The short answer
Same idea, built for different buyers
Choose AI Chat Bot if your website is where customers find you and the job is answering them, taking their details and booking them in. It answers only from facts it can point to on your pages, documents and your own answers, says when it doesn't know, and emails you each lead, with the page it came from and a reminder if you miss it. A message is simply one customer message answered: Starter is $19 a month for 1,500.
Stay with Chatbase if you need WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Slack or voice, a help desk where your team takes over chats, a choice of AI models, Shopify or Stripe actions, or a SOC 2 Type II report. Chatbase does all of those today. We don't.
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How we compared
We make AI Chat Bot. We compared it with Chatbase using Chatbase's pricing page, its help center FAQ and its docs, all read on October 1, 2026, and our own product as it works today. We didn't buy a Chatbase plan for this page. Review quotes come from public Trustpilot and Capterra pages, linked where used, and aren't a sample of all reviews. Where Chatbase is the better pick, we say so.
Why people switch
Why people look for a Chatbase alternative
Out of credits, the assistant goes quiet
Chatbase's own FAQ says that when credits are used up, your agent shows “currently unavailable” to visitors. Credits renew on the 1st of each month. To avoid the gap, auto-recharge adds credits at $40 per 1,000.
Source: Chatbase help center FAQ
A reply costs 1 to 6 credits, depending on the model
Chatbase's Auto model uses 1 credit a reply. Models such as Gemini 3.5 Flash and GPT-5.2 use 2, Claude Sonnet 3, and Claude Opus up to 6. So Hobby's 700 credits are 700 replies on one model and about 116 on another.
Source: Chatbase help center FAQ
The extras are priced separately
Removing “Powered by Chatbase” is $99 a month. Each paid plan includes one agent, and each extra agent is $25 a month. Automatic re-syncing of your sources is listed from Standard, at $150 a month.
Source: Chatbase pricing
Confident answers that weren't right
Capterra reviewers describe the bot giving a totally wrong answer with full confidence, and making up links on their own domain. Those reviews are from 2023 and Chatbase has changed a lot since, but on a business website an invented price or policy still does more harm than no answer.
Source: Chatbase reviews on Capterra
Side by side
AI Chat Bot vs Chatbase, row by row
| Feature | AI Chat Bot | Chatbase |
|---|---|---|
| Starting paid price | $19 a month ($17 billed yearly) for 1,500 customer messages and 1 website. | Hobby, $40 a month for 700 message credits, 1 agent and 2 seats. 20% off billed yearly. Standard is $150, Pro $500. |
| What you pay for, and what happens at the limit | One customer message answered. Past your allowance, answers pause and the chat shows a contact form until the 1st, so visitors can still leave their details for you. No overage charge; a top-up of 2,000 messages for $20 is optional. | Credits: 1 to 6 per reply by model. At zero the agent shows “currently unavailable” unless auto-recharge ($40 per 1,000 credits) is on (FAQ). |
| Free plan and trial | Free for ever: 100 customer messages a month, kept while you use it. A 7-day trial of 200 messages first, no card. | Free: 50 credits a month, 1 agent, limited models, 1 MB of training content; free agents are deleted after 14 days of inactivity. A seven-day trial on paid plans. |
| How answers stay accurate | Answers come only from facts read from your pages, documents and your own answers, and each reply shows which fact it used. A factual answer with no source behind it is blocked and passed to you instead. | Answers from the sources you train it on, shaped by instructions you write and the model you choose. Not published: a check that blocks an answer with no source behind it. |
| When it can't answer | Says so, takes the visitor's name and contact, and emails you the question. Answer it once and you can email that answer to the customer who asked. A Talk to a person button sits under every reply. | Hands the chat to a person in Chatbase's Helpdesk (listed from Standard), Salesforce or Sunshine live chat, or opens a ticket (actions). |
| Lead capture and alerts | Asks for a name, a way to reach them, what they need and up to three questions of your own. Up to five people get an email in seconds, and a Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Chat channel if you like, with a one-line summary and the page and Google ad or campaign the lead came from. One reminder after 5 minutes, then your backup contact is told. | A Collect leads action (a form or a conversation) with an email for each lead and a webhook (docs). Reminders: not published. |
| Bookings | Calendly, Cal.com, Acuity, Setmore and YouCanBookMe pages open inside the chat; any other booking page opens from a button. Or it offers your real free times from Google Calendar, at the appointment lengths, notice and named services you set, and reminds the customer the day before. | Calendly and Cal.com actions for checking times and booking. |
| Setup | Paste your website address and it reads your key pages in about a minute. Pick from 25 business types, each with its own rules already written. | Add sources (website, files, text, Notion), write the instructions, choose a model and add the actions you want. |
| Checking answers before customers see them | A Test page with the questions your customers ask, one-step corrections, a preview of what an edit changes before you save it, and a To check list of facts that disagree and answers it wasn't sure of. | Tests: simulated customer conversations graded against your criteria, with 200 test credits a month on Hobby (docs). |
| Keeping answers current | 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. | Auto-resync of sources listed from Standard ($150 a month). |
| Measuring results | Results compares visitors who saw the assistant with a held-back group who didn't, and shows the low end of the difference in money at the customer value you enter. Customers' ratings of their chats show there too, and leads and conversations export as a spreadsheet. | Basic analytics from Hobby, advanced analytics on Pro. Leads export as CSV or PDF. |
| Channels and AI models | Your website (one line of code or the WordPress plugin) and a hosted chat page; a chat follows the visitor from page to page for three hours. One AI model, chosen and tested by us. | Website, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Slack from Hobby; voice and telephony from Standard. Models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral and others on paid plans. |
| Security and compliance | No SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA agreement or SSO yet. Named storage regions and providers, and you choose how long data is kept (security). | SOC 2 and GDPR per its FAQ; SSO, audit logs and HIPAA eligibility on Enterprise. |
| Best fit | Small and local businesses that want their website answered from their own facts, every lead emailed to them, and a bill that counts customer messages. | Teams that need one AI agent across many channels, a help desk, a choice of models and actions in tools like Shopify, Stripe and Zendesk. |
Checked October 1, 2026, on their pricing page.
Try it on your own website
See it answer as your business
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Where we're the better pick
Where AI Chat Bot is the better choice
It won't fill a gap with a guess
Every reply has to rest on a fact from your pages, your documents or an answer you wrote, and visitors see which one. If nothing covers the question, it says so and passes it to you. You can check this on the Test page before a single customer sees it. How answers work.
Leads come with a follow-up plan
Chatbase can email you each lead too. Ours adds a one-line summary, the page and campaign the lead came from, one reminder after 5 minutes if nobody has opened it, then a message to your backup contact. A customer who left an email gets a copy of what they asked, and urgent leads can wake you out of hours if you want. Lead alerts.
The rules for your trade are already written
Pick your business type and its rules come with it: a dentist's assistant never gives clinical advice, a law firm's says early that it isn't a lawyer, a roofer's never promises what insurance pays. With Chatbase you write those instructions yourself. All 25 business types.
Proof of what it adds
Hold back a share of visitors from seeing the chat and Results compares how often each group got in touch. You see the leads it added, rather than a count of every chat it touched, and what they're worth once you enter a customer's value.
Where they're the better pick
Where Chatbase is the better choice
More places to answer customers
WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Slack come with Hobby, and Standard adds voice and telephony. We answer on your website and a hosted chat page only, and don't take phone calls.
A help desk for a team
Chatbase's Helpdesk, listed on Standard and Pro, lets your staff take over live chats, with 3 or 5 seats. We have no shared inbox: you reply to a lead by phone or email after the alert.
Model choice and actions
You can pick models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others, and add actions that work in Shopify, Stripe, Zendesk or your own API. We run one model and send leads to other tools by webhook; our Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat link posts alerts and takes no actions.
Security paperwork and a track record
Chatbase states SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA eligibility on Enterprise, says more than 10,000 businesses use it, and has years of public reviews. We're new: no SOC 2 report and no customer reviews yet.
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. Free keeps 10 pages; paid plans learn from up to 200, 1,000 or 2,500. 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, plus up to three questions you choose, and keeps the full conversation with the lead. Lead generation.
Shows where each lead came from
Each lead shows the page it was asked from, the site or Google ad that brought the visitor, and any campaign tags. It's in the alert, the spreadsheet download and the webhook too.
Checks your service area
List the ZIP codes, postcodes and towns you serve. Each lead says whether it's inside or outside your area, and you choose what the assistant tells someone outside it.
Alerts in seconds, for up to five people
Each lead arrives by email with a one-line summary, at up to five addresses, and can post to a Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Chat channel. Unanswered, one reminder follows after 5 minutes, then your backup contact is told. Urgent leads are marked urgent. Text alerts aren't live yet. Lead alerts.
Booking pages inside the chat
Calendly, Cal.com, Acuity, Setmore and YouCanBookMe pages open inside the chat, and any other booking page opens from a button. You get an alert when someone books through Calendly or Cal.com. Bookings.
Real free times from Google Calendar
Connect Google Calendar and it offers your real free times. You set the appointment length, minimum notice, how far ahead and the gap between appointments, and name your services. A customer who gives an email gets a confirmation with a calendar file, and a reminder the day before.
A person is always one tap away
A Talk to a person button sits under every reply. The assistant tries to answer first; a visitor who still wants you leaves their details, and you're emailed the question. There's no live-chat inbox: you reply by phone or email. Human handoff.
Writes back to your customer
A customer who leaves an email gets a short copy of what they asked, saying a person will follow up and, if you're closed, when you next open. When you answer a question it couldn't, you can email that answer to the customer who asked.
Sends leads to your CRM
A webhook passes each lead to Zapier or Make, and from there into HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Google Sheets 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. Each has a sample assistant you can talk to on its page. 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. Enter what a customer is worth and it shows the low end of the measured range in money, with the sum written out. 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. It's website chat: no WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger. Chat widget.
Stays with the visitor
A conversation carries on as the visitor moves from page to page, and can be picked up again for three hours after their last message, in the same browser.
Placed where you want it
Put the bubble on the left or the right, add a line of your own text above it on desktop, hide the chat on pages you choose, and set different suggested questions for different pages.
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.
Knows your holidays
Add holidays and one-off closures to your opening hours. It tells customers, offers no appointment times on a closed day, and holds your lead reminders until you next open.
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
| Customer messages a month | AI Chat Bot | Chatbase |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | Starter: $19 | Hobby: $40 on a 1-credit model. On a 2-credit model you need 1,000 credits: $40 plus one $40 recharge, $80. |
| 1,500 | Starter: $19 | Hobby plus one $40 recharge on a 1-credit model: $80. On a 2-credit model you need 3,000 credits: Standard, $150. |
| 4,000 | Growth: $49, covering up to 5 websites | Standard: $150 on a 1-credit model. On a 2-credit model you need 8,000 credits: Standard plus four $40 recharges, $310. |
Chatbase prices from its pricing page and FAQ, read October 1, 2026. Assumes one Chatbase reply per customer message and auto-recharge in packs of 1,000 credits. Billed yearly, Chatbase is 20% off and ours is $17, $43 or $109 a month. To remove the badge add $99 a month on Chatbase or $19 on ours; a second website is $25 a month per extra Chatbase agent and included from our Growth plan.
Try it on your own website
See it answer as your business
No account needed · No card · Free plan forever
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
How to switch from Chatbase
Paste your website into the demo
It reads your key pages in about a minute and you can chat with it straight away, with no account. Free keeps 10 pages; paid plans learn from up to 200, 1,000 or 2,500. How it works.
Bring over what Chatbase knew
Upload the PDF, Word or text files you trained Chatbase on, and copy any answers you'd written or corrected into your own answers. Your Chatbase instructions, actions and chat history don't carry over; export your Chatbase leads as CSV first.
Set alerts and bookings, then test
Choose who gets lead emails (up to five people, plus a Slack or Teams channel if you like) and add a backup contact, set your hours and holiday closures, paste your booking link or connect Google Calendar, then check its answers on the Test page. Bookings.
Swap the code
Remove Chatbase's embed, then paste our one line or install the WordPress plugin. In Settings you can add a line of your own above the bubble, choose its side, hide the chat on pages you pick and set suggested questions per page. Cancel Chatbase once you're happy; credits renew on the 1st, so the end of a month is a good moment.
Questions
Questions buyers ask
Is AI Chat Bot a good Chatbase alternative?
Yes, if your website is the channel that matters and you want a small-business setup rather than a platform to configure. If you need WhatsApp, voice, a team help desk or model choice, Chatbase is the better fit. The quickest way to judge is to try ours on your own site and ask it something your pages don't say.
Is Chatbase free?
Partly. Its Free plan gives 50 message credits a month, one agent, limited models and 1 MB of training content, and free agents are deleted after 14 days without activity. Ours gives 100 customer messages a month, every month, and keeps your assistant for as long as you use it.
What happens when I use up my messages on AI Chat Bot?
Answers pause until your allowance resets on the 1st. The chat shows visitors a short notice and a contact form, and what they send reaches you by email as a lead. There's no overage charge, and you'll see a warning at 90%. Plans.
Is Chatbase HIPAA compliant?
Chatbase lists HIPAA eligibility on its Enterprise plan, which is priced on request. We don't sign HIPAA business associate agreements, and our medical clinic setup is built to keep health details out of the chat.
Can AI Chat Bot answer on WhatsApp or Instagram like Chatbase?
No, not today. It answers on your website and on a hosted chat page, and you can share that page's link anywhere, including your Instagram bio or WhatsApp profile, but replies happen on the page, not inside those apps.
Can I choose the AI model, as on Chatbase?
Not yet. Every account runs on one model, the one our answer checks for grounding, refusals and handoffs were built and passed on. That's also why, today, every reply counts as one message.
Is Chatbase worth it?
For teams that use its channels and actions, plenty of reviewers say yes. It holds 4.3 from 73 reviews on Capterra and 3.9 from 65 on Trustpilot, where 29% of reviews are one star and many of those are about billing and refunds (both read October 1, 2026).
Chatbase is a trademark of its owner. AI Chat Bot isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Chatbase. 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.