Crisp

Combine website chat and a shared inbox for one small support team

KINDA · partial replacement
price $45/mosubscription / year $540estimated build time multi-dayreplaced by 0 people

The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Crisp, combine website chat and a shared inbox for one small support team. The hard boundary is multi-channel inbox, chat delivery, knowledge base, campaigns, and workspace pricing, plus channel integrations and support operations.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • multi-channel inbox, chat delivery, knowledge base, campaigns, and workspace pricing
  • omnichannel integrations
  • large-scale deliverability
  • AI resolution tuning
  • enterprise routing and compliance

Why people still pay

People still pay for Crisp because support software survives because missing or misrouting one customer message is expensive and every channel behaves differently. The recurring cost buys message delivery, webhooks, threading, identity, permissions, attachments, notifications, spam, search, uptime, and retention, not just the visible interface.

Your build guide

The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.

Before you start

  • Runtime and tools: TypeScript, React, Node and PostgreSQL with workspace membership enforced on the server.
  • Before starting: A PostgreSQL database, session authentication, two isolated example workspaces and private attachment storage.
01
TypeScript, React, Node and PostgreSQL with workspace membership enforced on the server
02
Data design: Store VisitorSession, Conversation, Message, AgentAssignment and CannedReplyRevision; visitor sessions cannot read each other's threads and internal notes have a separate server-enforced visibility flag.
03
Setup: A PostgreSQL database, session authentication, two isolated example workspaces and private attachment storage
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1

Pin the working slice and create its example input: Receive website visitor messages in a compact shared inbox, assign a responder, use approved canned replies and retain a searchable conversation history. Confirm setup: A PostgreSQL database, session authentication, two isolated example workspaces and private attachment storage.

2

Phase 2

Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store VisitorSession, Conversation, Message, AgentAssignment and CannedReplyRevision; visitor sessions cannot read each other's threads and internal notes have a separate server-enforced visibility flag.

3

Phase 3

Connect the working view to real saved state. Check membership on reads, mutations, attachments and exports. Keep activity history separate from editable current state; do not make private records public through search.

4

Phase 4

Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Start with one website channel and explicit offline-message capture. Presence is approximate, message delivery needs acknowledgement/retry, and email/social channels or a claimed tiny widget bundle are separate work.

5

Phase 5

Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Reconnect a visitor after a lost reply acknowledgement and transfer the conversation to a second agent; show one message, preserve assignment history and exclude internal notes from the widget. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.

the pro prompt
download AGENTS.md
Build the following focused alternative to Crisp. This is a deliberately limited personal or small-team substitute, not parity with the paid service.

WORKING SLICE
Receive website visitor messages in a compact shared inbox, assign a responder, use approved canned replies and retain a searchable conversation history.

SETUP AND ARCHITECTURE
Use TypeScript, React, Node and PostgreSQL with workspace membership enforced on the server. Prerequisites: A PostgreSQL database, session authentication, two isolated example workspaces and private attachment storage. Before integrating anything, record actual versions and permissions, plus model files or provider limits only where used, in the README; make unavailable dependencies visible rather than simulating success.

DOMAIN MODEL AND INVARIANTS
Store VisitorSession, Conversation, Message, AgentAssignment and CannedReplyRevision; visitor sessions cannot read each other's threads and internal notes have a separate server-enforced visibility flag.

IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT
Check membership on reads, mutations, attachments and exports. Keep activity history separate from editable current state; do not make private records public through search. Provide an input/setup view, the main work view, and a review/export view appropriate to this workflow. Preserve the last saved state if a job or save fails. Include empty, loading, permission-denied, partial and retryable-error states. Log identifiers and error categories without secret values or unnecessary private content.

APP-SPECIFIC BOUNDARY AND RECOVERY
Start with one website channel and explicit offline-message capture. Presence is approximate, message delivery needs acknowledgement/retry, and email/social channels or a claimed tiny widget bundle are separate work.

ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO
Reconnect a visitor after a lost reply acknowledgement and transfer the conversation to a second agent; show one message, preserve assignment history and exclude internal notes from the widget. Also reopen the app after an interrupted operation, confirm the saved record/export remains inspectable, and document the recovery action. These are implementation acceptance requirements, not a claim that this guide has been tested.

DELIVERY
Deliver a runnable repository with migrations or project-format versioning, a non-sensitive example, environment/permission setup, the exact manual acceptance steps, and a backup/export-and-restore walkthrough. Implement the working slice before optional integrations; list any deferred paid-product capabilities honestly. Do not add capabilities outside the working slice just to resemble the original product.

PROJECT RULES FOR AGENTS.md
Keep the domain invariants above executable at the write boundary. Propose scope changes before adding providers or permissions. Never fabricate source evidence, publish results, identity matches or successful delivery. Preserve user originals and require an explicit confirmation for destructive changes or external publication.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md

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Alternatives to building your own

ChatwootA proper support inbox with chat, email and a help center; free software, billable server chores.36kaug 2026open source↗LibreDeskA modern email-and-live-chat desk in one compact stack, because apparently that was allowed.2.7kaug 2026open source↗Live Helper ChatA battle-tested live-chat desk with routing, transcripts and canned replies; the interface has seen some things.2.2kaug 2026open source↗

all 7 free alternatives to Crisp →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

Crisp pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
free$0/workspace$0/workspace2 agent seats, 100 customer profiles, unlimited conversations and 0 included AI credits
mini$45/workspace—4 seats, 5,000 customer profiles, unlimited conversations and $5 AI credits/month (about 90 automated conversations)Yearly payment can be enabled in-app, but the public page does not state the yearly total or discount.
essentials$95/workspace—10 seats, 50,000 customer profiles, 2 sub-inboxes and $25 AI credits/month (about 450 automated conversations)Yearly payment can be enabled in-app, but the public page does not state the yearly total or discount.
plus$295/workspace—20+ included seats, 200,000 customer profiles, 5 sub-inboxes and $75 AI credits/month (about 1,350 automated conversations)Additional seats cost $10/month; yearly payment can be enabled in-app but the public page does not state its rate.
enterprise——Custom onboarding, SLA, rate limits, features and trainingCustom quote.

free tier2 agent seats; 100 customer profiles; unlimited conversations; no included AI credits

billingmonthly + yearly payment available; no public yearly price or stated annual discount; 14-day all-feature trial

hidden costsAI overage is token-based pay-as-you-go after included credits; estimated $0.05-$0.10 per AI-handled conversation. Plus seats above the included 20+ cost $10/month; extra CRM contacts, agent capacity and other limits can cost extra; VAT may apply.

pricing sources checked 2026-08-12 · pricing source ↗

Questions about Crisp

Can you build your own Crisp with AI?

Partly. The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Crisp, combine website chat and a shared inbox for one small support team. The hard boundary is multi-channel inbox, chat delivery, knowledge base, campaigns, and workspace pricing, plus channel integrations and support operations.

What does the Crisp build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Receive website visitor messages in a compact shared inbox, assign a responder, use approved canned replies and retain a searchable conversation history. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: multi-channel inbox, chat delivery, knowledge base, campaigns, and workspace pricing; omnichannel integrations; large-scale deliverability. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.

How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?

Start with the Crisp prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.

How long will this Crisp project take?

The catalogue estimate is multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.

What would I give up by replacing Crisp?

multi-channel inbox, chat delivery, knowledge base, campaigns, and workspace pricing; omnichannel integrations; large-scale deliverability; AI resolution tuning; enterprise routing and compliance. People still pay for Crisp because support software survives because missing or misrouting one customer message is expensive and every channel behaves differently. The recurring cost buys message delivery, webhooks, threading, identity, permissions, attachments, notifications, spam, search, uptime, and retention, not just the visible interface.

What price is this guide comparing against?

The recorded Mini plan is $45/mo (monthly per workspace), checked 2026-07-31. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.

What can I use instead of building Crisp?

Chatwoot: A proper support inbox with chat, email and a help center; free software, billable server chores. LibreDesk: A modern email-and-live-chat desk in one compact stack, because apparently that was allowed. Live Helper Chat: A battle-tested live-chat desk with routing, transcripts and canned replies; the interface has seen some things. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/crisp/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.

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