Company: Tidio
Background: Tidio is a comprehensive customer service support tool. It aims to help businesses build structure in and automate their support processes. Aside from mainstream features like Live Chat and Support Ticketing, Tidio integrates well with external services. You can use it with Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and more.
Starting Price: Free – $240.83/mo
Currency: USD
Visit Online: https://www.tidio.com/
Review Summary & Ratings
Tidio has developed its pricing plans well, and the cost is easily affordable at each tier. Smaller companies can use the free plan to experiment before moving on to a paid plan. Most importantly, you aren't limited to just chatbots and can offer customers a comprehensive support package that will be the envy of even the largest companies.
Who Should Use Tidio?
Tidio is suitable for many use cases thanks to a multi-layered pricing system. The free tier can support small businesses looking to start dabbling in customer support improvements. Even non-business blogs can try it out indefinitely at no cost. It's also upward scalable and can support even the most prominent businesses. We recommend Tidio for any eCommerce or online store.
Pros: What I like About Tidio
1. Smooth Onboarding Process
Online tools are so standard today that most developers have turned onboarding into a fine-tuned process, and Tidio is no exception. The system greets your first login with a setup wizard. That walks you through a few simple steps to get things set up with your website.
However, unlike some tools, Tidio allows skipping the Wizard and head straight to your dashboard. You can tour the system before heading back to the Wizard to set things up. While this may not seem like much, it's better than taking a “my way or the highway” approach with customers.
2. User-friendly Design
Tidio's main dashboard is more or less a compact summary of everything important. You'll see vital statistics like leads acquired, visitors served, and other essential data. It's just enough to be informative without making you feel overwhelmed.
Aside from that information, Tidio also includes notifications such as unfinished tasks. You also get a summarized news feed that will recommend some articles that might help your business to do things more effectively.
3. Various Types of Chatbots Available
Chatbots are the central anchor of Tidio. This area is where it distinguishes itself from most other chatbot providers. Instead of forcing you to create scripted chatbots, you also can use their AI-powered chatbots if you're on the Tidio+ plan. However, this plan is expensive, so most small businesses will likely use scripted chatbots.
Don't despair, though, since Tidio offers a wide range of “quick start” options for your chatbots. You can create several of them, each with a specific task. For example, there are templated chatbots for everything from frequently asked questions to marketing and new visitor welcomes.
The templates available are also quite detailed, with niche templates for real estate, restaurants, and more. And, of course, the chatbots are fully design-customizable as well.
4. Live Chat Allows Direct Operator Support
Instead of taking your chances with 100% chatbot use, Tidio also allows Live Chat support. It even provides chat operators with comprehensive tools to make customer conversations faster and more streamlined.
Chat operators get access to canned responses they can quickly grab with a few shortcuts. They can also send attachments and notifications when offline, view customers typing in real-time, and more.
There's also a reasonable degree of localization since you can chat with customers in their browser-native language.
5. Ticketing System Provides 2nd Line Support
What you don't catch with live chat or chatbots can quickly be shuffled into Tidio's ticketing system. Typically, ticketing support and chatbots come as separate services. With Tidio, it all comes in a single package.
This in-depth support will allow you to provide a much better response to customers that need help with anything, be it sales, queries, or even after-sales support.
6. Integrates With Key External Platforms
Tidio is compatible with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and more. It also works with non-eCommerce platforms like Facebook Messenger, MailChimp, and Zapier.
This extensive compatibility means that Tidio fits any company's tech stack well. You don't need to manage it as a standalone product. One of the essential integrations in Tidio's repertoire is, of course, Google Analytics.
7. Unified Messaging
So far, we've highlighted the various chat capabilities of Tidio, but the best is yet to come. You don't need to micromanage everything. Tidio's chat capabilities across email, messenger, Instagram, and live chat are unified into a single interface.
You don't need to keep switching screens or apps to access all your support services. That makes it highly convenient, especially for smaller businesses with fewer resources to dedicate to such services.
Cons: What I dislike About Tidio
1. English-only Knowledgebase
While Tidio can localize for multiple languages in chat autoresponders, that's about as far as language capabilities stretch. Support documentation, FAQ, and knowledge base are only available in English.
You'll need to localize the training to support non-native English speakers in using the service. However, while this is inconvenient, it's understandable that most such services are also universally single-language.
2. Multi-site Capability Can be Disadvantageous
Tidio can work with more than one website with a single account. While that helps to keep things on a single platform, the mix of messages can be confusing to handle at first. It does take some time for someone to manage this feature adequately.
Think of it like using a multi-sim smartphone and getting calls and messages on the same device from two sources. Some acclimatization is needed, and even then, some will never get used to this way of working.
Tidio Plans and Pricing
Tidio comes with four different plans and pricing. It starts with a free plan that anyone can use. Think of this as an unlimited trial that doesn't require using a credit card. The catch is that the free tier only allows you to use chatbots to support 50 unique customers each month. Even for the smallest business, that's pretty improbable.
The next tier-up is quite affordable, though. The Communicator tier costs only $12.66/mo if you pay annually. With that, you can use chatbots for unlimited conversations and offer Live Chat services with up to five operators.
The most expensive plan on Tidio is purely for larger organizations and includes power tools like AI chatbots and an unlimited number of Live Chat support agents. This plan is likely for the massive eCommerce sites that are minting money.
I'd say that the Communicator or Chatbots plans will be sufficient for most businesses, even typical eCommerce websites or online stores.
Alternatives to Tidio
Internet buyers are getting more demanding and Tidio might not able to fulfill all customer needs. Luckily, the market isn't short of alternatives when it comes to customer service tools.
Zendesk for Service
Zendesk is a highly recognized customer support service platform that covers many areas. Thankfully it splits up features so you can get the support segment as a standalone service. However, even then, it's a bit expensive – definitely costing more than Tidio.
The difference is mainly in features, with Zendesk offering a more comprehensive line-up thanks to product maturity and the higher price. You get more integration potential, better automation, and even workflow management. ZenDesk for Service starts at $49/mo.
Freshdesk / Freshchat by Freshworks
Freshworks is the opposite of Zendesk and comes in an ever more stripped-down form. To make up for what Tidio offers, you must sign up for two different Freshworks products. Freshdesk helps with the regular support services, while Freshchat focuses on chatbot capabilities.
However, while this may sound inconvenient, each product offers greater depth than what comes with Tidio. For example, Freshchat is comprehensively multi-lingual and automated, with much better app interrogation capabilities. Both Freshdesk and Freshchat start free.
Verdict: Is Tidio Worth a Try?
Since Tidio offers a free plan, there's no harm in giving it a try. However, don't expect to be able to use that free plan effectively. It would be better to onboard with the free plan and use the unlimited time to configure and test several chatbots before moving on to a paid plan for operational use.
Compared with most other Chatbot-only services, Tidio takes things to the next level and builds much greater depth into customer support. Given how demanding the modern Internet buyer is today, you'll need that increased level of contact to succeed.
