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How to Add a Free AI Customer Support Agent to Your Website

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An AI support agent can deflect a large share of repetitive questions and answer customers around the clock. This guide shows how to deploy one for free — either a hosted widget or a self-hosted, open-source platform you fully own.

Choose your path

Two free routes: Tidio gives you a hosted AI widget (Lyro) live in minutes with a free conversation allowance, while Chatwoot is open-source and self-hostable so you keep all customer data on your own servers.

Pick Tidio for speed and zero setup; pick Chatwoot for data ownership and no per-seat fees.

Deploy a hosted widget (Tidio)

  1. 1 Create a free Tidio account.
  2. 2 Add the widget snippet to your site (or install the platform plugin).
  3. 3 Import your FAQ or help docs so Lyro answers from your content.
  4. 4 Turn on Lyro AI and set rules for handing off to a human.

Self-host an open-source platform (Chatwoot)

  1. 1 Deploy Chatwoot via Docker or a one-click installer.
  2. 2 Connect your channels (website chat, email, social).
  3. 3 Add your help-center articles for grounded answers.
  4. 4 Enable Captain AI assist and configure escalation.

Measure and improve

Track deflection rate and customer satisfaction. Feed unanswered questions back into your knowledge base so the agent improves over time, and always keep a clear path to a human.

Frequently asked questions

What's the best free way to add AI support to a website?

For a fast hosted option, Tidio's free plan includes an AI widget. For full control and data ownership, self-host Chatwoot, which is open-source and free with AI assist built in.