Comparison
The tawk.to alternative for WordPress: AI answers without per-message credits
tawk.to is famous for one thing: genuinely free live chat, with unlimited agents, chats and websites. Its AI, AI Assist, is a separate add-on billed per AI message. If what you need most is AI that answers from your own site and hands leads to your team, a WordPress-native assistant may suit you better; if you need free human live chat, tawk.to is hard to beat.
Maqsood R.Founder, HolaReply · Updated · 6 min read
We make HolaReply. Every fact about tawk.to below comes from tawk.to’s own pages, help centre and its WordPress.org listing, checked on 25 September 2026. Sources are at the end.
The short answer
- HolaReply is a tawk.to alternative for WordPress sites that want AI answers from their own pages and products without per-message credits.
- HolaReply runs inside WordPress on your own Gemini, OpenAI or Claude key, about $1.70 per 1,000 answers on Gemini Flash, and hands every lead to your team with the whole conversation. On any website it takes one line of code, with HolaReply AI included in the plan.
- tawk.to’s live chat is free, but AI Assist includes 100 AI messages a month free, then plans from $29 a month for 1,000; human hand-off is listed from the Growth plan; data is processed in the US.
- Choose tawk.to for free human live chat with unlimited agents.
Choose HolaReply if…
- you want AI answers from your own pages and products, without paying per AI message
- every question the AI can’t answer should reach your team as a lead
- you want locked topics that always go to a person
- you want conversations stored in your own WordPress database
Choose tawk.to if…
- you need free human live chat with unlimited agents and websites
- you want free ticketing, a knowledge base and a CRM
- you want WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS and email in one inbox
- a small AI allowance (100 messages a month) is enough for you
HolaReply is free for WordPress, on WordPress.org; Pro and Business are paid once.
At a glance: HolaReply vs tawk.to
| HolaReply | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI answers, leads and a team inbox: one line of code on any website, or a WordPress plugin; Shopify app coming soon | A free live chat and inbox platform; AI is an add-on |
| Human live chat | ✓ In Business: a person takes a chat over from the AI | ✓ Free, unlimited agents |
| Where AI answers come from | Your pages, posts and WooCommerce products, indexed in WordPress | FAQs, help articles, crawled pages, documents, saved replies |
| How the AI is paid for | Any website: HolaReply AI included in the plan, no key (Pro 500, Business 2,500 AI conversations a month). WordPress: your own Gemini, OpenAI or Claude key (about $1.70 per 1,000 answers on Gemini Flash), or HolaReply AI credits ($12 per 1,000 answers) | AI Assist credits, one per AI message: Hobby free (100/mo), Growth $29/mo (1,000), Business $99/mo (5,000); extra $30 per 1,000 |
| When the AI allowance runs out | Visitors can still send enquiries | The AI finishes open chats but doesn’t join new ones |
| Human hand-off from AI | ✓ Free: enquiry with the whole conversation | Listed from the Growth plan |
| Topics the AI must never answer | ✓ Locked topics | Not listed as a feature |
| Where data is processed | Your WordPress database; questions to your chosen AI provider with personal details removed | In the US; AI by OpenAI, search index on Pinecone |
| Remove “Powered by” branding | Off by default | A paid add-on, per website |
| Price | Any website: Pro $19/mo, Business $49/mo, AI included · WordPress: free, Pro from $59 and Business from $99, paid once | Chat free; AI Assist and other add-ons paid, per website |
| WordPress plugin | Free on WordPress.org | 100,000+ active installs, about 4.6/5 from 142 ratings; last updated January 2026 |
| Start free trial |
tawk.to’s pages give two different prices for removing branding ($29 and $39 a month), so we haven’t quoted one.
What tawk.to does well
- Truly free live chat. No limits on agents, chats or websites.
- Free extras: ticketing, a knowledge base and a CRM.
- One inbox for WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, SMS, email and Instagram.
- Hire agents by the hour if you want people to answer for you.
Where the AI costs add up
AI Assist counts credits per AI message, not per conversation, and a conversation often has several AI messages. Its plans are charged per website. For a site with about 1,000 AI conversations a month of three AI replies each (3,000 messages), you would need the Business plan at $99 a month, or Growth plus extra credits.
| HolaReply | tawk.to AI Assist | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence or plan | On WordPress: free, or Pro from $59, paid once | Business $99/mo (5,000 credits), or Growth $29/mo + 2,000 extra credits ($60) |
| AI usage | About $1.70 on Gemini (per question, not per message) | Included in credits |
| Roughly per month | About $3–9 | About $89–99 |
Where HolaReply is different
1. AI that lives in WordPress
HolaReply indexes your published pages, posts and WooCommerce products into your own database and re-indexes each one when you edit it. No crawl schedules and no separate account.
2. Built never to guess
It answers only from your content, shows the source and says when it doesn’t know. Locked topics, such as prices or allergens, always go to a person.
straight from the growers.
Trade packs for kitchens, bakeries and shops. Order by the kilo or by the pallet.
Shop wholesaleView product
Answers from your own pages, with the source shown.
3. Leads on the free plan, even when the AI is down
Questions it can’t answer become enquiries with the whole conversation, on the free plan. If the AI is ever unavailable, visitors can still send their question.
4. Privacy
Conversations stay in your WordPress database, and names, emails, phone numbers and company names are removed before any question reaches the AI.
Try it right here. The chat on this page is HolaReply. Ask about pricing, then ask for a person.
“Does HolaReply charge per message?”“Can I talk to someone?”
Open the chatCan you use both?
Only one chat button should appear on a page. If your team lives in tawk.to’s free live chat, keep it. If you mainly want an AI that answers from your site and captures leads, HolaReply does that on its own.
Questions people ask
Is tawk.to’s AI free?
AI Assist has a free Hobby tier with 100 AI messages a month. Paid plans start at $29 a month for 1,000; extra credits are $30 per 1,000. Credits are counted per AI message.
Does HolaReply have free live chat like tawk.to?
Not for free. Enquiries go to your team on every plan, Pro adds HolaReply Desk where your team replies by chat and email, and Business adds live chat: a person takes a chat over from the AI.
Where does tawk.to process data?
tawk.to says it is located in the United States and does all processing there; it lists OpenAI as its AI provider and Pinecone for its search index.
Can HolaReply connect to WhatsApp like tawk.to?
Not today. If you need a free shared inbox across social channels, tawk.to is the better fit.
Can I use HolaReply outside WordPress?
Yes. Any website takes one line of code: Pro is $19 a month with a 7-day free trial and HolaReply AI included, so no AI key is needed. The Shopify app is coming soon to the Shopify App Store.
Is HolaReply on WordPress.org?
Yes. HolaReply is on WordPress.org: search for HolaReply in Plugins → Add New Plugin, or download the zip and upload it.
Sources
Checked on 25 September 2026. Prices and features change; tell us in the chat if something here is out of date and we will fix it.
- tawk.to on WordPress.org
- tawk.to AI Assist
- tawk.to help: AI Assist plans and billing
- tawk.to help: message credits and overages
- tawk.to help: add-on pricing
- tawk.to add-ons
- tawk.to privacy policy
- tawk.to sub-processors
- Gemini API pricing
Founder of HolaReply. He builds AI assistants that answer only from a business’s own website, and checks every fact in these guides against the products’ own pages.
More by Maqsood R. →AI answers from your own site, without per-message credits.
One line of code on Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or any website: 7 days free, no card. Free plugin for WordPress; Shopify app coming soon.