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Comparison · Userlike details as of 26 Oct 2026 · The-Y CRM 1.1.53

Userlike alternative with a phone system and CRM

Userlike has been called Lime Connect since September 2025: a hosted inbox for website chat and messaging apps, with servers in Germany and an AI agent as an add-on. If you mainly want website chat, WhatsApp and AI help from a single vendor, it serves you well. The-Y CRM is for teams whose customers also call – with a built-in phone system, deals and invoices in one tool, at a flat price: hosted by us with Cloud Pro (servers in Vienna) or self-hosted.

Try it in the cloud – freeTry the demoNo sales call, no credit card. Demo without sign-up. Free account: all features except your own branding, up to 3 users.

The difference in one sentence

Userlike – now Lime Connect – is built for chat: calls there are audio or video calls from the website chat, and an AI phone agent is still in alpha. The-Y CRM is also the phone system for your team – with IVR, queues, voicemail and calls in the browser.

Why The-Y CRM exists

I'm Thomas Nuri Yilmaz, founder of The-Y, and until September 2026 I was Head of IT at Dove Touristik. In 2024 I faced exactly this question: I was looking for a ticketing system, tested osTicket, then Zammad, and found Chatwoot while searching for a respond.io alternative. I ran Zammad, Chatwoot and n8n myself. What I was missing was everything in one place: WhatsApp, phone and email in one inbox, with a phone system of its own. Today we at The-Y no longer work with any of these tools – we work with The-Y CRM.

Userlike and The-Y CRM compared

Userlike (Lime Connect)
The-Y CRM
Telephony for the team
~not found; audio and video calls from the website chat from Pro (in the browser, started by your team). A phone channel with an AI voice agent via your SIP provider is in alpha, not yet public
✓IVR, queues, voicemail, calls in the browser; WhatsApp calls in the phone system too (since 1.1.45)
Hosted
Free €0 (1 seat, 1 website channel, 200 conversations) · Pro from €105 per month billed monthly, from €87 per month billed annually, at least 3 seats · Enterprise on request (at least 5 seats) · excl. VAT
€0 (Free, servers in Austria), up to 3 users · Cloud Pro: €20/month per company, all users and brands included (Alpha & Beta; €40 from Live) – more
Contract
per the terms, a 1-, 12- or 24-month minimum term depending on the product, renewing automatically for the same term; fees charged 3 months in advance unless agreed otherwise. Per the help center, 3 months' notice for Pro plans with a term longer than 1 month
Cloud Pro: monthly (€20) or yearly (€240), cancel at the end of the paid period · self-hosted: €10 a month or €240 one-time – then perpetual
Extra users
every user needs a seat, including admins who don't chat; the price per extra seat depends on plan and term and is only shown in your account's subscription settings
self-hosted: whole team included · Cloud Pro: per company, all users and brands included
Free trial
~14-day trial with Pro features, then automatically Free: 1 seat, 1 website channel, 200 conversations
✓permanently, up to 3 users, all features except your own branding
Self-hosting
not stated by the vendor
✓€0 with a free key (up to 3 users, Free limits) · no limits €10/month or €240 one-time, whole team
WhatsApp
✓from Pro via the WhatsApp Business Platform, 10 numbers (Enterprise 20), set up through a partner (Business Solution Provider). Proactive messages such as newsletters only with the WhatsApp Campaigns add-on from €20/month + Meta fee (1,000 campaign messages). Markup on Meta's fees: not stated by the vendor
✓on every plan, including Free; no markup on Meta's fees
Channels
Free: website chat only. From Pro, per the docs, also email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, SMS (via your own Twilio account), Telegram, Threema and custom channels
Email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, SMS, web chat, phone – one inbox
Deals, pipeline, invoices
contact details, notes, custom data fields (from Pro), integrations with CRMs such as Lime CRM, HubSpot, Pipedrive and Salesforce. Deals, pipeline, invoices not stated by the vendor
✓contacts, companies, deals, pipeline, invoices, appointments; plus payments, open items, dunning, receipts and an export for your tax advisor (DATEV, BMD)
AI
add-ons from Pro: Connect AI Agent from €99/month incl. 100 conversations, Copilot from €19 per user per month; live translation included in Pro
reply suggestions, WhatsApp templates with AI, flows from one sentence and reading booking confirmations – on your own AI key, you pay the AI provider directly; translation also without a key on our server in Vienna
Hosting
✓servers in Germany, ISO 27001
Free on our servers in Austria or on your own server; Cloud Pro in Austria (Vienna data centre); no limits on your own server

Userlike has been called Lime Connect since 10 Sep 2025. Details according to Lime Connect's official pricing page, terms, data privacy page, documentation and FAQ, accessed 26 Oct 2026 (sources below). Prices in euros as shown on the pricing page, excl. VAT: Pro “from €105” per month billed monthly and “from €87” per month billed annually, at least 3 seats. The pricing page doesn't say whether this price covers all 3 seats together or applies per seat, and Lime Connect only shows the price for extra seats inside your account – so there is no worked example here. “Not found” means: not found in the official sources. What The-Y CRM costs in total, with a calculator for every country: What The-Y CRM really costs. Details on The-Y CRM as of version 1.1.53 (25 Oct 2026).

Stay with Userlike if …

  • you need servers in Germany – The-Y Cloud Pro runs in Austria (Vienna data centre),
  • you want an AI agent and a copilot as ready-made add-ons from a single vendor,
  • you need Telegram or Threema, or you already use Lime CRM,
  • you don't want to use Alpha software – The-Y CRM is Alpha.

Choose The-Y CRM if …

  • your team makes its own calls and needs a phone system with IVR, queues and voicemail – for WhatsApp calls too,
  • you want deals, pipeline and invoices (right up to the export for your tax advisor) in the same tool,
  • you want WhatsApp, email and Instagram on the free plan already – Lime Connect Free only has the website chat,
  • you'd rather pay a flat fee than per seat: self-hosted €10 a month or €240 once, hosted with Cloud Pro €20 a month (all users and brands included).

Don't want to run a server yourself? Take Cloud Pro.

We host The-Y CRM for you – one price per company, all users and brands included, 10 GB storage, updates and backups, servers in Austria (Vienna data centre). Messages and call minutes with no volume limits: WhatsApp, SMS, phone and AI run on your own accounts, and Meta and your providers bill you directly – with no markup. You can have up to 10 simultaneous calls.

€20 a month during Alpha and Beta – the price stays as long as your subscription runs without interruption; €40 from the Live release. Or €240 a year (€480 from Live). Incl. VAT, businesses only, cancel any time, effective at the end of the paid period.

How it works: create a free account, then book Cloud Pro in the app under Settings → License. You can take your data to your own server any time – it's the same software. Extra storage (+10 GB for €3 a month) and automation packs (€5 a month) can be added; custom quotas and prices on request: sales@the-y.at.

Start free, then book Cloud Pro

Test it in about 30 minutes

  1. Create a free account on crm.the-y.at.
  2. Connect a mailbox, WhatsApp number or phone – guides in the documentation.
  3. Invite your team and see if it fits. Contacts and companies can be imported via CSV.

Like it? Then move to your own server – free with a free key (same limits as Free) or without limits with the self-hosting licence (guide, server requirements) – or stay in our cloud and book Cloud Pro in the app for your whole company.

Start free now

Frequently asked questions

Can I self-host The-Y CRM?

Yes, with Docker on your own server – in two ways: free with a free key (created in the app after sign-up; the same limits as Free: 3 users, 1,000 outgoing messages across all channels and 200 outgoing call minutes per month, 2 simultaneous calls, 2 GB; no support, feedback during the Alpha is welcome) or without usage limits with the self-hosting licence for €10 a month or €240 one-time (during Alpha and Beta; from the Live release €20 or €480). The €10 and the €240 get you the same licence – one as a subscription, the other perpetual.

Is The-Y CRM also available hosted for more than 3 people?

Yes, with Cloud Pro: we host The-Y CRM for you in Austria (Vienna data centre) – unlimited users and brands included, 10 GB storage, updates and backups. It costs €20 a month during Alpha and Beta (the price stays as long as your subscription runs without interruption; €40 from the Live release) or €240 a year – incl. VAT, businesses only. Messages and call minutes have no volume limits, because WhatsApp, SMS, phone and AI run on your own accounts. You can have up to 10 simultaneous calls. Free in the cloud covers up to 3 users (1,000 outgoing messages across all channels and 200 outgoing call minutes per month, 2 simultaneous calls, 2 GB storage). You book Cloud Pro in the app under Settings → License; custom quotas on request at sales@the-y.at.

Userlike is now called Lime Connect – what changed?

According to the vendor, Userlike has been called Lime Connect since 10 September 2025. The website and the login moved, and old links redirect. Features and agreed terms stayed the same with the name change. The pricing page now lists the Free, Pro and Enterprise plans: Pro costs from €105 a month billed monthly and from €87 a month billed annually, excl. VAT, with at least 3 seats. So if you're looking for a Userlike alternative, today you're comparing with Lime Connect.

Userlike has audio and video calls – what's different?

At Lime Connect (formerly Userlike), from the Pro plan your team can start an audio or video call in the browser from the website chat, with screen sharing if you like; the customer can't start such a call. A phone channel where an AI voice agent answers calls via your SIP provider is in alpha according to the docs and not yet publicly available. We didn't find a phone system that lets your team answer and route calls from the phone network. In The-Y CRM the phone system for your team is built in: IVR, queues, voicemail, click-to-call in the browser and analytics – and since version 1.1.45 also for WhatsApp calls. All you need is a phone number from a telephony provider – currently sipgate, Zadarma or Twilio, more to follow.

What does WhatsApp cost?

The-Y charges nothing extra. You pay Meta's fees directly to Meta. Since 1 Oct 2026 Meta also charges for replies within the 24-hour window; the first 1,000 per number per month are free. Those 1,000 are Meta's free allowance – not to be confused with the limit of The-Y Free (1,000 outgoing messages per month across all channels). Details on the costs page.

Can I use my existing WhatsApp number?

Yes. If you already use the WhatsApp Business app, you can keep it: The-Y CRM connects the number via Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform as well, replies you send from your phone also appear in the CRM, and up to 180 days of history are imported. If the number runs in the personal WhatsApp app, you first switch it to the WhatsApp Business app or release it from WhatsApp – that's Meta's rule for the Business Platform and applies just the same with Zammad, Chatwoot or Twilio. The number stays yours.

What happens to my licence if The-Y ceases to exist?

Then all self-hosted installations – with a free key, a monthly licence or a lifetime licence – first get a final update that removes the licence check and all usage limits. After that they keep running for free, without limits and indefinitely; your data is on your server anyway. This is also in our Terms of Use. If you use Free or Cloud Pro in our cloud, you can export your data at any time.

Switching from Userlike – step by step

Each step takes about 5 to 10 minutes in The-Y. Moving the WhatsApp number can take longer if the number's two-step PIN has to be switched off first. Save your data at Lime Connect before you delete the account – according to their terms, it is then deleted automatically.

  1. Bring your contacts (about 5–10 min): At Lime Connect, you tick the conversations you want in the Message Center under “All conversations” and choose to export the list of selected conversations. According to the docs, the JSON API returns contacts and conversations (per the pricing page not on the Free plan); we didn't find a CSV export for contacts alone in the docs. In The-Y, under Contacts → “Import” you upload a CSV file, and the same works for companies and deals. A dry run first shows row by row what will be created or updated. Phone numbers are converted to international format so The-Y recognises customers when they message you on WhatsApp.
  2. Reconnect your email (about 5–10 min): Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com with “Connect with Microsoft”, no password needed; all other mailboxes via IMAP/SMTP. If you choose “Whole history”, The-Y also fetches the emails still in the mailbox's inbox. Guide →
  3. Phone via your SIP line (about 10 min): Add the line from your phone provider (currently sipgate, Zadarma or Twilio) and link your number to that line at the provider. The number stays with your provider. Guide →
  4. Move your WhatsApp number (about 5–10 min, plus any waiting time): At Lime Connect, the number runs through the partner 360dialog according to the help center; the docs explicitly mention that you can switch providers. In The-Y, click “Connect WhatsApp” and choose your business, your WhatsApp account and the number in Meta's window. If the number already has a two-step PIN, enter it afterwards in the “Existing PIN” field; if you don't know it, turn off two-step verification in WhatsApp Manager or ask Lime Connect for the PIN. After that the number runs on your own Meta account and Meta bills you directly. Guide →
  5. Swap the website chat (about 5–10 min): Replace the Lime Connect chat code on your website with The-Y's web chat – with a chat link, QR code and guides for website builders. Guide →

What doesn't come along

  • Your chat history from Userlike or Lime Connect – there is no import for it. The exception is email still in the mailbox (step 2).
  • You set up chatbots, macros and flows again in The-Y.

Seen enough? Try it yourself.

Click through the inbox, phone system and deals with sample data and see whether it suits your team better than Userlike – everything is deleted after 24 hours.

Try the demo – no sign-upBook a 20-minute setup with NuriStart free

Prefer to do it together? We set it up with you by video call – in your browser, nothing to install. Mon–Fri 10–12 and 14–17 (Vienna time).

More comparisons

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Sources (as of 10/2026)

Userlike is a trademark of its respective owner. This comparison is independent and made to the best of our knowledge; please report errors to office@the-y.at and we'll correct them right away.