Pong Chat vs Tidio: a lighter alternative.
Tidio is live chat for small businesses and Shopify stores, with the Lyro AI agent and Flows automations. 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.
Tidio: Starter $24.17/month (annual) for 100 conversations; Growth from $49.17/month.AI
Pong: included in Premium, no per-resolution fees.
Tidio: Lyro AI agent is a separate add-on from $32.50/month for 50 conversations.Page weight
Pong: an 8 KB loader; the chat loads in its own frame, off your page’s critical path.
Tidio: 8 requests, 522 KB — 13× Pong’s whole widget.Only in Pong here
AI included without per-resolution fees, Video calls in chat, Screen sharing, Call transcripts, REST API.
Feature by feature
Checked on Tidio’s own pricing and feature pages in November 2026. Plans change — see Tidio’s pricing for the latest.
- Yes
- No
- Paid add-on or higher plan
- Limited
- Not confirmed
| Feature | Pong Chat | Tidio |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes — 1 agent: widget, team inbox, visitors map, triggers, export | Yes — 50 human-handled conversations a month, 100 Flows visitors, 50 Lyro conversations once |
| Price | Premium €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly; 14-day free trial | Starter $24.17/month (annual) for 100 conversations; Growth from $49.17/month |
| AI pricing | Included in Premium: auto replies, triage and drafts on Cloudflare Workers AI, no per-resolution fees | Lyro AI agent is a separate add-on from $32.50/month for 50 conversations |
| On your page | ||
| Widget weight, first page view | 40 KB2 requests · 4 requests, 45 KB with the 3D ball style | 522 KB8 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 | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Calls and visitors | ||
| Video calls in chat | YesIn the browser, on Premium | No |
| Screen sharing | Yes | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Ticketing | No | Yes |
| Public help center | No | Unknown |
| 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 | Paid |
| Webhooks | YesHMAC-signed | Unknown |
| JavaScript widget API | Yes | Yes |
| Identity verification | Yes | Unknown |
| 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 Tidio’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 Tidio alternative
What reviewers on G2, Capterra and similar sites mention most often:
- Price is the most common complaint in reviews
- Three separate meters — conversations, Lyro and Flows — inflate the bill
- Repricing raised bills for existing customers
Where Tidio is stronger
- Visual Flows builder for no-code automations
- Deep Shopify integration with product and order data
- Omnichannel inbox
- Native mobile apps
Which one should you pick?
Pick Tidio if you run a Shopify store and want visual automation flows. Pick Pong if you want unlimited conversations without meters, plus video calls and a visitor map.
- Create a workspaceGoogle, Apple or email — free for one agent.
- Swap the snippetReplace the Tidio 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 Tidio?
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. Tidio: Starter $24.17/month (annual) for 100 conversations; Growth from $49.17/month.
Is Pong Chat lighter than Tidio?
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 Tidio transferred 522 KB in 8 requests in our test — 13× 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 Tidio to Pong Chat?
Create a workspace, replace the Tidio 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 Tidio do that Pong Chat doesn’t?
Visual Flows builder for no-code automations. Deep Shopify integration with product and order data. Omnichannel inbox. Native mobile apps.
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