Pong Chat vs tawk.to: a lighter alternative.
tawk.to is a 100% free live chat with unlimited agents and chats; the company earns from add-ons and hired chat agents. Pong Chat is a fast live chat with AI, video calls, screen sharing and a live visitors map — free for one agent, €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly on Premium.
Price
Pong: free for one agent; Premium €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly.
tawk.to: Add-ons: remove branding from $29/month; video + voice + screen sharing $49/month.AI
Pong: included in Premium, no per-resolution fees.
tawk.to: AI Assist add-on from $29/month, billed per AI message.Page weight
Pong: an 8 KB loader; the chat loads in its own frame, off your page’s critical path.
tawk.to: 19 requests, 261 KB — 7× Pong’s whole widget.Only in Pong here
AI included without per-resolution fees, Video calls in chat, Screen sharing, Call transcripts.
Feature by feature
Checked on tawk.to’s own pricing and feature pages in November 2026. Plans change — see tawk.to’s pricing for the latest.
- Yes
- No
- Paid add-on or higher plan
- Limited
- Not confirmed
| Feature | Pong Chat | tawk.to |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes — 1 agent: widget, team inbox, visitors map, triggers, export | Yes — unlimited agents and chats, ticketing and knowledge base |
| Price | Premium €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly; 14-day free trial | Add-ons: remove branding from $29/month; video + voice + screen sharing $49/month |
| AI pricing | Included in Premium: auto replies, triage and drafts on Cloudflare Workers AI, no per-resolution fees | AI Assist add-on from $29/month, billed per AI message |
| On your page | ||
| Widget weight, first page view | 40 KB2 requests · 4 requests, 45 KB with the 3D ball style | 261 KB19 requests |
| AI | ||
| AI answers visitors automatically | LimitedFrom your rules, AI-matched | Paid |
| AI reply drafts for agents | YesFrom past answers + knowledge base | Unknown |
| AI included without per-resolution fees | Yes | No |
| Urgency / sentiment detection | Yes | Unknown |
| Chat and team | ||
| Shared team inbox | Yes | Yes |
| Saved replies | Yes | Yes |
| Typing preview (see drafts live) | Yes | Unknown |
| File and image sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Replies by email when the visitor left | Yes | Yes |
| Internal team chat | Yes | Unknown |
| Visual chatbot / flow builder | No | Unknown |
| Calls and visitors | ||
| Video calls in chat | YesIn the browser, on Premium | Paid |
| Screen sharing | Yes | Paid |
| See the visitor’s page | LimitedScreenshots + page commands | No |
| Call transcripts | Yes | No |
| Real-time visitor list | Yes | Yes |
| Live visitors map | Yes | Unknown |
| Page history, referrer, UTM | Yes | Yes |
| Channels and support | ||
| WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram | No | Unknown |
| Ticketing | No | Yes |
| Public help center | No | Yes |
| Native mobile apps for agents | NoDesk works in mobile browsers | Yes |
| Reports and analytics | LimitedUsage only | Yes |
| CSAT surveys / chat ratings | No | Yes |
| Developers | ||
| REST API | Yes | Unknown |
| Webhooks | YesHMAC-signed | Yes |
| JavaScript widget API | Yes | Yes |
| Identity verification | Yes | Yes |
| Chat export | YesHTML, CSV, JSON, NDJSON | Yes |
“Paid” means a paid add-on or a plan above the cheapest one. “Not confirmed” means we could not verify it on tawk.to’s public pages. Widget weight: what the chat widget transfers on a first page view — compressed, in a fresh desktop Chrome with an empty cache, 25 seconds after load, nothing clicked — measured with each vendor’s own workspace on 15 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we fix it.
Why teams look for a tawk.to alternative
What reviewers on G2, Capterra and similar sites mention most often:
- Removing the tawk.to branding costs extra
- Mobile app lag and missed notifications
- Dated interface and basic reporting
Where tawk.to is stronger
- Free ticketing and knowledge base
- Hire chat agents on demand
- Large install base and plugins for every CMS
- Native mobile apps
Which one should you pick?
Both are free to start. Pick tawk.to for free ticketing and a knowledge base. Pick Pong if you want video calls, screen sharing and AI in one plan instead of separate add-ons, and a lighter, modern widget.
- Create a workspaceGoogle, Apple or email — free for one agent.
- Swap the snippetReplace the tawk.to code with Pong’s, on every page.
- Bring your teamInvite agents, add saved replies and AI rules, connect webhooks.
Questions, answered.
How does Pong Chat pricing compare with tawk.to?
Pong Chat is free for one agent. Premium — AI, video calls, the email inbox, integrations and the API — is €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly, with no per-resolution AI fees. tawk.to: Add-ons: remove branding from $29/month; video + voice + screen sharing $49/month.
Is Pong Chat lighter than tawk.to?
Yes. Pong Chat adds one script tag with an 8 KB loader; the chat loads in its own frame, off your page’s critical path. On a first page view tawk.to transferred 261 KB in 19 requests in our test — 7× Pong’s whole widget (fresh desktop Chrome, empty cache, 15 November 2026). Repeat page views load Pong from the browser cache.
How do I switch from tawk.to to Pong Chat?
Create a workspace, replace the tawk.to snippet with the Pong snippet, and recreate your saved replies. Webhooks and the REST API take over any integrations. It takes about ten minutes.
What does tawk.to do that Pong Chat doesn’t?
Free ticketing and knowledge base. Hire chat agents on demand. Large install base and plugins for every CMS. Native mobile apps.
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