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Intercom is our best overall pick for teams that want AI and human support in one helpdesk. For website lead flows, Landbot is a better fit; for social DMs, look at ManyChat or Chatfuel. Prices start at $14 for ManyChat, while several tools have free plans. Don’t choose on entry price alone: the listed caveats include contact, chat, credit, and AI-resolution limits, plus metered or per-outcome charges. Blip and Juji are harder to compare because their starting prices are not published.
Quick picksThe shortlist
IntercomIntercomBest overall · $19/mo
LandbotLandbotBest for lead flows · $32/mo
ManyChatManyChatBest for social DMs · $14/mo
ChatfuelChatfuelBest for social sales · $18/mo
BotpressBotpressBest for support automation · $150/mo
ChatbaseChatbaseBest for a first support agent · $32/mo
TidioTidioBest for small ecommerce · $24.17/mo
ChatBotChatBotBest for channel coverage · $19/mo
SiteGPTSiteGPTBest for website FAQs · $39/mo
VoiceflowVoiceflowBest for custom logic · $60/mo
CustomGPTCustomGPTBest for cited answers · $89/mo
BlipBlipBest for enterprise journeys · Custom
JujiJujiBest for agent evaluation · Free
SpurSpurBest for coaching businesses · $19/mo
01Compared at a glance
| Tool | Score | From | Free plan | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IntercomIntercom | 7.3 | $19/mo | No | 14 days |
| LandbotLandbot | 7.3 | $32/mo | Yes | 14 days |
| ManyChatManyChat | 7.0 | $14/mo | Yes | 14 days |
| ChatfuelChatfuel | 7.2 | $18/mo | No | — |
| BotpressBotpress | 7.1 | $150/mo | Yes | — |
| ChatbaseChatbase | 6.8 | $32/mo | No | 7 days |
| TidioTidio | 6.8 | $24.17/mo | Yes | 7 days |
| ChatBotChatBot | 6.5 | $19/mo | No | 14 days |
| SiteGPTSiteGPT | 6.4 | $39/mo | No | 7 days |
| VoiceflowVoiceflow | 6.5 | $60/mo | Yes | 7 days |
| CustomGPTCustomGPT | 6.7 | $89/mo | No | 7 days |
| BlipBlip | 6.0 | Custom | No | — |
| JujiJuji | 5.8 | Free | Yes | — |
| SpurSpur | 6.6 | $19/mo | Yes | — |
02The picks, in detail
- Best overallIntercomIntercom
Intercom earns the top spot for teams replacing separate helpdesk and AI tools: it combines Fin with shared AI and human workflows. Its listed starting price is $19, but per-seat and per-outcome charges can raise the bill. It’s a stronger fit when you need support operations alongside a chatbot, and you can forecast AI resolution volume.
What works
- Fin and human agents share one inbox and customer record
- Includes ticketing, a help center, and reporting
- Fin runs across phone, email, chat, and Slack
What doesn't
- Fin costs $0.99 per outcome on top of seats
- Essential's $19 annual price is discounted for new customers
- Monthly rates above Essential's list price are not published
- Best for lead flowsLandbotLandbot
Landbot is a strong choice for marketers qualifying website leads with structured chatbot flows and CRM connections. It starts at $32 and has a free plan. Its workflow flexibility suits teams that want more than a basic FAQ bot, but check the chat and AI caps before budgeting; a low entry price won’t tell you what higher usage costs.
What works
- Visual builder supports structured flows and AI flexibility
- AI Copilot can build workflows from plain-language instructions
- Knowledge-base grounding helps keep answers tied to published information
What doesn't
- Free plan includes no AI chats
- Starter caps usage at 500 chats and 100 AI chats monthly
- Extra chats and AI chats cost more
- Best for social DMsManyChatManyChat
ManyChat fits creators automating Instagram comment replies, brands capturing leads through social DMs, and teams managing several social channels. It starts at $14 and offers a free plan. The trade-off is usage: contact limits and monthly overage charges can change the economics as your audience grows. It’s a focused social-funnel pick, not a general support helpdesk.
What works
- Automates comments, DMs, and Story mentions
- No-code flow builder plus guided automations
- Supports Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and TikTok
What doesn't
- Free plan includes ManyChat branding on the first message
- Essential costs $17 monthly for 250 contacts
- Extra active contacts incur monthly overage fees
- Best for social salesChatfuelChatfuel
Chatfuel targets Instagram and WhatsApp lead qualification, bookings, and sales in chat, with a built-in lead pipeline. Its listed starting price is $18. That combination makes it a useful fit for businesses selling through social messaging, but budget for chat limits, AI credits, and add-ons. Compare expected usage, not just the entry price.
What works
- Handles comments, DMs, qualification, booking, and sales
- Supports WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook messaging
- Lead cards are built into the product
What doesn't
- No free plan is listed
- Business S includes about 330 chats monthly
- Undiscounted monthly rates are not published
- Best for support automationBotpressBotpress
Botpress suits teams automating multi-step support work, whether they keep an existing helpdesk or need a standalone one. It has a free plan, with a listed starting price of $150. That is a higher commitment than several alternatives, and conversation limits matter. Check the annual price and expected workload before treating it as a value pick.
What works
- Handles refunds and account changes, according to the product brief
- Coordinates multi-step workflows across systems
- Hands off conversation history and attempted steps to agents
What doesn't
- Plus starts at $150/month billed annually
- Plus includes only 250 conversations monthly
- Extra Plus conversation packs cost $65 per 100
- Best for a first support agentChatbaseChatbase
Chatbase is aimed at teams building a first support agent, sharing an AI-human inbox, or deploying across multiple channels. It starts at $32. The listed strengths are channel coverage and agent tools, but credit limits can affect total cost. Check those limits and support expectations before choosing it over a lower-cost or more established support setup.
What works
- No-code agent setup with data sources and guardrails
- One agent can serve chat, email, WhatsApp, Slack, and voice
- Built-in actions can look up orders or invoices
What doesn't
- No free plan; the listed trial lasts seven days
- Hobby includes just 700 message credits monthly
- Basic costs $120 monthly with annual billing
- Best for small ecommerceTidioTidio
Tidio is a starter option for small ecommerce teams that want live chat, basic sales and support automation, and tickets together. It has a free plan, with a listed starting price of $24.17. Watch the conversation limits and paid AI allowances: the entry plan may not cover a busy store’s chat volume or automation needs.
What works
- Free plan includes 50 billable conversations monthly
- Live chat and ticketing are available on Starter
- Lyro can answer from business data
What doesn't
- Starter's 100-conversation allowance may constrain growing teams
- Starter price is listed as an annual-billing rate
- Starter includes only 50 one-off Lyro conversations
- Best for channel coverageChatBotChatBot
ChatBot fits teams adding AI to website chat, selling across multiple chat channels, or needing human handoff. Its listed starting price is $19. The channel coverage and quick setup are appealing, but Essential includes only 10 monthly AI resolutions—a tight cap. Check whether that allowance matches your expected usage before comparing the headline price.
What works
- Builds a knowledge base from a website URL
- Supports website chat, Messenger, SMS and WhatsApp
- Can recommend products using catalog context
What doesn't
- Essential includes only 10 AI resolutions monthly
- Essential costs $25 monthly without annual billing
- Growth is $99 per user monthly without annual billing
- Best for website FAQsSiteGPTSiteGPT
SiteGPT focuses on website FAQ and documentation bots, with lead capture for small teams and a fit for businesses with predictable chat volume. It starts at $39. That focus can work well when your content is the main source of answers, but message caps and monthly price deserve a close look before switching from another site-chat tool.
What works
- Train on web pages, files, text, and connected sources
- Embed the chatbot on websites, apps, or help centers
- Review analytics, chat history, and unanswered questions
What doesn't
- Starter includes just 1,000 pages and 4,000 GPT-4.1-mini messages monthly
- Starter costs $59 monthly without annual billing
- Scale lists three chatbots, even at $259/month annually
- Best for custom logicVoiceflowVoiceflow
Voiceflow is for teams building support agents across channels, iterating on agent behavior, and adding custom logic or integrations. It has a free plan, with a listed starting price of $60. The builder tools are a draw, but metered costs can make a simple starting-price comparison misleading. Estimate usage costs before you commit.
What works
- Playbooks turn support policies into agent steps
- Agent Studio centralizes persona, tone and instructions
- Atlas helps identify conversation gaps
What doesn't
- Public pricing page lists no dollar figures
- Pro is reported at $60/month before usage fees
- Chat, phone and model usage add variable costs
- Best for cited answersCustomGPTCustomGPT
CustomGPT suits teams grounding answers in business content, deploying no-code chatbots, and requiring source citations. Its listed starting price is $89. The main caution is the tight base query allowance for that price, so estimate how often customers will ask questions before buying. It’s worth comparing if citations and governed answers matter more than a low entry cost.
What works
- No-code setup from documents or website sitemaps
- Answers are grounded in approved content with citations
- Standard includes 10 agents
What doesn't
- No free plan; trial lasts 7 days
- Standard is capped at 1,000 queries monthly
- Extra 2,500 queries cost $375 monthly
- Best for enterprise journeysBlipBlip
Blip offers a broad conversational toolkit for coordinating multichannel customer journeys, building conversations without code, and connecting enterprise CRM or ERP data. Its starting price is not published, and plan details are unclear, making cost and fit difficult to compare. Treat it as a shortlist candidate only if those enterprise integration needs match your project.
What works
- Orchestrates conversations from first contact through post-sale support
- No-code drag-and-drop builder for Intelligent Contacts
- AI agents support LLMs, knowledge bases, tools and APIs
What doesn't
- Blip Go pricing is not published in the available notes
- Blip Go inclusions are not stated
- Enterprise pricing requires a custom quote
- Best for agent evaluationJujiJuji
Juji is aimed at teams building agents without IT, evaluating chatbots before launch, and reviewing conversation insights. A free plan is listed, but a starting price and usage costs are not published. That uncertainty clouds the buying decision: clarify billing and limits before relying on it for a live deployment or comparing it with priced alternatives.
What works
- No-code graphical agent builder
- Free building and testing before launch
- Reusable templates and pre-built dialogs
What doesn't
- Basic's $100 billing period is not published
- Basic lists 100 conversation engagements
- Pro includes the first 100 chat experiences
- Best for coaching businessesSpurSpur
Spur is designed for coaching businesses, with plans, messaging, tracking, and branded apps; coaches can manage up to two clients free. It has a free plan and a listed starting price of $19. That breadth may suit training operations, but it is the wrong fit if your main requirement is a chatbot builder. Don’t shortlist it on category alone.
What works
- Free Starter plan includes up to 2 clients
- Pro starts at $19 monthly for 5 clients
- AI can generate and adapt training plans
What doesn't
- Not positioned as a chatbot builder
- Pro pricing increases with client count
- Annual pricing is not listed
03How we chose
We compare published pricing, plan limits, product documentation and Reddit sentiment. We focus on what buyers pay for and what they get: conversation allowances, AI-resolved conversation charges, channels, and any stated seat or feature caps. We give more weight to limits and channel support the vendor documents than to broad marketing claims. Reddit comments add context, but we treat them as anecdotal rather than proof. If a price, cap or feature is not published in the material we review, we mark it as not published. We do not claim hands-on testing or benchmark results.
04Compare the cost of conversations, not just the entry price
A low starting price can hide the cost that matters most: how usage is counted. Before choosing a builder, check whether its pricing is based on total conversations, AI-resolved conversations, messages, seats or a combination. Then look for the included allowance, what happens when you exceed it, and whether a higher tier is required for a channel or feature you need. Don’t assume “unlimited” means unlimited AI responses; read the plan terms and docs for the actual limits. For ManyChat, Intercom, Tidio, ChatBot, Chatbase, Botpress, Voiceflow, Landbot, Chatfuel, CustomGPT, Blip, SiteGPT, Spur and Juji, compare the same unit of usage where possible. If a vendor does not publish a cap or overage price, treat that as an unresolved cost—not as evidence that usage is free.
05Choose around your channels, handoff needs and migration costs
Start with the places customers already contact you: your website, Instagram, WhatsApp or another channel. Confirm in the product docs that the builder supports the exact channel and workflow you need; a channel name on a marketing page may not answer questions about routing, human handoff or plan eligibility. Next, decide what the bot should handle and when it should pass a conversation to a person. Check what controls are documented for that handoff, and whether the plan limits them. For a switch, list the content, flows and integrations you would need to recreate, then verify which can be imported or connected before committing. Compare a short list against those requirements rather than choosing by feature count. If documentation leaves a key capability unclear, ask the vendor and get the answer in writing before budgeting around it.
Questions people ask
What is the best AI chatbot builder?
There is no single best fit for every team. Compare builders against your required channels, conversation or AI-resolution pricing, plan limits and handoff needs. Start with the vendors that document those requirements clearly, then check the current pricing page and docs before choosing.
How much does an AI chatbot builder cost?
Costs depend on the vendor’s pricing model and the plan limits that apply to your usage. Compare the listed subscription price with included conversations, AI resolutions, seats and overage charges. If a price or cap is not published, ask the vendor rather than assuming it is included.
Which AI chatbot builders support Instagram or WhatsApp?
Channel support varies by product and plan. Check the vendor’s current docs for the exact channel, required integrations, and any plan restrictions. Confirm that the documented support covers your intended workflow, not just a channel name in a feature list.
What should I check before switching chatbot builders?
Inventory your channels, conversation volume, bot flows, knowledge sources and integrations. Compare the new builder’s documented limits and pricing with your current usage, and confirm what can be migrated versus rebuilt. Also verify human handoff and any channel-specific requirements before you switch.