Search for the cheapest AI chatbot and many results are personal ChatGPT subscriptions. This guide is about the rest: an AI chatbot for your website that answers customers from your own content. Below are seven tools with their entry prices, read on each vendor's pricing page on November 5, 2026, and one month worked out for a team of three.
What does a cheap AI chatbot for a website actually cost?
A website AI chatbot costs between $0 and $150 a month on its entry plan, as of November 2026, and the bill depends on how the vendor counts: per seat, per resolved conversation, per conversation, or per answer in credits. The sticker price covers one of those counters. The others arrive as add-ons once a second person logs in or the AI starts settling questions.
That is why two tools with the same $19 on the pricing page can end a busy month hundreds of dollars apart. How each pricing model works is explained in our guide to AI agent cost; this post answers which tool is cheapest for real work.
Ultimo Bots is the AI agent platform where you tell Mo, the builder in the AI Studio, in plain words what your agent should do, and Mo builds the skills: your agent answers from your website and files, and works in your own systems through their public APIs, on your website, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Slack. It is billed per agent in AI credits, and teammates cost nothing extra.
Cheapest AI chatbot plans compared: seven tools as of November 5, 2026
Each row is the lowest paid plan that puts an AI agent on a website, read on the vendor's official pricing page on November 5, 2026, in US dollars. Where a vendor shows only an annual price, the row says so.
Ultimo BotsSmart: $29 ($19 billed yearly); 500 AI credits a month7-day free trial on every paid plan, plus a small one-time allowance of free AI creditsFreeSources, all opened November 5, 2026: Tidio, ChatBot.com, Intercom, Freshchat, Botpress, Chatbase and our own pricing page.
Read the table by its last two columns. Most entry prices sit between $19 and $40 a month; what separates the tools is what the price counts. Some include a fixed set of seats, three charge for every extra person, and several measure AI work in a separate allowance that is small on the entry plan.
Ultimo Bots Boost costs $59 a month or $39 billed yearly for 2,000 AI credits, and Ultimo $249 or $199 for 10,000. Every plan includes every channel, live chat handoff, lead capture and the AI Studio with Mo; the number of skills grows with the plan (3, 10 or 30).
Is there a free AI chatbot for websites?
Yes, a few website AI tools have a free plan, but free plans are built for testing, not for a month of real customer questions. Every AI answer costs the vendor money, so the free allowance is small or one-off. In the table, Tidio's free plan includes 50 Lyro AI conversations for the lifetime of the account, and Botpress' free plan 100 conversations a month with no top-ups.
Ultimo Bots works the same honest way: every new agent starts with a small one-time allowance of free AI credits to ask your own questions about your website and see the answers. The real test is the paid plan, and every paid plan starts with a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime, no contract.
A useful free test takes an afternoon: ask the ten questions you answered most last month, and note which answers you would send as they are.
One month for a team of three: what each pricing model bills
Take Northline Print, a fictional print shop for custom signs, banners and flyers, with three people who answer customers. Its website gets 500 chat conversations a month, the AI gives about three answers in each, and 300 of them end without a person. Here is that month on three tools whose pricing pages publish every number needed, as of November 5, 2026.
- Intercom Essential with Fin: 3 seats at $19 (new customers, billed yearly) is $57, plus 300 Fin outcomes at $0.99 is $297. Total $354, or $384 billed monthly.
- Botpress Plus: $150 billed annually covers 250 conversations; the other 250 need three packs of 100 at $65, $195. Total $345, before any AI usage beyond the $25 included.
- Ultimo Bots Boost: 500 conversations at three answers is 1,500 AI credits on Ultimo Core, inside Boost's 2,000. Total $39 billed yearly, or $59 monthly, with all three people included.
The gap comes from two counters: seats grow with every person who can reply, and outcomes or conversations with every good week. With Ultimo Bots teammates are free, and AI credits come at a dollar price printed in advance. With 150 conversations a month, Smart at $29, or $19 billed yearly, would carry Northline.
That is our stance on price: per-seat pricing punishes small teams, so with Ultimo Bots teammates are free and the agent is billed in AI credits, with the dollar price printed on the page. One standard answer uses one credit, on every channel.
What the cheapest chatbots leave out
The cheapest plans save money by leaving out the parts you notice in month two, so check five things before you sign up. Each is a line on the vendor's pricing page or in its plan comparison.
- How much AI work the plan includes, and whether it renews. An entry plan may hold a few dozen AI conversations, some of them once per account rather than every month.
- What the second and third person cost. Per-seat and per-user prices multiply; a plan with a fixed set of seats stops at its number.
- What a busy month adds. Fees per outcome, per resolution or per pack of conversations grow with your success.
- Whether a person can take over the same chat. A visitor who wants a human should reach one in the same window, with the history in front of them.
- Whether the AI can work in your own systems. Answers from your pages are the floor; a price list, a booking calendar or an order system is where the agent starts saving real hours.
The last point decides whether a cheap tool stays cheap. An agent that only repeats your FAQ sends every price question back to your inbox; one that reads your price list answers it at 3 AM, when nobody is online and the visitor is ready to order.
Build it with Mo: a price quote from your own system
With Ultimo Bots you describe a skill to Mo in plain words, and Mo builds it on your own system's public API, so the agent quotes real prices instead of sending visitors to a contact form. Northline Print's order system has a public HTTPS price API that takes an API key: send it a product, size, quantity and print sides, and it returns the price.
Example: what the owner tells Mo in the AI Studio
Dana writes: "Our order system has a price API, the docs are on our website under Developers. When a visitor asks what a print job costs, ask for anything missing, like size, quantity or one or both sides, get the price from the API and give it with the paper it includes." Mo answers: "I read the price endpoint in your docs. Please paste your API key into the secure field below; it is stored encrypted and never sent to the AI. Then I'll build the skill and test it with a sample job."
Dana pastes the key. Mo builds the skill, tests the price call, then runs a short test chat that asks the API for real, and reports what the agent can now do: quote any product on the price list once size, quantity and sides are known. A price lookup only reads, so a real test call changes nothing in the order system.
What a visitor sees on the website
A visitor asks "What would 200 flyers in A5 cost?", and the agent answers: "I'm Northline Print's AI assistant. Happy to price that. Printed on one side or on both?" After "Both sides." comes the quote: "That is $64.00 before tax, on 170 gsm gloss paper. Would you like the price for 500 as well?"
The shop, the API and the price are fictional; in a real chat the number comes from your API at that moment. The quote is public price data, the same for every visitor, so the skill needs no login. And it changes the cost math in your favor: an answer that calls your price API costs what any answer costs, 1 AI credit on Ultimo Core, and the skill counts as one of your plan's skills. A quick question to Mo uses a few credits, building a skill more.
What is the safest AI chatbot to use?
The safest AI chatbot for a website is one that tells visitors they are talking to an AI, names who processes their data, and keeps private data behind a check. Price tables never show these points, so ask for them before you pay. This is practical guidance, not legal advice.
- An AI notice the owner cannot hide. The Ultimo Bots widget and chat link show "You are chatting with an AI assistant" above every chat, in eight languages picked from the visitor's browser.
- Named sub-processors. Ultimo Bots names its main sub-processors in its help center and confirms the current list on request; a data processing agreement is available on request by email.
- No resale or training. Visitors' conversations are not sold to third parties and not used to train Ultimo Bots' own models.
- Private data verified first. Ready-made skills that look up orders, bookings or subscriptions ask the visitor for a six-digit code sent to their email first.
Who should pick Ultimo Bots
Pick Ultimo Bots when a small team answers your website questions and you want the agent to do more than repeat your FAQ. The value grows with every skill you add.
- Teams of two or more. Teammates are free: everyone joins the live chat without a seat fee.
- Businesses on several channels. One balance of AI credits pays for answers on your website, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Slack.
- Owners whose customers ask about prices, dates or orders. Mo builds skills on your own systems' public APIs, like Northline's price quote, and ready-made skills for Wix, Calendly, Cal.com, Stripe, HubSpot and Mailchimp sit in the AI Studio.
- Anyone who wants the bill in advance. Smart is $29 a month ($19 billed yearly) for 500 AI credits, Boost $59 ($39) for 2,000, Ultimo $249 ($199) for 10,000.
The agent answers from your knowledge base: your website, files, Q&A pairs, Google Drive, OneDrive or Notion. Its answers come from your content, not from guesses about your business.
Price your own month before you choose
Start with last month's inbox, not with a pricing page. Count the customer conversations that came in by website chat and DM, and the people who answered them. Multiply the conversations by three answers each, in AI credits on Ultimo Core. Up to 500 fits Smart ($29, or $19 billed yearly), up to 2,000 Boost ($59, or $39). Then add every seat and per-outcome fee for the tools you are weighing, and compare the totals.
If the total points to Ultimo Bots, start the trial, add your website as the first source and ask the agent the question you answer most often. If that question is about a price, a date or an order, tell Mo where your system's API docs live.
Questions and answers
Is there a 100% free AI chatbot for a website?
A few tools have a free plan, but its AI allowance is small or one-off, because every answer costs the vendor money. As of November 5, 2026, Tidio's free plan includes 50 AI conversations for life and Botpress' free plan 100 conversations a month. Ultimo Bots gives every new agent a small one-time allowance of free AI credits and a 7-day free trial on every paid plan.
What is the cheapest AI chatbot for a website?
The one with the lowest monthly total for your team. As of November 5, 2026, entry prices start at $19 per seat or agent billed yearly at Intercom (new customers), Freshchat and ChatBot.com, before fees for more people or AI resolutions. Ultimo Bots Smart costs $29 a month, or $19 billed yearly, for 500 AI credits with teammates free. For a team of three, add every seat before you compare.
How much does an AI chatbot cost per month?
Entry plans for website AI chatbots cost $0 to $150 a month as of November 2026. A team of three with 500 conversations a month, about three AI answers each, can pay over $340 on per-seat or per-conversation plans billed yearly. On Ultimo Bots the same month fits Boost at $39 billed yearly, or $59 monthly, with 2,000 AI credits and no seat fees.
Do I pay per seat, per conversation or per answer?
It depends on the vendor, and many combine two. Per-seat plans charge for every person who can reply, per-outcome plans for every conversation the AI settles, and credit plans for answers. Ultimo Bots bills AI credits per agent: one standard answer uses one credit on every channel, and teammates are free. Compare the total for one real month, not the sticker.
Can a cheap AI chatbot do real work, not only FAQ answers?
Yes, if it can reach your own systems. With Ultimo Bots you tell Mo in the AI Studio what the agent should do, such as quoting prices from your order system, and Mo builds the skill on that system's public API, asks for the API key in a secure field and tests it. The answer that uses the skill costs the same AI credits as any other.
What is the least expensive AI to use for customer questions on a website?
For written questions on a website, an AI agent billed per agent, with free teammates and no fee per resolved conversation, is usually the least expensive for a small team. Ultimo Bots starts at $19 a month billed yearly, or $29 month to month, for 500 AI credits, about 500 standard answers.
