How we checked this
We opened tidio.com/pricing on October 13, 2026, on the monthly and annual toggles. Starter is still $29 a month. The annual card prints $24.17 and calls it 2 months free.
What it actually does
Tidio is a website live-chat widget and shared inbox. Flows is a no-code chatbot. Lyro is the AI agent. It answers website chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. Tidio’s own 2026 Lyro review: no voice support. That is the product. Still independent. Series B in 2022. No 2021-2026 sale.
It is not an AI receptionist. It is not missed-call text-back. There is no native SMS, no Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, Dentrix, Mindbody, or Clio page. PeakSpan still calls it an ecommerce platform. A plumber can paste the widget on WordPress. That does not make it a front desk.
Who should buy it
Buy it
Buy it if the leak is the website, not the phone. A business with online booking that wants after-hours FAQ chat can start on Free (50 human conversations a month, 50 Lyro conversations one time, 100 Flows visitors). Starter is $29 a month, or $24.17 on the annual toggle, for 100 billable conversations. The annual toggle is labeled 2 months free. Growth starts at $59 a month, or $49.17 on that toggle, for 250. Lyro sold on its own starts at $39 a month for 50 AI conversations. Flows sold on its own starts at $29, from 2,000 visitors. The compare table includes 10 seats on Free, Starter, and Growth. Directories still print Communicator $19 and Plus $749. Dead and stale. Live Plus is $300 plus usage and sales-gated.
Skip it
Do not buy it if a missed call is a missed job. That is Smith.ai. Do not put Lyro unsupervised on a dental or law site. Terms, March 12, 2026: Tidio is not a HIPAA Business Associate. FAQ prohibits healthcare and legal advisory use of the AI. Lyro output “may be inaccurate.”
The catch
The reason not to buy is the meters plus the paper. Human conversations, Lyro threads, and Flows visitors bill separately. A 15-minute Lyro thread can consume another unit. Annual is prepaid. Terms: no pro-rata refund. Auto-upgrade is on by default in the ToS; Shopify copy says Lyro pauses. Do not trust the store listing. Trustpilot 1-stars and Shopify 1-stars in 2025-2026 cluster on annual auto-renew, silent hikes, and an upgrade that does not reverse. WordPress, March 2025: an eight-year customer, $150 to $500 a year.
