How much does an AI chatbot cost? The short answer: SaaS chatbots cost between €0 and €500 per month, while custom-built solutions run €5,000 to €200,000+ upfront. The real answer depends on your business size, conversation volume, and which features you actually need.
I've spent the last several years building Boei, an AI chatbot platform, and I've watched businesses overpay for chatbots more times than I can count. In this guide, I break down every cost you'll encounter — from monthly subscriptions and API fees to hidden charges that vendors bury in fine print.
Related reading: Chatbot Pricing Comparison 2026 | Best AI Chatbots for Customer Service
Before looking at specific prices, you need to understand the four pricing models vendors use. Each has trade-offs, and the cheapest option on paper is rarely the cheapest in practice.
You pay a fixed monthly fee regardless of how many conversations your chatbot handles. This is the most predictable model and the easiest to budget for.
Typical cost: €14–100/month
Examples: Boei (€14/mo), Crisp (€95/mo for 20 seats), Chatbase (from $19/mo)
Pros: No surprise bills. You know your exact cost before the month starts. Great for businesses with growing traffic because costs don't scale with volume.
Cons: Some flat-rate plans cap messages (e.g., Boei includes 2,000 AI messages) or features. Make sure you understand what's included before signing up.
Best for: Small to mid-size businesses that want cost predictability.
You pay for each conversation or "resolution" the AI handles. This model sounds affordable at low volumes, but costs escalate quickly.
Typical cost: €0.50–2.00 per conversation
Examples: Intercom Fin ($0.99/resolution), Zendesk AI ($1.00/automated resolution)
Pros: You only pay when the chatbot actually does something. If you have very few support conversations, this can be cheaper than a flat rate.
Cons: Costs are unpredictable. A traffic spike, a product launch, or a seasonal rush can double or triple your bill overnight. Here's the math:
| Monthly Conversations | Cost at €0.99/each | Cost at €1.50/each |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | €99 | €150 |
| 500 | €495 | €750 |
| 1,000 | €990 | €1,500 |
| 3,000 | €2,970 | €4,500 |
At 500 conversations per month, you're already paying €495–750 — far more than most flat-rate plans.
Best for: Very low-volume use cases (under 100 conversations/month) or enterprises that need granular cost attribution.
You pay based on the number of human agents or team members who access the platform. The AI chatbot is usually an add-on.
Typical cost: €15–100 per agent per month
Examples: Freshchat (from €19/agent), Zendesk Suite (from €55/agent), LiveChat (from $20/agent)
Pros: Scales with team size, which often correlates with company size. Familiar model for businesses used to SaaS pricing.
Cons: Gets expensive fast with larger teams. A 10-person support team on Freshchat Enterprise pays €790/month before any AI add-ons. Adding AI features (like Freddy AI) costs extra.
Best for: Teams that primarily need live chat with AI as a supplement.
Large organizations negotiate bespoke contracts with annual commitments, dedicated support, and custom integrations.
Typical cost: €2,500–10,000+/month (billed annually)
Examples: Drift (custom pricing), Intercom Enterprise, Salesforce Einstein
Pros: Tailored to your exact needs. Usually includes dedicated account management, SLAs, and custom onboarding.
Cons: Annual contracts with limited flexibility. Onboarding alone can take 2–6 months. You'll likely need internal resources to manage the platform.
Best for: Companies with 50+ support agents or complex multi-brand, multi-language requirements.
Here's what you get at each price point. I've tested all of these platforms firsthand.
| Tier | Monthly Cost | Best Options | AI Messages | Channels | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | Tidio (50 convos), Tawk.to (unlimited chat), HubSpot (basic bot) | Very limited | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Budget | €14–50/mo | Boei (€14), Chatbase ($19), Kommunicate ($40) | 2,000–10,000 | 5–50+ | 1–Unlimited |
| Mid-Range | €50–200/mo | Tidio Growth (€59), Crisp Unlimited (€95), Freshchat Pro (€49/agent) | 2,000–50,000 | 5–15 | 3–10 |
| Enterprise | €500+/mo | Intercom, Drift, Zendesk Suite | Unlimited (per-resolution fees) | 10+ | Unlimited |
What you get: Basic chatbot functionality, usually limited to your website. Good for testing whether a chatbot makes sense for your business.
Limitations that matter:
My take: Free plans are great for proof-of-concept testing. Don't try to run a real business on them.
This is the sweet spot for most small and mid-size businesses.
Boei at €14/month includes:
Chatbase at $19/month gives you 2,000 message credits with a single chatbot. Good if you only need a website widget, but limited on channels.
Kommunicate at $40/month includes AI-powered chat with CRM integrations. Solid option for teams that already use Freshdesk or Zendesk.
My take: At this tier, pay attention to what's included versus what costs extra. Some platforms advertise a low starting price but charge separately for AI, WhatsApp, or additional agents.
For businesses handling 500+ conversations per month that need advanced features like AI training, analytics, and multi-channel support.
Tidio Growth at €59/month includes the Lyro AI add-on (from €39/mo extra) for AI-powered conversations. Total cost with AI: roughly €98/month for 200 Lyro conversations.
Crisp Unlimited at €95/month per workspace with 20 seats. Includes their AI chatbot (MagicReply) and a solid knowledge base. Good value if you have a mid-size team.
Freshchat Pro at €49/agent/month requires per-agent pricing. A 5-agent team pays €245/month before AI add-ons. Freddy AI costs extra depending on your plan.
My take: This tier starts to get complicated. Calculate the total cost with your actual team size and conversation volume — don't just look at the base price.
For organizations where support is a strategic function, not just a cost center.
Intercom starts around $74/seat/month for the base plan, plus $0.99 per AI resolution (Fin). A 10-person team handling 2,000 AI conversations per month pays roughly $2,720/month (~€2,500).
Drift (now part of Salesloft) focuses on B2B sales engagement. Pricing is custom but typically starts at $2,500/month. Heavily geared toward pipeline generation rather than support.
Zendesk Suite starts at €55/agent for Suite Team, €89/agent for Suite Professional. AI add-ons are extra. A 15-agent team on Professional with AI easily exceeds €2,000/month.
My take: These platforms are powerful but expensive. Make sure you'll actually use the advanced features before committing to an annual contract.
Building a chatbot from scratch makes sense in a few scenarios: you have very specific requirements, regulatory constraints, or you want full control over the AI model. Here's what that costs.
A decision-tree chatbot with predefined flows. No AI — just if/then logic.
What you get: A chatbot that follows scripted paths. Users click buttons or choose options. Works well for appointment booking, FAQs with fixed answers, and basic lead qualification.
Development timeline: 2–6 weeks
Breakdown:
My take: Unless you have very specific compliance needs, a SaaS tool does everything a rule-based custom bot does for a fraction of the cost.
A chatbot that uses natural language processing to understand questions and generate responses. This typically involves fine-tuning an LLM or building a RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipeline.
What you get: A chatbot that understands context, handles unexpected questions, and improves over time. Can integrate deeply with your internal systems.
Development timeline: 2–6 months
Breakdown:
Ongoing costs:
My take: Custom AI chatbots make sense for companies processing 50,000+ conversations per month where per-conversation SaaS fees would exceed the development cost within a year. For everyone else, a SaaS platform is more practical.
Every custom chatbot needs ongoing care. Budget for:
This is where the real cost of a chatbot reveals itself. I've seen businesses budget €50/month and end up paying €300+ because of these hidden charges.
WhatsApp Business API conversations aren't free. Meta charges per conversation:
Some chatbot platforms pass these fees through directly. Others mark them up 2–5x. A few (like Boei) include WhatsApp in the base price without per-message surcharges.
Impact: A business sending 1,000 WhatsApp service messages and 500 marketing messages per month could pay €25–75 in Meta fees alone — on top of the chatbot platform fee.
Most platforms cap AI messages. When you exceed the limit:
Impact: A seasonal spike in traffic can blow your budget. If you're on Intercom Fin and handle 3,000 AI resolutions in a busy month, that's an extra $2,970 on top of your seat costs.
The platform might cost €50/month, but how long does it take to set up?
Your time has a cost. At €50/hour for a support manager's time, a 40-hour enterprise onboarding costs €2,000 in staff time before the platform delivers any value.
AI chatbots are only as good as their training data. Plan for:
Several "free" or low-cost platforms display their own branding on your chatbot widget:
This doesn't apply to all platforms. Boei's Pro plan at €14/month includes your own branding with no third-party logos.
Let's compare the real first-year cost for a business handling 1,000 conversations per month with a 3-person support team.
| Cost Component | Boei | Tidio + Lyro | Intercom | Custom Build |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee (annual) | €168 | €708 (Growth) | €2,664 (3 seats) | €0 |
| AI add-on (annual) | Included | €468 (Lyro) | €11,880 (Fin at $0.99 x 1,000/mo) | €0 |
| Development cost | €0 | €0 | €0 | €50,000–100,000 |
| API costs (OpenAI etc.) | Included | Included | Included | €2,400–12,000 |
| Hosting | Included | Included | Included | €1,200–6,000 |
| Implementation time | 2 hrs (~€100) | 4 hrs (~€200) | 40 hrs (~€2,000) | 200+ hrs (~€10,000) |
| Maintenance (annual) | €0 | €0 | €0 | €12,000–36,000 |
| Branding removal | Included | Included (paid plan) | Included | N/A |
| Year 1 Total | ~€268 | ~€1,376 | ~€16,544 | €75,600–164,000 |
These numbers tell a clear story. For most businesses, a SaaS chatbot platform delivers 90% of what a custom build offers at 1–2% of the cost.
Important caveat: At very high volumes (50,000+ conversations/month), the per-resolution model of platforms like Intercom becomes extremely expensive, and custom builds start to make financial sense.
Before choosing a platform, calculate whether a chatbot will actually save you money. Here's a simple formula:
Monthly ROI = (Hours Saved x Hourly Cost) - Monthly Chatbot Cost
A small e-commerce business with these numbers:
Without chatbot:
With chatbot (60% deflection):
Monthly savings: €2,675 - €1,089 = €1,586/month
ROI: 11,229% (€1,586 saved / €14 chatbot cost)
Even with a more conservative 40% deflection rate, the savings are substantial. The key variables are your conversation volume and how well you train the chatbot.
Be honest about these scenarios:
AI chatbot costs vary by industry because conversation volume, complexity, and compliance requirements differ dramatically.
Typical need: Order tracking, returns, product questions, size guides
Recommended budget: €14–100/month (SaaS)
Expected deflection rate: 60–80% (these conversations are highly repetitive)
Best options: Boei (€14/mo for 50+ channels including WhatsApp), Tidio (popular among Shopify stores), Gorgias (e-commerce specific from $60/mo)
E-commerce businesses see the fastest ROI because support questions are repetitive and well-documented. "Where is my order?" alone can account for 30–40% of all support tickets.
Typical need: Onboarding help, feature questions, bug reports, billing support
Recommended budget: €50–500/month
Expected deflection rate: 40–60% (more complex questions)
Best options: Intercom (if budget allows), Freshchat, Boei (for startups and SMBs)
SaaS companies often need deeper integrations with their product. The chatbot needs to pull account data, check subscription status, and sometimes trigger actions. This pushes toward mid-range or enterprise platforms.
Typical need: Appointment booking, insurance verification, general health info, triage
Recommended budget: €100–1,000/month
Expected deflection rate: 30–50% (compliance limits what AI can handle)
Best options: Custom builds for clinical applications; SaaS tools like Boei or Freshchat for administrative tasks
Healthcare has strict compliance requirements (GDPR, HIPAA). AI chatbots can handle administrative tasks but should not provide medical advice without human oversight. Many healthcare organizations use a hybrid model: AI for scheduling and insurance questions, humans for anything clinical.
Typical need: Booking, hours, pricing, location info
Recommended budget: €0–14/month
Expected deflection rate: 70–90% (very repetitive questions)
Best options: Boei (€14/mo), Google Business Chat (free), Tidio Free
Local businesses have the simplest use case. A chatbot that answers "What are your hours?" and "How do I book?" can handle the vast majority of inquiries. A free or budget tool is usually sufficient.
Typical need: Account inquiries, loan applications, compliance-heavy support
Recommended budget: €500–5,000/month
Expected deflection rate: 25–45% (regulatory constraints)
Best options: Enterprise platforms with SOC 2 compliance, or custom builds
Financial services face heavy regulation around what automated systems can communicate. Expect lower deflection rates and higher costs due to security and compliance requirements.
A basic AI chatbot costs between €0 and €50 per month using a SaaS platform. Free options like Tidio (50 conversations) and Tawk.to (live chat only) exist but come with significant limitations. For most businesses, a budget plan like Boei at €14/month provides the best balance of features and affordability, including 2,000 AI messages and 50+ channels.
Buying (SaaS) is almost always cheaper. A SaaS chatbot costs €14–500/month with no upfront investment. Building a custom AI chatbot costs €30,000–150,000+ upfront, plus €1,000–5,000/month in maintenance. Custom development only makes sense at very high volumes (50,000+ conversations/month) where per-conversation SaaS fees would exceed development costs.
Ongoing costs for a SaaS chatbot include the monthly subscription (€14–500), potential AI message overage fees, and staff time for knowledge base maintenance (2–5 hours/month). For custom-built chatbots, add LLM API fees (€200–5,000/month), server hosting (€100–1,000/month), and developer maintenance (€1,000–5,000/month).
Using OpenAI's API directly costs roughly $0.01–0.06 per 1,000 tokens (GPT-4o). For a typical customer support conversation of ~500 tokens input and ~500 tokens output, that's about $0.03–0.06 per conversation. At 1,000 conversations/month, API costs would be $30–60. However, you still need to build the chatbot interface, RAG pipeline, and hosting — which costs €30,000+ in development.
Free AI chatbots are worth it for testing and very low-volume use cases. Tidio's free plan (50 AI conversations/month) lets you validate whether a chatbot helps your business before paying anything. Tawk.to offers unlimited free live chat but charges for AI features. For any business handling more than a few conversations per day, a paid plan delivers significantly better results and fewer limitations.
Five ways to reduce chatbot costs: (1) Choose flat-rate pricing over per-conversation models to avoid surprise bills. (2) Train your chatbot thoroughly — better training means higher deflection rates and fewer escalations to humans. (3) Start with a budget plan and upgrade only when you hit limits. (4) Use a platform that includes multiple channels (like WhatsApp and Messenger) in the base price rather than charging per channel. (5) Monitor AI performance monthly and prune unhelpful responses that waste message credits.
Boei at €14/month is the most affordable AI chatbot with native WhatsApp support. Most competitors either don't support WhatsApp or charge extra for it. Tidio offers WhatsApp integration starting from their Growth plan (€59/month). Intercom includes WhatsApp but starts at $74/seat/month. Meta's WhatsApp Business app is free but doesn't include AI capabilities.
A small business should budget €14–50/month for an AI chatbot. This covers platforms like Boei (€14/month for 2,000 AI messages and 50+ channels) or Chatbase ($19/month). Add 2–5 hours of setup time and 2 hours per month for maintenance. Total first-year cost: roughly €200–700 including staff time. The chatbot should pay for itself within the first month through reduced support workload.
AI chatbot costs in 2026 range from €14/month for a fully-featured SaaS platform to €200,000+ for a custom enterprise build. For 95% of businesses, a SaaS solution in the €14–100/month range delivers the best value.
Here's my honest recommendation based on hundreds of conversations with business owners:
The most expensive chatbot isn't the one with the highest price tag — it's the one that doesn't get implemented because the pricing model was too complex to predict.
Ready to see what an AI chatbot costs for your specific situation? Try Boei free for 7 days — no credit card required.
Further reading:
Article by
Ruben is the founder of Boei, with 12+ years of experience in conversion optimization. Former IT consultant at Ernst & Young and Accenture, where he helped product teams at Shell, ING, Rabobank, Aegon, NN, and AirFrance/KLM optimize their digital experiences. Now building tools to help businesses convert more website visitors into customers.
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