Aivastark vs Tidio
Choose Tidio if you want a mature live-chat product with human agents at the centre and an AI layer on top. Choose Aivastark if you want an AI agent at the centre, a flat monthly bill that does not move with conversation volume, and full white-labelling — Aivastark starts at $12/month, and the free plan is permanent and needs no card.
Both put a chat widget on your site and both have an AI layer. The real difference is what sits at the centre — a live-chat inbox with AI bolted on, or an AI agent that escalates to humans — and what happens to the bill when a good month doubles your conversations.
Side by side
| Aivastark | Tidio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly price with a credit allowance; overage is billed, never a shut-off | Per billable conversation, with Lyro AI priced on top |
| Entry price | $0 permanent free plan, then $12/month (Solo) | Around $24.17/month (Starter, roughly 100 billable conversations) |
| Typical small-business spend | $39–$129/month depending on volume and channels | Around $68–$150/month for Tidio plus Lyro combined |
| White-labelling | Full white-label on paid plans — no vendor branding | Branding removal tied to higher tiers |
| Channels | Widget, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram and email into one inbox | Widget plus major messaging channels |
| Agentic tools | Calendar booking, Shopify order lookup, scoped database reads, MCP servers, custom webhooks | Focused on answering rather than acting |
Tidio figures checked September 2026: Tidio pricing, Featurebase — Tidio pricing breakdown. Pricing moves — check the vendor before you decide.
Where Tidio is the better choice
- A longer track record as a live-chat product, with a large install base and a mature human-agent workflow.
- A well-known brand in SMB ecommerce, which matters if your team already knows the tool.
- Lyro is genuinely capable for straightforward FAQ deflection.
The pricing model is the real difference
Tidio bills against billable conversations, and layers Lyro on top. That is predictable when volume is flat and uncomfortable when it is not — a product launch or a Black Friday spike raises the bill at exactly the moment support gets hard.
Aivastark bills a flat monthly price against a credit allowance. Past the allowance we bill overage rather than switching the assistant off, so the failure mode is a slightly larger invoice, not a silent bot on your busiest day.
Where each one sits in your stack
Tidio is a live-chat product first: humans in an inbox, AI in front of them. Aivastark is an agent first — it answers, cites what it used, and escalates into the unified inbox only when it genuinely cannot answer. If your plan is to keep a staffed chat team and deflect the easy half, Tidio fits that shape. If your plan is to have the agent handle the front line unattended, Aivastark is built for that.
Questions
Is Aivastark cheaper than Tidio?
Usually, and more predictably. Aivastark starts at $12/month flat with a permanent free plan, while Tidio's Starter is around $24.17/month for roughly 100 billable conversations, and a typical small business pays $68–$150/month once Lyro is included. The larger difference is that Aivastark's price does not move with conversation volume.
Can I white-label Aivastark but not Tidio?
Aivastark offers full white-labelling on paid plans, so customers never see a vendor name. Tidio ties branding removal to higher tiers. If you are an agency reselling support, that difference decides it.
What is the best Tidio alternative for a small store?
If you want flat pricing, full white-labelling and an agent that can look up a real Shopify order rather than only answer questions, Aivastark is the closer fit. If you want a mature staffed live-chat workflow with AI deflection in front, Tidio remains a strong product.
Does Aivastark do live chat with human agents too?
Yes. Escalations land in a unified inbox with agent presence, conversation claim, canned responses and internal notes. The difference is that the agent handles the front line by default rather than the queue.
Try it against your own questions.
Comparison tables only get you so far. The free plan is permanent and needs no card — train it on your own content and see how it answers the questions you actually get.