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8 Chatbase Alternatives Compared on Real Monthly Cost

Chatbase alternatives compared on what you pay at 1k, 5k and 20k messages a month, plus handoff, lead capture and API. Chatbase pricing and free plan explained.

TL;DR. Chatbase is a solid AI chatbot builder with a wide choice of models and a long integration list. The catch is price: paid plans start at $40 a month for 700 message credits, and removing the “Powered by Chatbase” badge costs another $99 a month. If you run a small site or SaaS, you can get the same core job done for less. Below we compare eight Chatbase alternatives on what they actually cost at 1,000, 5,000 and 20,000 messages a month, and on the features that decide whether a bot is useful after launch.

We make Feedbot, so weigh that accordingly. We list it first, and we also say where Chatbase and the others do a better job.

Chatbase pricing in 2026, and is Chatbase free?

Chatbase bills in message credits. According to its pricing page, each request to the AI model costs a number of credits that depends on the model you pick, and a reply that triggers an action (say, checking calendar slots) can use several requests.

Plan Price per month Message credits Seats Notes
Free $0 50 1 Limited models, no AI actions. Agents are deleted after 14 days of inactivity.
Hobby $40 700 2 Advanced models, integrations, 5 actions per agent
Standard $150 4,000 3 Helpdesk, voice, API access, 8 actions per agent
Pro $500 15,000 5 Advanced analytics, 12 actions per agent

Add-ons: extra credits at $40 per 1,000, extra agents at $25 each per month, and branding removal at $99 per month. Yearly billing is 20% off.

So, is Chatbase free? Yes, there is a free plan, but 50 credits a month is enough for testing, not for a live site. Most teams that go live land on Hobby or Standard.

Our Chatbase review in one paragraph

Chatbase does the basics well. You add your content, pick a model and embed a widget. It has a Collect Leads action with webhook and email delivery, a helpdesk on Standard and up, and a long list of integrations (Stripe, Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, Slack, WhatsApp and more). The weak spots are cost at low volume, the branding fee, and credit math that changes with the model you choose.

What to compare when you look for a Chatbase alternative

Feature grids list everything, so they rarely help you choose. These are the criteria that change your bill or your workload:

  1. Pricing model. Credits, messages, conversations, queries and resolutions all count different things. A “conversation” can hold ten messages. A “resolution” only counts when the bot succeeds. Know which one you are buying.
  2. Knowledge sources. Website crawl, file upload, plain text, help center sync. Check whether website import is on the plan you’ll actually buy.
  3. Human handoff. Does the bot pass the chat to a person in a shared inbox, or does it notify you somewhere else?
  4. Lead capture. A contact form in chat is common. Qualification questions and lead scoring are not.
  5. Feedback and bug capture. Most support bots answer and forget. Few turn complaints into something your team can act on.
  6. Languages. Can the bot answer in the visitor’s language when your docs are only in English?
  7. API and MCP. Needed if you want to pull conversations into your own tools or let a coding agent read them.

Chatbase alternatives at a glance

Tool Billing unit Free tier Human handoff Lead capture API / MCP
Feedbot Conversations 50 conversations/mo Flags chat, notifies Telegram, Slack, email Yes, with scoring (Starter+) REST API and MCP (Pro+)
SiteGPT Messages No, 7-day trial Live inbox in iOS app (Growth+) Yes API (Growth+)
CustomGPT Queries No, 7-day trial Not listed on pricing page Not listed RAG API
Botpress Conversations 25 conversations Escalation, Botpress Desk Not listed on pricing page API
Tidio Lyro Lyro conversations 50 human conversations Full live chat inbox Flows add-on OpenAPI on Plus
Intercom Fin Outcomes ($0.99) 14-day trial Full helpdesk Fin for Sales API, MCP
DocsBot AI credits 100 credits Escalation tickets (Standard+) Lead forms (Personal+) API, MCP server (Standard+)
Chatling AI credits 200 credits Live chat with routing Capture blocks API

What each option costs at 1k, 5k and 20k messages a month

To compare different billing units, we used one set of assumptions: one message is one visitor question with one AI reply, an average conversation holds 4 messages, and on credit-based tools you use a model that costs 1 credit per reply. For Intercom Fin we assumed half of conversations end in a billable outcome. Monthly billing unless the vendor only shows annual prices. Your numbers will differ, so treat this as a way to see how each model scales.

Tool ~1,000 messages (250 conversations) ~5,000 messages (1,250 conversations) ~20,000 messages (5,000 conversations)
Feedbot $5 (Starter) $15 (Pro) $39 (Business)
Chatbase $80 (Hobby + 1 credit pack) $190 (Standard + 1 pack) $700 (Pro + 5 packs)
SiteGPT $59 (Starter) $129 (Growth) $247 (Growth + 2 message packs)
CustomGPT $99 (Standard) $499 (Premium) Enterprise, custom
Botpress $150 (Plus, annual) $750 (Team, annual) ~$2,500 (Team + 35 packs)
Tidio Lyro $210 (300 Lyro conversations) Above the 1,000 self-serve tier, contact sales Premium, contact sales
Intercom Fin ~$143 (125 outcomes + 1 seat) ~$638 ~$2,494
DocsBot $49 (Personal) $49 (Personal) $198 (Standard + 5k credits)
Chatling $25 (Starter) $75 (Growth) $215 (Growth + 14k credits)

Two things stand out. Credit-based tools get expensive fast if you pick a larger model: on Chatling, for example, one reply ranges from 0.5 to 25 credits depending on the model. And per-outcome pricing (Intercom) or per-AI-conversation pricing (Tidio) grows in a straight line with traffic, while flat tiers grow in steps.

The 8 best Chatbase alternatives

1. Feedbot

What it is. An AI chatbot for websites with three roles in one bot: support from your knowledge base, sales (qualification questions, plan recommendations, buttons to buy, start a trial or book a demo), and feedback. Bugs, complaints and ideas become grouped issues with user quotes and affected pages, which a coding agent can pull through MCP or npx feedbot pull.

Pricing. Free: 50 conversations a month, 1 bot, knowledge from your own text and FAQ. Starter $5: 300 conversations, website import (3 sites, 500 pages), no branding, lead capture. Pro $15: 2,000 conversations, Actions, REST API, MCP, CLI, GitHub and Linear export. Business $39: 6,000 conversations, team members, webhooks, a stronger model option. Yearly billing gives 2 months free. A conversation counts only when a visitor sends at least one message. See full pricing.

Best for. Indie developers and small SaaS teams who want support, lead capture and a feedback loop without paying per credit or per resolution.

Drawbacks. The free plan has no website import or document upload. Extra conversation packs are not available yet, so when you hit the limit the AI stops answering new chats until you upgrade or the month resets (they’re handed to Telegram if connected). Handoff works through notifications rather than a full shared inbox. There’s no voice channel, and the integration list is shorter than Chatbase’s. We have a detailed Feedbot vs Chatbase comparison.

2. SiteGPT

What it is. A website chatbot trained on your pages and files, with a live inbox in its iOS app for taking over from the AI.

Pricing. Starter $59/month (or $39/month billed yearly): 1 chatbot, up to 4,000 GPT-4.1-mini messages, 1,000 pages. Growth $129/month ($79 yearly): 2 chatbots, up to 10,000 messages, API, integrations. Scale $429/month ($259 yearly): 3 chatbots, 40,000 messages, webhooks. Extra 5,000-message packs cost $59/month. Every plan starts with a 7-day trial that needs a card.

Best for. Content-heavy sites that need lots of pages indexed.

Drawbacks. No free plan. Using GPT-4.1 instead of the mini model cuts your message allowance by 10x.

3. CustomGPT

What it is. A retrieval-focused chatbot builder that ingests websites, over 1,400 document formats, YouTube and audio. It highlights anti-hallucination and citations, and supports 90+ languages.

Pricing. Standard $99/month ($89 yearly): 10 agents, 1,000 queries. Premium $499/month ($449 yearly): 25 agents, 5,000 queries, auto-sync, branding removal. Enterprise is custom.

Best for. Teams with large, messy document libraries that care most about source-grounded answers.

Drawbacks. Expensive per query at small volumes, and the jump from 1,000 to 5,000 queries is a jump from $99 to $499.

4. Botpress

What it is. A platform for building AI agents with a visual studio, knowledge bases, tables and its own helpdesk (Botpress Desk).

Pricing. Free: 25 conversations. Plus $150/month billed annually: 250 conversations, then packs of 100 for $65, white-label webchat. Team $750/month billed annually: 1,500 conversations, packs of 100 for $50, unlimited seats. A conversation is any exchange with at least two messages from the user, and packs are added automatically when you approach the limit.

Best for. Teams with a developer who wants to build custom flows and deploy to WhatsApp and other channels.

Drawbacks. Costly for simple website Q&A, and there is a learning curve.

5. Tidio Lyro

What it is. Tidio is a live chat and helpdesk popular with online stores. Lyro is its AI agent, sold on top.

Pricing. Lyro starts at $39/month for 50 AI conversations and goes up to $700/month for 1,000. Past that you talk to sales. A Lyro conversation is any interaction with at least one AI reply.

Best for. Stores that want live chat and AI in one inbox, with things like Shopify order status.

Drawbacks. At about $0.70–$0.78 per AI conversation, it gets expensive quickly. We cover this in detail in our Tidio alternatives post.

6. Intercom Fin

What it is. The AI agent inside Intercom’s helpdesk, also sold separately for other helpdesks.

Pricing. $0.99 per outcome. With Intercom’s helpdesk, seats start at $29 per month on the Essential plan (billed annually; some visitors see $19 in what looks like a price test). Used with another helpdesk, Fin has a 50-outcome monthly minimum. An outcome counts when the customer confirms the issue is solved, doesn’t ask for more help, or Fin completes a configured procedure.

Best for. Support teams that already need a full helpdesk with inbox, ticketing and reporting.

Drawbacks. The bill rises with every resolved question, and seats add up.

7. DocsBot

What it is. A documentation chatbot with lead forms, actions, question analytics and an MCP server on higher plans.

Pricing. Free: 100 AI credits, 50 source pages, and bots expire after 30 days. Personal $49/month: 5,000 credits, lead forms, Zapier, Slack, WhatsApp. Standard $149: 15,000 credits, 3 bots, escalation tickets, MCP server. Business $499: 60,000 credits, unbranded widget. Extra credits cost $49 per 5,000.

Best for. Software companies with large docs that want question analytics.

Drawbacks. Branding removal only on the $499 plan.

8. Chatling

What it is. A no-code chatbot builder with a long list of models, live chat handoff and a visual workflow builder.

Pricing. Free: 200 AI credits. Starter $25/month: 1,750 credits. Growth $75: 6,000 credits, round-robin routing. Scale $295: 35,000 credits and no branding. Extra credits are $10 per 1,000; branding removal is $35/month on lower plans.

Best for. Budget-conscious teams who want model choice and live chat.

Drawbacks. Credits per reply range from 0.5 to 25 depending on the model, so costs depend heavily on that choice.

Where Chatbase is still the better choice

Being fair: stay on Chatbase if you rely on its integrations (Salesforce, Zendesk, Shopify, WhatsApp and others in one place), if you need voice and telephony, or if you want to switch between many model providers. Its Collect Leads action and helpdesk also cover a lot for teams that don’t want to stitch tools together. If budget isn’t the main issue, moving may not be worth it.

How to choose

  • You want the lowest cost for website Q&A: start with the free tiers of Feedbot, Chatling or DocsBot and see how your volume grows.
  • You run a SaaS and want feedback to reach your developers: Feedbot, because issues go straight to your coding agent. A knowledge base chatbot is the starting point either way.
  • You need a full helpdesk with human agents: Intercom Fin or Tidio.
  • You have huge document libraries: CustomGPT or SiteGPT.
  • You want to build complex custom flows: Botpress.

Before you sign up, estimate your monthly conversations and messages, then check what each tool counts. That one number decides more than any feature list.

FAQ

Is Chatbase free?

Chatbase has a free plan with 50 message credits a month, 1 agent and limited models. Agents on the free plan are deleted after 14 days of inactivity. Paid plans start at $40 a month.

How much does Chatbase cost?

Hobby is $40/month for 700 message credits, Standard $150 for 4,000, and Pro $500 for 15,000. Branding removal is $99/month and extra credits are $40 per 1,000. Yearly billing is 20% off.

What is the cheapest Chatbase alternative?

At low volumes, Feedbot (from $5/month for 300 conversations) and Chatling (from $25/month) are the cheapest paid options we found. Both have free plans.

Which Chatbase alternative has human handoff?

Tidio, Intercom, Chatling and SiteGPT offer a live inbox where a person takes over. Feedbot flags the conversation and notifies you in Telegram, Slack or email.

Can I switch from Chatbase without losing my content?

Tools that crawl websites, such as Feedbot on paid plans, SiteGPT, CustomGPT, DocsBot and Chatling, can import your site again, so you only need to re-upload files that aren’t on the web. Swapping the widget is usually one script tag.

Prices checked on September 28, 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on their sites before you buy.

Sources

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