tawk.to is one of the most popular free live chat tools for websites, and for good reason: the core chat is free, with unlimited agents and conversations. But plenty of small businesses go looking for an alternative once they hit the paid add-ons, find the dashboard more than they need, or simply want something lighter that they can answer from their phone.
This guide covers when tawk.to is the right choice, when it is not, and how Brane compares as a free alternative for small teams and solo operators.
When tawk.to is the right choice
tawk.to is a full support suite. Alongside live chat it offers ticketing, a knowledge base, a CRM, chat routing and reporting, and visitors can start chatting without giving any details. If you run a support team that needs those tools, it is hard to beat for the price.
Why people look for a tawk.to alternative
- The add-ons add up. Removing the “Powered by tawk.to” branding, AI Assist, and voice and video are each paid monthly add-ons, so the free tool can become a monthly bill.
- It is more than a small business needs. If you are a shop, studio, clinic or solo founder, a full help desk can be overkill when all you want is to answer questions.
- Anonymous chats are hard to follow up. If a visitor leaves before you reply and you never got their email, the conversation ends there.
Brane: a free support chat that reaches a real person
Brane adds a support chat to any website with one line of code. Visitors message you from your page, and you answer from the Brane app on your phone or from any browser. There is no chatbot: every message reaches you, and the chat panel tells visitors that before they type.
Visitors start a chat by entering their email and a six digit code, then picking a username. That one extra step means every conversation has a way back to the visitor: if you reply after they have closed the tab, your answer is emailed to them, and the conversation is waiting on your site when they return. The chat, the embed and every conversation are free, with no per-seat or per-message pricing, and your team can sign in to the same account so several people can answer from one inbox.
Brane vs tawk.to at a glance
| Brane | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free core chat; paid add-ons for branding removal, AI and voice and video |
| Best for | Small businesses and small teams answering from their phones | Support teams that need a full help desk |
| Team | Team members sign in to the same account and answer from one shared inbox | Unlimited agents, each with their own login, plus chat routing |
| Setup | One script tag | One script tag plus dashboard configuration |
| Chatbot | None; every message reaches a person | Optional paid AI Assist |
| Visitor sign-in | Email and six digit code | Optional; visitors can chat anonymously |
| Replies after the visitor leaves | Emailed to the visitor automatically | Depends on whether the visitor left contact details |
| Ticketing, knowledge base, CRM | Not the focus | Included |
| Community option | Optional: embed a public group chat instead of private support, so customers can talk to each other | No |
What Brane does that tawk.to does not
One inbox beyond your website. Your Brane profile has its own web address, so you can put it in your Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn bios and on your Google listing. Customers can message you from any of them, straight from their browser, and everything lands in the same inbox as your website chat.
An optional community, if you want one. By default, every visitor gets their own private conversation with you. If you would also like to build a community, you can choose to embed a public group chat, called a Crowd, instead, so customers can help each other as well as talk to you. It is an option for clubs, events, creators and product communities, not something you have to use.
Light on your page. The Brane loader fetches nothing else until somebody opens the chat, so it does not weigh down your site.
When to stay with tawk.to
If you have a support team that relies on ticketing, a knowledge base, chat routing or AI-assisted replies, or you want visitors to chat with no sign-in at all, tawk.to is built for that and Brane is not trying to be. Brane is for businesses that want a simple, free way to talk to the people on their website, with replies that always reach them.
How to switch from tawk.to to Brane
- Create your account on your phone or at brane.chat and pick a username.
- Remove the tawk.to script from your site, or uninstall its plugin.
- Paste the Brane snippet into your page or your theme’s footer, with your username in it.
- Turn on notifications in the Brane app so you hear the moment a visitor writes.
<script src="https://embed.brane.chat/embed.js"
data-user="your-username"
defer></script>You can set your brand colour, change the welcome line, or hide the floating button and open the chat from your own “Contact us” link. The setup guide covers every option.
Common questions
Is there a free alternative to tawk.to?
Yes. Brane is a free live chat for websites with no per-seat or per-message pricing. It suits small businesses that want to answer visitors from their phone rather than run a full help desk.
Is Brane a chatbot?
No. Every message reaches a real person, and the chat panel tells visitors that before they start.
Can I answer website chats from my phone?
Yes. Brane has apps for iPhone and Android with push notifications when a visitor writes, and you can also reply from any browser at brane.chat.
Can my team answer chats too?
Yes. Team members can sign in to the same Brane account, so several people can answer from one shared inbox, with no per-seat pricing.
What happens if I reply after the visitor has left?
Your reply is emailed to them, and the conversation is waiting on your site when they come back.