat platform with an AI agent against an AI agent builder with a light inbox, compared on published pricing, billing units, channels, models and privacy, as of October 2026.
By , research by the BestBots team · Updated Oct 19, 2026
Fact checked against each company's published pricing, documentation and verified user ratings. How we score
Pick Tidio if you run a small store or service business that needs live chat and a helpdesk with AI on top: it has a free plan, 10 seats from the start, Shopify actions and Lyro from $39. Pick Chatbase if you want a custom AI agent trained on your documents, with your choice of model, actions and voice, and humans step in only occasionally.
Side by side
| Spec | Tidio Lyro | Chatbase |
|---|---|---|
| BestBots Score | 4.3 | 4.1 |
| Starting price | $29 per month | $40 per month |
| Pricing model | per conversation | per credit |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days |
| Price per resolution | Not per resolution: $0.70 to $0.78 per Lyro conversation on monthly tiers | Not published; billed by message credits ($40 per 1,000 extra) |
| Channels | Website chat widget plus channels connected to Tidio; Lyro Connect for Zendesk, Intercom, Salesforce | Website widget, WhatsApp, Slack, Meta apps, email, voice |
| Human handoff | Yes, rule based handoff and ticket creation | Yes, built in helpdesk shared by AI and humans |
| Knowledge sources | Website scrape, FAQ upload, support content | Files, websites and documents; 10 MB to 40 MB of text per agent by plan |
| Seats included | 10 seats on Free, Starter and Growth; custom on Plus | 2 to 5 by plan |
The short answer
- Choose Tidio if people on your team still answer most chats, you sell on Shopify or WooCommerce, or you want the cheapest way to start.
- Choose Chatbase if the AI is the product: an agent that answers from your docs, books meetings through actions, runs on the model you pick and can take voice calls.
Pricing
| Item | Tidio | Chatbase |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes: 50 conversations a month, 50 lifetime Lyro | No (7 day trial) |
| Entry paid plan | Starter $29 ($24.17 annual), 100 conversations | Hobby $40 ($32 yearly), 700 credits |
| Mid plan | Growth $59 to $349, 250 to 2,000 conversations | Standard $150 ($120 yearly), 4,000 credits |
| Upper plan | Plus from $300 plus usage | Pro $500 ($400 yearly), 15,000 credits |
| AI unit | Lyro conversation, $0.70 to $0.78 | Message credit, 1 to 5 per AI request |
| Extra AI | Next Lyro tier up | $40 per 1,000 credits (non expiring) |
| Seats | 10 on Free, Starter, Growth | 2, 3 or 5 |
| Branding removal | $16.67 a month on annual | $1,188 a year |
| Extra agents or projects | Multiproject on Plus | $300 per agent per year |
Worked example: 300 AI conversations a month, 100 needing a human
- Tidio: Starter $29 covers the 100 human chats; Lyro 300 is $210. Total $239 billed monthly, about $199 annually.
- Chatbase: if each AI conversation averages 3 requests on a 1 credit model, that is 900 credits. Hobby's 700 plus 200 extra at $40 per 1,000 is $48, but Hobby has no helpdesk inbox. Standard at $150 includes the inbox and 4,000 credits. Total $150 billed monthly, $120 yearly.
Chatbase wins this case on price if you pick 1 credit models. On Claude 5.5 Opus at 5 credits, the same traffic needs 4,500 credits and Standard runs over.
Worked example: 50 chats a month, mostly human
- Tidio: Free plan, $0.
- Chatbase: Hobby, $40 at minimum, and no shared inbox.
Tidio wins small, human led setups outright. More numbers on Tidio pricing, Chatbase pricing and the AI Price Index.
Models and features
| Feature | Tidio | Chatbase |
|---|---|---|
| AI engine | Lyro (Tidio's agent) | Your choice: GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Mistral and more |
| Knowledge | FAQ upload, FAQ and website scraper, Zendesk article import, guidance | Files, websites and documents, 10 MB to 40 MB of text by plan, auto resync on Standard and up |
| Actions | First action free, full actions with a paid Lyro quota; native Shopify actions | 5, 8 or 12 AI actions per agent by plan |
| Human inbox | Full live chat and ticketing, live visitors, macros, operating hours | Helpdesk inbox on Standard and Pro |
| Channels | Website, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, email | Website, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Slack, email, voice |
| Voice | No phone AI agent listed (live video calls in chat) | Voice and telephony on Standard (10 concurrent calls) and Pro (20) |
| Automation | Flows visual builder | Actions and API |
| Other helpdesks | Lyro Connect for Zendesk, Salesforce and others | Zendesk integration |
The core difference: Tidio is a customer service platform that added an AI agent, and Chatbase is an AI agent platform that added an inbox. Tidio has more tools for the humans. Chatbase has more control over the AI.
Head to head scenarios
Shopify store with a two person support team
Winner: Tidio. Native Shopify actions, live visitor list, 10 seats and a 4.8 rating from 1,357 Shopify merchants. Chatbase would need a separate tool for your agents.
SaaS company with long technical docs
Winner: Chatbase. Up to 40 MB of extracted text per agent, auto resync, model choice for harder questions and tickets as a knowledge source on Pro.
Lead capture and booking
Winner: Chatbase. Actions let the agent pull calendar slots and book, and integrations include Calendly and Stripe. Tidio's Flows can capture leads but do not reason like an agent.
Phone line answered by AI
Winner: Chatbase. Voice and telephony are included from Standard with 10 concurrent calls. Tidio does not list a phone AI agent.
Tightest budget
Winner: Tidio. The Free plan is real: 50 conversations a month, 10 seats and 50 Lyro conversations. Chatbase has no free plan.
Predictable monthly AI bill
Winner: Tidio. A Lyro quota is a fixed number of conversations. Chatbase credits per reply change with the model and with how many actions run, so the same traffic can cost two to five times more if you switch models.
Privacy
Chatbase lists SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA, says data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and states in its pricing FAQ that it does not use customer data to train, retrain or fine tune any model on any plan, with zero data retention on HIPAA enabled accounts. SSO and audit logs are Enterprise only.
Tidio lists SSO and compliance services on Premium. The pricing and Lyro pages we read do not publish its certifications or a model training policy, so review its privacy policy and data processing terms if you handle sensitive data.
Verdict
Tidio wins for small businesses with human support teams, Shopify stores and anyone starting free. Chatbase wins for AI first deployments: custom agents on long docs, actions such as booking, voice, and teams that want to pick the model. If you need both a strong human inbox and AI that bills only on results, look at Intercom Fin instead. Read the Tidio review and the Chatbase review.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tidio or Chatbase better?
Tidio is better for small businesses that need live chat, ticketing and a human team with AI on top, especially on Shopify. Chatbase is better if you want a custom AI agent trained on your documents, with your choice of model and actions, and only light human takeover.
Which is cheaper, Tidio or Chatbase?
At low volume, Tidio, because its Free plan covers 50 human conversations and 50 lifetime Lyro conversations. For pure AI volume on cheap models, Chatbase can be cheaper per conversation: 4,000 credits on Standard at $150 monthly is $0.0375 per credit, so a 2 request reply on a 1 credit model costs about 7.5 cents.
Can Chatbase replace live chat?
Partly. Chatbase Standard and Pro include a helpdesk inbox where humans and the AI share conversations, but it has 3 or 5 seats and lacks Tidio's live visitor list, operating hours, macros and Shopify actions.
Which AI models does Chatbase use?
Chatbase's docs list dozens of models, including Chatbase Auto, GPT-4o Mini, GPT-5.5, Claude 5.5 Haiku, Sonnet and Opus, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Mistral and Kimi, at 1 to 5 message credits per request.
Does Tidio or Chatbase train on my data?
Chatbase's pricing FAQ says it never uses customer data to train or improve any AI model on any plan, and HIPAA enabled accounts get zero data retention. Tidio's pricing and Lyro pages we read do not state a model training policy; check its privacy terms.
Do Tidio and Chatbase work on WhatsApp and Instagram?
Yes. Tidio's plan table lists Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and email integrations. Chatbase lists WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Slack and email channels, and adds voice from Standard.