AI Chatbot Pricing Index. What 16 tools charge for AI answers.
Free plans, the cost of 1,000 AI replies, per-resolution prices and what happens when the AI allowance runs out, for 15 AI chatbot and help desk tools. Every figure was read on the vendor's own pricing page and links back to it.
Last checked Updated monthlyDownload CSVFree to cite (CC BY 4.0)
ChatBento makes one of the tools in this index. Its row is marked, its prices come from our own pricing page, and it is left out of the medians and counts below.
Key findings
- 1
5 of the 15 AI chatbot and help desk tools we checked offer a free plan that includes AI answers every month: Chatling, Wonderchat, DocsBot, Botpress and tawk.to.
Link to this finding - 2
On their cheapest paid plans, the 6 AI chatbot builders that meter by message, credit or query charge a median of $35.95 per 1,000 AI replies, from $9.80 (DocsBot) to $99.00 (CustomGPT.ai), at month-to-month prices.
Link to this finding - 3
ChatBento's Hobby plan works out to $4.00 per 1,000 AI replies ($8 a month for 2,000).
Link to this finding - 4
Where AI is sold per conversation, the published prices run from $0.49 per session (Freshchat) to $2.00 per resolution (Zendesk).
Link to this finding - 5
5 of the 15 tools price per seat, agent or user (Intercom, LiveChat, Zendesk, Freshchat and HubSpot), so their AI cost is added on top of a price for each person on the team.
Link to this finding - 6
3 tools say their AI stops answering when the monthly allowance runs out (Wonderchat, DocsBot and CustomGPT.ai), while 3 bill every extra AI answer automatically, with no cap (Botpress, Intercom and Zendesk).
Link to this finding - 7
9 of the 10 tools that sell an AI allowance charge extra or require a higher plan to remove their branding from the chat widget.
Link to this finding
Chatbot builders: plans with an AI allowance
The cheapest paid plan that includes AI answers in a website chat widget, sorted by price per 1,000 AI replies. That figure uses the month-to-month price and assumes one credit per reply on the vendor's base model, so larger models cost more.
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest plan with AI | AI included each month | Per 1,000 AI replies | At the limit | Remove branding | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatBentoOur product | 50 AI messages a month, free forever | Hobby$8/mo$6.67/mo billed yearly | 2,000 AI messages2,000 AI messages a month, 1 chatbot. One message is one AI reply. | $4.00 | The widget stops writing AI answers and shows a contact form; nothing extra is charged. | Included from Standard ($30/mo) | chatbento.com/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| DocsBot | 100 AI credits a month, personal use | Personal$49/mo$41/mo billed yearly | 5,000 credits5,000 AI credits a month, 1 bot. 1 credit per message on the base model, up to 50 on larger ones. | $9.80 | The bot stops responding and visitors see an error, unless auto-add credits is on. | Business plan ($499/mo) and up | docsbot.ai/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Chatling | 200 AI credits a month | Starter$25/mo$21/mo billed yearly | 1,750 credits1,750 AI credits a month, 2 AI agents. A reply uses 0.5 to 25 credits by model; 1 on base models. | $14.29 | Extra credits at $10/mo per 1,000. What happens without them isn't stated. | $35/mo add-on, or included on Scale ($295/mo) | chatling.ai/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| SiteGPT | No free plan; a 7-day trial, card required | Starter$59/mo$39/mo billed yearly | 4,000 AI messages4,000 GPT-4.1-mini messages a month (or 400 on GPT-4.1), 1 chatbot. | $14.75 | Packs of 5,000 extra messages are sold. What happens without one isn't stated. | $39/mo add-on, billed yearly | sitegpt.ai/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Chatbase | No free plan; a 7-day trial | Hobby$40/mo$32/mo billed yearly | 700 credits700 message credits a month, 1 agent, 2 members. Credits per reply by model aren't published. | $57.14 | Optional auto-recharge at $40 per 1,000 credits. Behavior without it isn't stated. | $1,188/yr add-on (not included in any plan) | chatbase.co/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Wonderchat | 50 AI replies and up to 20 resolutions a month | Starter$39/mo$32.5/mo billed yearly | 500 AI replies500 AI replies a month (about 160 resolutions), 1 AI agent. Frontier models use more credits per reply. | $78.00 | The AI agent stops responding to customers unless you top up. | Enterprise only | wonderchat.io/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| CustomGPT.ai | No free plan; a 7-day trial, card required | Standard$99/mo$89/mo billed yearly | 1,000 queries1,000 queries a month, 10 agents. Agentic actions use extra query credits. | $99.00 | Agents stop responding to new queries. | Premium plan ($499/mo) | customgpt.ai/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Botpress | 100 conversations a month, no top-ups | Plus$150/mobilled yearly | 250 conversations250 conversations a month plus $25 of AI usage; AI model usage beyond that is billed on top. | n/a | At 95% of the quota a pack of 100 conversations ($65) is added automatically; this can't be turned off. | Included on Plus | botpress.com/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Tidio | 50 Lyro AI conversations once per account (not monthly) | Lyro AI Agent$32.5/mobilled yearly | 50 conversationsFrom 50 Lyro AI conversations a month. Tidio's cheapest plan (Starter, $24.17) has only 50 one-off Lyro conversations. | n/a | Not stated on the pricing page. | $16.67/mo add-on on Growth; included on Plus | tidio.com/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Crisp | Free plan with no AI credits | Mini$45/mo | 90 conversationsPer workspace, 4 seats, $5 of AI credits, which Crisp sizes at "around 90 automated conversations". | n/a | Not stated on the pricing page. | Plus plan ($295/mo) | crisp.chat/en/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| tawk.to | AI Assist free tier for low chat volume (allowance not stated) | AI Assist add-on$29/mo | From $29 a month on top of the free live chat. The allowance at that price isn't published. | n/a | Not stated on tawk.to's pricing pages. | $29/mo per property | tawk.to/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
“n/a” means the tool bills AI per conversation (shown in its row), or doesn't publish the allowance at that price.
Help desks: priced per seat, AI on top
The cheapest plan where the vendor's AI agent can answer website chats, and how the AI itself is billed.
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest plan with AI | AI included | AI usage price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom | No free plan; a 14-day trial | Essential$19/mo per seatbilled yearly | $19 per seat a month for new customers (list $29). No AI included: Fin is billed per outcome on any plan. | $0.99 per outcomeper Fin outcome, once per conversation; a 50-outcome monthly minimum on other help desks | intercom.com/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| LiveChat | No free plan; a 14-day trial | Essential$25/mo per seat$19/mo billed yearly | Per user. 10 AI resolutions a month included (Growth, $99/user: 200). | $0.99 per resolutionextra resolutions in packs of 50 for $49.50 | livechat.com/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Zendesk | No free plan; a 14-day trial | Suite Team$69/mo per seat$55/mo billed yearly | Per agent; the cheapest plan with live chat. 5 automated resolutions per agent a month. | $2.00 per resolutionextra automated resolutions pay-as-you-go (a lower committed rate is shown in pounds) | zendesk.com/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| Freshchat | Free for up to 10 agents, no AI agent | Growth$19/mo per seatbilled yearly | Per agent. Freddy AI Agent is an add-on; 500 free sessions once per account to try it. | $0.49 per session$49 per 100 Freddy AI sessions | freshworks.com/live-chat-software/pricingChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
| HubSpot | Free for 2 users, no Customer Agent | Service Hub Professional$100/mo per seat$90/mo billed yearly | Per seat, plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. The Customer Agent needs Professional or Enterprise. | $0.50 per resolutionper Customer Agent resolution, paid in HubSpot Credits | hubspot.com/pricing/serviceChecked Oct 30, 2026 |
How we built it
- Tools. 15 widely used AI chatbot builders and help desks that put an AI agent in a website chat widget and publish prices, plus ChatBento.
- Source. Each vendor's own pricing page, read on the date in its row. We don't use review sites or third-party price lists. If a figure isn't published, the table says so.
- Which plan. The cheapest paid plan that includes AI answers in a website chat widget. For help desks, the cheapest plan where the AI agent is available.
- Price. US dollars, before tax. Month-to-month where published; otherwise the per-month price when billed yearly, marked as such.
- Per 1,000 AI replies. Plan price divided by the AI messages, replies, credits or queries it includes, times 1,000. Credits assume one credit per reply on the base model; vendors charge more on larger models. Tools that bill per conversation are compared on their published per-conversation price instead.
- Counts and medians exclude ChatBento, because we make it.
How to cite
The data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Please credit and link to this page:
ChatBento, "AI Chatbot Pricing Index", October 30, 2026, https://chatbento.com/ai-chatbot-pricing-index
The full table is in a CSV file. Each finding above has its own link. Spotted a price that changed? Email hello@chatbento.com with the vendor's page and we'll update it.
Changelog
- : First edition: 15 tools plus ChatBento, every price checked on the vendor's own pricing page.
Questions. About the index.
How much does an AI chatbot cost per 1,000 replies?
On their cheapest paid plans, the 6 AI chatbot builders that meter by message, credit or query charge a median of $35.95 per 1,000 AI replies, from $9.80 (DocsBot) to $99.00 (CustomGPT.ai), at month-to-month prices. ChatBento's Hobby plan works out to $4.00 per 1,000 AI replies ($8 a month for 2,000).
Which AI chatbots have a free plan?
5 of the 15 AI chatbot and help desk tools we checked offer a free plan that includes AI answers every month: Chatling, Wonderchat, DocsBot, Botpress and tawk.to.
How is per-resolution AI pricing different?
Help desks often bill the AI per conversation it settles, on top of a price per seat. Where AI is sold per conversation, the published prices run from $0.49 per session (Freshchat) to $2.00 per resolution (Zendesk). Each vendor defines a resolution its own way, so read the definition before comparing.
How often is this index updated?
Monthly. Each refresh re-checks every price on the vendor's own pricing page, updates the dates, and adds a line to the changelog. The page URL and the CSV URL stay the same.
Can I use this data in my article or research?
Yes. The data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: cite "ChatBento, "AI Chatbot Pricing Index", October 30, 2026, https://chatbento.com/ai-chatbot-pricing-index" and link to the page. The full table is available as a CSV.
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