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In this article
- Quick comparison
- tawk.to: genuinely free, no catch
- Tidio: the best SMB choice once you need AI
- Pricing (2026, billed annually)
- Crisp: workspace pricing that rewards growing teams
- Pricing (2026, billed per workspace)
- Intercom: the AI-first option if budget isn't the constraint
- Pricing (2026)
- Where each tool fits
- A note on AI chatbot realism
- Bottom line
Most NZ small businesses add live chat the same way they buy a fire extinguisher: once, under pressure, without much research. Then they're stuck paying $100/month for a tool they barely use, or worse, running a free tier that stamps someone else's logo on every chat widget.
This guide covers four of the best live chat tools available to NZ businesses right now, with real 2026 pricing in NZD, and a straight recommendation at the end for each type of business.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Starting price | Pricing model | AI chatbot | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tawk.to | Free | Per feature | No (basic triggers only) | Yes, genuinely free |
| Tidio | USD $24.17/mo (~NZD $40) | Per conversation volume | Yes (Lyro AI, add-on) | Yes, limited |
| Crisp | Free (2 seats) | Per workspace | Yes (50 AI actions/day on Essentials) | Yes, limited |
| Intercom | USD $29/seat/mo (~NZD $48) | Per seat + per AI resolution | Yes (Fin AI) | No |
| Freshchat | Free (up to 100 agents) | Per agent | Yes (Freddy AI, add-on) | Yes, generous |
tawk.to: genuinely free, no catch
tawk.to has been free since it launched and still is. Unlimited agents, unlimited chats, real-time visitor monitoring, canned responses, ticketing, and 100-plus integrations. You pay nothing.
The only monetisation tawk.to does is optional: you can pay USD $19/month (~NZD $31) to remove the "Powered by tawk.to" branding from the widget. That's it. There's no premium tier, no feature paywalls, no trial that expires.
For a NZ sole trader or a sub-five-person team, tawk.to is often the right answer. If your team has someone available to answer chats during business hours, you don't need to spend anything.
Where it falls down: the AI automation is basic. You can set up trigger messages and canned shortcuts, but there's no AI chatbot that can handle questions overnight. If you get traffic outside business hours and want those conversations resolved without a human, you'll need something else.
Tip
tawk.to integrates cleanly with Wix, Shopify, WordPress, and custom sites via a JavaScript snippet. Setup takes under 10 minutes.
Best for: NZ businesses on tight budgets, early-stage ecommerce, anyone who wants chat-on-the-website without a SaaS subscription.
Tidio: the best SMB choice once you need AI
Tidio started as a simple live chat tool and has evolved into a proper AI-first support platform. It's used by 300,000-plus businesses including Under Armour and The Body Shop.
Pricing (2026, billed annually)
| Plan | USD/month | NZD equiv |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | $24.17 | ~$40 |
| Plus | $49.17 | ~$81 |
| Premium | $749 | ~$1,235 |
There's a free tier, but it's limited: 50 conversations per month and Tidio branding on the widget. Most businesses outgrow it within a month.
The Growth plan at ~NZD $40/month is what most NZ SMBs will land on. It includes live chat, ticketing, email integration, and basic automation. WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger are included.
The AI chatbot is called Lyro. It's sold as an add-on, starting at USD $32.50/month (~NZD $54) for 50 AI conversations. Tidio claims Lyro resolves up to 67% of customer queries without human involvement. Add Lyro to the Growth plan and you're at ~NZD $94/month.
That's the number to budget, not the headline $40. Growth plan plus Lyro is what "Tidio with AI" actually costs.
Warning
Tidio auto-upgrades your plan tier at 95% conversation usage, which can cause unexpected cost jumps mid-month. Monitor usage in the dashboard and set a cap if your chat volume is variable.
The Plus plan at ~NZD $81/month adds advanced analytics, automatic chat assignment, customer notes, and removes Tidio branding. Worth it if you have a support team of three or more people.
Tidio runs a 30% lifetime recurring affiliate programme (via their partner portal at tidio.com). If any referred customer stays on a paid plan, you earn 30% of their subscription every month.
Best for: NZ ecommerce stores, SaaS companies, businesses that want AI overnight coverage without paying Intercom prices.
Crisp: workspace pricing that rewards growing teams
Crisp takes a different approach to pricing than every other tool on this list. You pay per workspace, not per seat. A team of ten people costs the same as a team of two on the same plan.
Pricing (2026, billed per workspace)
| Plan | EUR/month | NZD equiv |
|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | Free (2 seats) |
| Mini | €45 | ~$74 |
| Essentials | €95 | ~$157 |
| Plus | €295 | ~$487 |
The free plan covers two agents, unlimited chats, and basic widget. It's usable for solo operators or two-person support teams permanently.
Mini at ~NZD $74/month covers four agents and adds automation and email integration. Essentials at ~NZD $157 is where CRM, full omnichannel, and the AI chatbot kick in.
Crisp's AI runs at 50 actions per day on the Essentials plan. That's quite limiting if you want it handling a meaningful volume of overnight queries. Unlimited AI is gated to the Plus tier (~NZD $487/month), which is priced for companies with a real support operation.
Where Crisp shines: the flat workspace model makes it genuinely cheap per-agent at scale. A ten-person support team on Crisp Essentials pays NZD $157/month total. The same team on Intercom would pay NZD $480/month (USD $29 times 10 seats).
Crisp's partnership programme offers 20% cashback for affiliates (via their partnerships page at crisp.chat/en/partnerships).
Best for: NZ businesses with 4-plus support staff, SaaS companies that don't want per-seat billing to scale costs, anyone already on a tighter budget who's outgrown tawk.to.
Intercom: the AI-first option if budget isn't the constraint
Intercom is the most powerful live chat platform here, and the most expensive. It's built around Fin, their AI agent, which they claim resolves up to 59% of queries without human involvement.
Pricing (2026)
| Plan | USD/seat/month | NZD equiv |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | $29 | ~$48 |
| Advanced | ~$85 | ~$140 |
| Expert | ~$132 | ~$218 |
On top of seat costs, Fin AI Agent charges USD $0.99 per resolved conversation. If Fin handles 500 queries a month, that's USD $495 extra. Budget for that.
The Essential plan at ~NZD $48/seat is actually accessible for small teams. One or two seats plus moderate Fin usage could run NZD $150-200/month total, which is competitive. The issue is that costs scale unpredictably: every time AI resolves something, the meter ticks.
Intercom's integrations are deep. It connects natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Shopify, and hundreds of others. If you're running a SaaS with a proper sales and support stack, it ties together cleanly.
Intercom also runs a solution partner programme (at intercom.com/solution-partner-program) where referred customers earn you commission, though it's structured more for agencies than pure content affiliates.
Best for: NZ SaaS companies with 10-plus staff and a dedicated support function. Overkill for businesses under five people.
Where each tool fits
Here's the decision matrix without hedging:
Under five staff, sub-$50/month budget: tawk.to. You get everything you need for zero dollars. Set up triggers for after-hours, use canned responses, and check chats on your phone. Only upgrade when you're genuinely losing leads to slow response times.
Ecommerce or SaaS, want AI overnight coverage, under $150/month: Tidio Growth plus Lyro AI. The ~NZD $94/month all-in lands you a proper AI that handles FAQ queries, can pull Shopify order data, and hands off to humans cleanly. It's the best value AI-included live chat at this price point.
Growing support team of 4-plus, don't want per-seat billing: Crisp Essentials at ~NZD $157/month. One flat price for up to ten agents, full omnichannel, and a CRM. Far cheaper than Intercom at team scale.
SaaS company, want deep integrations, AI resolution rate is the priority: Intercom Essential. Budget USD $29-plus per seat plus Fin AI usage fees. Worth it if your support volume is high enough to see measurable AI resolution savings.
A note on AI chatbot realism
Every tool here markets AI as a way to resolve "50 to 67%" of queries automatically. That number is achievable if your chat volume is mostly FAQ questions with clear answers in a knowledge base. For a NZ trade or professional services business, where queries are often job-specific or require a quote, those AI resolution rates drop significantly. Don't buy the AI upsell until you've spent a month understanding what your customers actually ask.
Bottom line
tawk.to is the sensible default for any NZ small business starting out. Tidio is the right upgrade once you want AI and your monthly chat volume is real. Crisp wins on cost-per-agent for growing teams. Intercom is the enterprise option you grow into.
Don't pay Intercom prices with a five-person team. Don't stay on tawk.to once you're losing leads to slow overnight response. The upgrade path here is pretty clear.