AI chatbots for small business
An AI chatbot for business answers your customers by chat on your website or in apps such as WhatsApp and Messenger, using your own help content, and hands harder questions to a person.
- Tools compared
- 20
- Publish a price
- 16
- Free plan or trial
- 17
Most of the AI chatbots listed publish a price, with flat plans from $18 a month (Chatfuel).
Where should you start?
If price decides it: Chatfuel, from $18 per month, billed annually, is the cheapest flat plan of the 20 compared. Suits a business that sells through Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp messages and wants an AI chatbot to reply to comments and DMs, qualify leads and take bookings. Business is US$18 a month billed yearly, with a 7-day free trial. The catch: Meta charges for WhatsApp messages separately from the plan, and its pages focus on social channels rather than a website chat widget. Hugo from Crisp covers website chat as well as WhatsApp and Instagram, from $45 a month on Mini.
How much does an AI chatbot cost?
Flat monthly starting prices for AI chatbots run from $18 (Chatfuel) to $299 (eesel AI). Four price per user, minute or other unit instead. Two sell only through sales or a demo. Prices are as each vendor states them, never converted; the table below gives each tool's.
What do flat monthly plans cost?
| Tool | Starting price per month |
|---|---|
| Chatfuel (billed annually) | $18 |
| Chatling (billed annually) | $21 |
| WotNot | $29 |
| Pickaxe (billed annually) | $29 |
| Chatbase (billed annually) | $32 |
| Lyro AI Agent from Tidio | $32.50 |
| SiteGPT (billed annually) | $39 |
| Hugo from Crisp | $45 |
| DocsBot | $49 |
| Botpress (billed annually) | $150 |
| eesel AI | $299 |
Whole-plan monthly prices in US dollars as each vendor states them; per-user, per-minute and add-on prices are left out. Source: each vendor's own pricing page, with the date in each tool's row below.
Compare them on price, trials, security and integrations
Filter the list, or tick up to 5 tools to compare them side by side.
Tools mainly for this job first, then those with a stated starting price (lowest monthly price first), then the most recently checked. No vendor pays for a place. How we order tools.
Filter by price, free plan or trial, who it's built for, compliance or integrations
20 tools
No tool matches all of these filters.
| Tool | Price as stated | Free plan or trial | Compliance it states | Checked | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatfuelGo to Chatfuel | From $18 per month, billed annually | Free trial (7 days) | Not stated | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| ChatlingGo to Chatling | From $21 per month, billed annually | Free plan | GDPR | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| WotNotGo to WotNot | From $29 per month | Free trial (14 days) | ISO 27001, Mentions HIPAA, GDPR | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| ChatbaseGo to Chatbase | From $32 per month, billed annually | Free trial (7 days) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, Mentions HIPAA | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| SiteGPTGo to SiteGPT | From $39 per month, billed annually | Free trial (7 days) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, Signs a HIPAA BAA | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| HugoGo to Crisp | From $45 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Not stated | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| DocsBotGo to DocsBot AI | From $49 per month | Free plan | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| Fin AI AgentGo to Fin | From $0.99 per outcome | Free trial (14 days) | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, Mentions HIPAA, GDPR | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| LandbotGo to Landbot | US price not shown on the vendor's page | Free plan, Free trial (14 days) | GDPR, SOC 2 (type not stated) | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| PickaxeGo to Pickaxe | From $29 per month, billed annually | Not stated | SOC 2 Type II | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| Lyro AI AgentGo to Tidio | From $32.50 per month | Free plan, Free trial (7 days) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, Mentions HIPAA | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| BotpressGo to Botpress | From $150 per month, billed annually | Free plan, Free trial | GDPR, Mentions HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| eesel AIGo to eesel | From $299 per month | Free trial | Signs a HIPAA BAA | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| Text AI AgentGo to Text | From $19 per user per month, billed annually | Free trial (14 days) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| eDeskGo to eDesk | From $39 per agent per month, billed annually + $0.99 per outcome (AI Agent) add-on | Free trial (14 days) | Not stated | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| Help Scout AIGo to Help Scout | From $25 per user per month + $0.75 per resolution (AI Answers) add-on | Free plan, Free trial | SOC 2 Type II, Mentions HIPAA | Oct 20, 2026 | |
| Delight.aiGo to Delight.ai | Contact sales | Not stated | GDPR, Mentions HIPAA | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| VoiceflowGo to Voiceflow | Contact sales | Free trial | ISO 27001, GDPR, Mentions HIPAA | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| GlassixGo to Glassix | No price shown on its pages | Free trial (30 days) | GDPR | Oct 26, 2026 | |
| Customer AgentGo to Klaviyo | Prices published, but not the plan with the AI | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 25, 2026 |
Your picks side by side
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Questions people ask
What can an AI chatbot do for a small business?
Answer common customer questions at any hour from your own help pages and FAQs, collect contact details, and pass a conversation to a person when it can't help. Most sit in a chat window on your website, and many also answer on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram.
Is there a free AI chatbot?
Yes: Chatling, DocsBot, Landbot, Lyro AI Agent from Tidio, Botpress and Help Scout AI have a free plan. 15 offer a free trial, so you can test one on your own help content first.
What is the best AI chatbot for a small business?
No single AI chatbot is best for every business: it comes down to the job and the budget. If price decides it, Chatfuel has the lowest flat monthly price listed, $18 a month. To try one free, Chatling, DocsBot, Landbot and 3 others have a free plan. No vendor pays to be listed.
Is an AI chatbot the same as an AI agent?
Not always: an AI agent acts as well as answers. Most of the AI chatbots compared work as AI agents (17 of 20), by name or by what their vendors say they do.