Median

Median is a co-browsing and screen-sharing service for customer support, onboarding, and call-center teams helping visitors on their websites. It is a good fit when agents need to guide someone through a supported page without a download; it is not a desktop-sharing tool.

Overview

Visitors can join without an invite or installation, while agents can spot them in a live dashboard and connect with one click. That keeps the interaction lightweight, but the site must have Median’s code installed on the pages agents need to share. The product cannot show unrelated browser tabs or the visitor’s desktop, so teams handling broader device support will need another approach.

Key features

Once connected, agents can point with a cursor, highlight page areas, and draw to direct a visitor’s attention. They can also request permission to type and click, giving support staff a way to take action rather than only narrate. These guidance tools are absent from the free plan and included with Business and Expert.

Phone Mode offers call centers a code-based way to begin: a caller presses CTRL five times and shares the resulting code. Median also supports one-to-one audio and video through a customer’s website, but those capabilities require Expert. Integrations include Intercom, Drift, LiveChat, Tawk.to, Shopify, BigCommerce, WordPress, Wix, and Webflow; chat and call-center integrations are likewise reserved for Expert.

Administrators can exclude selected parts of a website from sharing. Median says it does not record session data and that it complies with CCPA and GDPR. The Enterprise offering adds SAML 2.0 SSO, uptime SLAs, on-premise deployment, dedicated account management, custom contracts, and API access for organizations needing those options.

Pricing

The free Starter plan is free for life and includes one-click screen sharing, privacy controls, Phone Mode, and Google SSO. It omits cursor display, highlighting, drawing, full control, chat integrations, audio and video, and call-center integrations. It can suit teams seeking a basic way to connect to visitors, but the missing guidance tools make it a limited choice for agents who need to walk customers through a page.

Business costs $25 a month per user billed annually, or $33 a month per user billed monthly. Both versions add cursor display, highlighting, drawing, and full control to the Starter features. Business is the practical middle ground for guided web support, but it does not include chat integrations, audio and video streaming, or call-center integrations.

Expert costs $45 a month per user billed annually, or $59 a month per user billed monthly. It includes the Business tools plus chat integrations, video and audio streaming, and call-center integrations, making it the relevant tier for teams that need those channels. Enterprise has custom pricing and adds organizational features such as SAML 2.0 SSO, uptime SLAs, and on-premise deployment. Median offers a 14-day trial; the published plan terms do not state seat or usage quotas.

Platforms

Median is offered for the web, via API, and as a self-hosted option. Its supported sharing is limited to instrumented website pages rather than general desktop access.

Who it's for

Median is best suited to live support and software onboarding teams that help customers navigate their own websites, plus call centers that want Phone Mode. Business fits teams focused on visual guidance; Expert is the better fit when integrated chat, call-center connections, or one-to-one audio and video are requirements. Teams supporting software outside their own coded pages should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Visitors can join without downloads or installs, reducing setup friction during a web support conversation.
• Pro: Cursor, highlight, drawing, and approval-based control give agents several ways to guide a visitor beyond passive screen viewing.
• Pro: Privacy controls let admins exclude parts of a site, and Median says it does not record session data.
• Con: Sharing works only on pages with Median’s code and cannot extend to other tabs or the desktop.
• Con: Business excludes chat integrations and audio, video, and call-center integrations, so teams needing those capabilities must pay for Expert.

Alternatives

Zoho Assist is worth considering for teams that need broader platform coverage, including desktop operating systems and mobile, or a free tier capped at one technician and five devices. Surfly is another freemium option, with a free plan allowing five sessions per month and support across more listed platforms.

LiveCall may suit teams that want a free starting tier limited to one service URL and one user account. Cardina offers a free 14-day trial without a credit card and a paid per-seat Pro plan at $69 a month. Help Lightning Remote Assistance is an enterprise-license alternative with customized pricing.

Grypp Universal CoBrowse is another paid co-browsing option. SupportScreen is a paid alternative from CrankWheel, whose screen-sharing product is described as serving more than 50,000 active users. Glia CoBrowsing is a paid option with a fixed-price plan whose amount is unpublished.

For a wider comparison, browse Video Customer Support Software.

Verdict

Choose Median if your support or onboarding team needs a low-friction way to guide visitors through pages on your own site, with privacy controls and optional agent control. Its main trade-off is the page-code boundary, while the integrations and audio/video features that make it a fuller support channel require Expert. If your agents need desktop-wide access or those capabilities are beyond budget, compare alternatives before committing.