tawk.to
The genuinely free live chat — unlimited agents, chats, and sites, monetized through optional add-ons.
About
tawk.to is a live-chat platform that is unusual in genuinely giving away its software: unlimited agents, unlimited chat volumes, and unlimited websites at $0, with a built-in ticketing system, knowledge base, visitor monitoring (geo IP tracking, sentiment), 45+ languages, and 100+ integrations included. The company monetizes instead through optional paid add-ons — removing tawk.to branding, enabling video/voice/screen sharing — and a hired-agent service from roughly $1/hour for 24/7 coverage (agents trained on your business, per the vendor). Independent reviewers rate it 4.3/5, praising the value proposition for budget-conscious small businesses, with the caveat that outsourced agents suit scripted first-line queries with clear escalation paths. Weak spots: reporting is shallow for data-driven teams and native chatbot automation trails paid competitors like Smartsupp. No published independent benchmarks of its $1/hr agent quality were found.
What it can do
- Free unlimited live chat: agents, chat volumes, and sites
- Built-in ticketing system and self-service knowledge base
- Real-time visitor monitoring with geo IP tracking and sentiment analysis
- Trigger messages based on location, past visits, and page views
- 45+ languages and message sneak-peek, file transfer, departments
- Paid add-ons: brand removal, video/voice/screen sharing, hired 24/7 agents (~$1/hr)
- 100+ integrations and JavaScript API
Setup
- Create a free tawk.to account and add your property (website).
- Paste the JavaScript snippet into your site (or install the WordPress plugin).
- Customize the widget appearance and trigger messages.
- Add agents with roles/departments and set up the knowledge base and ticket system.
- Optionally buy add-ons (brand removal, video/voice) or hire agents at ~$1/hr.
Prerequisites
A website to embed the widget; none beyond that for the free tier.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 6/10
Scored 6.5/10 (METRICS tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: free-and-unlimited model verified across vendor and independent coverage; 4.3/5 independent review; large long-standing user base. Strengths: no per-seat fees ever, full-featured widget/ticketing/KB at $0, optional ultra-cheap hired agents. Docked for: (1) reporting is shallow for data-driven teams; (2) native chatbot automation lags paid rivals; (3) hired-agent quality claims are provider-claimed with no independent benchmark. License: proprietary SaaS, closed-source.
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 8.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 7.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 4.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 6.5/10
- · Free unlimited agents/chats/sites; monetizes via add-ons and $1/hr hired agents
- · Independent editor rating 4.3/5; 91% user recommendation on SelectHub aggregates
- · Shallow reporting; chatbot automation trails paid competitors
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.