Tidio alternative for selling on your website, with AI in every plan
Tidio is a live chat and helpdesk; its Lyro AI agent and Flows automations are separate add-ons with their own limits. msg8 is an AI sales agent: it writes to visitors first, recommends products from your catalog and brings them to a lead, and every plan has one allowance for the agent's replies. Here is how they compare, and when Tidio is the better pick.
msg8 vs Tidio in short
Tidio is built for customer service teams, msg8 for sales. Tidio gives a team live chat, tickets and email in one inbox, and sells AI answers (Lyro) and automated messages (Flows) as add-ons. msg8 is built to turn website, Instagram and Telegram visitors into buyers: the agent starts the conversation, helps choose and takes a contact.
If your team answers customers all day in one inbox, Tidio fits better. If you want more sales from the same traffic, with an agent that writes first and knows your catalog, msg8 fits better. Facts about Tidio were checked on tidio.com on 27 October 2026.
When Tidio is the better choice
Your support team works in one inbox
Tidio puts live chat, tickets and email together, and its Free, Starter and Growth plans include 10 seats (Tidio pricing, October 2026).
You run your store on Shopify and want a ready app
Tidio has a Shopify app rated 4.8 in the Shopify App Store. On Shopify, Tidio says its Lyro AI agent starts proactive chats on product pages and recommends products that are in stock (Shopify App Store, October 2026).
Your team answers from a phone
Tidio has apps for Android, iOS, Windows and Mac (Tidio, October 2026).
When msg8 is the better choice
You want AI in the plan, not as an add-on
On Tidio, the Lyro AI agent is a separate product from $39 a month for 50 AI conversations, and Flows, the automated messages, from $29 a month for 2,000 visitors reached. Both can be bought on their own, next to the Free plan or a paid one (Tidio pricing, monthly billing, 28 October 2026). On msg8, the AI agent is in every plan, and one credit allowance covers its replies; your team's messages don't use credits.
You want the agent to write first, based on where visitors came from
The msg8 agent starts the conversation on any website: after time on the page, on scroll, when a visitor is about to leave, after several page views, on a return visit or on specific pages. It adapts its first message to the ad, search or Instagram post the visitor came from and the UTM campaign. On Tidio, proactive messages come from Flows, and on Shopify stores Lyro also starts chats on product pages.
You sell from a catalog
The agent recommends products from your own catalog: a YML, Google Merchant or CommerceML feed, MoySklad, Google Sheets or a CSV or XLSX file, and sees what the shopper has in the cart.
You sell through Instagram comments and Telegram
The msg8 agent answers Instagram DMs and comments, moves a conversation from a comment to DMs and knows which ad, story or post the customer came from. It also answers customers in your Telegram bot.
You want leads in your CRM
The agent takes a name, phone or email and sends the lead to Bitrix24, amoCRM, Google Sheets or your team's Telegram.
Tidio vs msg8: feature comparison
| Tidio | msg8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Live chat and helpdesk for support teams | AI sales agent: more leads and sales from the same traffic |
| AI agent | Lyro, add-on from $39/month for 50 AI conversations | In every plan |
| Writes first | Flows (from $29/month for 2,000 visitors reached); on Shopify, Lyro starts chats on product pages | Time, scroll, exit, page views, return visits, pages, traffic source and UTM, on any website |
| Price model | Plan + separate limits for human conversations, Lyro and Flows | Plan with one credit allowance for the agent's replies |
| Free start | Free plan: 50 conversations, Lyro's first 50 conversations free | Free trial: 100 credits, no card |
| Product catalog | Shopify: Lyro recommends products in stock | Feed, MoySklad, Google Sheets, CSV or XLSX, cart visible |
| Instagram integration | DMs and comments, comment-to-DM, ad and post context | |
| Telegram | — | Yes |
| Team seats | 10 on Free, Starter and Growth | 2 to 3 by plan |
| Where leads go | Tidio inbox and integrations | Bitrix24, amoCRM, Google Sheets, Telegram |
Tidio data from tidio.com/pricing and Tidio's Shopify App Store listing, checked 28 October 2026. “—” means not found in Tidio's official sources.
Tidio pricing in 2026, and what you pay with msg8
Tidio lists a Free plan, Starter at $29 a month, Growth from $59 and Plus from $300 plus usage, billed monthly; yearly billing is about 17% lower. Each plan has a limit of billable conversations handled by your team; the Free plan includes 50. Lyro AI and Flows have their own limits and can be bought on their own: Lyro from $39 a month for 50 AI conversations and Flows from $29 a month for 2,000 visitors reached (Tidio pricing, 28 October 2026).
Example: a small store that wants an AI agent answering every month and messages that start the conversation. On Tidio that is Lyro $39 + Flows $29 = $68 a month for 50 AI conversations, next to the Free plan's 50 conversations for your team; with Starter for more team conversations, $97. This is our calculation from Tidio's listed monthly prices before tax.
On msg8, the Growth plan is $40 a month with 600 credits. According to msg8 data, an average conversation uses about 3 credits, so 600 credits cover about 200 conversations, and the agent writes first on every plan. Business, $150 a month, has 3,000 credits, 3 team seats and your own handover rules. You can start free and move up when you need to. See pricing
Why selling needs a different setup than support
A support chat can wait for a question. Selling needs an agent that notices a hesitating visitor, starts the conversation, helps choose and asks for a contact at the right moment. msg8 is built for these jobs.
According to msg8 data, the online furniture store Nastoyashchaya Mebel got 410 leads from the agent in its first month, and 46% of conversations ended with a contact. 22% of inquiries arrived between 9 pm and 9 am, when the store is closed. The luggage store Ice-Land raised its website conversion from 1.2% to 2.8% and got 2.3 times more leads. These are results of specific companies, not a promise.
How to switch from Tidio to msg8
Switching takes four steps, and we help with the move.
- 1
Enter your website address.
msg8 reads your site and sets up the agent and its greetings.
- 2
Add your answers and catalog.
Upload the answers Lyro uses as files or text (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV and others) and connect your product catalog. If you'd rather not set it up yourself, there is a paid done-for-you launch.
- 3
Check the answers.
Ask the agent your customers' real questions in the test chat and fix what you don't like.
- 4
Replace the code on your site.
Remove the Tidio widget and add one line of msg8 code; it works on Shopify, WordPress, Tilda and any other website. Then connect Telegram, and send us a request to connect Instagram.
Frequently asked questions
See how the agent sells on your store
Enter your website address: msg8 reads it and shows how the agent would talk to your shoppers.
Getting started is easier than it looks
In 30 minutes, an expert will look at your website, show you how the AI agent would sell your products and services, answer your questions and share tips that raise conversion in your niche. Then it's your call: set it up yourself for free, or order a done-for-you launch.
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