Software Alternatives & Startups

tawk.to VS textbee.dev

Compare tawk.to VS textbee.dev and see what are their differences

tawk.to

tawk.to is a free live chat app that lets you monitor and chat with visitors on your website or from a free customizable page

tawk.to Landing page
Rating
0 reviews
textbee.dev

Turn your Android device into a powerful SMS gateway for your applications

No screenshot yet
Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source Freemium $9.99 / Monthly (Pro ( 5 devices, 5,000 messages/mo, Priority Support))
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, tawk.to seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 47 times since March 2021.

social mentions
47 vs 0
Customer Support popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 58

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

tawk.to
textbee.dev
Website tawk.to textbee.dev
Pricing
Open source Freemium $9.99 / Monthly (Pro ( 5 devices, 5,000 messages/mo, Priority Support)) Official pricing
Company Startup from the United States 2024
Listed in

About tawk.to and textbee.dev

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

tawk.to
textbee.dev

No description of tawk.to yet.

Send and receive SMS online from your applications using your Android device - no expensive third-party gateway fees. Perfect for notifications, authentication, and two-way text messaging.

Read more about textbee.dev

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

tawk.to 6 features
textbee.dev 5 features
  • Free Plan
    tawk.to offers a fully-featured free plan that includes unlimited agents, chat history, and more. This is beneficial for small businesses and startups that want a cost-effective solution.
  • Customizable Widget
    The chat widget is highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor its appearance and functionality to match their branding and user experience needs.
  • Multilingual Support
    tawk.to supports multiple languages, making it a versatile tool for businesses that operate in diverse markets.
  • Integration with Other Tools
    The platform integrates seamlessly with various third-party tools and services, including CMS, CRM systems, and social media platforms, streamlining business operations.
  • Mobile App
    tawk.to offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android, allowing customer service teams to manage chats and assist customers on the go.
  • Reports and Analytics
    The platform provides comprehensive reports and analytics, giving businesses insights into customer interactions and agent performance.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited Features on Free Plan
    While the free plan is robust, some premium features such as white-labeling, video and voice chat are only available on paid tiers.
  • No Automation Features
    tawk.to lacks advanced automation features such as chatbots, which are available in some competing live chat solutions.
  • User Interface Complexity
    Some users find the user interface to be complicated and not as intuitive as other live chat solutions, which can result in a steeper learning curve.
  • Customer Support
    While tawk.to offers a comprehensive help center, some users have reported that response times from customer support can be slow during peak times.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    Like most cloud-based services, tawk.to depends on a stable internet connection. Downtime or slow internet can severely hamper its functionality.
  • Open Source
    textbee.dev is an open-source SMS gateway platform, meaning users can inspect the code, contribute to its development, and self-host it without vendor lock-in. This transparency builds trust and allows for community-driven improvements.
  • Use Your Android Phone as SMS Gateway
    The platform allows users to turn their existing Android phone into an SMS gateway, eliminating the need for expensive dedicated SMS hardware or third-party SMS API services. This significantly lowers the barrier to entry for sending SMS messages programmatically.
  • Simple REST API
    textbee.dev provides a straightforward REST API for sending and managing SMS messages, making it easy for developers to integrate SMS functionality into their applications without dealing with complex protocols or configurations.
  • Self-Hosted Option
    Users can deploy textbee on their own infrastructure, giving them full control over their data and messaging pipeline. This is ideal for privacy-conscious users or organizations with strict data governance requirements.
  • Cost-Effective
    By leveraging an existing Android device and the user's own mobile plan for sending SMS, textbee.dev can be significantly cheaper than commercial SMS API providers, especially for small-to-medium volume messaging needs.

Possible disadvantages

  • Dependent on Android Device
    The platform requires a dedicated or semi-dedicated Android phone to function as the SMS gateway. If the phone loses power, connectivity, or crashes, SMS sending and receiving will be disrupted, making it less reliable than enterprise-grade SMS services.
  • Scalability Limitations
    Since messages are sent through a single Android phone's SIM card, there are inherent throughput limitations imposed by the carrier and device. This makes it unsuitable for high-volume SMS campaigns or enterprise-scale messaging needs.
  • Carrier Restrictions and Risks
    Mobile carriers may flag or block numbers that send large volumes of SMS, potentially leading to the SIM card being suspended or the phone number being blacklisted. Users must be cautious about sending volume and content.
  • Limited Feature Set Compared to Commercial Alternatives
    Compared to established SMS platforms like Twilio or Vonage, textbee.dev may lack advanced features such as detailed analytics, delivery receipts reliability, shortcode support, MMS capabilities, and global reach across multiple countries.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Self-hosting and maintaining the server, keeping the Android companion app running, and troubleshooting connectivity issues between the phone and the server require ongoing technical effort that managed SMS services would otherwise handle for you.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

tawk.to
textbee.dev

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Tawk.to is a good solution for businesses seeking an affordable, feature-rich live chat tool to enhance their customer service. While it does lack some advanced features found in paid alternatives, its cost-effectiveness and ease of use make it a popular choice among small to medium-sized businesses.

Why this product is good

  • Tawk.to is a widely used live chat solution that offers various features beneficial for businesses looking to improve customer communication. It is primarily appreciated for being free, easy to integrate with websites, and offering features like chat monitoring, visitor tracking, and multilingual chat support. Additionally, it provides mobile apps for both iOS and Android, allowing customer support agents to respond to queries on-the-go.

Recommended for

    Small to medium-sized businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs looking for a budget-friendly chat solution to engage with website visitors in real-time and improve their customer support experience.

Overall verdict

  • TextBee.dev is a solid, cost-effective solution for sending SMS through your own Android device, turning your phone into an SMS gateway via a simple API. It's especially appealing for developers and small businesses who want to avoid the recurring costs of traditional SMS providers like Twilio, and its open-source nature adds transparency and flexibility.

Why this product is good

  • Lets you use your own Android phone as an SMS gateway, avoiding per-message fees charged by commercial SMS APIs
  • Open-source, giving you transparency and the ability to self-host or customize the platform
  • Simple, developer-friendly REST API for sending and receiving SMS programmatically
  • Cost-effective for low-to-moderate volume messaging since it leverages your existing mobile plan
  • Good for use cases like OTP delivery, notifications, and alerts without complex telecom setup

Recommended for

  • Developers building apps that need affordable programmatic SMS sending
  • Small businesses and startups wanting to avoid expensive SMS gateway subscriptions
  • Projects requiring OTP, verification codes, or notification delivery
  • Hobbyists and self-hosters who prefer open-source, controllable tools
  • Users in regions where traditional SMS APIs are costly or poorly supported

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

tawk.to 3 videos + Add
textbee.dev 1 video + Add

Tawk.to review — unbelievably rich live chat software for free

More videos

  • Review - Free Shopify live chat app? Tawk.to - Honest Review by EcomExperts.io
  • Review - Complete Tawk.to Live Chat Product Review Video

textbee.dev intro

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
tawk.to
textbee.dev
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

tawk.to no reviews yet
textbee.dev no reviews yet

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We have no reviews of textbee.dev yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

tawk.to 47 mentions
textbee.dev 0 mentions
  • Integrate Live chat function , Visitor to post Author.
    I've tried tawk.to and created separate agent profiles for each dealer but I cannot find how to restrict access only to their listings so not everyone can join the others live chat as it happens atm. Has anyone tried something like... Source: about 3 years ago
  • WordPress store customers info getting compromised help
    Also, if possible, find their IP from tawk.to and block it in your firewall, or ask your hosting provider to block it. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Chatbot recommendations
    I've used tawk.to in the past, but I wondered what else is out there / what others use and recommend. Source: over 3 years ago

View more

Tracking textbee.dev since Mar 2026.

Alternatives to tawk.to and textbee.dev

When comparing tawk.to and textbee.dev, you can also consider the following products.