Crisp Review: Free Live Chat with Unlimited Conversations (2025)

Crisp is a multi-channel customer messaging platform with a free plan generous enough for genuine ongoing use — not just evaluation. Its design prioritizes breadth of channel coverage and affordability over AI sophistication.

Primary users:

• Startups and early-stage companies: Teams that need functional live chat from day one without budget for paid tools
• Bootstrapped small businesses: Business owners managing their own customer support who want unlimited conversations without per-conversation pricing
• Agencies with multiple clients: Freelancers and small agencies managing support for multiple clients using Crisp's workspace features
• Technical teams: Developers and product teams who want a simple chat widget with API access for custom integrations

Core capabilities:

Live chat widget: Embeds on any website or web app. Customizable appearance (colors, position, greeting messages). Proactive chat triggers based on time on page or URL patterns. Mobile app (iOS and Android) for responding on the go. Typing indicators and read receipts in real-time.

Multi-channel inbox: Consolidate conversations from website chat, email, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter DMs, and Telegram in one interface. For small teams managing multiple customer channels, the unified inbox reduces platform switching. Crisp's channel breadth on free and Pro plans is broader than many competitors at the same price point.

Chatbot builder (Crisp Bots): Visual flow builder for automated conversation sequences. Common use cases: collect visitor contact information before connecting to an agent, answer FAQ questions before escalation, qualify leads by asking initial questions, route to the right department based on inquiry type. Unlimited chatbots on Pro and above; limited on free.

Shared inbox and team features: Multiple agents can access the same inbox, assign conversations, add internal notes, and collaborate on responses. Available on all plans (limited to 2 agents on free). Unlimited agents on Pro and Unlimited plans.

Help center (Crisp Knowledge Base): Create a searchable help center that integrates with the chat widget. When customers type a question, the widget suggests relevant articles before opening a chat conversation — reducing support volume from documentation questions. Included on Pro and above.

CRM (Crisp Contacts): Basic customer profile with conversation history, custom attributes, and segmentation. Not a full CRM, but tracks customer context across conversations. Useful for small businesses that don't need a dedicated CRM but want basic customer history.

Crisp's free plan is the benchmark for generous free live chat — unlimited conversations with no monthly cap is unusual in a category where most competitors impose strict limits.

Free plan includes:

• 2 agent seats
• Unlimited conversations
• Website chat widget
• Email, Messenger, Telegram channels
• Basic chatbot (1 chatbot)
• Mobile apps (iOS and Android)
• Conversation history (30 days)
• Crisp branding on widget

Free plan restrictions:

• 2 agents maximum
• No knowledge base
• No CRM segments
• Limited chatbot (1 automated bot)
• No audio/video calls
• No MagicType (live typing preview)
• Limited integrations
• 30-day conversation history only

Comparing to competitors:

• Crisp Free: unlimited conversations, 2 agents
• Tidio Free: 50 conversations/month, 1 agent
• Intercom: no permanent free plan
• Zendesk: no permanent free plan

For bootstrapped founders, solo operators, and small 2-person teams that need real, ongoing live chat, Crisp Free is the strongest option in the category. The 2-agent limit means it doesn't scale beyond small teams without upgrading, but for the target user it's genuinely functional.

When to upgrade from Free to Pro ($25/month):

• Team grows beyond 2 agents
• Need a knowledge base to reduce support volume
• Need unlimited chatbot automation
• Need extended conversation history (more than 30 days)
• Need Slack, HubSpot, or other integrations
• Want to remove Crisp branding

Crisp's pricing is workspace-based rather than per-agent on paid plans — a structural difference that makes it more economical as teams grow.

Free: 2 agents, unlimited conversations, basic chat

Pro: $25/month per workspace (billed annually)

• 4 agents included
• Unlimited conversations
• Knowledge base
• Unlimited chatbots
• All channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Line, etc.)
• Advanced triggers and automations
• 5-year conversation history
• Remove Crisp branding
• Priority support
• CRM segments
• Integrations (Slack, HubSpot, Segment, etc.)

Unlimited: $95/month per workspace (billed annually)

• Unlimited agents
• Everything in Pro
• Audio and video calls
• Live translation (50+ languages)
• Campaign messaging
• Advanced analytics
• Custom plugins

Pricing analysis:

Crisp Pro at $25/month for 4 agents is competitive pricing in the live chat category. Compare: Tidio Starter $29/month for 3 agents, Intercom Essential $39/agent (so $156/month for 4 agents).

For teams needing 4+ agents, Crisp Pro is often the best value: workspace-based pricing means adding a 5th or 6th agent doesn't increase cost (unlike per-seat models). A 6-person support team on Crisp Pro pays $25/month; the same team on Intercom Essential pays $234/month.

Limitation at Unlimited tier: $95/month positions Crisp Unlimited against Intercom Essential ($39/seat × team). For small teams, Crisp Unlimited is cheaper; for larger teams with 3+ agents, the comparison depends on team size.

Annual vs monthly: Prices listed are annual billing. Monthly billing is approximately 30% higher. The annual discount is significant enough to make annual the obvious choice for committed users.

Crisp vs Tidio: Both target small businesses but with different free plan structures and AI capabilities. Crisp Free offers unlimited conversations; Tidio Free limits to 50/month. Tidio's Lyro AI automates FAQ responses more effectively than Crisp's basic chatbot. For businesses prioritizing free unlimited live chat with basic automation, Crisp wins on the free tier. For businesses wanting AI-powered conversation automation from the start, Tidio's Lyro is more capable even at paid tiers. Full comparison: /compare/tidio-vs-crisp.

Crisp vs Intercom: Dramatically different price points and capabilities. Crisp is built for small teams at $25/month for the workspace; Intercom is built for growth-stage companies at $39+/seat. Intercom's Fin AI, in-app messaging, product tours, and customer data platform have no equivalent in Crisp. For startups and small businesses handling reactive support, Crisp covers the need at a fraction of Intercom's cost. For SaaS companies investing in proactive customer success, Intercom's depth is necessary regardless of cost. Full comparison: /compare/tidio-vs-intercom.

Crisp vs Chatbase: Chatbase is purely an AI chatbot (no live chat, no human handoff infrastructure) trained on your documentation. Crisp provides full live chat infrastructure with basic chatbot automation. For businesses that want AI-only FAQ resolution without a support platform, Chatbase is simpler and cheaper ($19/month vs Crisp Pro $25/month). For businesses wanting live chat alongside automation, Crisp provides the complete customer service stack.

Crisp vs Zendesk: Zendesk is an enterprise help desk (tickets, SLA management, 1,000+ integrations, $55+/agent) vs Crisp's small business live chat focus. For businesses needing ticket-based support management at scale, Zendesk's infrastructure is appropriate. For businesses that primarily need chat-based customer communication with basic automation, Crisp's simplicity and cost are advantages.