The short answer
Choose by the job, not the feature list
Choose AI Chat Bot if you run a small or local business and want one job done well: your website's visitors answered from your own pages, their details taken, and you told by email within seconds. You paste your web address, check its answers and add one line of code. Paid plans start at $19 a month, and a customer message answered is the only thing you pay for. Botpress's first paid plan, Plus, is $150 a month billed yearly.
Stay with Botpress if you're building something bigger: an agent that takes actions in your own systems, runs on WhatsApp, Instagram or Slack, is shared by a team with roles and routing, or has to meet SOC 2 or HIPAA. Botpress is built for that and does it well. We don't try to be an agent platform.
How we compared
We make AI Chat Bot, so read our side with that in mind. On October 1, 2026 we read Botpress's pricing page and its FAQ, its Viber and Studio pages, its docs on human handoff, knowledge sources and integrations, and its reviews on Capterra. Every Botpress fact below links to where we read it or comes from the pricing page checked that day. We didn't build a Botpress agent for this page, so nothing here is a test result.
Why people switch
Why small businesses look for a Botpress alternative
It's a platform to learn
Botpress gives you a builder: Viber, where you describe the agent in plain language, and Studio, a visual canvas with a code editor behind it. That's a lot of power for one website. On Capterra, ease of use is Botpress's lowest score (4.1 of 5), and reviewers mention a steep learning curve for beginners.
Source: Botpress reviews on Capterra
A big step from free to paid
The Free plan covers 25 conversations a month and can't be topped up. The next plan, Plus, is $150 a month billed yearly for 250 conversations: a big jump for a business that only needs its website answered.
Source: Botpress pricing
Two meters, and packs you can't switch off
Botpress counts conversations and AI spend separately. At 95% of your conversations it adds a pack of 100 ($65 on Plus), and its FAQ says this auto-recharge can't be turned off; packs then renew each month until you remove them. AI spend is topped up in $10 grants, and a monthly spend cap is listed as coming soon.
Source: Botpress pricing FAQ
Handing over to a person is a setup job
Botpress's human handoff needs the Plus plan or higher, then an integration, a plugin and a handoff step placed in your agent. For new workspaces it has moved into Botpress Desk, its help desk.
Source: Botpress handoff docs
Side by side
AI Chat Bot vs Botpress, row by row
| Feature | AI Chat Bot | Botpress |
|---|---|---|
| Starting paid price | Starter: $19 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly, for 1,500 customer messages on one website. | Plus: $150 a month billed yearly for 250 conversations, unlimited AI agents and 3 seats. Monthly billing costs more; the page says yearly saves 20%. |
| What you pay for, and what happens at the limit | One customer message answered. Past your allowance it keeps answering in shorter form, never switches off and never charges overage. An optional top-up adds 2,000 messages for $20. | A conversation: any chat where the visitor sends at least two messages in the month. At 95% a pack of 100 is added automatically ($65 on Plus, $50 on Team) and can't be turned off. |
| AI model costs | Included in the message price. There's no second meter. | A separate AI spend meter: $0.10 per conversation is included ($25 a month on Plus), then $10 grants are bought at cost. A spend cap is listed as coming soon. |
| Free plan or trial | Try it on your own site with no account, then a 7-day trial of 200 messages with no card. After that, Free answers 100 messages a month in full, for ever. | Free: 25 conversations a month, 3 agents and 3 seats, with no top-ups. No paid-plan trial is listed. |
| Setup | Paste your web address. It reads your main pages in about a minute and up to 40 once you sign up, then you check its answers and add one line of code or the WordPress plugin. | You build the agent: describe it to Viber, which sets up instructions, playbooks and channels, or design it in Studio. Then you add knowledge and publish it to your channels. |
| Where answers come from | Only your pages, your documents and your own answers. It quotes a price only if you publish one, and an answer with nothing behind it is replaced by a handoff. | The knowledge sources you add: websites, documents, tables, web search and text. How strictly it sticks to them is set in your instructions. |
| When it can't answer | A Talk to a person button under every reply, on every plan including Free. You get an email with their question and details at once. | Human handoff on Plus and up, set up with an integration, a plugin and a handoff step (docs). New workspaces use Botpress Desk. |
| Leads and owner alerts | Built in. It asks for a name, a way to reach them and what they need, then emails you in seconds with a one-line summary. Unanswered, one reminder after 5 minutes, then your backup contact. | Built by you in the agent, then sent through an integration such as Gmail, HubSpot or Zapier. A reminder or backup-contact step isn't published. |
| Bookings | Sends customers to the booking page you already use, or offers your real free times from Google Calendar. | Google Calendar and other integrations, wired into the agent by you. |
| Testing before customers see it | The Test page asks your assistant the questions customers ask. Fix an answer in a step and preview what an edit changes. Test questions never count toward your plan. | A conversation emulator in Studio and test runs in Viber. Its pricing FAQ says emulator conversations count toward your conversations. |
| Channels | Your website (one line of code or the WordPress plugin) and a hosted chat page. No WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram or SMS chat. | Webchat, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Slack, Teams, Line, Viber and SMS through Twilio; voice on Enterprise (list). Botpress is well ahead here. |
| Team, AI models and security | One owner login with two-step sign-in. One AI model, chosen by us. No team seats, SSO or SOC 2 report yet. | 3 seats on Plus, unlimited with roles and routing on Team, a choice of AI models, and SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA shown on its enterprise page. |
| Removing the badge | $19 a month, on any plan. | White-label webchat is included from Plus. |
| Best fit | Small and local businesses that want their website answered from their own pages and every lead in their inbox, without building anything. | Teams with a developer or builder who want agents that take actions across many channels and systems. |
Checked October 1, 2026, on their pricing page.
Where we're the better pick
Where AI Chat Bot is the better pick
Working on your site the same day, from the website you already have
There's no agent to design. Paste your address and it reads your pages, picks out your services, prices, hours and area, and you can chat with it straight away. Check its answers, then add one line of code or the WordPress plugin. How it works.
One meter, priced for a small business
You pay for customer messages answered, and the AI's cost is ours. Reach your allowance and it answers in shorter form until the 1st rather than buying packs on your card. At about 400 chats a month that's Starter at $19 against roughly $280 on Botpress Plus (see the costs below). Pricing.
Leads arrive in your inbox, and it chases you
Each lead is emailed to you in seconds with a one-line summary. If nobody opens it, you get one reminder after 5 minutes and then your backup contact is told. Urgent jobs are marked urgent, and they can wake you at night if you want. Lead alerts.
A person is one tap away on every plan
The Talk to a person button sits under every reply, Free plan included, with nothing to install or wire up. When nothing in your facts covers a question, it says so and passes it to you instead of guessing. Human handoff.
Rules for your trade, and proof it's working
25 business types come with their own rules, like a roofer's assistant never promising what insurance pays. Results compares visitors who saw it with a held-back group who didn't, so you see what it adds. Business types, Results.
Where they're the better pick
Where Botpress is the better pick
Channels beyond your website
Botpress publishes the same agent to WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Slack, Teams and SMS, with voice on Enterprise. We cover your website and a hosted chat page only, so if your customers message you on WhatsApp, Botpress does what we can't.
Agents that take actions
With tools, API calls, custom code and Tables, a Botpress agent can check an account, process a refund or update a record mid-conversation, and you can pick the AI model per task. Ours answers, takes leads and books; it doesn't act inside your other systems.
Teams and compliance
Team adds unlimited seats, roles, routing and team analytics, and Botpress Desk is a full help desk. Its enterprise page shows SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA. We have one owner login and no SOC 2 report or HIPAA agreement.
Many agents on one plan
Plus includes unlimited AI agents. Our plans cover one website on Starter, five on Growth and fifteen on Pro, so an agency running dozens of small bots may do better on Botpress.
Everything AI Chat Bot does
What you get, on every plan
Answers you can trust
Answers from your website and documents
Paste your address and it reads your key pages in about a minute, and up to 40 once you sign up. Add price lists or brochures as PDF, Word or text files, and write your own answers to common questions. How it works.
Says when it doesn't know
An answer has to come from your facts or quote your own pages word for word. When nothing covers a question, it says so and passes it to you instead of guessing. Custom chatbot.
Stays up to date
It re-reads your website every week, or every day on Growth and Pro, and emails you when a price or policy it quotes has changed.
Answers in your customer's language
It replies in the language the visitor writes in, from the same facts, and the chat's buttons switch to that language too.
Leads, bookings and handoffs
Captures the lead
It answers first, then asks for a name, a way to reach them and what they need, and keeps the full conversation with the lead. Lead generation.
Email alerts in seconds
Each lead arrives by email with a one-line summary of what they want. Unanswered, you get one reminder after 5 minutes, then your backup contact is told. Urgent leads are marked urgent. Lead alerts.
Books appointments
It sends customers to the booking page you already use, or connects to Google Calendar and offers your real free times. Bookings.
A person is always one tap away
A Talk to a person button sits under every reply. Asking for you sends you their question and details at once. Human handoff.
Sends leads to your CRM
A webhook passes each lead to Zapier or Make, and from there into HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce or anything else. CRM guides.
Control and proof
Check answers before customers see them
The Test page shows its answers to the questions your customers ask. Fix one in a step, and preview what an edit changes before you save it. Test and correct.
Rules for your kind of business
25 business types each come with their own rules: a roofer's assistant never promises what insurance pays, a dentist's never gives clinical advice. Business types.
Results measured against a control group
Hold back a small share of visitors from seeing it, and Results compares the two groups, so you see what it adds rather than every lead it touched. Customers' ratings of their chats show there too. Results.
Your data, yours to take
Download your leads and conversations as a spreadsheet, choose how long they're kept, and delete your account yourself. Security and privacy.
On your website
One line of code, or a plugin
Paste one line into any website, install the free WordPress plugin, or share your own chat page link. Chat widget.
Never in the way
It never pops open by itself, takes your colors, and goes full screen on phones so it's easy to use.
Answers around the clock
Evenings and weekends get the same answers as office hours, and urgent leads can wake you if you want them to. After hours.
Plans: Free for ever with 100 customer messages a month, after a 7-day trial of 200. Paid plans from $19 a month, no setup fee, cancel any time. Compare plans.
What it costs
What it costs at the volumes a small business has
| A month of website chats | AI Chat Bot | Botpress |
|---|---|---|
| About 100 chats (300 to 400 customer messages) | Starter: $19 a month ($17 billed yearly) for 1,500 messages. Free answers the first 100 in full. | $150 a month on Plus, billed yearly: 250 conversations and $25 of AI usage included. Free covers 25, with no top-ups. |
| About 400 chats (1,200 to 1,600 messages) | Starter at $19. A month that runs past 1,500 keeps answering in shorter form, or one top-up adds 2,000 for $20. | About $280 a month: Plus at $150 plus two packs of 100 conversations at $65 each, added automatically. |
| About 1,500 chats (4,500 to 6,000 messages) | Growth: $49 a month ($43 billed yearly) for 5,000 messages, plus one 2,000 top-up for $20 in a 6,000-message month. | $750 a month on Team, billed yearly, with 1,500 conversations and $150 of AI usage. On Plus, the automatic packs alone would add more than $800. |
Botpress figures are its yearly-billed prices from its pricing page, read on October 1, 2026; paying monthly costs more. Botpress counts a conversation once a visitor sends two or more messages in a month, and we assumed 3 to 4 customer messages per chat to convert. AI usage past the included amount is extra on Botpress, in $10 grants at cost, and isn't shown. Our prices are per month, with the yearly rate in brackets; badge removal is $19 a month on ours and included from Plus on Botpress.
For whoever signs off
- Cost
- A flat monthly plan from $19, or the Free plan. No setup fee, no per-resolution charge. An optional top-up adds 2,000 messages for $20.
- Risk
- Try it on your own site with no account, then a 7-day trial with no card. Cancel any time; your data downloads as a spreadsheet.
- Security
- Conversations are stored in named regions with named providers, kept as long as you choose, and deleted when you delete your account. Security and privacy.
- Effort
- About a minute to read your site, a few to check its answers, one line of code or a plugin to go live.
Switching
Moving from Botpress to AI Chat Bot
Try it on your own website
Paste your web address on our home page. In about a minute it has read your main pages and you can ask it what your customers ask, with no account.
Bring over what you taught Botpress
Copy the answers and instructions you rely on into your own answers, which outrank your website, and upload the PDFs or Word files you'd added (up to 4 MB each). Flows, playbooks, tables and custom code don't carry over; there's nothing for them to run on here.
Set your alerts, hours and bookings
Choose where lead emails go and add a backup contact, set your opening hours, and paste your booking link or connect Google Calendar. If you sent leads to a CRM, our webhook does that through Zapier or Make (CRM guides).
Swap the widget, check the first week
Remove the Botpress webchat snippet and add our line of code or plugin. Your Botpress conversation history stays in Botpress. In the first week, read the To check list for questions it couldn't answer and answer each one once. Test and correct.
Questions
Questions buyers ask
Is AI Chat Bot a good Botpress alternative for a small business?
Yes, if the job is answering your website's visitors and getting their details to you. It works from your existing website with nothing to build, and plans start at $19 a month. If you need WhatsApp, actions inside your own systems or a support team with roles, Botpress is the better fit.
Is Botpress free?
Botpress has a Free plan of 25 conversations a month, with no top-ups past that; paid plans start at $150 a month billed yearly (pricing). Our Free plan answers 100 customer messages a month in full and keeps answering in shorter form after that, for ever.
Do I need a developer to set up AI Chat Bot?
No. You paste your web address, check a few answers and add one line of code, which most website builders take in a settings box. On WordPress there's a plugin, and the Widget screen can email the code to whoever looks after your site.
Can I import my Botpress bot?
No, there's no importer, and you shouldn't need one. AI Chat Bot reads your website itself, so what you'd want to carry over is the handful of answers you wrote by hand, which you paste in as your own answers. Botpress flows and code have no equivalent here.
Does AI Chat Bot work on WhatsApp or Instagram like Botpress?
No. It runs on your website and on a hosted chat page you can link to from anywhere, such as your Google Business Profile or an email signature. If WhatsApp or Instagram is where your customers write to you, Botpress covers those channels and we don't.
Can I choose the AI model, as in Botpress?
Not today. Every account uses the same model, chosen by us, and its cost is inside the message price. Botpress lets you choose and mix models, and you pay for their usage separately.
Is AI Chat Bot HIPAA compliant?
No. We don't sign HIPAA business associate agreements and don't have a SOC 2 report yet, so a clinic shouldn't use it to collect patient health details. Security lists where data is stored and for how long. Botpress's enterprise page lists HIPAA.
Botpress is a trademark of its owner. AI Chat Bot isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Botpress. Competitor details come from their own public pages on the date shown and can change; tell us if something is out of date and we'll correct it.