The best Tidio alternative in India for a WhatsApp-first business is a platform priced per message in rupees rather than per website conversation in dollars. Tidio's Starter plan costs $24.17 a month (about ₹2,127) for 100 conversations, while RichAutomate starts at ₹499 a month with GST included, charges a flat ₹0.10 per message and lets Meta bill you directly.
All Tidio figures below come from Tidio's public pricing page, checked on 11 Nov 2026. Plans change, so confirm on their site before you buy. RichAutomate figures come from our own WhatsApp Business API pricing page. USD is converted at ₹88 per dollar for comparison only.
Tidio pricing in 2026: live chat plans, conversations and Lyro AI
Tidio started as a website live chat widget and is still built around it. Plans are sold by the number of billable conversations a month, and WhatsApp is listed as a channel on every plan, next to Messenger, Instagram and email. The AI agent, Lyro, and the automation tool, Flows, are priced as separate add-ons.
| Tidio plan | Listed price | In rupees | Conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | ₹0 | 50 |
| Starter | $24.17 a month | ₹2,127 | 100 |
| Growth | From $49.17 a month | From ₹4,327 | From 250 |
| Plus | From $300 a month plus usage | From ₹26,400 | Custom |
| Premium | Contact sales | Contact sales | Custom |
- Lyro AI agent: 50 conversations in total on the Free plan, then sold separately from $32.50 a month (₹2,860).
- Flows automation: priced separately from $24.17 a month.
- Growth limits: the plan card says "from 250" conversations while the comparison table mentions up to 2,000, so check the exact tier you pick at checkout.
One thing the page does not cover is Meta's own WhatsApp message charges. Tidio lists WhatsApp as a channel, but it does not say whether template messages are billed by Meta to you or passed through on your Tidio invoice. Ask before you plan a broadcast budget.
Weighing an AI support desk as well? See our Kommunicate alternative comparison with conversation bundles priced in rupees.
Also looking at seat-bundled inbox tools? Check the Superchat alternative India guide, including when Superchat is the better choice.
Weighing another AI-first inbox? See our Hyperleap AI pricing breakdown for Indian businesses.
RichAutomate pricing: INR, GST included, pay per message
RichAutomate is built for WhatsApp first. You pay a small plan fee in rupees, that fee comes back as wallet credit, and the platform charges a flat ₹0.10 per message. Meta bills its message charges to you directly on your own payment method, which is how Client Pay billing works. Replies inside the 24-hour customer service window carry no Meta charge.
| RichAutomate | What you pay |
|---|---|
| Starter plan | ₹499 per month, GST included |
| Pro plan | ₹899 per month, GST included |
| White-label plan | ₹1,199 per month, GST included |
| Platform fee | ₹0.10 per message |
| Meta charges | Billed by Meta to you directly, no markup |
| Plan fee | Returned as wallet credit |
| Extra seat | ₹199 per month |
| Extra number | ₹399 per month |
| Setup | ₹0, 7-day trial with 100 free credits, no card |
Want to see your own month before comparing? Enter your volumes in the WhatsApp API cost calculator.
Tidio vs RichAutomate: what a month really costs
Tidio counts conversations and RichAutomate counts messages, so the fair way to compare is to estimate how many messages your conversations contain. The table below assumes ten messages per conversation, which is our working estimate, not a Tidio figure. RichAutomate is shown on Starter, where the bill is the larger of ₹499 or ₹0.10 times your message count.
Get the India 2026 WhatsApp BSP price comparison
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| Monthly volume | Tidio | RichAutomate Starter platform fee |
|---|---|---|
| 100 conversations, about 1,000 messages | Starter, $24.17 (₹2,127) | ₹499, returned as wallet credit |
| 250 conversations, about 2,500 messages | Growth, from $49.17 (₹4,327) | ₹499, returned as wallet credit |
| AI agent add-on | Lyro from $32.50 (₹2,860) | Chatbot flows included in the plan |
| Meta template charges | Not stated on the pricing page | Billed by Meta to you directly |
At low volume the gap is mostly the plan price itself. At 2,500 messages the RichAutomate platform fee is ₹250, so the ₹499 plan fee covers it and the rest stays in your wallet. If you want to test it on your own number, start a free 7-day trial with 100 credits and no card.
Here is a worked example with AI added. A store on Tidio Starter that also wants Lyro answering common questions pays $24.17 plus $32.50, which is $56.67 a month (₹4,987), before any Flows add-on. On RichAutomate the chatbot flow builder is part of the ₹499 plan, so the same store pays the plan fee, which comes back as wallet credit, plus ₹0.10 per message. If you want replies written by an AI model rather than fixed flows, read our WhatsApp AI agent and chatbot pricing guide first, because AI pricing works differently on every platform.
The other cost to watch on Tidio is conversation limits. Once you pass your plan's monthly conversations, you move up a tier rather than paying a small amount per extra message. On RichAutomate there is no bundle to outgrow: every message costs the same ₹0.10, whether it is your hundredth or your fifty-thousandth, and a sale season simply means a bigger wallet top-up.
Where Tidio is the better choice
Tidio is a good product for several kinds of businesses, and it is worth saying so plainly:
- Website live chat first: if most chats start on your website, Tidio's widget, visitor tracking and pre-chat forms are its core strength.
- Shopify stores that sell globally: its Shopify app and English-first help centre suit stores whose buyers are outside India.
- A real free plan: the Free plan with 50 conversations lets a very small shop try live chat with no spend at all.
- Many channels in one widget: Messenger, Instagram, email and WhatsApp sit in one inbox next to web chat.
Where RichAutomate is the better choice
RichAutomate fits better when your Indian customers already message you on WhatsApp. You get WhatsApp broadcasts with template management, a visual chatbot builder, and a shared WhatsApp team inbox on one number, all billed in rupees with GST included. Because Meta bills you directly, you see Meta's own invoice for template charges, with nothing added on top.
For D2C brands, WhatsApp also does jobs a web widget cannot: order confirmations, cash-on-delivery checks and abandoned cart nudges that reach the buyer after they leave your site. Our guide to the best WhatsApp Business API for Shopify D2C stores covers those flows, and the Shopify WhatsApp integration setup guide shows how to connect your store.
Billing in rupees matters at month end too. A dollar plan moves with the exchange rate and may carry forex fees on your card, while a rupee plan with GST included gives your accounts team a clean Indian invoice for input tax credit.
How to switch from Tidio to RichAutomate
- List the WhatsApp replies and Flows you use today in Tidio.
- Create a RichAutomate account and start the free trial.
- Disconnect your WhatsApp number from Tidio, then connect it to RichAutomate through Meta's embedded signup. The number stays in your own Meta business.
- Recreate your templates and rebuild your flows in the visual builder.
- Invite your agents to the shared inbox and add a click-to-WhatsApp button to your site.
You can keep Tidio running for website chat during and after the move. If you want a hand, book a free demo and we will walk through it with you.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Tidio if your website is where conversations start and you want a live chat widget with a free tier. Pick RichAutomate if WhatsApp drives your sales and support in India, you want to pay in rupees with GST included, and you prefer a flat per-message fee with Meta billing you directly. Still comparing chatbot tools? See our roundup of the best WhatsApp chatbot builders in India and the list of WhatsApp Business API alternatives.