The short answer
Same category, different jobs
AskSpot and Tidio are both AI chat tools for online stores, but they solve different problems. Tidio is an affordable live-chat suite with a metered AI add-on (Lyro) – a good start for small teams that want basic automation. AskSpot is a catalog-aware sales and support agent: it searches your products (including by photo), helps shoppers check out inside the chat, and answers order questions across the storefront and marketplace inboxes – at a flat per-conversation price with no per-seat fees.
Choose AskSpot if…
You want an AI that sells – catalog and photo search, in-chat checkout – and also handles support and marketplace inboxes, at a flat price with no per-seat fees.
Choose Tidio if…
You want cheap live chat plus light automation to start, and don’t need catalog-native selling or marketplace inboxes.
Feature comparison
AskSpot vs Tidio, capability by capability
The same 16-point rubric we score every tool on. A tick means the vendor documents it; a tilde means limited or partial; a dash means it isn’t advertised.
| Capability | AskSpot | Tidio |
|---|---|---|
| Selling | ||
| Product search & recommendationThe shopper describes what they want and the agent finds and recommends products from your live catalogue. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Visual search by photoThe shopper uploads a photo and the agent finds matching or similar products. | ✓ | – |
| In-chat product cards + add-to-cartReal product cards inside the chat, with add-to-cart – no leaving the conversation. | ✓ | ~ |
| Agentic checkout / copilotThe agent can browse, choose options and take the shopper through checkout. | ✓ | – |
| Proactive messages & cart recoveryThe agent reaches out at the right moment and wins back abandoned carts. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Virtual fitting room / visualizationThe shopper sees how a product looks on them or in their space before buying – a virtual try-on. | ✓ | – |
| Revenue / conversion analyticsReporting that ties chat activity to carts, orders and revenue. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Support & reach | ||
| Order tracking (WISMO), cancels & returnsThe agent reads order data to answer ‘where is my order?’ and handle returns. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Helpdesk / inbox agentAn AI agent that also answers support emails in your helpdesk inbox, not just live chat. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full helpdesk suite (macros, SLAs, seats)A complete seat-based helpdesk – macros, SLAs and agent seats for a support team. | – | ✓ |
| Social / messaging channelsAnswering on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and other messaging channels. | soon | ✓ |
| Marketplace inbox (Allegro, Amazon)The agent answers buyer messages inside Allegro and Amazon marketplace inboxes. | ✓ | – |
| General | ||
| Grounded / low-hallucination answersAnswers stay tied to your real data, so the agent does not make things up. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Knowledge baseCurate your own Q&A and point the agent at your site, so it answers on-brand. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Onboarding & human supportA dedicated team helps you set up – including done-for-you agent configuration – and supports you after. | ✓ | ~ |
| Free tierA permanent free plan, not just a trial or demo. | ~ | ✓ |
| Capabilities documented (of 16) | 13 | 10 |
✓ documented~ limited / partial– not advertisedsoon on the roadmap
How AskSpot works: one agent across two channels – its own storefront chat and your existing helpdesk inbox. It plugs into the helpdesk you already run (Freshdesk, Thulium, Zendesk, Allegro, Amazon) rather than replacing it.
Scored against each vendor’s public product, pricing and documentation pages, September 2026. AskSpot is scored on the same rubric. Where AskSpot trails: Tidio ships a full seat-based helpdesk, live video calls, social channels today, and a permanent free plan.
Pricing
What each one costs
Different models, so compare the all-in cost at the same volume – not the sticker. Figures from each vendor’s pricing page, September 2026.
AskSpot
€250 / month
at ~1,000 conversations – flat rate, 1,250 included, everything in.
- Includes 1,250 conversations a month
- Then €0.18 per extra conversation
- Every capability included – no AI add-on to buy
- The AI never caps out mid-month
Tidio
≈ €760 / month
at ~1,000 AI conversations – Growth + metered Lyro AI.
- Free plan · Starter €29/mo (100 conv) · Growth €59/mo (250+) · Plus from €300/mo (custom volume + dedicated manager)
- Lyro AI is billed separately, per conversation – from €32.50/mo (50) up to around €700/mo for 1,000 AI conversations
- Three quotas run in parallel: billable conversations, Lyro AI conversations and flows
- AI chats don’t count toward the billable-conversation limit – you pay for both
| All-in cost / month | AskSpot | Tidio |
|---|---|---|
| ~1,000 AI conversations | €250 (1,250 included, everything in) | ~€760 (Growth €59 + Lyro €700), plus separate quotas |
| ~2,000 AI conversations | €385 | Lyro scales higher again, on top of the base plan – contact Tidio |
Tidio’s entry plans are genuinely cheap, and the free plan is real. But its Lyro AI is billed on top and metered – around €700/month for 1,000 AI conversations, before the base plan. AskSpot folds every capability into one flat rate, with 1,250 conversations included and no per-seat fees, so the price is predictable and the agent never caps out mid-month. Tidio figures are monthly billing, from its pricing page, September 2026.
The honest split
Where each tool is stronger
AskSpot is stronger at
- Selling from the catalog – text and photo product search
- Helping the shopper check out inside the chat (agentic copilot)
- Virtual fitting room and product visualization
- Answering in the Allegro and Amazon marketplace inboxes
- Answering in 200+ languages on the same catalogue and order data
- Flat, predictable pricing – no per-seat fees, no metered AI
Tidio is stronger at
- A permanent free plan and the cheapest way to start
- A full seat-based helpdesk (macros, SLAs, agent seats)
- Live video calls with shoppers
- Social and messaging channels live today (WhatsApp, Instagram)
- A large, mature template and integration library
- Simple setup for a small team that just wants live chat
See AskSpot on your own catalogue
A 20-minute demo on your own products and order data – no rip-and-replace, live in days.
One platform, two agents
The AI Chat & Inbox Agents
AskSpot is two agents on one platform – the on-site AI Chat Agent that sells from your live catalogue, and the AI Inbox Agent that answers across your helpdesk and marketplace inboxes, in 200+ languages.
spotBy industry
Which industry are you in?
Every vertical asks different questions – see how AskSpot answers them from your store’s own catalogue.
Proof
Stores already running AskSpot
How Morele.net cut customer service costs by 90%
Morele.net cut support costs 90%, from 50 agents to 5. AskSpot resolves 65% of its 37,600 monthly chats with no human and answers Allegro questions too.
Read the story →
How Militaria resolves 72% of chats in 8 languages
Militaria.pl runs AskSpot across three domains in eight languages: 61% recommendation click-through, 26% add-to-cart after a chat, 72% resolved with no human.
Read the story →
How 4FIZJO resolves 61% of customer chats with AI
AskSpot's AI Chat resolves 61% of 4FIZJO's 21,360 monthly chats with no human across 6 markets; its Inbox Agent auto-resolves 25% of email tickets.
Read the story →
GadziSklep: 81% of exotic-pet chats resolved by AI
GadziSklep's AskSpot chat helps hobbyists build a whole terrarium setup – enclosure, UVB, heating, feeders and supplements – resolving 81% of chats, sending 30.6% to the cart at a 48% recommendation click-through, 69% of it after hours.
Read the story →
How Carmager resolves 72% of chats across 12 markets
Carmager sells made-to-measure car accessories across 12 storefronts. AskSpot answers fitment in the shopper's language – 72% resolved, 19.6% to cart, 11.3% buy.
Read the story →
How chat advice puts €1.9M of garden furniture in baskets a month
Meblobranie's AskSpot agent answers the questions garden furniture is bought on – size, colour, anchoring, spare nets. Chat advice puts €1.9M into the cart a month, 20% of chats fill a basket, 70% resolved.
Read the story →
See every story
Every merchant we have measured – what shoppers asked, what the agent did, and the numbers it moved.
Browse them all →
Testimonials
What our customers say
“AskSpot enables us to provide superior support for Ariston customers at every stage – from pre-purchase advice to post-sale and service assistance. Equally important, Ariston benefits from the valuable insights AskSpot delivers about customer preferences, which help us continuously improve the customer experience.”
“AskSpot is a revolutionary solution for us. We provide our customers with the key information they need instantly while simultaneously reducing the workload of customer service.”
“AskSpot has significantly improved customer service in our stores. The assistant not only searches the product catalog and helps customers choose the right hardware, but also automatically checks the status of orders and complaints – relieving the team and shortening response times.
The greatest value for us is the scalability of the solution and the ease of integration with additional stores and markets. We treat AskSpot as a strategic component of our customer experience development and sales automation.”
“We have been impressed by how AskSpot delivers a seamless experience for our customers while remaining incredibly intuitive for our own team to manage.
Beyond the ease of use, the detailed analytics and reports are of enormous value – they help us make better decisions around customer satisfaction. Behind AskSpot stands a team that puts innovation first and keeps developing the product to match changing business needs.”
“At GadziSklep, customers often need more than product information – they’re looking for specific advice on keeping their animal. AskSpot helps them choose the right products for a given species, answers their questions and guides them through the range even when our team is already off. That lets us stay available to customers almost around the clock, without losing service quality. It’s a solution that brings knowledge, advice and sales together in one place.”
“The rollout took less time than we expected and did not require rebuilding our processes. The AskSpot team fit the solution to the way we work, not the other way around. We saw that flexibility at every stage, including when we raised feedback.
Before going live we tested the assistant on our own hardest questions and decided which cases it starts with. We are widening its scope step by step and still see room to grow. Repetitive questions no longer take up our advisors’ time, so they can spend it on the conversations that call for judgement and a human touch. Customers get accurate answers in the evenings and at weekends too, while our team’s working hours have stayed the same.”
See every testimonial
Read what the e-commerce teams who put AskSpot live say about working with it.
Check all the testimonials →
FAQ
AskSpot vs Tidio – common questions
Is AskSpot better than Tidio?
It depends on the job. For catalog-aware selling – product search (including by photo) and in-chat checkout – and answering across marketplace inboxes, AskSpot does more. For the cheapest way to add basic live chat with a free plan, Tidio is the lighter start. The capability table and pricing above lay out the trade.
How much does Tidio cost?
Tidio has a free plan; base plans (monthly billing) are Starter €29/month (100 conversations), Growth €59/month (250+) and Plus from €300/month. Its Lyro AI is billed separately, per conversation – up to around €700/month for 1,000 AI conversations, on top of the base plan. Checked September 2026 – see Tidio’s pricing page for current rates.
Does Tidio have photo search or in-chat checkout?
Not as advertised on its public pages as of September 2026. Tidio’s Lyro can surface products and answer questions, but visual (photo) product search and agentic in-chat checkout are not documented features. AskSpot offers both.
Can AskSpot handle support like Tidio?
Yes – AskSpot answers order-status, cancellation and return questions, runs an inbox / email agent, and additionally covers the Allegro and Amazon marketplace inboxes. It is not a full seat-based helpdesk (macros, SLAs, agent seats) the way Tidio’s higher plans are – that is one area where Tidio reaches further.
What is the best Tidio alternative for e-commerce?
If you want an AI that sells from the catalogue and supports across the storefront and marketplaces, AskSpot is a strong Tidio alternative. It reads your live catalogue and order data, works on every major e-commerce platform, and prices flat with no per-seat fees.