Compare · Clearly Agent vs Tidio

Clearly Agent vs Tidio: a storefront agent isn’t a helpdesk.

Tidio is a full helpdesk platform — live chat, email, ticket inbox, multichannel — with an AI add-on (Lyro). Clearly Agent is a Shopify-native AI agent that lives on the storefront, reads your catalog, and recommends products. Different layers of your stack; many stores run both.

Below: where each one fits, what it costs, and the questions we get most from merchants stacking or switching.

Pick Tidio when…

• You need a real helpdesk — multiple human agents, email tickets, SLA timers, macros.
• Your support stack already lives in Tidio and you want the AI sprinkled into the same inbox.
• You need multichannel: chat plus email plus social plus SMS.

Pick Clearly Agent when…

• Your priority is a great storefront chat — product recommendations with inline cards, order tracking by order number, cart actions inside the conversation.
• You want catalog awareness without uploading a knowledge base — Clearly reads Shopify products directly.
• You don’t need a multi-agent inbox; one merchant takeover is enough.
• You want flat $299/mo at high volume instead of metered conversation pricing.
• You want a 2-minute install with zero theme code.

FAQ

Is Clearly Agent a Tidio alternative?

Partially. Tidio is a full helpdesk — live chat, email, ticket inbox, multichannel. Tidio Lyro is the AI on top. Clearly Agent is narrower: an AI agent on the Shopify storefront that knows your catalog, recommends products, and tracks orders. If you only need an AI shopping assistant on your storefront, Clearly Agent is leaner and cheaper. If you need a full ticketed helpdesk, run Tidio (or Gorgias) and put Clearly Agent on the storefront alongside it.

Can I run both?

Yes — they coexist. Clearly Agent embeds via the Shopify theme extension. Tidio embeds via its own widget. You can either disable Clearly's widget and run only its API mode (so Tidio handles the visible chat) or hide Tidio's widget on storefront pages and only use it for back-office. Most merchants pick one as the customer-visible chat.

How does pricing compare?

Tidio: free tier exists; Lyro AI starts at $39/mo for ~50 conversations. Clearly Agent: free tier ~50 conversations, Pro $299/mo for ~5,000 conversations. At low volume Tidio is cheaper; at high volume Clearly Agent's flat $299/mo wins.

Does Tidio have catalog awareness?

Lyro can be trained on your help center / FAQ articles. Clearly Agent reads your Shopify products, prices, variants, and inventory directly via the Shopify API and uses that as its primary context. Tidio Lyro can answer questions about your store; Clearly Agent can recommend a specific product and put the buy button inline.

Which one for live chat with humans?

Tidio. It's a real helpdesk — live agents, ticket assignment, macros, SLA timers. Clearly Agent has merchant-takeover (you step in mid-conversation) but the underlying surface is single-merchant, not a multi-agent inbox.

Which one to pick?

If your priority is the storefront chat experience — product recommendations with inline cards, order tracking, multilingual — pick Clearly Agent. If your priority is a real helpdesk with AI sprinkled in, pick Tidio. They're solving adjacent but distinct problems.