Chaterimo vs Tidio: AI chatbot for online stores compared

Chaterimo and Tidio both put an AI chatbot on an online store, but they start from opposite ends. Tidio is live chat and a helpdesk for your team, with the Lyro AI agent as a paid add-on. Chaterimo is an AI agent for e-commerce customer support: it answers from your product catalogue and knowledge base and hands a conversation over to a person through a ticket and an e-mail, not through live chat. Chaterimo is our product; we describe Tidio from its own pages, checked on 20 October 2026.

How do Chaterimo and Tidio compare?

The rest of the article explains each row and says for which store each product fits better.

How do they answer product questions?

Both answer from data the store gives them, not from general knowledge of the model.

Lyro, Tidio's AI agent, learns from your website, FAQ pages, Q&As you write, CSV and PDF files and Zendesk articles². With Product Recommendations, Tidio imports the products of a Shopify or WooCommerce store, and Lyro recommends them as cards with a picture, name, price and an add-to-cart button. The feature needs the Lyro package; other platforms connect through Tidio's OpenAPI³.

Chaterimo connects directly to the catalogue of Shopify, Shoptet, Upgates and Eshop-rychle stores. Other stores, for example on WooCommerce, Magento or PrestaShop, add a product feed (XML). During the trial and on paid plans, Chaterimo downloads the products again every night, so prices and stock stay current. Your delivery, payment and return rules go into the knowledge base as pages, files or texts. The chatbot answers with products from your catalogue, shown as product cards in the chat window.

Can they tell a customer where the order is?

Yes, both can, in different ways.

Tidio's Shopify app lets Lyro check order status and, within rules you set, refund, cancel or edit an order in Shopify. Other systems connect through an API. When a person takes over the chat, they see the customer's orders and live cart in the Tidio inbox⁴.

Chaterimo reads the order status from Shopify, Shoptet, Upgates, Eshop-rychle and PrestaShop. The customer gives the order number and the e-mail address used on the order (on some platforms the phone number works too); if they do not match the order, Chaterimo shows no order data. Chaterimo only reads orders: it does not refund, cancel or edit them.

What happens when a customer needs a person?

This is the biggest difference between the two.

Tidio is built around live chat. Your operators answer in one inbox for chat, e-mail and social channels, and can join a conversation with Lyro at any time. Lyro hands over when a customer asks for a person or when it cannot answer; if no operator is online, it creates a ticket²⁵.

Chaterimo has no live chat in which a person takes over the chat window. When a customer wants to talk to a person, or the question stays open and the customer leaves a contact, the AI creates a ticket with the conversation, a summary and the contact. The e-mail about the new ticket goes to the ticket notification address the store sets in Chaterimo, and your team then answers by e-mail or phone. Tickets are part of the trial and of the higher plans (see pricing). On Facebook Messenger, your own reply in Messenger pauses the AI in that conversation for 24 hours.

Which AI model answers your customers?

Tidio says it runs Lyro on Claude by Anthropic and its own models⁵. Its pages do not offer a choice of model or your own API key.

In Chaterimo you choose the model for each chatbot: GPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google) or Grok (xAI). Plans with Chaterimo's API keys offer a shorter list of fast, affordable models. Plans with your own API key (BYOK: you use your own key and pay the model provider directly) offer every model. The Compare Models tab sends one question to several models at once, so you can compare their answers on your own data. Our guide to choosing an LLM for customer support explains what to compare, and the Chaterimo CX-LLM Benchmark rates the models on real e-commerce questions.

Which platforms and channels do they support?

Tidio lists integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce (Magento), PrestaShop, Wix, Ecwid and WordPress⁷. Besides the chat widget, it answers e-mail, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp in the same inbox².

Chaterimo has an app for Shopify (setup guide) and add-ons for Shoptet, Upgates and Eshop-rychle, and connects to PrestaShop for order status. On any other website, including WooCommerce and Magento stores, you add a product feed and paste one snippet into the layout (first chatbot in 4 steps). Besides the chat window, Chaterimo answers on Facebook Messenger, and it sends leads and chat transcripts to HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho CRM.

On Czech and Slovak platforms the difference is practical. On 20 October 2026, Tidio's integrations page listed no integration for Shoptet, Upgates or Eshop-rychle⁷. A general chat script can be pasted into such a store, but then the chat has no connection to its catalogue and orders.

How much do Chaterimo and Tidio cost?

Tidio charges for conversations answered by your team and, separately, for conversations answered by AI. A billable conversation is one in which a person from your team replies; Lyro and Flows replies do not count¹. Tidio's prices on 20 October 2026, in US dollars per month:

Source: Tidio pricing page¹. Tidio's Shopify App Store listing adds that Lyro pauses when you reach your monthly limit of AI conversations⁴.

Chaterimo charges a monthly plan and offers two ways to pay for the AI. Plans with Chaterimo's API keys include a monthly number of AI messages. Plans with your own API key set no message limit; you pay the model provider for what the chatbot uses. Plans differ in the size of the knowledge base, the number of chat widgets, proactive messages and tickets. Prices are on the pricing page; Shopify stores pay through Shopify (Shopify plans).

The units differ (team conversations, AI conversations, AI messages, provider usage), so compare the monthly cost for your own volume: count last month's conversations and how many of them needed a person.

When is Tidio the better choice?

• Your team wants to chat with customers live and see their cart and orders while it chats.
• You want chat, e-mail, Instagram and WhatsApp in one inbox.
• You sell on Shopify and want the AI to refund, cancel or edit orders within your rules.
• You sell on a platform where Tidio has an integration and Chaterimo has none, such as BigCommerce, Wix or Ecwid.

If live chat is what you need, our comparison of live chat apps for Shopify lists more options.

When is Chaterimo the better choice?

• You want the AI to answer most questions, including product advice from a large catalogue, and your team to follow up on tickets.
• You sell on Shoptet, Upgates or Eshop-rychle and want answers from the catalogue and order status without your own development.
• You want to choose the AI model, compare models on your questions or use your own API key.
• Nobody on your team staffs a live chat.

How do you test both on your own store?

1. Write down 20–30 real questions from your customers: product choice, stock, delivery, returns, order status.
2. Start the Tidio trial (7 days, Lyro included) and the Chaterimo trial (7 days, all features) with the same products and policies.
3. Ask both the same questions and check the facts in every answer: prices, stock, delivery times.
4. Ask about a real order with a wrong e-mail address and check that neither chatbot reveals anything.
5. Calculate the monthly cost for your number of conversations and choose the product with the most correct answers within your budget.

Summary

Tidio is live chat and a helpdesk with the Lyro AI agent on top, priced by conversations your team answers and, separately, by AI conversations. Chaterimo is an AI agent for online stores that answers from your catalogue, lets you choose the AI model or use your own API key, and hands over to a person through a ticket and an e-mail. Choose Tidio when your team chats with customers live; choose Chaterimo when the AI should handle most questions. To compare more options, read our overview of Tidio alternatives for online stores.

TopicsAI customer service