tawk.to alternative
A tawk.to alternative built around your help center
Free live chat and a shared inbox, with AI that answers from your own help center. How HelpCenter.chat and tawk.to compare, including where tawk.to wins.
Short answer: HelpCenter.chat is a good tawk.to alternative if you want free human live chat in a focused shared inbox, and AI that answers from your HelpCenter.io help center with references, at one flat price per workspace. tawk.to is the stronger choice if you need unlimited free seats, a free built-in knowledge base and ticketing, or hired agents who answer chats for you. We make HelpCenter.chat, so weigh our view with that in mind.
HelpCenter.chat vs tawk.to at a glance
Prices are in USD, taken from each company's own pages in October 2026.
| HelpCenter.chat | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0, no credit card, human chat does not expire | $0 (tawk.to says "The platform is free.") |
| Free seats | 2 team seats per workspace | Unlimited team members |
| Free conversations | 100 new conversations per monthly usage period | No conversation allowance listed on its live chat page |
| AI assistant | Orelvi, from $29 a month per workspace (200 AI credits, 2 chat seats, 1,000 new conversations), answers from your published HelpCenter.io articles | AI Assist add-on, $29 a month, with a forever-free tier for limited volume, trained on your tawk.to knowledge base |
| Knowledge base | Connects to a HelpCenter.io help center (a separate product with its own plans) | Free hosted knowledge base included |
| Other paid extras | Extra chat seats $9 a month each; optional $15 top-up for 100 AI credits | Whitelabel $29 a month per property (removes the "Powered by tawk.to" badge); hired chat agents $1 an hour |
| Scope | Website messenger and shared inbox | Live chat, ticketing, CRM, Chat Pages and an omnichannel inbox |
Where tawk.to is the better pick
- Unlimited free seats. tawk.to lets you add unlimited team members at no cost. HelpCenter.chat's free workspace has 2 seats, and extra seats are $9 a month.
- More free tools in one account. tawk.to bundles a free hosted knowledge base, ticketing and a CRM with its chat. HelpCenter.chat does one job: the messenger and the shared inbox.
- People to answer for you. tawk.to offers trained chat agents who answer on your behalf for $1 an hour. We do not offer staffing.
- A free AI tier. AI Assist has a forever-free tier for limited volume. Orelvi plans start at $29 a month, and its one-time trial is small (20 standard credits).
Where HelpCenter.chat fits better
- One source of truth for answers. If your docs live in HelpCenter.io, Orelvi answers from those published, public articles, includes references, and hands the conversation to a person when it cannot help. Private, restricted and unpublished articles stay out of chat.See how chat and your help center work together.
- AI, seats and conversations in one price. Each Orelvi plan bundles AI credits, chat seats and a larger conversation allowance per workspace. There are no automatic top-ups, overage bills or annual commitments.
- Bundle savings. Pair a HelpCenter.io plan with an Orelvi plan and both save 20%.
Is tawk.to really free?
Yes. tawk.to's chat software is free, and it says 99% of businesses use it entirely for free. It earns money from optional add-ons: AI Assist ($29 a month, with a free tier for limited volume), Whitelabel ($29 a month per property, which removes the "Powered by tawk.to" badge), Voice Agents (from $49 a month plus usage) and Data Enrichment (from $59 a month). The last two were waitlist-only in October 2026. It also sells hired chat agents for $1 an hour.
How much is HelpCenter.chat?
Human chat is free: 2 team seats and 100 new conversations per monthly usage period. When you want AI, Orelvi plans cost $29, $79 or $199 a month per workspace. Each adds AI credits and a bigger conversation allowance, and Grow and Scale add chat seats. See full pricing.
Is HelpCenter.chat a chatbot or live chat?
Live chat first. Your team answers visitors in a shared inbox, and AI is optional. If you are weighing the two approaches, our guide tochatbot vs live chat walks through when each one works. Comparing more tools? See HelpCenter.chat vs Tidio.
Try it on your own site
Create a free workspace, add the messenger to your website, and start talking to visitors today.
Create your free workspacetawk.to details are from tawk.to/add-ons,tawk.to/products/live-chat andtawk.to/why-free, read on 6 October 2026. Plans change, so check their pages before you decide.