Using Tawk.to as Backend for Lightweight Web Tools — Best Practices & Tips

Community Discussion
1

Hi everyone,

I’ve been exploring how to extend Tawk.to beyond chat — specifically, using it in combination with small web tools or calculators (like a gratuity calculator) to interact with users directly on websites. I’m curious to know if anyone here has done something similar or experimented with integrations.

A few questions I have:

Can Tawk.to service webhook or API calls to send data to a custom tool?

How do you structure the front-end (chat widget + form) so users can input data and receive computed results seamlessly?

How do you secure that tool so only valid requests from the chat widget are accepted?

Any limitations in the free plan vs paid plan that would affect such integrations?

Tips for logging, fallback, or UX when the custom tool fails or is unreachable?

If anyone has built this before (with gratutiy/start calculators or micro tools), I’d love to see your setup, code, or pitfalls you encountered. Always happy to learn from community experiences.

Thanks in advance! :raised_hands:

2

Hi @stevenparker0655,

Thanks for your message.

Using AI Assist, you can set up an AI agent that can answer chats on your behalf. All paid plans (starting with Growth at $29/month) allow you to set up custom, secure API integrations, which can allow your AI agent to send and receive data from any external tool or database, in a pre-defined scenario.
Here’s how to set up a custom API integration with AI Assist.

You don’t need to modify your widget; the flow typically looks like this:

  1. The visitor provides inputs through chat (your AI agent will prompt for required fields).
  2. The AI Agent calls your API endpoint with those inputs.
  3. The API responds with computed data (e.g., tip amount or total), and the AI replies naturally in chat.

If you prefer collecting structured inputs before chat, you can optionally use a Pre-Chat Form, but that’s completely optional.

You can add fallback instructions in your AI agent’s Base Prompt. For example, you can train it to allow the user to request to transfer the chat to a human.
Learn more here: How to train AI Assist to transfer chats to human agents

If you’d like help setting this up, you can book a call with one of our team members:
Book a call with a tawk.to AI expert.