A Crisp alternative when email comes first

Some teams meet customers in a website chat window. Others start each support day in an email inbox. We’re building Pipp for the second kind of work: a shared place for small teams to answer customer email, with AI assistance. Our non-AI core is free forever; AI is free during beta and paid afterward.

Crisp’s Free plan starts with website chat and a shared inbox; shared email starts on paid Mini. Chat is central to its offer. Pipp starts with email, and our waitlist is open for teams who want that focus. Reserve your spot for the invited beta.

The short answer

We’re building Pipp for small teams whose support starts in email. A thoughtful reply should fit into a founder’s day without turning support into a second job.

Crisp serves a wider job right now. Its Free plan covers website chat and contact forms. Mini adds shared email; Essentials adds more messaging channels, a knowledge base, analytics, routing, and automation. If those channels and tools are already part of your workflow, Crisp is doing work Pipp v1 cannot yet do.

Pipp and Crisp at a glance

Crisp’s pricing page, Free plan guide, and Hugo billing guide support the Crisp facts above. We checked them on September 24, 2026.

When our email-first approach fits

Consider joining our waitlist if your customer conversations mainly arrive by email, your team is small, and you want to assess a focused shared inbox when beta invitations begin. A founder or developer who still reads the support mailbox personally may prefer to start with that one job in view.

The free-forever non-AI core is part of that fit. It doesn’t mean unlimited usage, and AI has a separate commercial future: free during beta, paid afterward. We haven’t set our post-beta AI price yet. We’d like to welcome teams who want email support to have its own clear place.

When to keep Crisp

Keep Crisp when website chat matters now. Its permanent Free plan includes a chat widget, contact forms, two seats, and unlimited conversations, so a small team can start there without a paid subscription. We have no live chat in v1.

Crisp is also the clearer fit if you need email and chat in one working product, or if you use its wider channels, knowledge base, automations, routing, analytics, or existing conversation history. Mini includes shared email, and Essentials builds out the broader support setup. Those are real reasons to stay, not features we can replace by putting “coming soon” on a page.

What Crisp costs when email matters

Crisp lists prices per workspace per month, with included seats rather than a starting per-seat fee. The plan page displays a dollar sign but does not identify its ISO currency. Crisp offers yearly payment; we did not verify a separate yearly rate or discount. VAT is excluded where applicable, and some integrations, extra contacts, or seats beyond plan limits may add charges.

There is also a 14-day trial for new accounts. It is a trial, not a promise that Mini’s email inbox remains free afterward. A two-person team that needs shared email would compare Mini’s displayed $45 per workspace per month with our planned free non-AI core. The products still differ in availability and scope, so this is not a like-for-like savings claim.

Crisp describes Hugo credits as USD-denominated, token-based usage. The dollar credits are not a fixed conversation allowance. When included credit runs out, Hugo stops answering and hands new conversations to people by default. A workspace can opt into Pay-As-You-Go and set billing limits. Our AI is free during beta and paid afterward; we haven’t set our post-beta AI price or billing unit yet.

Where we plan to go

Email comes first. Chat is one of the first features we plan to add after launch, alongside broader AI assistance. We haven’t set dates or a chat feature list. The first invited beta may open before AI is enabled. If chat is a present requirement, Crisp already has it.

Could you move from Crisp to Pipp?

We don’t have a verified Crisp importer, migration service, field mapping, or cutover process. Keep Crisp running while you evaluate a future Pipp beta, especially if visitors use its chat widget. We haven’t set a beta invitation date.

Crisp documents contact-profile CSV exports starting at Essentials, capped at 500,000 contacts. It says bulk conversations have no native dashboard CSV export; teams use its API or a third-party migration tool. We haven’t verified which emails, chat transcripts, contacts, attachments, notes, or assignments Pipp could import. Export access is useful, but it does not make a move to Pipp ready.

Questions about Pipp as a Crisp alternative

Is Pipp a complete replacement for Crisp?

No. We’re building an email-first shared support inbox. Crisp has working chat, shared email on paid plans, and broader messaging and operations tools. Keep Crisp if you need those today.

Is Crisp Free really free, and does it include email?

Crisp’s Free plan is permanent, with two seats, a website chat widget, contact forms, and unlimited conversations. Shared email starts on Mini. Crisp separately offers a 14-day trial for new accounts.

Does Pipp have live chat or Hugo-style AI?

We don’t have live chat in v1. We plan chat after launch without a promised date. AI assistance is part of our product direction, but the first beta may open before AI is enabled. We aren’t building a Hugo equivalent for v1.

Is Pipp free forever?

Our non-AI core is free forever. AI is free during beta and paid afterward. We haven’t set our post-beta AI price yet. Free does not promise unlimited usage.

Should I cancel Crisp before trying Pipp?

No. We haven’t verified a Crisp-to-Pipp import path, and Pipp v1 will not handle website chat. Join the waitlist if you want to evaluate its email focus when beta access opens.

Follow an email-first alternative

If email is where your customers turn for help, Pipp is being built around your working day. Join the waitlist for a shared inbox that puts those conversations first.

Core inbox: free forever. AI: free during beta, paid afterward.

Join the waitlist ↗

Sources

We publish this comparison. Pipp is a product of Telesoft AG. Crisp prices, packaging, AI, and export claims were checked on September 24, 2026. They may change.

• Crisp pricing and plan comparison, for workspace rates, included seats, limits, channel scope, AI credits, trial, payment options, and VAT
• Crisp Free plan guide, for chat-first scope and shared-email boundary
• Crisp Hugo AI billing guide, for USD credits, token-based use, default escalation, and Pay-As-You-Go
• Crisp export guide, for contact and conversation export methods and limits