Tidio is one of the most popular live-chat and chatbot platforms in the world, with a generous free tier and a well-regarded AI agent called Lyro. If you've searched for a chat widget for your estate agency website, you've probably found it. The question this guide answers: is a general-purpose tool like Tidio the right fit for a UK estate agent — or does the property-specific job need a property-specific tool?

Short version: Tidio is genuinely good software. But it's built to be everything to everyone — e-commerce stores, SaaS support desks, service businesses — and that generality is exactly where it falls short for estate agents who need to qualify buyers, not just chat with them.

Tidio pricing (2026)

Tidio publishes its pricing transparently, which is a point in its favour. Plans are billed in US dollars — worth noting for UK budgeting and VAT:

PlanPrice (USD)Notable limits
Free$0~50 conversations/month
Starter$29/mo ($24.17/mo billed annually)Higher conversation cap, basic features
Growth$59/mo ($49.17/mo billed annually)More conversations, automation
Plus~$749/moAdvanced/enterprise features
PremiumCustomHighest tier

Pricing per Tidio's website, June 2026. Lyro AI resolutions and conversation caps vary by plan; confirm current limits with Tidio.

The catch with conversation-based pricing

Tidio's lower tiers cap the number of conversations or AI resolutions per month. A busy agency website during a hot market can blow through caps quickly, pushing you toward the much pricier Plus tier. Flat per-agency pricing (like Sift's) is more predictable when enquiry volume spikes.

Tidio vs Sift at a glance

 TidioSift
Built forAny website (e-commerce, SaaS, services)UK estate agents only
UK portal awareness
Rightmove / Zoopla / OTM		✗✓
Buyer qualification
chain, DIP/AIP, budget, timeline		✗ Generic forms only✓ 14-point scoring
Property CRM delivery✗ Shopify/HubSpot/Zendesk style✓ Sift dashboard + CSV on every plan; Zapier, webhook & API on Growth & Scale
AI agent✓ Lyro (general purpose)✓ Property-trained
GDPR consent for property data~ Configure yourself✓ Built in
PricingFrom $29/mo (USD), conversation capsFrom £149/mo, flat

Where Tidio works well

Tidio
General-purpose live chat + AI

A polished, affordable, widely-used chat platform with a strong free tier and the Lyro AI agent. Excellent for general website chat and support.

Strengths
  • Generous free tier to get started
  • Transparent, low entry pricing
  • Lyro AI handles common FAQs well
  • Clean, easy-to-deploy widget
  • Large integration marketplace
Limitations for estate agents
  • No concept of chain status, DIP/AIP or proceedable buyers
  • No native push to Alto, Reapit, Dezrez, Loop or Rex
  • No portal (Rightmove/Zoopla) awareness
  • USD billing and conversation caps
  • GDPR property-consent flows are your responsibility to configure

Pricing: Free · Starter from $29/mo · Growth from $59/mo · Plus from $749/mo · Premium custom (USD). Annual billing saves ~17%.

Best for: General website chat, FAQ deflection, and businesses outside property that don't need buyer qualification.

Why estate agents usually need more

A generic chatbot can answer "what are your opening hours?" all day. What it can't do is tell a negotiator that the person who enquired about a £475k semi at 10pm has a Decision in Principle, no chain, and wants to move within 8 weeks — i.e. a buyer worth calling first thing tomorrow. That distinction between a proceedable buyer and a casual browser is the entire game in estate agency, and it's invisible to a tool that just collects name, email and a free-text message.

Sift was built around that gap. It runs a property-specific qualification on every enquiry, scores the lead, and lands a structured record in the Sift dashboard — exportable via CSV on every plan, or routed into your property CRM via Zapier, an outbound webhook or the REST API on Growth and Scale (native CRM connectors are on the roadmap) — so the chat actually feeds your pipeline instead of creating another inbox to copy from. For the why behind this, see our guide on AI lead qualification for UK estate agents.

None of this means Tidio is bad — it's excellent at the job it was designed for. It just wasn't designed for property.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Tidio for my estate agency website?
Yes, technically — Tidio works on any website. It will greet visitors, answer FAQs and capture basic contact details. What it won't do is qualify buyers on UK property signals (chain, mortgage readiness, budget, timeline) or push leads into a property CRM like Alto or Reapit. For general chat it's fine; for buyer qualification it isn't built for the job.
How much is Tidio in GBP?
Tidio bills in US dollars, so the GBP cost varies with the exchange rate and any card fees. Plans start at $29/month for Starter (or $24.17/month on annual billing) and rise to $749/month for Plus, with a free tier capped at 50 conversations a month.
Is Tidio's Lyro AI good enough for property enquiries?
Lyro is a capable general-purpose AI for FAQ-style deflection. It isn't trained on UK property qualification, so it won't capture or score the buyer signals estate agents rely on. A property-trained AI like Sift will run that qualification automatically.
What's a better Tidio alternative for estate agents?
If your goal is qualifying portal and website buyer enquiries and feeding scored leads to your CRM, a property-specific tool like Sift is the closer fit. It offers flat GBP pricing, UK portal awareness, 14-point qualification and delivers scored leads to your dashboard and CRM via Zapier, outbound webhook or the REST API on Growth and Scale (native property-CRM integrations are on the roadmap).

A chat tool that actually qualifies property buyers

14-day free trial. Flat GBP pricing. One script tag, live in 10 minutes. No card required.

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