Tiledesk

What is Tiledesk?

Tiledesk is an open-source, AI-powered conversational platform that helps businesses automate customer support, sales engagement, and internal workflows. It allows teams to build AI agents using a no-code visual builder, connect them to a knowledge base, and deploy them across channels like web chat, WhatsApp, email, and voice. The platform supports human handoff when needed and integrates with APIs and external tools to trigger actions. It’s designed to create scalable, multi-agent workflows that combine automation with real-time collaboration.

Founded in 2020 by Michele Pomposo and Andrea Sponziello in Italy, Tiledesk has grown into a leading open-core conversational platform trusted by thousands of organizations globally across e-commerce, banking, education, and healthcare. Operating on an open-source MQTT messaging backbone, Tiledesk processes millions of conversational interactions monthly. Teams deploying Tiledesk report reducing human support ticket workloads by over 30% to 50% while retaining complete data sovereignty through self-hosted deployment options.

• Founder / Leadership: Michele Pomposo (Co-founder) and Andrea Sponziello (Co-founder & Technology Lead)
• Launch Year: 2020

Use Cases:

• Automating tier-1 customer support inquiries across website live chat and WhatsApp Business Cloud
• Designing complex, multi-branch conversational flows and lead qualification forms without code
• Connecting knowledge bases and internal documents to AI agents for accurate context-grounded retrieval
• Deploying self-hosted, air-gapped conversational AI instances using local LLMs (LLaMA, Mistral) for strict data privacy

Technology:

• Open-source MQTT pub/sub messaging architecture ensuring real-time bidirectional communication
• Model-agnostic AI orchestration supporting OpenAI GPT-4o, Anthropic Claude, and local open-source LLMs
• Visual node-based chatbot design studio with native webhooks, custom code actions, and real-time debugging

Target Users:

• Customer support directors and CX teams looking to automate repetitive helpdesk tickets
• Software engineers and system architects requiring open-source, on-premise conversational infrastructure
• E-commerce managers and digital agencies automating lead generation and WhatsApp sales funnels
• Enterprise compliance officers in banking, government, and healthcare demanding strict data residency

Corporate Entity: Operates as an open-core developer and software company (Tiledesk S.r.l., Italy)

Key features of Tiledesk

Tiledesk's key features are

• Visual Design Studio: Create sophisticated decision-tree conversational flows, interactive carousels, and forms using an intuitive drag-and-drop canvas.
• Intelligent Knowledge Base (RAG): Upload documents, PDFs, or website URLs to train AI agents that answer user inquiries with grounded, domain-specific accuracy.
• Omnichannel Deployment: Deploy your conversational agents across web chat widgets, WhatsApp Business Cloud, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, SMS, and voice.
• Hybrid Human Handoff: Automatically escalate complex conversations from AI agents to human operators with complete chat history and internal agent notes.
• On-Premises & Local LLM Integration: Deploy the entire platform on private cloud or on-premise infrastructure, connecting to local LLMs (LLaMA, Mistral) for complete data sovereignty.
• Model-Agnostic Flexibility: Choose between leading proprietary models (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini) or private enterprise vector stores based on operational needs.
• Automated Appointment Booking: Seamlessly integrates with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook to check availability and book meetings directly in chat.
• Real-Time MQTT Debugger: Test and troubleshoot conversation branches and webhook payloads live with a built-in interactive debugger.

Tiledesk Pricing

Tiledesk offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, alongside cloud subscription plans and an open-source community self-hosted option.

Free Trial & Open Source:

• 14-day cloud trial with full feature access (no credit card required)
• Free open-source community edition available on GitHub for self-hosted infrastructure deployments

Pro Plan:

• €149/month (or €124/month billed annually)
• Includes 3 users, 20 AI agents, 5 million AI tokens/month, 3,000 conversations/month, 300 knowledge base items, and priority support

Business Plan:

• €499/month (or €416/month billed annually)
• Includes 5 users, 50 AI agents, 10 million AI tokens/month, 5,000 conversations/month, 1,000 knowledge base items, built-in AI automation, and dedicated support

Enterprise Plan:

• Custom quote tailored for large-scale operations
• Includes unlimited users, unlimited AI agents, unlimited tokens, unlimited conversations, custom branding, on-premise deployment support, custom SLAs, and a dedicated account manager

Disclaimer: For the latest conversation allowances, WhatsApp Meta messaging charges, and enterprise on-premise terms, please visit the official Tiledesk pricing page at tiledesk.com/chatbot-features-pricing/.

Who is using Tiledesk?

Tiledesk is designed for a broad range of businesses, technical teams, and support leaders, including

• E-Commerce Retailers: Automating product discovery, order tracking inquiries, and WhatsApp checkout funnels
• Banking & Financial Institutions: Building secure conversational banking bots on-premises with local LLMs to preserve confidentiality
• Universities & Public Sector: Providing 24/7 conversational assistance for student admissions and municipal citizen services
• Healthcare Providers: Triage patient queries and automate appointment scheduling with strict privacy compliance
• Content Creators: Using writing tools to draft chatbot dialog scripts, knowledge base FAQ articles, and customer service macros
• Software Developers: Leveraging open-source codebases and MQTT APIs to customize bot behavior and integrations

Best Tiledesk Alternatives

Some of the strongest Tiledesk alternatives include

• Voiceflow
• Botpress
• Hoory AI
• Tidio (Lyro AI)
• Intercom (Fin AI Agent)
• Rasa

Pros and Cons of Tiledesk

Pros

• Open-core architecture allows complete self-hosting and private cloud deployments for high data sovereignty
• Model-agnostic system connects seamlessly to OpenAI, Claude, or local open-source LLMs like LLaMA and Mistral
• Visual no-code studio paired with code actions and real-time MQTT debugging gives equal power to marketers and developers
• Multi-channel orchestration unifies web chat, WhatsApp Business Cloud, Telegram, and social channels into one inbox
• Smooth human-in-the-loop escalation ensures customers reach human agents when automated bots encounter edge cases

Cons

• Cloud paid plans start at €149/month, which may be steep for early-stage solo founders
• Self-hosting the open-source community edition requires dedicated DevOps, server infrastructure, and database maintenance
• Monthly token and conversation quotas are strictly enforced limits that require capacity monitoring
• External carrier fees for WhatsApp template messages apply separately according to Meta policies

Why Choose Tiledesk?

Tiledesk is the ideal choice for companies, institutions, and technical teams that require an intelligent, omnichannel conversational platform without sacrificing data ownership.

• Delivers full data sovereignty through open-source self-hosting and local LLM connectivity
• Designs multi-channel bot flows visually without writing complex application code
• Grounds AI responses in your verified documents using native RAG knowledge bases
• Engages customers wherever they are across Web, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, and Voice
• Provides a balanced hybrid support experience combining autonomous bots with human live chat

Tiledesk vs. Competitors

The main difference between Tiledesk, Voiceflow, Botpress, and Hoory AI is that Tiledesk provides a full-stack open-core customer service solution with built-in live chat ticketing and self-hosted on-premises deployment capabilities, whereas Voiceflow focuses primarily on collaborative conversation design, Botpress specializes in developer-centric bot building, and Hoory AI delivers budget-friendly cloud-only support desks. Tiledesk stands out for its self-hosting sovereignty, MQTT real-time core, and native human handoff inbox.

How do we rate Tiledesk?

Tiledesk Review

Tiledesk fills a vital space in the conversational AI ecosystem by solving the enterprise dilemma between ease of use and infrastructure control. While many modern bot platforms lock organizations into proprietary clouds with unpredictable token markups, Tiledesk provides an open-core foundation that can be deployed on private servers and connected to local language models. At the same time, its visual designer and native live chat inbox make it accessible to non-technical support agents. For organizations in regulated sectors, e-commerce brands scaling WhatsApp support, and developers who value data ownership, Tiledesk is an outstanding platform.

Conclusion

Tiledesk helps businesses manage customer conversations by combining live chat, chatbots, and helpdesk features into one platform. Instead of handling support manually across channels, teams can automate responses and streamline communication. This improves response times and overall efficiency. Overall, Tiledesk simplifies customer support workflows, helping businesses deliver faster, more consistent service while keeping interactions organized and easy to manage.