# Orka vs tawk.to

tawk.to offers a genuinely free core support product. Orka also starts free, with a different team model and knowledge workflow. Here is the comparison without pretending that every rival is expensive.

Published by Orka / BIGMO SAS. Reviewed 2026-09-18.
Canonical: https://orka-1t3.pages.dev/orka-vs-tawk

## Let us say the important part first: the core is free.

tawk.to describes its core live-chat product as free, without turning each agent into a recurring seat subscription. That is a meaningful advantage, especially for a team with many occasional contributors and a limited budget. It would be dishonest to construct a comparison that gives tawk.to an invented paid base plan or ignores the free offering.

Orka also has a free plan, but Solo is for one person. Pod is $29 monthly for three people and Fleet is $99 for twenty. If the question is only which base product charges less for a larger human team, tawk.to may have a straightforward answer. The reason to consider Orka is the fit of its project, knowledge and AI workflow, not a claim that every alternative costs more. Begin the trial with that distinction clear.

Sources: [Why tawk.to is free](https://www.tawk.to/why-free/)

## Free core and optional services are separate decisions.

tawk.to offers paid extras, including AI Assist and removal of its branding. Its add-on page lists monthly Remove Branding at $29 and connects that option to branded help-center use. AI Assist has a free tier with limits and paid capacity. Optional human staffing and other services should be evaluated on their own terms, not quietly added to every user’s hypothetical invoice.

The calculator therefore lets you compare the free core or the optional branding package. It does not assume that your business needs every add-on. For Orka, team subscription and AI usage are also separate lines. Compare the configuration you would use in production, including whether you care about branding, how many people answer and whether automated replies are actually part of your plan. A free tool can remain a good choice even after you buy a useful extra.

Sources: [tawk.to add-ons](https://www.tawk.to/add-ons/), [AI Assist billing](https://help.tawk.to/article/how-to-manage-billing-for-ai-assist)

## tawk.to has a knowledge base, too.

The tawk.to setup guide describes a public Knowledge Base and its integration into the chat widget. Visitors can find an answer before starting a conversation. Its documentation also explains categories and nested subcategories. These are real self-service capabilities, and they mean that a help center is not an Orka-only feature in this comparison.

Orka includes a help center with custom-domain publishing, Markdown articles, collections and sections, automatic translations and manual correction. The translation workflow marks content outdated when the source changes, and published articles support Orky. The practical difference to explore is how you create and maintain your particular library. Take an existing policy, translate it, revise it and find it from the widget. That sequence is more informative than asking whether each product can display a list of articles.

Sources: [tawk.to setup and knowledge-base guide](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard), [Knowledge Base categories](https://help.tawk.to/article/creating-knowledge-base-categories)

## AI limits should be compared in their own units.

tawk.to AI Assist uses its own message-credit and knowledge allowances. Its billing guide explains the difference between the free and paid options. Orka’s managed AI uses separate input and output token rates for the named model, with a two-times multiplier on the standard provider rate. Bring-your-own-key users pay their provider directly without an Orka markup.

A message credit is not automatically one thousand tokens, just as a long support conversation is not a fixed-size document. We do not translate between those units by guessing. Use the same sample of customer questions in both products and inspect the consumption alongside answer quality. Include a multi-message problem, a question requiring a long article and a situation that needs a human. The budget should reflect the work you expect the assistant to handle.

Sources: [AI Assist billing](https://help.tawk.to/article/how-to-manage-billing-for-ai-assist)

## The reason to pay should be visible in the workflow.

In Orka, the project, the person and the conversation are meant to stay connected. Assignment, private notes, tags, reminders and filters help a small team decide who owns the next step. Visitor context and cart details, where connected, reduce repeated questions. AI can stay as a draft that a teammate approves instead of sending immediately.

Those benefits need to be experienced rather than asserted against an unfamiliar competitor. Have two colleagues use both tools on the same handover. Ask the second person to find the earlier exchange and the right help article. Then ask someone who only answers occasionally to do it. If Orka makes that work meaningfully clearer, the paid team tier may be justified. If the free tawk.to setup already meets the need comfortably, there is no obligation to replace it.

## Availability is part of the customer experience.

tawk.to documents online, away and offline widget states. Orka also communicates availability, with reply-time expectations and dedicated night, break-day and panic banners. These details help a visitor understand what kind of response is realistic. A small business should not need to pretend it has a continuously staffed call center just because its widget is always on the page.

Test after-hours behavior directly. Send a message when no human is available, leave the website and return later. Read the wording as a customer, not as the person who configured it. Does it explain what happens next? Does the AI identify the point where a person is needed? A clear expectation can be more valuable than an instant response that leaves the visitor unsure whether anyone is actually dealing with the problem.

Sources: [tawk.to setup and knowledge-base guide](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)

## Our recommendation is deliberately not “paid must be better”.

Keep tawk.to high on the shortlist when free core live chat and a knowledge base meet your needs, especially with many agents. Review the paid extras only if they solve a specific problem. A sustainable low-cost setup is a good outcome, and a fair comparison should acknowledge it without attaching an imaginary drawback.

Try Orka when you want its multi-project organization, knowledge-maintenance workflow and AI payment choices in one coherent workspace. Start with the free Solo plan and real documentation before choosing a team tier. The orca is admittedly a charming colleague, but the purchase should still earn its place: less repeated context, clearer ownership and answers your customers can actually use. If those improvements are not visible in your trial, a different tool may be the better choice.

## What the Orka subscription actually includes.

Orka Solo is free for one person. Pod is $29 per month for up to three people, and Fleet is $99 per month for up to twenty. Unlimited projects and the help center are included across the plans. Message search, image sharing and analytics are paid-plan features. Fleet adds removal of Orka branding and a custom name for Orky. AI usage is a separate budget; using a provider key does not create an Orka markup.

The support toolkit includes live chat, live typing, saved replies, attachments, read receipts and email continuation. Your team can assign conversations, add private notes and mentions, use tags and filters, mark work resolved and set reminders. Visitor tools include a live map, a visitor list, profile information, recent page context, custom attributes and cart context when connected. Availability, reply-time expectations and night, break-day and panic banners explain when a human is around.

Orky can use your knowledge for automatic replies or drafts you review, help with writing shortcuts and summaries, translate conversations and hand over to a person. Widget branding, layout choices and seasonal themes sit alongside mobile apps, installation tools and an SDK. The detailed matrix below covers the full catalogue, including help-center publishing and translation maintenance. Features that depend on a plan or connected data are labeled, rather than silently promised everywhere.

## How to read this comparison.

This guide is published by Orka, not an independent review site. Competitor facts come from the linked official product pages, documentation and developer-maintained listings checked on 18 September 2026. Our recommendations and trial ideas are our analysis. Pricing can change, and a negotiated offer or annual commitment may differ from the monthly examples shown here.

A row marked “Not verified” means the reviewed sources did not establish that exact capability. It does not mean the competitor cannot do it. We distinguish similar functions where needed: a typing indicator is not necessarily a preview of unsent text, an AI knowledge source is not automatically a public help center, and viewing a cart is not the same as changing an order. Ask the vendor to demonstrate the details that are essential to your team.

We compare published capabilities without making claims about certifications, ownership structure or data location that the evidence does not establish. The only deliberately unserious category is the orca connection. For everything else, bring a real support example, use the right plan and check the result. A fair comparison should help you choose well, even when the right choice is not Orka.

## Full feature comparison

Not verified means the reviewed sources did not establish this exact feature. It is not a claim of absence.

- **Real-time live chat** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Free core live chat ([source](https://www.tawk.to/why-free/)).
- **See messages as they are typed** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Conversation history & search** — Orka: Message search: Pod & Fleet. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Saved reply shortcuts** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Shortcuts ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)).
- **Files & images** — Orka: Image sharing: Pod & Fleet. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Emoji picker** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Read receipts** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Continue by email** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Unlimited projects. One inbox.** — Orka: Unlimited projects on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Conversation assignment** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Private notes & @mentions** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Conversation tags** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Inbox filters** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Mark as resolved** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Conversation reminders** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Urgency at a glance** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Room for your whole crew** — Orka: Solo: 1 member · Pod: 3 · Fleet: 20. tawk.to: No per-agent core subscription ([source](https://www.tawk.to/why-free/)).
- **Answers from your own knowledge** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: AI Assist uses your sources ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)).
- **Automatic replies & escalation** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: AI Assist; free and paid quotas ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/how-to-manage-billing-for-ai-assist)).
- **AI drafts you approve** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Live human takeover** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **AI control per conversation** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Two-way translation** — Orka: Solo translation: bring your own AI key. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **One-click writing shortcuts** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Conversation summaries** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **ChatGPT or Claude** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Bring your own AI key** — Orka: AI usage is separate from the plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Pay-as-you-go AI** — Orka: See current AI rates on the pricing section. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Give Orky your own name** — Orka: Fleet. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Worldwide live visitor map** — Orka: Pod & Fleet. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Live visitor list** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Visitor details** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Current page & recent activity** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Your own customer attributes** — Orka: Requires your integration to supply the data. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Cart context** — Orka: Requires connected cart data. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Conversation analytics** — Orka: Pod & Fleet. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **A free help center** — Orka: Included on every plan. tawk.to: Knowledge Base ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)).
- **Help in every language** — Orka: Included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Online & away status** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Online, away and offline states ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)).
- **Your average reply time** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Night banner & working hours** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Break day banner** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Panic banner** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Your colors & your words** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Widget customization ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)).
- **Widget layouts & team profiles** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Christmas & Halloween themes** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Remove Orka branding** — Orka: Fleet. tawk.to: Paid add-on ([source](https://www.tawk.to/add-ons/)).
- **Install on your website** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **A simple setup** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **SDK for custom integrations** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **iOS & Android apps** — Orka: Included on every plan. tawk.to: iOS and Android apps ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)).
- **A lightweight widget** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **IP & country blocking** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Your own help center domain** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Custom domain with paid branding add-on ([source](https://www.tawk.to/add-ons/)).
- **Bring your existing knowledge** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Markdown editor & preview** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Collections, sections & ordering** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Categories and subcategories ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/creating-knowledge-base-categories)).
- **Automatic article translation** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Edit translations & spot outdated copy** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Searchable help inside the widget** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Knowledge Base in the widget ([source](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)).
- **The same knowledge for Orky** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Drafts, publishing & article filters** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Article views & reader reactions** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **Article URLs, excerpts & SEO fields** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.
- **A help center that feels like yours** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. tawk.to: Not verified.

## Sources

- [Why tawk.to is free](https://www.tawk.to/why-free/)
- [tawk.to add-ons](https://www.tawk.to/add-ons/)
- [tawk.to setup and knowledge-base guide](https://help.tawk.to/article/a-checklist-to-help-you-set-up-your-tawkto-dashboard)
- [AI Assist billing](https://help.tawk.to/article/how-to-manage-billing-for-ai-assist)
- [Knowledge Base categories](https://help.tawk.to/article/creating-knowledge-base-categories)

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