Live Chat & Chatbots · head to head
Smartsupp vs Amazon Lex
Smartsupp
Live Chat & Chatbots
Live chat with advanced visitor tracking and co-browsing
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Amazon Lex
Live Chat & Chatbots
AWS conversational AI service
- From
- $0.00075/per text request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Smartsupp has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Smartsupp free plan is capped at 1 operator and 25 conversations per month; Amazon Lex pay-as-you-go model with no standard free tier, only AWS free credits for new customers (6 months, $200 limit)
- They diverge on capability: Smartsupp covers Live chat messaging, Amazon Lex covers Speech recognition.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Smartsupp and Amazon Lex actually diverge.
| Attribute | Smartsupp | Amazon Lex |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $0.00075/per text request |
| Pricing model | freemium | usage-based |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, Mobile app, IOS, Android | Web, AWS Cloud |
| Founded | 2012 | 2006 |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Live Chat & Chatbots).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Smartsupp
- Live chat messaging
- Co-browsing
- Visitor tracking
- Heatmaps
- Shopify
- Zapier
- Slack
- API
Only in Amazon Lex
- Speech recognition
- Natural language understanding
- Voice and text
- Lambda integration
- AWS services
- Lambda
- DynamoDB
- SNS
Both cover
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Smartsupp
- Small teams wanting a bundled live chat and low-volume AI agent starting under $20/monthnot Amazon Lex
Amazon Lex
- Building conversational chatbots leveraging Alexa deep learning enginenot Smartsupp
- Voice and text-based NLU applications requiring automatic speech recognitionnot Smartsupp
- Custom conversational interfaces integrated into existing applicationsnot Smartsupp
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Smartsupp
- Free plan is capped at 1 operator and 25 conversations per month
- Solo and Plus plans cap AI reply assists at 50 and 250 per month, with Expert capped at 500
- Monthly billing costs more than annual: Plus is $35/month monthly versus $25/month annual, and Expert is $117/month monthly versus $83/month annual
Amazon Lex
- Pay-as-you-go model with no standard free tier, only AWS free credits for new customers (6 months, $200 limit)
- Speech requests cost $0.004 each, text requests $0.00075 each, training costs $0.50 per minute
- Variable costs can accumulate quickly for high-volume applications
Pricing, plan by plan
Smartsupp
Free- FreeFree
- Live chat
- 1 agent
- Basic features
- Professional$30/month
- Unlimited agents
- Co-browsing
- Business$60/month
- Advanced analytics
- Priority support
Amazon Lex
$0.00075/per text requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Amazon Lex review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Smartsupp if
- You need live chat messaging.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Mobile app, IOS, Android.
- You also want co-browsing.
Choose Amazon Lex if
- You need speech recognition.
- You work on Web, AWS Cloud.
- You also want natural language understanding.
Questions people ask
- Is Smartsupp or Amazon Lex better?
- Neither clearly leads. Smartsupp starts at Free and Amazon Lex at $0.00075/per text request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Smartsupp or Amazon Lex?
- Smartsupp has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Smartsupp and $0.00075/per text request for Amazon Lex.
- Does Smartsupp or Amazon Lex run on more platforms?
- Smartsupp runs on Web, Mobile app, IOS, Android. Amazon Lex runs on Web, AWS Cloud.
- Can I use Smartsupp for free?
- Yes. Smartsupp has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amazon Lex starts at $0.00075/per text request.
- What is Smartsupp best used for?
- Smartsupp is most often used for small teams wanting a bundled live chat and low-volume ai agent starting under $20/month. Of those, small teams wanting a bundled live chat and low-volume ai agent starting under $20/month is not what Amazon Lex is typically brought in for.
- What can Smartsupp do that Amazon Lex cannot?
- Smartsupp covers Live chat messaging, Co-browsing, Visitor tracking, Heatmaps. Amazon Lex covers Speech recognition, Natural language understanding, Voice and text, Lambda integration. Both handle Web support.