Every fact about tawk.to comes from tawk.to's own pages (add-ons, help center, terms) and its WordPress.org plugin page, read on October 20, 2026. This post is part of a series where we compare AI chatbot costs for online stores.
Is tawk.to free? What you get for $0
tawk.to is free on the live chat side: the add-ons page says "The platform is free" and lists four paid add-ons, billed per property (per website), not per seat. Sign-up needs no credit card. The same page says 99% of businesses use tawk.to entirely for free.
| tawk.to item | Price (read Oct 20, 2026) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Live chat, ticketing, knowledge base, Chat Pages | $0 | essay "Why is tawk.to free?" |
| AI Assist, Hobby plan | $0, 100 credits a month | help: message credits |
| AI Assist, paid plans | from $29 a month | add-ons page |
| Removing the "Powered by tawk.to" branding | $348 a year ($29 a month) or $39 billed monthly | help: branding |
| Human agents hired from tawk.to | $1 an hour, English only | essay, help: hired agents |
| Voice Agents, Data Enrichment | from $49 + usage, from $59 a month; both waitlist only | add-ons page |
The add-ons page and the essay quote $29 a month for removing the branding, and the help center clarifies that this is the annual-billing equivalent. Billed monthly, removing the branding costs $39.
AI Assist pricing in 2026: Hobby, Growth, Business, Enterprise
AI Assist has four plans: Hobby at $0 and three paid plans from $29 to $399 a month. Prices and limits come from the help article on AI Assist billing, updated on October 16, 2026. Annual billing means paying for 10 months, because the help article on plans says it includes two free months.
| Plan | Monthly price | Annual price | Credits a month | AI agents | Pages it can learn from | Escalation to a human |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $0 | $0 | 100 | 1 (more only on paid plans) | not in the table (help: 100-10,000 depending on plan) | no |
| Growth | $29 | $290 | 1,000 | 3 | 500 | yes |
| Business | $99 | $990 | 5,000 | 5 | 2,000, every 12 h | yes |
| Enterprise | $399 | $3,990 | 20,000 | 10 | 10,000, hourly | yes |
Extra credits cost $30 per 1,000, do not expire and carry over to the next period.
You can buy top-ups only on a paid plan, so on Hobby the AI stops joining new conversations after 100 credits until the reset. Integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce, custom API) start on Growth: 1,000 API calls on Growth, 5,000 on Business, 10,000 on Enterprise.
tawk.to's help center lists the AI agent schedule (the hours when AI answers customers) and adding more AI agents as paid-plan features only.
How tawk.to counts AI credits: 1 credit is not 1 reply
tawk.to deducts credits for every AI reply, and the number of credits per reply depends on the model: the default Auto model uses 3 credits, Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-4o mini and Gemini Flash use 1 credit each, and advanced models range from 2 to 10+.
The source is the help article on choosing a model, which says new AI agents use Auto by default.
| Plan | AI replies on Auto (3 credits) | AI replies on a 1-credit model |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby, 100 credits | about 33 | 100 |
| Growth, 1,000 credits | about 333 | 1,000 |
| Business, 5,000 credits | about 1,667 | 5,000 |
Features for human agents use credits too: Smart Reply and AI Commands, charged at the selected model's rate. Transcribing a voice message costs 1 credit per started minute, up to 5 per message. Replies in the Preview section and replies that fail because of a system error use no credits.
When credits run out, AI Assist can continue conversations already in progress and deducts the excess from your next balance. Plan credits reset every billing cycle, so unused ones do not carry over.
The math: 100, 300 and 1,000 AI conversations a month
At 300 conversations of 4 messages, tawk.to costs $99 on the Auto model or $59 on a 1-credit model; for the free chatbot by Roition you pay us $0 and OpenAI about $0.97 for tokens (estimate).
At 100 conversations of 4 messages, tawk.to AI Assist costs $59 on Auto or $29 on a 1-credit model; at 1,000 conversations, $309 or $99.
Assumptions: a conversation has 4 customer messages (typical) or 10 (long), and each message gets one AI reply. For tawk.to we take the cheapest plan plus $30 top-ups, billed monthly. The Hobby plan is left out because it gives 100 credits and does not allow buying more.
| Traffic | AI replies | tawk.to, Auto (3 credits) | tawk.to, 1-credit model | Free chatbot by Roition: $0 to Roition + OpenAI (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 conversations × 4 | 400 | 1,200 cr.: Growth + 1 top-up = $59 | 400 cr.: Growth = $29 | about $0.32 (0.26-0.42) |
| 300 conversations × 4 | 1,200 | 3,600 cr.: Business = $99 | 1,200 cr.: Growth + 1 = $59 | about $0.97 (0.79-1.27) |
| 1,000 conversations × 4 | 4,000 | 12,000 cr.: Business + 7 = $309 | 4,000 cr.: Business = $99 | about $3.24 (2.64-4.24) |
| 100 conversations × 10 | 1,000 | 3,000 cr.: Growth + 2 = $89 | 1,000 cr.: Growth = $29 | about $0.81 (0.66-1.06) |
| 300 conversations × 10 | 3,000 | 9,000 cr.: Business + 4 = $219 | 3,000 cr.: Growth + 2 = $89 | about $2.43 (1.98-3.18) |
| 1,000 conversations × 10 | 10,000 | 30,000 cr.: Enterprise + 10 = $699 | 10,000 cr.: Business + 5 = $249 | about $8.10 (6.60-10.60) |
The cost of the free chatbot by Roition is our estimate of $0.66-1.06 per 1,000 customer messages (typically $0.81) for the default GPT-6 Luna model, not a reading from an OpenAI invoice.
On top of that come embeddings when the feed and site are refreshed, and an OpenAI account needs a prepayment of at least $5 to start. The tawk.to amounts cover AI Assist only; live chat is free on every tawk.to plan.
tawk.to AI Assist vs the free chatbot by Roition, feature by feature
tawk.to AI Assist is an AI agent inside a platform with live chat, ticketing and social channels; the free chatbot by Roition is a product advisor on the store's website, without live chat. The table sets what tawk.to's help center states (October 20, 2026) against our chatbot's features.
| Attribute | tawk.to AI Assist | Free chatbot by Roition |
|---|---|---|
| Tool fee | Hobby $0; paid from $29 a month | $0 to Roition + OpenAI tokens on your key (estimate about $0.81 per 1,000 messages), no conversation limit on our side |
| AI billing | credits per reply, included in the plan | OpenAI tokens on your own API key |
| AI model | choice: Auto, Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-4o mini, Gemini Flash and others | OpenAI models, GPT-6 Luna by default |
| Your own API key | not mentioned on the site | required (OpenAI) |
| Knowledge sources | FAQs, PDF, CSV and TXT files, tables (e.g. a product catalog), knowledge base, websites | store website, Google Merchant Center or Ceneo XML feed, store description, FAQ buttons |
| XML product feed | not mentioned on the site | yes, refreshed daily |
| Product suggestions | product search in Shopify and WooCommerce (from Growth), tables with a product catalog | 2-3 in-stock products from the feed with photo and price |
| Order status | Shopify and WooCommerce, from Growth | no |
| Actions in the chat (refunds, discount codes, cart) | Shopify: refunds and cancellations in the human agent's tab; WooCommerce: AI can create orders | no |
| Live chat and human takeover | live chat $0; AI escalation to a human from Growth | no |
| Channels | live chat, tickets, email (Gmail, Outlook), Messenger, SMS, Telegram, WhatsApp; 1 AI agent = 1 channel | website widget only |
| Languages | multilingual support (no list of AI languages); widget in 49 languages, including Polish | widget in Polish and English, replies in the customer's language |
| Dashboard | inbox, ticketing, CRM | conversations, knowledge gaps, popular questions; no sales analytics from chat |
| Support | tickets from Growth, chat and tickets from Business, 24/7 on Enterprise | no SLA-backed support |
| Data processing agreement | we did not check | not offered |
tawk.to on store platforms: Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop and others
The tawk.to widget works on any platform that accepts JavaScript, but tawk.to describes AI store features (orders, products) only for Shopify and WooCommerce. The free chatbot by Roition is one `<script>` tag before `</body>`, with no app in any app store.
| Platform | tawk.to (help center, Oct 20, 2026) | Free chatbot by Roition |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify | app; Shopify tab in the agent dashboard (orders, refunds); AI: order and product search from Growth; according to tawk.to's Shopify help the person who installs through Shopify cannot buy add-ons | code in `theme.liquid` |
| WooCommerce | WordPress plugin "Tawk.To Live Chat" (100,000+ installs); AI: products, orders, order status on paid plans | code via a plugin such as WPCode |
| PrestaShop | widget module (guide for 1.6/1.7; 1.6 no longer supported), no AI integration mentioned | code in the theme or a module |
| Magento 2, BigCommerce, OpenCart | widget setup guides | code before `</body>` |
| Shoper, IdoSell (Polish platforms) | not mentioned | code in custom integrations / HTML add-ons |
Exact steps for pasting the code on these platforms are in our setup guide for the free chatbot.
When tawk.to fits and when the free chatbot by Roition fits
tawk.to has live chat for $0 and AI agents on channels beyond the website, and from the Growth plan AI escalation to a human and order status in Shopify and WooCommerce; the free chatbot by Roition suggests products from an XML feed and has no conversation limit on our side.
The table maps scenarios to the option that has the feature.
| Scenario | Option with that feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| You want to chat with customers yourself, without AI | tawk.to (live chat $0) | the free chatbot by Roition has no live chat |
| The AI should hand the conversation to a human | tawk.to Growth and up | from $29 a month |
| Customers ask about order status, store on Shopify or WooCommerce | tawk.to Growth and up | API integration |
| Customers write on WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram | tawk.to | 1 AI agent per channel; more on paid plans |
| Customers don't know what to pick, and you have an XML feed | free chatbot by Roition | $0 to Roition + OpenAI tokens (estimate about $0.81 per 1,000 messages) |
| More than 100 AI replies a month (about 33 on Auto) without a tool fee | free chatbot by Roition | $0 to Roition + OpenAI tokens (estimate about $0.81 per 1,000 messages); no top-ups on tawk.to Hobby |
| Store on a platform tawk.to doesn't document, AI should suggest products from an XML feed | free chatbot by Roition | tawk.to doesn't mention XML feeds; a product catalog can be imported into AI Assist tables from a CSV or Excel file |
tawk.to live chat and the Roition product advisor are two separate widgets; we have not tested running both on one site.
What tawk.to is and who runs it
tawk.to is a live chat platform with ticketing, a knowledge base and the paid AI Assist add-on.
According to the essay "Why is tawk.to free?" it launched in October 2013. The terms of service name tawk.to inc., with an address in Las Vegas (Nevada, USA), as the contracting party. The WordPress plugin page says more than 5 million companies use tawk.to.
tawk.to works as a chat widget added to a website with JavaScript code; humans answer the chats, and with the AI Assist add-on AI agents trained on your knowledge sources answer too. The free part also covers ticketing, a knowledge base and Chat Pages. We did not check tawk.to's security, privacy policy or GDPR compliance for this post.
What this post does not tell you
This comparison of tawk.to and the free chatbot by Roition rests on what tawk.to's pricing pages and help center state (read October 20, 2026), not on a test.
We did not test AI Assist answer quality, response time or how the Auto model picks a model. A feature missing from tawk.to's site does not mean it does not exist.
Our chatbot's cost is an estimate based on OpenAI's price list, not a measurement from an invoice. The number of messages per conversation (4 and 10) is an assumption, not store data. tawk.to changed how its help center describes credits on October 16, 2026, so check current pricing before you buy.
tawk.to live chat costs $0, and AI Assist costs $0 on the Hobby plan (100 credits a month) and from $29 a month on paid plans, according to tawk.to's pages as of October 20, 2026.
Set up the free chatbot
You can launch the free chatbot by Roition after creating an account: you pay us $0, no conversation limit, and you pay OpenAI for tokens on your own key, by our estimate about $0.81 per 1,000 messages. Unlike tawk.to, it has no live chat, human escalation, channels beyond the website or order status.
Founder of Roition, independent Google Ads API developer
Founder of Roition, with almost 3 years of Google Ads experience. Designs and builds process automation for Polish companies: system integrations, handling enquiries and quotes, AI assistants working on company data.
Frequently asked questions
Is tawk.to really free?
tawk.to live chat, ticketing and knowledge base cost $0, with no credit card. Four add-ons are paid: AI Assist beyond the Hobby plan (from $29 a month), branding removal ($348 a year or $39 a month), Voice Agents and Data Enrichment. Human agents hired from tawk.to are billed separately ($1 an hour).
How much does tawk.to AI Assist cost?
AI Assist costs $0 on Hobby, $29 a month on Growth, $99 on Business and $399 on Enterprise; annual billing is $290, $990 and $3,990. Extra credits cost $30 per 1,000 and are available only on paid plans. You pay by credit card or PayPal.
How many AI replies does the Hobby plan give?
The Hobby plan gives 100 credits a month. On the default Auto model (3 credits) that is about 33 AI replies; on a 1-credit model such as Claude Haiku 4.5 it is 100. Hobby has no top-ups and no escalation to a human.
How much does it cost to remove tawk.to branding?
$348 a year, which is $29 a month, or $39 billed monthly, per property. The add-ons page and the essay quote only the $29 a month figure.
Will AI Assist hand the chat to a human?
Yes, but only on paid AI Assist plans, from Growth. You set it up with a shortcut that has a "Transfer Chat" action to an agent or department; when a human joins, the AI agent leaves the chat. According to tawk.to's help center, the AI tries to transfer the chat even when agents are offline. The free chatbot by Roition has no human takeover.
Does tawk.to work with WooCommerce and WordPress?
The widget is installed with the WordPress plugin "Tawk.To Live Chat" (100,000+ installs). The AI Assist integration with WooCommerce, set up with REST API keys, lets the AI answer about products, create orders and check order status, but only on paid AI Assist plans.
Is tawk.to an AI chatbot?
tawk.to is live chat software, and AI Assist is an add-on with AI agents that answer from your knowledge sources. Without AI Assist, humans answer the chat.
Can I use my own OpenAI API key in tawk.to?
An option to use your own API key is not mentioned on tawk.to's site or in the help articles we reviewed; AI is billed in credits. The free chatbot by Roition runs only on your own OpenAI key.
What happens when AI Assist credits run out?
AI Assist can continue conversations in progress but does not join new ones until you buy more credits or the plan renews. tawk.to deducts the excess from your next balance.
Is there a free tawk.to alternative with AI?
For the free chatbot by Roition you pay us $0, with no conversation limit on our side; you pay OpenAI for tokens on your own key, by our estimate about $0.81 per 1,000 messages. It has no live chat, human takeover or order status; tawk.to has live chat for $0, and AI escalation to a human and order status from the Growth plan.