Palby AI Agent

Tidio alternative

A Tidio alternative for small businesses whose leads write on WhatsApp

Keep the WhatsApp number your leads already have. The agent answers from your FAQs and past chats, and hands the hot ones to you.

Book a walkthrough

30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.

The short version

Stay with Tidio if most of your chats start in the chat box on your website, and you want Lyro, its AI agent, answering there. Pick Palby AI Agent if your leads write to your own WhatsApp, and you want an agent that answers them in your words, books the good ones and hands the hot ones to you.

Who should pick which

Stay with Tidio if

  • Most of your chats start in the chat box on your website
  • Your customers also write by email, Instagram and Messenger

Pick Palby AI Agent if

  • Your leads write to the WhatsApp number on your phone
  • You want an agent that answers from your price list, your FAQs and your past chats
  • You'd rather it checked in once with a quiet lead than kept on messaging

Side by side

Compared onPalby AI AgentTidioSource
How it connectsYour own WhatsApp, linked as a device the way WhatsApp Web is, through Green APIA WhatsApp integration inside its shared inboxTidio siteTidio site
Who it's forSmall businesses whose leads write on WhatsAppBusinesses whose customers chat on their websiteTidio site
The AI agentAnswers from your files, your website and your past chats, books onto your booking page and hands over to a WhatsApp alert number or a Lark groupLyro, its AI agent, priced by the AI conversations you useTidio pricing
ChannelsWhatsApp onlyLive chat, email, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsAppTidio site
PriceNo public price yet. You get one on the walkthroughFree at US$0. Starter US$24.17 a month, Growth from US$49.17, Plus from US$300 plus usageTidio pricing
To startBook a 30-minute walkthroughA 7-day trial with no card, or the free planTidio pricing
As of November 2026. Tidio's details are from its own pages, read on 1 November 2026. Plans and prices change, so check them before you pay.

Where Tidio is strong

Tidio is built around the chat box on your website. Live chat, email, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp land in one shared inbox, with one customer history behind every chat, and Lyro, its AI agent, answers the repeat questions. There's a free plan, paid plans from US$24.17 a month, and a 7-day trial with no card. It says 300,000+ businesses use it. If most of your customers chat on your website, Tidio is the safer pick.

The three differences that matter

Link the number you already use

Open WhatsApp on your phone, go to Linked devices and scan the code, the way you'd link WhatsApp Web. There's no Business API to apply for and no template to get approved. Your phone keeps working, and messages you send from it show up in the inbox too.

Answer in your own words

The agent reads your inbox's own past chats, so it sounds like you from the first message. It answers from the files you upload and your website pages, which it re-reads on a schedule. When a lead wants a time, it books it on your booking page.

Check in once, at least a day later

When a chat goes quiet, the agent checks in once at most, at least 24 hours later and never at night. By default, someone who never wrote back isn't chased. Quiet hours run from 11pm to 9am unless you change them.

Switching in three steps

  1. Book a 30-minute walkthrough, and bring your price list and FAQs.
  2. Link your number from your phone: Settings, Linked devices, Link a device.
  3. Try the agent in a test chat, then publish it when the answers look right.

Before you switch

Questions people ask about leaving Tidio

Try the agent on your own FAQs

Bring your price list and your FAQs to the walkthrough.

Book a walkthrough

30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.