Free chatbot platform plans for support teams

Tawk.to: free live chat, optional AI

Tawk.to’s core live chat is free and includes a widget, inbox, and knowledge base. That makes it a different kind of free plan from an AI agent that writes answers from company content: the live chat lets a person answer visitors. The service also has an AI Assist add-on with a limited free tier, and paid AI starts at $29 per month. For businesses comparing a free chatbot for a website, note that this plan’s core strength is live chat. Its free AI allowance is limited, so the free core chat plan should not be mistaken for unlimited AI use.

For a small shop, the practical cost question is whether you want your team to answer each chat or want AI to draft a response. If you are asking how much it costs to create a chatbot, include both the subscription and the time needed to set it up. If you need live chat only, the core plan may cover that workflow. If you want AI answers, ask how its allowance is counted and what the paid AI tier includes before relying on it for recurring support.

Tidio: three independent free allowances

Tidio’s free plan includes 50 billable conversations per month, 100 visitors reached by Flows per month, and 50 Lyro AI conversations as a one-time allowance. Those counts cover different activities. These are separate allowances: billable conversations, AI conversations, and visitors reached by a scripted flow count different kinds of activity. Most importantly, the free Lyro allowance does not refill each month. Its listed paid Starter entry point is $29 per month for 100 billable conversations; the evidence does not establish a recurring free AI allowance.

Tidio’s free plan combines live chat, scripted Flows, and a small AI test. Removing Tidio branding is a paid add-on listed at $16.67 per month. Treat branding removal as a separate cost from the plan rather than assuming the free tier will display without it.

Chatbase: monthly message credits

Chatbase’s free plan has 50 AI message credits per month. That is a recurring monthly allowance, but it counts messages, not conversations. One customer conversation can involve more than one AI reply, so the number of message credits should not be read as the same number of resolved customer conversations. The free agent is deleted after 14 days of inactivity, a detail that matters if you are setting up a bot well before launch.

The evidence lists a paid Hobby plan at $40 per month, with 700 monthly message credits and 10 MB of training content. A separate official pricing-page excerpt gives $32 per month billed yearly and lists 700 credits for a paid tier. The listed figures differ by billing basis, so check the plan terms and billing option before budgeting for a paid upgrade. Chatbase also describes automatic credit recharges; extra credits can therefore create usage spending beyond the plan fee.

Crisp: a shared inbox without free AI credits

Crisp’s free plan centers on a website chat widget and shared inbox. It has no AI credits, so your team writes the replies. The free plan is limited to 2 seats. Premium features start at £25 per month; the total for a team depends on its requirements. For a team that needs a human inbox first, the free plan may be useful; for AI answers, the absence of included AI credits is a key difference.

Botpress and HubSpot: builder versus scripts

Botpress offers 100 free conversations and lets a team build a custom AI agent. The allowance is conversation-based, and the setup work is part of the real cost: your team needs time to design the agent’s logic. No supported paid plan price is available here, so a precise upgrade total would be guesswork.

HubSpot’s free chatbot builder runs scripted conversations and saves the answers to its CRM. It follows the questions and order configured by the team; it is not an AI assistant writing answers from company content. Free live chat or a scripted flow can still help route basic questions, but it is not the same workflow as answers grounded in your help content.

What makes a free chatbot cost more?

Start with the unit being counted. Chatbase counts monthly message credits; Tidio separates monthly billable conversations and Flows visitors from one-time Lyro AI conversations; Botpress counts conversations. A plan that says “free” can therefore run out through a different kind of activity than the one your team cares about. Estimate how customers will use the bot, then check whether each reply, whole conversation, human chat, or visitor consumes the allowance.

Next, look at people and presentation. Crisp’s free plan has 2 seats, while Tidio’s free plan has a paid branding-removal add-on listed at $16.67 per month. Some paid services charge by agent or seat: the evidence lists Intercom from $29 per seat per month plus $0.99 per AI outcome, and Freshdesk from $35 per agent per month. Those are separate examples, not a universal chatbot pricing model. Do not apply them to another vendor.

AI usage can also sit outside a subscription. Chatbase offers automatic credit recharges when credits fall below a threshold set by the customer. Tawk.to’s core live chat is free, but its AI Assist paid tier starts at $29 per month. Botpress’s free agent allowance is capped, and designing a custom agent takes staff time. Setup time has a cost in working hours even when a vendor does not give it a price.

Worked monthly and yearly budgets

A solo store owner choosing momo Starter would pay EUR 29 monthly or EUR 319 yearly. The yearly figure is 11 times the monthly price. Starter includes 500 AI conversations per month and 2 team members, so a solo owner can use the plan without buying a separate per-seat add-on according to the stated plan limits. The plan fee is the subscription total; there is no per-resolution fee or credit pack.

A five-person support team choosing Growth would pay EUR 129 monthly or EUR 1,419 yearly. Growth includes 5 team members and 2,000 AI conversations per month. A ten-person team choosing Scale would pay EUR 399 monthly or EUR 4,389 yearly, with 10 team members and 6,000 AI conversations per month. These are plan totals, not a per-person rate, and each assumes the team stays within the included conversation allowance.

These examples use the smallest listed momo tier whose team-member allowance fits the stated team size. They do not assume a store’s traffic, resolution rate, or extra usage. A flat monthly fee is worth considering when you prefer a known plan charge and an included AI conversation limit over paying for each resolution. The relevant upgrade point is when your required team size, channel, knowledge capacity, or monthly conversation volume exceeds what your current plan includes.