Chatlio vs Social Intents
Both products let a website visitor talk to a person who answers from Slack or Microsoft Teams, and the visitor never needs an account. Choose Chatlio if you want the whole conversation to happen inside Slack, Teams or Discord, with unlimited domains and a 30-day trial. Choose Social Intents if you want a built-in AI agent, WhatsApp or SMS, or Google Chat, Zoom or Webex as the place your team answers.
We make Chatlio, so this is not an independent review. We checked Social Intents’ public pages on October 15, 2026. We have not tested Social Intents’ AI or its operator apps ourselves. Prices change, so confirm them before you buy.
Short answer
Pick Chatlio if you want your team to run the whole website conversation inside Slack, Teams or Discord: replies, files, screenshots and /chatlio commands, with no second inbox and no bundled AI agent or messaging suite to pay for.
Pick Social Intents if you want ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to answer first, if your team works in Google Chat, Zoom or Webex, if WhatsApp, SMS or Messenger belong in the same product, or if you have many agents and want unlimited seats.
If you’re still unsure, put both trials on a test page and answer three chats from your phone. The operator side is where the difference shows.
Why teams choose Chatlio
A full integration, not a notification bot. The whole conversation happens where your team already talks, in Slack, Microsoft Teams or Discord, with no second inbox to watch.
- The whole chat, inside Slack. Text, images, files, code blocks, typing indicators and screenshots move between Slack and the website.
/chatliocommands set availability, request details, end conversations and export transcripts without leaving Slack. - A space for every visitor. In Slack each visitor gets a dedicated channel; in Teams and Discord, a thread. Support pulls in an engineer without a handoff, and the visitor sees one conversation.
- Context before you reply. See the visitor's location, page, local time, browser and OS, plus any account details you send with
identify(). - Screenshots, images and code. Ask for a screenshot from your channel with no plugin on the visitor's side. Drag in an image and it lands in the widget. Backticks render as code.
- Answer from your phone. Replies go out from the Slack, Teams or Discord app you already carry.
- Your design, on every plan. Full CSS customization and unlimited domains are included from the Mini plan at $30 a month.
- Reach visitors at the right moment. Triggers, pre-chat questions, routing to the right channel and saved replies on Team and above.
- Built for developers. A JavaScript API, a server API, webhooks, Zapier and Segment, with guides for React, Next.js, WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace and Webflow.
- Hours that follow your team. Set a schedule, follow Slack presence or switch availability yourself, and show a contact form when you're offline.
How a conversation moves
A visitor types in a widget on your site. The message has to land where your staff already looks.
Chatlio puts the conversation in your workspace itself. A new chat appears in a channel you chose. In Slack, the visitor then gets a dedicated channel when someone answers. In Microsoft Teams each visitor gets a thread, or a separate chat if a Microsoft 365 administrator approves it. In Discord each visitor gets a thread. Replies typed there are what the visitor sees, and several teammates can join. There is no second inbox.
Social Intents also puts website chats in Slack, in a dedicated channel or a thread, and in Teams, Google Chat, Zoom and Webex. In Teams, its help center says agents replying in a channel must mention @live chat in every reply, or answer from its separate chat console instead. Chatlio reads replies in the visitor’s thread without a mention. Social Intents does not list Discord. Its product is broader than live chat: it advertises AI agents, WhatsApp, SMS and Messenger, and help desk ticketing on higher plans.
If your team’s chat app is where you want to do the work, Chatlio is the narrower tool. If it’s one of several places, Social Intents is built for that.
Side by side
| Question | Chatlio | Social Intents |
|---|---|---|
| Can operators answer website visitors from Slack? | Yes | Yes |
| How a conversation appears to operators | Slack: a dedicated channel per visitor. Teams and Discord: a thread per visitor | A dedicated channel or a thread |
| Other operator apps | Microsoft Teams, Discord | Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Zoom, Webex |
| Replying in Microsoft Teams | Reply in the visitor's thread like any Teams post, no mention needed | Mention @live chat in every channel reply, or use its separate chat console |
| Built-in AI customer agent | No hosted general-purpose AI agent. Custom bots through the API | Yes, using ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini |
| Visitor channels | Website widget | Website, WhatsApp, SMS, Messenger |
| Developer API or webhooks | JavaScript API, server API, webhooks, Zapier, Segment | Developer API and integrations |
| Published trial | 30 days | 14 days |
| Published entry plan | Mini, $30 per month: 2 operators, 250 conversations / month | Lite, $29 per month or $21 billed annually: 1 seat, 1 widget, 60 conversations. Team plans from Starter, $39 per month billed annually, 4 seats |
| Domains | Unlimited on every plan | 1 on Lite and Starter, 2 on Basic, 5 on Pro |
Checked October 15, 2026. Prices and limits change, so confirm them before you buy. Sources: Chatlio pricing, Social Intents pricing, Social Intents Slack live chat, Social Intents: answer live chats in Teams.
What each costs for a typical team
Both companies publish plan limits, and they count different things. Chatlio limits operators and conversations per plan. Social Intents limits seats on Starter and gives unlimited seats from Basic up.
- One person answering. Chatlio Mini is $30 a month for 2 operators and 250 conversations. Social Intents Lite is $29 a month, or $21 billed annually, for 1 seat and 60 conversations.
- Two people answering, under 250 chats a month. Chatlio Mini still covers it at $30 a month. Social Intents needs Starter: $39 a month billed annually, with up to 4 seats and 1 domain.
- Five people answering. Chatlio Team is $70 a month at its current launch price, with 2,000 conversations and 2 widgets. Social Intents Starter allows 4 seats, so five people need Basic: $69 a month billed annually, with unlimited seats, 1,000 conversations and 2 domains.
- A large team. Social Intents’ unlimited seats can cost less than Chatlio’s operator-based plans. Compare against your real number of agents and monthly chats.
Social Intents publishes its annual prices on its pricing page. Check its monthly prices and current limits there.
When Chatlio is the better fit
- Your operators already work in Slack, Microsoft Teams or Discord and don’t want another dashboard for website chat.
- You run several sites and want unlimited domains without changing plans.
- You want CSS control, a browser API, a server API, webhooks, Zapier and Segment on a product that stays focused on live chat.
- You want 30 days to try it.
- You’d rather keep AI optional, as a bot you write through the API, than start with a hosted agent.
When Social Intents is the better fit
- You want an AI agent to handle the easy questions and pass the rest to your team.
- Your company works in Google Chat, Zoom or Webex.
- WhatsApp, SMS or Messenger is a real requirement.
- You want help desk ticketing and email support from the same vendor.
- You have many agents, and unlimited seats matter more than conversation limits.
What this page doesn’t claim
Social Intents is not a worse Chatlio. It’s a wider product. Chatlio is not Social Intents without AI. It’s website chat that lives entirely in your team’s chat app, with a smaller scope.