Tidio vs Marvyn AI: Complete 2026 Comparison for Shopify

Tidio

Tidio is fundamentally a live chat platform with AI add-ons. Here's how it works:

Live chat foundation:

• Human operators handle most conversations in real-time

• Visitors see "Chat with us" and connect to available agents

• Operators can be online/offline based on business hours

• Requires 2+ operators minimum (included in most plans)

AI chatbot add-on (Lyro):

• Available as separate paid add-on starting at $39/month

• Handles up to 50 conversations (then $140/mo for 200, $226/mo for 300)

• Uses Claude AI and Tidio's NLP for intent recognition

• Learns from your FAQs and website content

• Can escalate to human agents when needed

Visual chatbot builder:

• Drag-and-drop interface for creating conversation flows

• Pre-built templates for common scenarios (lead gen, discount offers, cart recovery)

• Trigger-based automation (visitor says X → bot responds Y)

• Manual setup required for each flow

Multi-channel:

• Email, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp integration

• All conversations managed in one inbox

• Operators handle messages across channels

The philosophy:

Tidio believes in human-first support with AI assistance. The platform is built for teams who want operators handling conversations but need chatbots to manage volume during off-hours or filter simple questions.

Marvyn AI

Marvyn AI is built as an autonomous AI chatbot from the ground up:

Auto-import technology:

• One-click Shopify install syncs entire catalog in 60 seconds

• Products, collections, policies, pages imported automatically

• AI trained on your store data instantly—no manual setup

• Zero configuration required to go live

Autonomous operation:

• Handles complete conversations without human approval

• Understands context, remembers conversation history

• Responds in natural language across 80+ languages

• Makes decisions independently about product recommendations

Consultative selling:

• Asks qualifying questions before recommending products

• "What's your budget?" "What style do you prefer?"

• Matches customers with right products based on actual needs

• Increases average order value through intelligent recommendations

Smart escalation:

• Handles 70%+ of conversations autonomously

• Detects when human support is truly needed

• Identifies frustrated customers, billing issues, complex requests

• Flags with clear reasoning: "Customer frustrated after 3 AI attempts"

• Provides context when escalating for faster resolution

• Only alerts you for conversations that matter—no notification spam

Custom training:

• Upload additional documents, FAQs, policies

• Adjust AI personality and tone

• Refine responses based on your brand voice

The philosophy:

Marvyn believes in AI-first automation that replaces human agents for routine support. Built for store owners who want to eliminate staffing costs while providing instant 24/7 service that scales infinitely.

Winner - Tie

Gorgias excels at empowering support teams with tools and workflows. Marvyn AI excels at autonomous automation that requires zero human involvement.

Tidio

Multi-channel strength:

• Website live chat (primary)

• Email inbox integration

• Facebook Messenger

• Instagram Direct Messages

• WhatsApp Business

• All managed in unified inbox

Availability:

• Based on operator online/offline status

• Set business hours for availability

• Automatic offline messages

• Chatbots can handle off-hours (if Lyro purchased)

• Mobile apps for operators (iOS/Android)

Channel features:

• Product cards in Messenger/Instagram

• Automated responses across channels

• Unified conversation history

• Channel-specific triggers

Why This Matters:

If customers reach you via email, Instagram DMs, Facebook messages, or WhatsApp, Tidio consolidates everything. Operators see all conversations in one dashboard.

Marvyn AI

Marvyn AI is a Shopify chatbot focused on website chat automation:

Current channels:

• Website chat widget (primary)

• Embedded on all pages

• Mobile-optimized

• Fast loading (<100kb)

Availability:

• 24/7 automatic (no business hours)

• Never offline

• Instant responses (<1 second)

• No "agent is typing..." delays

• Works holidays, nights, weekends

Future channels (roadmap):

• Additional channels based on customer demand

• Currently focused on perfecting website automation

Why this matters:

Marvyn doesn't support email, social, or SMS yet. It's purpose-built for real-time website chat where instant AI responses provide the most value for Shopify stores.

Winner - Tidio

If you need multi-channel support across email, social media (Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp), and messaging apps, Tidio is the clear choice with its unified inbox. Marvyn AI specializes in website chat automation with 24/7 instant availability but doesn't support additional channels yet.

Tidio

Lyro AI chatbot (Paid Add-On):

• Powered by Claude AI and Tidio's NLP

• Learns from your website content and FAQs

• Handles common support questions

• Intent recognition for routing

• Conversation-based pricing (expensive at scale)

Chatbot builder:

• Visual drag-and-drop editor

• Pre-built templates for common scenarios

• Keyword/intent triggers

• Manual flow creation required

• Can take hours to set up complex flows

Automation capabilities:

• Up to 40-60% automation with Lyro

• Requires human operators for complex questions

• AI suggests responses to agents

• Automated satisfaction surveys

• Cart abandonment flows

Limitations:

AI conversations are limited by pricing tier

Spam/bot traffic counts toward conversation limits

Requires manual chatbot flow creation

Human agents still needed for most conversations

No consultative selling or intelligent product matching

Marvyn AI

Marvyn AI operates as a fully autonomous AI agent:

Core AI capabilities:

• Handles complete conversations without human intervention

• Understands context and remembers conversation history

• Responds in 80+ languages automatically

• <1 second response time, 24/7

Consultative selling:

• Asks qualifying questions before recommending products

• "What's your budget?" "What style do you prefer?"

• Matches customers with the right products based on needs

• Increases average order value through intelligent recommendations

Smart escalation:

• Handles 70%+ of conversations autonomously

• Detects when human support is needed (frustrated customers, billing issues, complex requests)

• Flags conversations with reasoning: "Customer frustrated after 3 AI attempts - needs human"

• Only alerts you for conversations that truly require human touch

The philosophy:

Marvyn's AI is autonomous—it operates independently and makes decisions on its own. But it's smart enough to know when to ask for help.

Winner - Marvyn AI

Deeper AI capabilities with full autonomy, consultative selling, and unlimited conversations. Marvyn handles 70%+ of conversations autonomously vs. Tidio's 40-60% with conversation-limited AI add-on. Tidio's AI assists human agents; Marvyn's AI operates independently.

Tidio

Operator performance:

• Response times per operator

• Conversations handled per operator

• Customer satisfaction scores (CSAT)

• First response time

• Resolution time

Chatbot analytics:

• Conversations handled by bot vs. humans

• Bot trigger performance

• Drop-off points in flows

• Conversion tracking

Visitor analytics:

• Real-time visitor list

• Pages viewed

• Shopping cart contents

• Visitor location and device

• Time on site

Conversation insights:

• Conversation transcripts

• Tags and segmentation

• Conversion attribution

• Revenue tracking

Integration analytics:

• Google Analytics integration

• Track chat impact on sales

• Custom event tracking

These analytics are designed for managing support teams, optimizing operator performance, and measuring chatbot ROI.

Marvyn AI

AI performance:

• Automation rate (% handled autonomously)

• Escalation rate (when AI needs help)

• Response accuracy

• Customer satisfaction trends

Conversation insights:

• What customers are asking about

• Common questions/topics

• Product interest patterns

• Language distribution

Sales impact:

• Conversations leading to purchases

• Average order value from AI recommendations

• Cart recovery success rate

• Product recommendation performance

Escalation analysis:

• Why AI escalated

• Flagging reasons (frustrated, billing, complex)

• Resolution outcomes

• Time to human response

These analytics are designed for understanding AI performance, identifying improvement areas, and measuring automation ROI.

Winner - Tie

Different analytics for different purposes. Tidio provides comprehensive operator performance analytics, team metrics, and conversation management for managing support teams. Marvyn provides AI automation analytics, escalation analysis, and sales impact metrics for measuring autonomous AI performance. Choose based on whether you're managing a team (Tidio) or monitoring AI automation (Marvyn).

Tidio pricing

Tidio uses a modular pricing structure where features are sold separately:

Base Plans:

• Free Plan ($0/month): 2 operators, 100 chatbot triggers, unlimited live chats, basic templates, 500 emails

• Starter Plan ($29/month): 3 operators, 2,000 reached visitors, 20,000 emails, advanced Shopify integrations

• Growth Plan ($59/month): 5 operators, 250 live chat conversations, multi-channel messaging, advanced analytics

Add-On Costs:

• Lyro AI Chatbot (Required for AI automation): $39/mo (50 AI conversations), $140/mo (200 conversations), $226/mo (300 conversations)

• Additional Operators: $2.50/month per operator (limited to 5 total)

• Remove Branding: $15.83/month additional charge

Hidden Costs:

• Conversation-based billing means unpredictable monthly costs

• Spam and bot traffic count toward conversation limits

• Need multiple add-ons for full functionality

• Email campaigns cost extra for large lists

Marvyn AI pricing

Marvyn uses simple, predictable pricing:

Free Plan ($0/month):

• 20 message credits/month

• 1 chatbot

• 400,000 characters per chatbot

• 10 links to train on

• Embed on unlimited websites

• Access to fast models

Hobby Plan ($29/month):

• 2,000 message credits/month

• 2 chatbots

• 11 million characters per chatbot

• Unlimited links to train on

• Embed on unlimited websites

• Access to advanced models

Standard Plan ($99/month):

• 10,000 message credits per month

• 5 chatbots

• Custom domain support

• Priority support

• Advanced AI model selection

No Hidden Costs:

✓ Unlimited conversations (don't count spam)

✓ All features included in every plan

✓ No per-conversation charges

✓ No branding fees

✓ No additional operator costs

Savings with Marvyn AI

$36,372 - $72,372 per year compared to Gorgias with agents

Winner - Marvyn AI

For pure cost efficiency, Marvyn AI delivers massive savings. However, if you need a full helpdesk with human oversight, Gorgias provides more value despite the higher cost.

When Tidio excels:

Customer Support with human touch:

• You have (or want) a customer support team

• Complex questions require human empathy/judgment

• Customers prefer talking to real people

• Need to handle sensitive issues (refunds, complaints)

Multi-channel customer service:

• Customers reach you via Instagram, Facebook, email

• Want unified inbox for all channels

• Need team collaboration across channels

Hybrid automation:

• Want chatbots for off-hours/simple questions

• But human agents for complex issues during business hours

• Willing to pay per-conversation for AI

Marketing & lead generation:

• Use live chat for sales conversations

• Capture leads with automated flows

• Send email campaigns from same platform

• Proactive visitor engagement

Team collaboration:

• Multiple agents need to work together

• Internal notes and assignments important

• Want visitor tracking and history

When Marvyn AI excels:

Full automation without agents:

• Don't have (and don't want) a support team

• Want to eliminate staffing costs entirely

• Need 24/7 instant support without hiring

Shopify-specific automation:

• Built exclusively for Shopify stores

• Need AI that understands Shopify products/policies

• Want automatic sync with catalog changes

• Shopify checkout/cart integration

Consultative selling & revenue:

• Want AI that actively sells products

• Need intelligent product recommendations

• Customers ask "what do you recommend?"

• Want to increase average order value

Instant scalability:

• Handle 10 or 10,000 conversations simultaneously

• Black Friday traffic surges

• No staffing constraints

• Predictable costs regardless of volume

Smart escalation:

• Handle 70%+ of routine questions automatically

• Only get notified when human support truly needed

• AI provides context for faster resolution

Winner - Depends on your business model

Choose Tidio if you need multi-channel live chat with human operators managing conversations across email, social media, and messaging apps.

Choose Marvyn AI if you want full AI automation for Shopify with consultative selling, 70%+ autonomous operation, and unlimited conversations without managing agents.

Tidio

Support tiers:

• Free Plan: Email support

• Starter/Growth Plans: Email + live chat support

• Scale Plan: Priority support + dedicated success manager

Support quality:

• Generally responsive (reviews mention good support)

• Knowledge base and documentation available

• Community forum for peer help

• Training sessions for higher tiers

Common feedback:

Support team resolves issues quickly

Helpful with setup and configuration

Some users mention slow response times on free plan

Documentation could be more comprehensive

Marvyn AI

Early-Stage advantage:

• Direct founder access (not tiered support)

• Same-day responses

• Hands-on help with setup and optimization

• Product co-creation—feedback shapes roadmap

Support philosophy:

• Long-term partnership approach

• Sit with customers to solve problems

• Build features based on actual needs

• No rigid support tiers—everyone gets founder attention

Why this matters:

As an early-stage product, Marvyn offers something established platforms can't: direct access to the people building the product. When you have an idea or issue, founders listen and can actually implement changes quickly.

Winner - Tie

Tidio offers established support infrastructure with email, live chat, and dedicated success managers for higher tiers. Marvyn offers direct founder access with same-day responses and product co-creation flexibility. Different strengths: Tidio provides structured support systems; Marvyn provides personalized early-stage partnership with rapid feature development based on customer feedback.

Winner - Marvyn AI

60-second setup with auto-import vs. 30+ minutes for Tidio's chatbot configuration. Marvyn requires no chatbot building, no operator training, and no ongoing flow management. Tidio requires manual flow creation, team training, and continuous optimization of chatbot templates.

Shopify Inbox (Free)

What It Offers:

• Free live chat built into Shopify admin

• Basic automated responses for FAQs

• Order status lookups

• Product recommendations via pre-set questions

• Mobile app for on-the-go responses

Limitations:

Requires human operators to manage chat

Limited automation (only pre-written FAQs)

No AI for understanding complex questions

Manual responses needed for most inquiries

Basic analytics only

Can't handle conversations autonomously

1. Lack of True AI Automation:

Shopify Inbox uses simple keyword matching, not real AI. Customers asking "Do you have waterproof hiking boots in size 10?" won't get intelligent answers—just pre-written FAQ responses.

2. Requires Constant Monitoring:

Store owners must constantly check the inbox and respond manually. No nights off, no weekends, no automation for routine questions.

3. Doesn't Scale:

As your store grows, Shopify Inbox becomes overwhelming. Handling 20+ conversations daily manually isn't sustainable.