What is the cheapest chatbot on the market? Price Analysis
If you’re looking to optimize customer support in your business, you’ve certainly wondered which is the cheapest chatbot on the market. But of course, this question is also asked with the goal of finding a tool that, in addition to having a good price, offers at the same time advanced features to make it advantageous for your business. After all, just like the best chatbot tools for Facebook Messenger, there’s no point in having a cheap virtual assistant that lacks efficiency.
Among the platforms that we can mention that fulfill their purpose well, we can recommend five. They are:
These virtual assistants, like the chatbots for Instagram DM, can be an excellent choice for anyone who wants to reduce costs without giving up on a good user experience. To help you with this very important choice, in this article, we are going to make a comparison where we are going to analyze the prices and features of each one to present you with the best cost-effective chatbot among the cheapest on the market.
What are the best chatbots?
Manychat, Landbot, and Jivochat are the best chatbots on the market. All three help you offer good customer service. In addition, they help you to speed up the answers to frequently asked questions by those visiting your website or online store and can even solve problems, depending on how you configure them. The best part is that everything happens automatically and is free of human errors.
However, that’s not just what a chatbot is for. That’s because they can be used for sales, appointments, and even research. So choosing one will depend a lot on what you need. Therefore, whenever you search for the cheapest chatbot on the market, keep it clear in your mind what you want when purchasing it.
So you don’t make a poor investment, we created this complete price comparison where you will learn which is the cheapest chatbot on the market. And if you need a robot attendant for WhatsApp, be sure to check out the 12 best chatbot tools for WhatsApp.
1. Manychat
ManyChat is a cloud–based chatbot solution. It was launched to support companies that launch marketing campaigns via chats on social media and text messaging. For this reason, the platform has bot performance reports that provide details such as the number of messages sent, open rates, click-through, and conversion rates. This information can be daily, weekly, and monthly.
This platform could not be missing from our list of the cheapest chatbots on the market, as it has an attractive free plan. Through it, you can access Manychat’s basic features to engage up to 1,000 contacts. In addition, it is possible to acquire new customers and also access the messaging channels of the main social networks, Instagram Direct and Facebook Messenger. In its free plan, the platform also offers engagement for WhatsApp.
If your business is already attracting a larger number of customers, one option to get more features is to upgrade to the Manychat Pro plan. It has a monthly cost of $15 and in addition to offering you access to the social networks the free plan offers, it is also possible to engage through more traditional means, such as SMS and email. It also allows you to grow your business with unlimited growth tools and keywords.
However, it is worth noting that if your company is already large, it is likely that you will have to make a larger investment. That’s because Manychat prices change according to the contacts you need to engage. As a downside, we can mention the support that is carried out exclusively through e-mail. This is undoubtedly quite frustrating when you pay for the plan, as you may have questions about how to use the platform, and having a live chat could be a valuable option for quick problem resolution.
If you want to try ManyChat, take advantage of the free plan. But if you’ve already tested this tool and are looking for other similar suggestions, check out the 12 best ManyChat alternatives.
2. Landbot
Landbot is a platform for building codeless chatbots for your website, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Through this tool, you can convert leads, capture data and customize customer journeys in real-time so you can improve your marketing strategies, even without understanding coding. Furthermore, Landbot allows you to add custom fields for specific users. It also provides integrations for Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, and Webhooks.
SANDBOX is Landbot’s free plan. It is most used by people who want to have their first contact with a chatbot. After all, the features offered by it are more basic, with few flow interactions and limited integrations. For small businesses, the Starter plan may be ideal. It costs $39 for the monthly plan and $31 per month for the annual plan. With Starter, your flow operations are always up to date, although they are basic, and the integrations with other platforms are broader.
However, if your company is already medium-sized, you can opt for the Pro plan which has a monthly cost of $99 or $79 per month in the annual plan. The flow operations in this category are advanced, you will be able to customize your brand and have access to essential integrations with external platforms. Now, for big companies, the best choice is the Business plan, in which you will make an investment of $300 per month in the monthly or annual package. In addition to having all the features of the Pro plan, this plan gives you access to priority support and team training.
Landbot may have good features, but its prices are high, even for large companies. It also carries as a downside the lack of customer service in the Starter plan. Also, the mentioned plans do not include engagement through WhatsApp. To be able to add the chatbot to WhatsApp, you have to choose another Pro plan that costs $169 in the monthly package or $135 per month in the annual package.
If you have a large company, you can opt for the Business plan which costs $300. The fact that Landbot does not support e-commerce is also something that makes its high price questionable.
Visit the Landbot website and test the free version to discover the power of this tool.
3. Jivochat
Jivochat also features in our cheapest chatbot on the market comparison. This platform can help you offer personalized service to your customers in just one place. In fact, the highlight of this tool is that it optimizes your team’s work process by uniting all service channels in one platform. Therefore, you can reach new customers through online chat on websites, social networks, messaging apps, and even older methods such as phone calls.
The Jivochat basic plan is free and offers some cool features. For example, with it, you can send unlimited messages and widgets on your website. You’ll also get two months of chat history, email integration, and social messaging. In the Professional plan, which has a monthly cost of $19, you have the aforementioned features, but also CRM features, the possibility of proactively starting targeted chats, advanced statistics, and more.
The last plan is Enterprise which gives access to all the advanced features but is customized for companies with 10 or more agents and starts at $38 per agent, per month, when billed annually. However, if you need telephony management, video calls, much more integrations, and receive Instagram notifications in JivoChat, you will have to make additional investments. But in this case, the extra payment for these features pays off, as JivoChat’s monthly prices are low and match the reality of what is offered.
Values for additional features:
- Telephony Plus: $4
- Video Calls: $21
Check out Jivochat ‘s free plan to find out if this tool is right for you. If not, also explore these 30 alternatives to Jivochat.
4. Livechat
Livechat, although primarily a live chat platform for businesses, offers chatbot features. The main purpose of this platform is to provide your customers with the fastest service possible in a way you can offer it to them without having to invest a lot of time learning how to use the tool. That’s why it offers clean, simple, and easy-to-understand applications so that setting up a bot doesn’t take more than five minutes.
Unlike the other options on our list, LiveChat does not have a free plan. However, it does allow you to test the platform’s features for 14 days before making your decision on which package to choose. For small businesses, the flagship plan is the Starter which costs $24 for the monthly package or $20 per month for the annual package. It offers 60-day chat history and basic widget customization. The Team plan, focused on companies that offer full-time support, has an investment of $49 in the monthly package or $41 per month in the annual package.
With the Team plan, chat history is unlimited and widget customization is complete. In addition, basic reports are provided by this package. Now, if your company is big and demands a customer service department, the Commercial plan is the best choice. Its monthly price is $69, and in the annual package it costs $59. The advantages of these plans are groups of agents, staff forecast, and shift scheduler.
Although Livechat offers several features for automating customer service, these features are not exclusive to the platform to justify such a high price, which can be an investment impediment for small businesses. Additionally, the platform fails to offer built-in email marketing features, and user behavior tracking is limited. Undoubtedly, for the high investment this platform requires, these features should be impeccable.
Livechat does not have a free plan, but you can test the platform’s features for 14 days.
5. Flow XO
Flow XO rounds out our cheapest chatbot on the market comparison. It allows you to host your virtual assistants and make use of them on many different platforms. There are two main features offered by the tool: chatbots and workflows. The workflows allow you to define how the conversation between the chatbot and the user will be.
In Flow XO’s free plan, you have access to a chatbot, workflow, 500 interactions, 2 weeks of logs, 5 bots or active flows, and email support. On the Standard plan, which costs $19 per month, you get the following benefits: all features, 5,000 interactions, 15 active bots or flows, 5 team members, 3 months of logs, you can download all user data, can remove the Flow XO branding, and have priority support.
If you have a company that needs a large service flow and you need more resources, you can upgrade your Standard plan. For example, if you need more bots or additional active flows, you can do that for just $10 more per month. Another option is to increase the number of interactions allowed monthly. For an extra $25 per month, you can get up to 25,000 additional interactions.
Flow XO prices are attractive and focus on the reality of companies for their size. The only downside we can mention is that when paying for a chatbot you could customize it in the way that best suits your company, but with this platform the design of your virtual assistant is limited. However, this is not something that makes the price charged by the company unfair.
Check out the trial version of Flow XO right now.
What is the cheapest chatbot on the market?
In this cheapest chatbot on the market comparison, ManyChat is undoubtedly the most affordable option. Therefore, it takes our first position in the ranking. It offers a free plan that gives you access to basic features to engage up to 1,000 contacts and allows you to acquire new customers and access the messaging channels of the main social networks. In addition, at only $15 per month, you have access to several features and the possibility to engage through more traditional means, such as SMS and email.
Jivochat, which won our silver medal, offers a free basic plan with interesting features, such as sending unlimited messages and widgets on its website, as well as integration with email and social messengers. The Professional plan, which costs $19 per month, has CRM features, triggered chats, and advanced statistics.
The last on the cheapest chatbot podium is Flow XO, which also has a free option with basic features. Its $19 per month Standard plan provides more benefits, such as the ability to download all user data and remove messenger branding.
Livechat does not appear on our podium, as its prices are high compared to other options. By not offering exclusive chatbot features, costs above $15 are not justifiable, something that also applies to Landbot. This platform may offer a free plan with good features, but as small companies need to invest the amount of $39 per month, it may not be so viable for business. Therefore, Landbot, despite being one of the best on the market, appears last on our list.
What is the best free chatbot?
ManyChat can be a good option for companies that want to get started with chatbots for free. This is because it has several features, such as conversation automation and basic growth tools to direct leads to your automation, which are offered even without you having to invest in the platform.
How much does a chatbot cost?
This amount can vary between $15 and $500 per month. However, if you have a large company that demands a high data stream from a chatbot, this value can be much higher. However, this will depend on the company where you want to place a chatbot.
What does a chatbot need to have?
Machine learning, natural language, and customization are some of the features needed in a chatbot that can make it stand out from those offered by its competitors. Therefore, before investing in one, always research to see if it has these three pillars.
What are the types of chatbots?
Chatbots can be rule-based, which depends on a set of pre-defined rules to answer user questions, or artificial intelligence, which can be more efficient as they use algorithms to understand user questions and provide more accurate and personalized answers.
