Crisp Review 2026: Live Chat, Hugo AI, Plans and Limits

Crisp is a good fit for small support teams that want one shared inbox for website chat, email and messaging apps at a flat price per workspace. As of November 12, 2026, Crisp's pricing page lists four self-serve plans: Free ($0, 2 seats), Mini ($45 a month, 4 seats), Essentials ($95 a month, 10 seats) and Plus ($295 a month, 20 or more seats), plus a custom Enterprise plan. Its AI agent, Hugo, is included from Mini, but it runs on a monthly AI credit allowance in US dollars ($5, $25 or $75), so heavy automation can cost more than the plan price suggests. The weak spots are that the help center and workflow builder start at Essentials, removing the "We run on Crisp" watermark needs Plus, and the old plan with no agent cap no longer exists.

Disclosure: Chatsy publishes this review, and Chatsy competes with Crisp for some buyers. We describe where Chatsy is and is not an alternative below.

How this review was put together

This is desk research, not a hands-on test. On November 12, 2026 we read Crisp's pricing page, its AI page and its help article on Hugo pricing and billing. Competitor prices come from each vendor's official pricing page on the same date. Chatsy details come from our own product and pricing page. We did not run timed tests, accuracy benchmarks or resolution-rate measurements, so this page contains no scores of that kind. Where Crisp's pricing page does not say which plan includes a feature, we say so instead of guessing.

Crisp plans and prices (checked November 12, 2026)

Crisp charges per workspace, and each plan includes a fixed number of seats. Extra seats are listed at $10 per agent per month. The pricing page shows monthly list prices and says you can switch to yearly billing from the Plans page inside the app after subscribing; it does not publish the yearly price.

Source: crisp.chat/en/pricing, checked November 12, 2026. VAT is not included in the listed prices. Crisp also lists a 50% discount for nonprofits and students.

What each tier adds

The plan cards build on each other, so each tier includes the one below it. From the card text we could read:

• Free: website chat widget, shared inbox, mobile apps, chat SDKs, contact form, push notifications and e-commerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Adobe).
• Mini: adds a shared email inbox, Hugo AI with $5 of credits, and unlimited data retention.
• Essentials: adds a help center ("knowledge base"), an AI chatbot with a no-code workflow builder, more channels (WhatsApp Business, Instagram DMs and SMS among others) and 2 sub-inboxes.
• Plus: adds white labelling (removes the "We run on Crisp" watermark), AI agent connections to third-party tools, enhanced rate limits and 5 sub-inboxes.

The comparison table also lists co-browsing (MagicBrowse), video and audio chat and a status page, but we could not confirm from the page which plans include them. If one of those is the reason you are buying, confirm the plan with Crisp before you pay.

How Hugo AI credits work

Hugo's allowance is a dollar amount, not a count of conversations. Crisp's billing article says usage is token-based: longer messages, deeper conversations, larger knowledge sources, the chosen model and the number of Hugo replies all raise the cost of a conversation. Tests in the playground also use credits. Crisp's own average is "around $0.05 to $0.10" per conversation fully handled by Hugo.

The plan estimates follow that average. $5 ÷ 90 conversations is about $0.056 per conversation, and $25 ÷ 450 and $75 ÷ 1,350 give the same figure. When credits run out and Pay-As-You-Go is off, Hugo stops answering and new conversations go to your human team. Pay-As-You-Go can be switched on under AI Agent, Billing, but the article does not publish a per-credit rate. Credits reset each billing cycle, and the article does not say that unused credits carry over. Workflow blocks are not billed as Hugo usage.

What Crisp does well

A shared inbox priced per workspace

The main reason teams pick Crisp is cost per seat at small and mid team sizes. Essentials at $95 for 10 seats works out to $9.50 per seat per month. A per-seat helpdesk such as Help Scout lists Standard at $25 per user per month on its pricing page, so 10 users there cost $250 before AI. The gap shrinks if you only need 2 to 4 seats, where Crisp Free or Mini competes with other free and entry plans.

The seat counts are a real limit, though. Earlier Crisp plans were marketed with no cap on agents, and many older reviews still say so. The current page caps Essentials at 10 seats and lists extra agents at $10 per month each.

Many channels in one inbox

Crisp centralizes website chat and email on Mini, then adds WhatsApp Business, Instagram DMs and SMS on Essentials. Crisp's AI page says Hugo can answer on the web widget, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and email. The pricing FAQ adds a constraint: a workspace can connect one of each channel type, except email. A business with two WhatsApp numbers needs a second workspace, and Crisp lists 20% off for 3 additional workspaces on Essentials and Plus.

Hugo from the Mini plan

Hugo is included by default from Mini, so you do not buy a separate AI product. Crisp's AI page lists these training sources: Q&A "Answers Snippets" (up to 1,000 characters each), the Crisp help center (reindexed after updates), a website crawl, past conversations and uploaded files such as PDFs and CSVs. It also describes a confidence setting on its MagicReply bot block, an internal copilot for agents, and a handoff that "passes the conversation along with full context." These are Crisp's descriptions; we did not measure answer quality.

A help center and workflow builder in the same product

On Essentials and above, Crisp includes a help center and a no-code workflow builder. That covers self-service articles, routing flows and AI answers in one place, which matters for teams that would otherwise pay for a separate documentation tool.

Where Crisp falls short

AI cost moves with conversation length

Because Hugo bills tokens in dollars, the bill depends on how long and complex your conversations are. A store answering short shipping questions may get close to Crisp's estimates. A SaaS team with long troubleshooting threads and a large knowledge base will use more per conversation. Crisp publishes an average range, not a rate card, so you cannot price high volume exactly from the website.

Core support features start at $95

Free and Mini cover chat, email and Hugo, but the help center, the workflow builder and the extra messaging channels start at Essentials. For a two-person team that wants a help center, the real entry price is $95 a month, not $45.

Branding removal needs Plus

White labelling appears only on the Plus card at $295 a month. If a visible vendor watermark is a problem for your brand, budget for Plus.

Some features are not mapped to plans

The pricing table lists co-browsing, video and audio chat and a status page as features, but we could not confirm which plans include them when we checked. Older reviews (including an earlier version of this one) tied co-browsing and video to an "Unlimited" plan that no longer appears on the page. Treat any third-party plan mapping as unconfirmed.

No published compliance list on the pricing page

Larger buyers usually need security documentation, single sign-on and an uptime commitment. The self-serve plan cards we read did not list these; they point larger teams to Enterprise. Ask Crisp directly for its security documentation if procurement requires it.

What a month on Crisp costs at three team sizes

These examples use list prices from November 12, 2026 and Crisp's own $0.05 to $0.10 average per Hugo conversation. "AI-handled conversations" means conversations Hugo answers, which is Crisp's billing unit. Your real usage may differ.

How the totals work: monthly total = plan cost + max(0, Hugo usage estimate − included credits). For the 12-agent row, Plus ($295, 20+ seats, $75 credits) would cost $295 to $310 for the same AI volume, so Plus only makes sense if you need white labelling, more sub-inboxes or third-party AI actions. Pay-As-You-Go must be on for the overage rows, and Crisp did not publish the rate, so treat those figures as estimates.

Crisp compared with Tidio, Intercom, Help Scout and Chatsy

Each vendor bills AI in a different unit. The table keeps them apart instead of converting them into one number.

Sources, all checked November 12, 2026: Tidio pricing, Intercom pricing, Help Scout pricing, Chatsy pricing.

Crisp vs Tidio

Tidio's page caps self-serve plans at 10 seats and bills by "billable conversations" (conversations with a human agent reply), with Lyro AI sold as a separate quota from $32.50 a month for 50 Lyro conversations. Crisp bills by workspace and includes Hugo credits in every paid plan. Tidio lists native Shopify actions on Growth and above. For a deeper look at both, read our Tidio review and the Crisp vs Tidio comparison.

Crisp vs Intercom

Intercom charges per seat and adds Fin at $0.99 per outcome. At 10 seats on Essential, seats alone are 10 × $19 = $190 a month at the price shown, before any Fin outcomes, against $95 for Crisp Essentials. Intercom offers more depth in reporting and automation. See our Intercom review.

Crisp vs Help Scout

Help Scout is email-first, has a free plan for up to 5 users with 1 inbox and 1 Docs site, and charges $0.75 per AI resolution. Crisp is chat-first and covers more messaging apps. If most of your support arrives by email, read our Help Scout review.

Crisp vs Chatsy

Chatsy is narrower than Crisp. It offers an AI agent trained on your website, files and help articles, live chat handoff, an email mailbox based on forwarding, and a public help center, with plans from Hobby ($40 a month, 500 credits, 1 seat) to Pro ($500 a month, 15,000 credits, 5 seats). Chatsy counts credits per AI response, from 1 to 30 credits depending on the model, and a reply is blocked when it would reach the monthly allowance. That is a different unit from Crisp's dollar credits per conversation.

Chatsy does not offer WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger or SMS channels, video calls or co-browsing, and the widget interface is English and Spanish only. For a team of 10, Crisp Essentials ($95) is far cheaper than Chatsy, which only offers 10 seats on a custom Enterprise plan. Chatsy may suit a 1 to 5 person team that mainly wants AI answers on its website with a human handoff. See the Crisp alternative page for the side-by-side.

Who Crisp fits

• Teams of 3 to 10 agents that want chat, email and messaging apps in one inbox for under $100 a month.
• Businesses that want an AI agent included in the plan rather than bought as a separate product, and that can live with dollar-based AI credits.
• Teams that already plan to buy Essentials for the help center and workflow builder.
• Stores that need a free entry point: Free includes the chat widget and e-commerce integrations for 2 seats.

When Crisp is not a fit

• You need more than 20 agents with tight governance. Plus starts at 20 seats, and enterprise controls are quote-based.
• You need a precise AI budget at high volume. Crisp publishes an average cost per Hugo conversation, not a rate card for Pay-As-You-Go.
• You need several numbers on the same channel. One WhatsApp or Instagram account per workspace means extra workspaces.
• Your brand cannot show a vendor watermark and Plus is out of budget.
• Your procurement needs documented security certifications before a trial. Ask Crisp first.
• Email is your main channel and chat is rare. An email-first helpdesk such as Help Scout may be simpler.

For more options, see our list of the best live chat software.

Frequently asked questions

Is Crisp free?

Yes. The Free plan costs $0 and includes 2 seats, 100 customer profiles, the website chat widget, a shared inbox, mobile apps and e-commerce integrations. It includes no AI credits, so Hugo is not available to answer customers on Free.

How does Crisp pricing work?

Crisp charges a flat monthly fee per workspace: $45 for Mini (4 seats), $95 for Essentials (10 seats) and $295 for Plus (20+ seats) as of November 12, 2026. Extra seats are listed at $10 per agent per month. Yearly billing can be chosen inside the app; the website does not list the yearly price.

How is Hugo AI billed?

Each paid plan includes a dollar amount of AI usage per month: $5 on Mini, $25 on Essentials and $75 on Plus. Usage is token-based, and Crisp estimates $0.05 to $0.10 for a conversation fully handled by Hugo. When credits run out, Hugo stops unless you enable Pay-As-You-Go.

Does Crisp charge per resolution?

No. Crisp's AI page says you will not pay $1 per resolved conversation; Hugo usage is charged against the dollar credits whether or not the conversation is resolved. That differs from Intercom's per-outcome and Help Scout's per-resolution AI pricing.

What are good Crisp alternatives?

For e-commerce chat with a separate AI quota, look at Tidio. For email-first support, look at Help Scout. For a larger helpdesk with per-outcome AI, look at Intercom. For a small team that mainly wants a website AI agent with handoff, compare Chatsy's plans.