A straightforward comparison of features, pricing, and real-world costs — so you can choose with confidence. No spin, just facts.
ChatBeacon is a flat-rate per-agent platform with AI chatbots, co-browsing, screen sharing, video chat, and SMS all included natively — with the option to deploy on-premise. Tidio uses conversation-based billing with separate paid add-ons for AI (Lyro, starting at $39/month) and automation (Flows, starting at $29/month), does not offer co-browsing or video chat, and is cloud-only. ChatBeacon was founded in 2005; Tidio in 2013.
ChatBeacon is an AI-powered live chat and chatbot platform built by SmartMax Software in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 2005, it serves banking, healthcare, education, insurance, and e-commerce organizations. It offers cloud, dedicated cloud, and on-premise deployment options.
Tidio is a customer service platform founded in 2013 in Szczecin, Poland. It focuses on SMBs and Shopify merchants, combining live chat with its proprietary Lyro AI agent and visual automation flows. It operates as a cloud-only SaaS product.
A side-by-side look at what each platform offers out of the box.
Tidio is a solid entry point for small teams and Shopify stores that want basic live chat with AI automation. ChatBeacon is the platform you move to when you need enterprise-grade AI, visual support tools, compliance-ready deployment, and predictable pricing that does not penalize growth.