Comparison
Coasting vs Tidio
Tidio is usually the first thing a small team finds when it searches for free live chat, and their free plan is more generous than ours on seats. The difference is what AI costs: on Tidio the AI agent is a paid add-on on top of your plan, and on Coasting the answers are the plan.
The short answer
- Choose Tidio when you want live chat for a bigger team at no cost, visitor flows and a mature product with mobile apps - and you do not need much AI.
- Choose Coasting when the AI answers are the reason you are buying: 500 a month are included in $29, rather than an add-on that starts at $32.50 a month for 50 conversations.
Pricing
| Tidio | Coasting | |
|---|---|---|
| Priced per agent? | No - seats come with the plan | No - flat |
| Free plan | Yes, and it is roomier than ours: 10 seats, 50 conversations | Yes: 3 agents, 50 AI answers every month |
| AI on the free plan | 50 Lyro conversations, one-off rather than monthly | 50 AI answers a month, every month |
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter, $24.17 a month billed yearly - 100 conversations | $29 a month for 5 agents |
| AI on paid plans | An add-on from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations | 500 AI answers included at $29; 5,000 at $79 |
| Conversation limits | Yes - plans are sized in billable conversations | No limit on conversations; the AI answers are what is counted |
| Can you pay today? | Yes | Yes - by card, month to month; the free plan needs no card |
Tidio prices checked 26 September 2026 from tidio.com/pricing. $24.17 is their price when you pay for a year up front ($290); month to month, Starter is $29. Several of their plans quote AI volume as "custom", so compare your own numbers on their page before deciding.
What Coasting does today
- Email and website chat in one shared inbox, with assignment, tags, private notes and collision detection.
- AI answers written from your own help articles, and an email to your team the moment it cannot answer.
- A public help center, saved replies, CSAT surveys, automations and analytics.
What Coasting does not do yet
- More seats on the free plan - Tidio gives 10, we give 3. If you have a big team and no budget, take theirs.
- Visitor flows and campaigns - Tidio has a flow builder for proactive messages; Coasting has none.
- Social and messaging channels - no WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram.
- App store apps - there is nothing to download. Coasting installs to your phone's home screen and opens without a browser bar, and the whole inbox works there - read a thread, reply, send. What you do not get is push notifications; Coasting emails your team instead when someone is waiting.
If any of these is a must-have today, Tidio is the better fit right now.
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