AcornReply vs Crisp
A chat-first console against an email-first inbox with a chat widget in it. This page scores them row by row, including the rows Crisp wins.
The short answer.
Pick Crisp if chat is your primary channel and you want a chat-first console built to staff it; pick AcornReply if email is your channel and you want chat, email and a help center in one inbox at a flat price. The two are shaped differently on purpose: Crisp is built to staff chat as a channel, while in AcornReply a chat that arrives with nobody online waits in the inbox for a person, next to the email. If you cannot say which channel is primary, pick the one your customers already use to reach you.
Which one fits you.
Choose Crisp if
- Chat is your primary channel and somebody is there to answer it.
- AcornReply has no routing, no queues, no shifts, no chatbots and no SLAs. If you need those, shop in the chat-first category.
- You want a chat-first console built around the widget, not an inbox with a widget on it.
- You want chat, an inbox and a knowledge base from one vendor, with breadth rather than depth.
Choose AcornReply if
- Email is the channel, and chat is one more door into the same inbox.
- You want one flat price for the organization, with nothing charged by the person.
- You want a human to send by default, with the AI writing the draft.
- You want a help center that also grounds the drafts your team sends.
- Your Crisp help center should come with you: import it yourself from Settings, knowing it brings the knowledge base and not the chat history.
Scored side by side.
| Feature | Crisp | AcornReply | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
Primary channel Different products by design. The rest of the table is about which shape fits your team. | Live chat | Email, with chat and a form in the same inbox | Tie |
Live chat widget Crisp is the stronger chat product. AcornReply's widget is one door into an email-first inbox. | Included, the core product | Included on every plan, same inbox as email | Crisp |
Pricing model | Per workspace, tiered, free tier caps agents | Flat per organization, free tier caps usage not people | AcornReply |
Free tier limits Crisp's cap is on its pricing page; AcornReply Free limits drafts and outbound emails and has no teammate cap. | Caps agents | Caps usage, never people | AcornReply |
Built to staff chat as a channel AcornReply has no routing, queues, shifts, chatbots or SLAs. | Yes, chat is the whole product | No, chat is one door into an email inbox | Crisp |
Help center | Included | Included, doubles as the AI grounding source | Tie |
Pricing, side by side.
Crisp publishes its plans at crisp.chat/en/pricing. Crisp's tiers are per workspace, and the free tier caps the number of agents, so read that page for today's cap. AcornReply Pro is $20 a month and Premium is $30, flat for the whole organization, and Free caps usage rather than people. Compare the shape rather than the size: one of these bills moves when somebody new starts answering customers, and the other one does not.
Frequently asked questions
Is Crisp free?
It has a free tier, and that tier caps the number of agents. The cap moves, so check Crisp's pricing page for today's figure rather than trusting this page for it. AcornReply Free caps usage instead of people: 20 AI drafts lifetime and 500 outbound emails a month, with no limit on how many teammates share the inbox.
Which is better for a two person team?
It depends on the channel, not the headcount. Two people can run AcornReply live chat, because a chat nobody picks up waits in the same inbox as the email, and the visitor can leave an email address so the reply reaches them if they step away. If what you need instead is a queue somebody watches all day, AcornReply is the wrong tool: it has no routing, no queues and no shifts, and a chat-first product is the category to shop in.
Does AcornReply show help articles in the chat widget?
Yes, when you turn on article deflection: the widget then offers help-center articles before a person picks the chat up. With it off, the widget is a plain chat that lands in the inbox next to your email, and nothing is suggested to the visitor automatically.
Already decided to leave Crisp?
This page is for choosing. If you have chosen, the Crisp alternative page covers what changes when you move, including what to do with your existing archive.