Pidge vs tawk.to
tawk.to is free, has no limit on agents or chats, and does more than Pidge. Pidge costs $10 a month per website. This page is about when that's still worth paying, and when it isn't.
tawk.to's prices and policies as of 16 October 2026, from its own website and help centre. Sources are listed at the end. Pidge is in early access: we add websites from the waitlist a few at a time.
The short version
Pidge suits you if
- You want your chats stored in Europe.
- You want the chat to show for visitors who use AdGuard's widget filter.
- You want API keys and webhooks without asking anyone first.
- You already have code written for Crisp.
tawk.to suits you if
- You don't want to pay for chat at all.
- You need ticketing, a knowledge base or a CRM next to the chat.
- You want native apps for iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows.
- You want an AI assistant that answers on its own.
- You need to start today. Pidge has a waitlist.
Side by side
| Pidge | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $10 per website per month, everything included. This is the price we plan to launch with. | Free. Paid add-ons are priced per website. |
| Agents and chats | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Branding in the widget | A small "Chat by Pidge" link. It can't be turned off yet. | "Powered by tawk.to". Removing it costs $39 a month, or $348 a year. |
| AI that answers visitors | None built in. Your own bot can answer through the API. | AI Assist, from $29 a month for 1,000 credits. A reply uses 3 credits on the default setting. |
| Video, voice, screen sharing | No | $49 a month add-on |
| Ticketing, knowledge base, CRM | No | Included for free |
| Where chats are stored | Servers in Norway (EEA, under GDPR) | Google data centres in the United States |
| AdGuard's widget filter | Not blocked. The script loads from your own subdomain. | Blocked: the list has ||embed.tawk.to^$3p, with exceptions for two sites |
| REST API | Keys from the inbox's Developers page. Same paths as Crisp's API. | Available on request |
| Webhooks | Yes, signed, retried for about 24 hours | Yes, up to 10 per website |
| Phone and desktop | The inbox installs to your home screen from the browser and sends notifications. No app store app. | Native apps for iOS, Android, macOS and Windows |
| Can you start today? | No, there's a waitlist | Yes |
What it costs
If the free version of tawk.to does what you need, Pidge will cost you $120 a year more. That's the honest starting point.
It changes when you'd pay for add-ons. Without the tawk.to badge, one website costs $39 a month, or $29 a month if you pay $348 for the year. Pidge is $10, but it still shows a small "Chat by Pidge" link, so if a fully unbranded widget is the reason you'd pay, Pidge doesn't solve that yet.
Where tawk.to is better
- It's free, for any number of agents, chats and websites.
- Ticketing, a knowledge base and a CRM come with it. Pidge has none of those.
- It has native apps on every major platform.
- Paid extras Pidge doesn't offer: an AI assistant, video and voice calls, and hired agents at $1 an hour.
- It's widely used, and you can sign up today.
Where Pidge is different
Your chats stay in Europe
tawk.to stores data in Google data centres in the United States. Pidge runs on servers in Norway, which is in the EEA, so GDPR applies. If your customers are in Europe, that can matter for your privacy policy.
Ad blockers don't hide it
AdGuard's widget filter blocks embed.tawk.to on almost every site, so visitors
using it don't see a tawk.to chat. Pidge loads from a subdomain of your own site, like
chat.yoursite.com. We run every request it makes through 14 filter lists from
uBlock Origin, AdGuard, EasyList, Brave and Peter Lowe, and none of them block it.
It's light, and you can build on it
The script on every page is 4.2 KB. The rest of the chat loads when someone opens it. API keys, webhooks and the secret for signed emails are on the inbox's Developers page, and the API is shaped like Crisp's, so code written for Crisp's API works with it once you change the base URL.
Small things we care about
- You see what a visitor is typing before they hit send.
- Translation works both ways: they read your reply in their language, you read theirs in yours.
- If a visitor leaves before you answer, your reply goes to them by email, and they can answer from their inbox.
Moving from tawk.to
You replace tawk.to's embed code with Pidge's script tag. Pidge doesn't understand tawk.to's
Tawk_API calls, so anything you built on them, like setting the visitor's name or
email, needs a line of Pidge code instead. Pidge uses Crisp's format for that:
// tawk.to Tawk_API.setAttributes({ name: "Ada", email: "ada@example.com" }); // Pidge $crisp.push(["set", "user:nickname", ["Ada"]]); $crisp.push(["set", "user:email", ["ada@example.com"]]);
Your chat history stays in tawk.to. Pidge can't import it.
Sources
- Free with no limits on agents, chats or sites: tawk.to FAQs
- Removing branding, video and voice, hired agents: Add-on pricing and key features
- AI Assist plans and credits: How to manage billing for AI Assist
- Where data is stored: Where and how do we host our data
- REST API on request: REST API
- Webhooks: Creating and managing webhooks
- Ticketing, knowledge base, CRM and native apps: tawk.to
- AdGuard's widget filter, with the
embed.tawk.torule: filters.adtidy.org/extension/ublock/filters/22.txt, checked 16 October 2026
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