TidioZoho DeskTidio vs Zoho Desk

Tidio vs Zoho Desk: five seats for $49 or $70

A live chat and AI for small business against a help desk: Tidio is $21 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 Tidio if you run a Shopify or WordPress store and want a bot answering FAQs by tonight. Pick Zoho Desk if you already run Zoho CRM or Books and want support in the same suite. For five people, Tidio is $21 a month cheaper than Zoho Desk ($49 or more a month on Tidio against $70 on Zoho Desk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $4 under Tidio. Tidio and Zoho Desk both include email, WhatsApp and Instagram in the price; only Tidio has website chat; only Zoho Desk has Telegram. Between them Tidio and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Tidio and Zoho Desk sell here at one price.

At a glanceTidioTidioZoho DeskZoho Desk
Built aroundThe chat widget and Lyro · billed by conversations, not seatsEmail tickets · part of the Zoho suite
Entry plan$24.17/mo · Starter: 100 conversations$7/user/mo · Express, yearly
Chat in the priceFrom $49.17/mo · Growth: 250+ conversations$40/user/mo · Enterprise, with SalesIQ
AI agentLyro from $32.50/mo · 50 conversationsIn the plan · Zia on Professional and up
Copilot for agentsIncluded · reply assistantZia · Professional and up
Free planYes · 50 conversations a monthYes · 3 agents, email tickets

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    TidioTidio

    As a chat in the widget, often answered first by the Lyro bot; a busy month counts against the conversation cap. Zoho Desk raises a ticket where Tidio keeps a conversation.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    As a ticket from email, a form or a messaging app, in a queue with blueprints for the process. Tidio has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    TidioTidio

    Ten seats are included; what you pay for is conversations, from 100 on Starter to 250 or more on Growth. $49 for five people, against $70 on Zoho Desk.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    $7 buys email tickets on Express; WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram start on Standard at $14; live chat needs Enterprise. $70 for five people, against $49 on Tidio.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    TidioTidio

    Lyro is bought in packs: from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations, on top of the plan. Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan instead.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    Zia's answer bot and generative AI are included by plan, with a token allowance, rather than metered per conversation. Tidio meters AI (Lyro from $32.50/mo) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    TidioTidio

    Website chat, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and email, with native Shopify and WordPress apps. website chat is here and not on Zoho Desk.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    Email and social on every plan; WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and Messenger from Standard; chat on Enterprise. Telegram is here and not on Tidio.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    TidioTidio

    Flows, the visual bot builder, and email campaigns for small ecommerce teams. Zoho Desk is a help desk instead.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    The Zoho suite: CRM, SalesIQ, Projects and Books share the account. Tidio is a live chat and AI for small business instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    TidioTidio

    An hour: install the app on Shopify or WordPress and switch on Lyro. Zoho Desk is a day.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    A day: connect the mailbox, set departments and a blueprint. Tidio is an hour.

Sources: Tidio pricing · Zoho Desk 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 Tidio inbox: the conversation list, the chat and Lyro's suggested answers
TidioTidio. The Tidio inbox: the conversation list, the chat and Lyro's suggested answers
The Zoho Desk ticket view: the queue, the ticket with Zia's suggestions and the contact
Zoho DeskZoho Desk. The Zoho Desk ticket view: the queue, the ticket with Zia's suggestions and the contact

Pricing references: Tidio pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Zoho Desk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Tidio, Zoho Desk 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.

FeatureTidioTidioZoho DeskZoho DeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
By billable conversations; AI by conversation packs.
Per user; AI in the plan
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
50 conversations a month, 10 seats.
3 agents
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Yes.
Enterprise, via SalesIQ
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Paid plans.
All plans
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Paid plans.
Standard and up
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Paid plans.
Standard and up
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not a channel.
Standard and up
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Not offered.
Slack and Teams integrations
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Lyro, trained on your site and FAQs.
Zia answer bot
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $32.50/mo for 50 conversations.
In the plan, token allowance
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Lyro hands to an operator.
Creates a ticket
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Ticketing on paid plans, email-style.
Ticket-first with blueprints
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Flows, visitor-count limited.
Workflows and blueprints
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Analytics on Growth and up.
Reports and dashboards
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick Tidio if

  • You run a Shopify or WordPress store and want a bot answering FAQs by tonight.
  • Conversation volume is small enough that paying by conversation is cheaper than seats.
  • Five people cost $21 a month less than on Zoho Desk ($49 against $70), before AI.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Zoho Desk does not include outright.

Pick Zoho Desk if

  • You already run Zoho CRM or Books and want support in the same suite.
  • Email tickets with WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram at a low seat price.
  • You need Telegram in the price, which Tidio does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Tidio does not have.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Tidio or Zoho Desk who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $49 or more a month on Tidio against $70 on Zoho Desk for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Tidio meters AI (Lyro from $32.50/mo) above the seats, Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You want native Windows and macOS apps and a free plan that never expires beside the paid tiers, which Tidio and Zoho Desk have only in part.

What two, five and ten people pay

Tidio: $49+ a month for five (from $49.17 for 250 conversations; seats are not the limit); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Zoho Desk on Standard: $28, $70 and $140 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $4 less than Tidio and $25 less than Zoho Desk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $45 under Zoho Desk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Tidio is a live chat and AI for small business built around the chat widget and Lyro; Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets. Both have a free plan: Tidio's is 50 conversations a month, Zoho Desk's is 3 agents, email tickets. Tidio and Zoho Desk both include email, WhatsApp and Instagram in the price; only Tidio has website chat; only Zoho Desk has Telegram. Between them Tidio and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. Tidio meters AI (Lyro from $32.50/mo) above the seats; Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan. Zoho Desk has tickets and Tidio does not, and only Tidio ships desktop apps. Tidio is an hour; Zoho Desk is a day.

What each price leaves out

Tidio: Lyro AI from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations, sold separately or bundled. Zoho Desk: Zia answer bot from Standard; generative AI on Professional and up with a token allowance. Beside Tidio's Lyro from $32.50/mo and Zoho Desk's in the plan, 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 these figures were read

Zoho Desk does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (Per user per month, billed yearly; monthly costs more. The page could only be read in a local currency, so the dollar figures are Zoho's US list prices from published summaries.), so they are marked unverified here beside Tidio's, and Zoho Desk's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

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
    TidioTidioSee vendorNot quoted
    Zoho DeskZoho DeskAssumed $0$0
    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.

    TidioTidio · 7-day trial
    Zoho DeskZoho Desk · 15-day trial, no card
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Tidio vs Zoho Desk: the questions people ask

Tidio is a live chat and AI for small business built around the chat widget and Lyro; Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets. Zoho Desk has tickets and Tidio does not, and only Tidio ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Tidio $24.17/mo (Starter: 100 conversations); Zoho Desk $7/user/mo (Express, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: Tidio From $49.17/mo (Growth: 250+ conversations); Zoho Desk $40/user/mo (Enterprise, with SalesIQ).
  • Sellio's inbox: all five channels on every paid plan, where Tidio and Zoho Desk each include only some.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Tidio and Zoho Desk on the same rows.

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.

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