tawk.toShopify Inboxtawk.to vs Shopify Inbox

tawk.to vs Shopify Inbox: free live chat or free chat

A free live chat against a free chat for Shopify stores: Shopify Inbox is $58 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick tawk.to if budget is zero and you can live with the tawk.to branding or pay $29 to remove it. Pick Shopify Inbox if you run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view. For five people, Shopify Inbox is $58 a month cheaper than tawk.to ($58 or more a month on tawk.to against $0 on Shopify Inbox), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, which only Shopify Inbox's figure comes under. tawk.to and Shopify Inbox both include website chat in the price. Neither tawk.to nor Shopify Inbox includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what tawk.to and Shopify Inbox sell here at one price.

At a glancetawk.totawk.toShopify InboxShopify Inbox
Built aroundFree chat for unlimited agents · paid add-ons per featureThe storefront chat · free with a Shopify plan
Entry plan$0 · unlimited agents$0 · with any Shopify plan
Chat in the price$0 · $29/mo to remove branding$0 · storefront and Shop app
AI agentAI Assist from $29/mo · small free tierIncluded · AI chat from the catalog and policies
Copilot for agentsIn AI AssistIncluded · suggested replies
Free planYes · the core product is freeYes · the app is free

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    tawk.totawk.to

    As a chat in the free dashboard; tickets are emails converted into a simple queue. Shopify Inbox has no ticket queue either.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    As a chat on the storefront or in the Shop app, with the cart and orders beside it. tawk.to has no ticket queue either.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    tawk.totawk.to

    Seats are free and unlimited. The money goes on add-ons: branding removal, AI Assist, video, hired agents. $58 for five people, against $0 on Shopify Inbox.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    There is no seat price; staff are limited by the Shopify plan's staff accounts. $0 for five people, against $58 on tawk.to.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    tawk.totawk.to

    AI Assist from $29 a month with a small free tier; it drafts and answers from your knowledge base. Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan instead.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    The AI chat learns the catalog and policies and is included; there is nothing to meter. tawk.to meters AI (AI Assist from $29/mo) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    tawk.totawk.to

    Website chat and email tickets; no native WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. The same set as Shopify Inbox.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Storefront chat and the Shop app; no email, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. The same set as tawk.to.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    tawk.totawk.to

    A knowledge base, a CRM, and human agents for hire at $1 an hour. Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores instead.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Product recommendations, discount codes and order updates inside the chat. tawk.to is a free live chat instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    tawk.totawk.to

    Minutes: paste the widget and start chatting. Shopify Inbox is minutes.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Minutes: install the app from the Shopify admin. tawk.to is minutes.

Sources: tawk.to pricing · Shopify Inbox pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The tawk.to dashboard: the visitor list, the chat and the ticket queue
tawk.totawk.to. The tawk.to dashboard: the visitor list, the chat and the ticket queue
The Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side
Shopify InboxShopify Inbox. The Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side

Pricing references: tawk.to pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Shopify Inbox pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

tawk.to, Shopify Inbox and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

Featuretawk.totawk.toShopify InboxShopify InboxSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Free chat; add-ons per feature.
Free with Shopify
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
Unlimited agents.
The whole app
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
The product.
Storefront and Shop app
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Ticketing by email on the free plan.
Not offered
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Messaging channels in beta.
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Messaging channels in beta.
No longer connected
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Beta.
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Not offered.
Not offered
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI Assist from $29/mo, trained on the knowledge base.
Learns the catalog
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Add-on subscription.
Included
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to agents.
Hands to staff
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Basic email tickets.
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Triggers.
Instant answers, greetings
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Basic reporting.
Assisted orders
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Desktop apps.
Admin and mobile
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick tawk.to if

  • Budget is zero and you can live with the tawk.to branding or pay $29 to remove it.
  • You want to hire human chat agents by the hour.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Shopify Inbox does not ship.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Shopify Inbox's: free live chat; paid add-ons per feature.

Pick Shopify Inbox if

  • You run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view.
  • One channel is enough and you do not need tickets.
  • Five people cost $58 a month less than on tawk.to ($0 against $58), before AI.
  • You want the AI in the seat price (included) rather than tawk.to's meter at AI Assist from $29/mo.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on tawk.to or Shopify Inbox who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $58 or more a month on tawk.to against $0 on Shopify Inbox for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: tawk.to meters AI (AI Assist from $29/mo) above the seats, Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and tickets raised from a chat, which neither tawk.to nor Shopify Inbox includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

tawk.to: $58+ a month for five ($0 for chat, $29 to remove branding, $29+ for AI Assist); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Shopify Inbox: $0 a month for five (free; five staff need the Shopify plan that allows them); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $13 less than tawk.to and more than Shopify Inbox's $0 for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included.

Where the two agree, and where they split

tawk.to is a free live chat built around free chat for unlimited agents; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Both have a free plan: tawk.to's is the core product is free, Shopify Inbox's is the app is free. tawk.to and Shopify Inbox both include website chat in the price. Neither tawk.to nor Shopify Inbox includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. tawk.to meters AI (AI Assist from $29/mo) above the seats; Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan. Neither tawk.to nor Shopify Inbox has a ticket queue, and only tawk.to ships desktop apps. tawk.to is minutes; Shopify Inbox is minutes.

What each price leaves out

tawk.to: AI Assist from $29 a month, with a small free tier. Shopify Inbox: AI chat and suggested replies included. Beside tawk.to's AI Assist from $29/mo and Shopify Inbox's included, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    tawk.totawk.toSee vendorNot quoted
    Shopify InboxShopify InboxSee vendorNot quoted
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    tawk.totawk.to · Not applicable; the core is free
    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox · Not applicable; free
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

tawk.to vs Shopify Inbox: the questions people ask

tawk.to is a free live chat built around free chat for unlimited agents; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Neither tawk.to nor Shopify Inbox has a ticket queue, and only tawk.to ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: tawk.to $0 (unlimited agents); Shopify Inbox $0 (with any Shopify plan).
  • Chat in the price: tawk.to $0 ($29/mo to remove branding); Shopify Inbox $0 (storefront and Shop app).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither tawk.to nor Shopify Inbox has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the tawk.to and Shopify Inbox rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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