Comparison with prices
5 Chatbase alternatives in 2026, with the price each one publishes
Chatbase lets you build an AI agent trained on your own content and put it on your website and other channels. This page shows what it costs on its own pricing page, how WhatsApp works there, and five other tools with a published price.
What is a good alternative to Chatbase?
Short answer
Chatbase has a free plan with 50 message credits a month, and paid plans at $40 a month (700 credits), $150 (4,000) and $500 (15,000). Its plan table ticks WhatsApp from the $40 plan. Alternatives with a published price are CertuAI ($75 a month with 1,600 AI replies on WhatsApp), Botpress (free plan, then $150 a month billed annually), Tidio (free plan, AI from $32.50 a month on annual billing), Intercom ($0.99 per outcome plus seats) and Crisp ($95 a month per workspace with WhatsApp). Prices checked on 10 October 2026.
Who makes this page. CertuAI makes this page, and CertuAI is on it, listed first for that reason and not because someone outside the company ranked it. Every fact about another company comes from that company's own page, with the address next to it. Where CertuAI is the weaker choice is written below, in its own section.
What Chatbase costs
On 10 October 2026, chatbase.co/pricing listed a Free plan with 50 message credits a month and 1 member. The page notes that agents on the free plan are deleted after 14 days without activity.
Paid plans, on monthly billing. Hobby is $40 a month with 700 message credits and 2 members. Standard is $150 a month with 4,000 credits and 3 members. Pro is $500 a month with 15,000 credits and 5 members. Enterprise is by quote. Yearly plans are 20% off, and paid plans start with a 7-day trial.
Add-ons. Extra credits cost $40 per 1,000 through auto recharge, and the page says those credits do not expire. An extra agent is $25 a month. Removing the "Powered By Chatbase" label is $99 a month.
A credit is not a reply. In the page's words: "Each request made to the AI model costs a certain number of message credits depending on your chosen model." It adds that an agent using an action can make two requests for one answer, which costs twice the credits. Plan credits renew at the start of each calendar month, and unused ones do not carry over.
WhatsApp. In the plan table, the WhatsApp row has an X under Free and a tick under Hobby, next to Messenger and Instagram. Its guide (chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/integrations/whatsapp) says a number connected to Chatbase can only be used by the AI agent: it cannot also be used in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app, and a number already on the app has to delete its account there first. The same guide says you get 1,000 free messages a month and then add a payment method in Meta's billing settings.
Chatbase and CertuAI, side by side
| What | Chatbase | CertuAI |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes: 50 message credits a month, 1 member | None |
| Lowest paid plan | Hobby: $40 a month, 700 message credits, 2 members | Start: $75 a month, 1,600 AI replies, 5 people |
| Next plan | Standard: $150 a month, 4,000 credits, 3 members | Pro: $120 a month, 5,000 replies, 10 people |
| Largest plan with a price | Pro: $500 a month, 15,000 credits, 5 members | Max: $249 a month, 10,000 replies, 25 people |
| What you are paying for | Message credits; the cost of a request depends on the AI model | AI replies a month |
| Ticked from Hobby, not on Free; the number is used only by the AI agent | Every plan: 1 WhatsApp number on Start, 3 on Pro and Max | |
| Instagram and Messenger | Ticked from Hobby | Answered on every paid plan |
| If you go over | $40 per 1,000 extra credits, which do not expire | Move up a plan |
| CRM | Connects to tools such as HubSpot and Salesforce | Included in every plan |
| Meta's WhatsApp fees | 1,000 free messages a month, then billed by Meta | Not mentioned on the pricing page; ask before you send campaigns |
| Free trial | 7-day trial on paid plans | 7 days, no card, counted from when WhatsApp connects |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways. Chatbase: chatbase.co/pricing and chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/integrations/whatsapp. CertuAI: its pricing page. Prices checked on 10 October 2026.
A message credit and an AI reply are not the same unit
These plans are not directly comparable. Chatbase counts message credits, and the number of credits one answer uses depends on the AI model you pick and on whether the agent runs an action. CertuAI counts AI replies. We do not turn Chatbase credits into replies, because its pricing page does not give one fixed rate.
Chatbase, per 1,000 message credits. Plan price divided by the credits it includes: $57.14 on Hobby, $37.50 on Standard and $33.33 on Pro. Extra credits are $40 per 1,000.
CertuAI, per 1,000 AI replies. The same division: $46.88 on Start, $24.00 on Pro and $24.90 on Max.
Put side by side, the two rows tell you this much and no more: if every one of your answers used exactly one credit, the Chatbase number would be your price per 1,000 answers. If your model or your actions use more than one credit per answer, it is higher. Check the credit cost of the model you plan to use before you compare.
At low volume Chatbase costs less. A business that needs a few hundred answers a month pays $40 on Hobby, or nothing on Free, against $75 on CertuAI Start.
When Chatbase is the better choice
- You want to start free. Chatbase has a free plan with 50 message credits a month. CertuAI has 7 free days and then only paid plans.
- Your customers are on your website. Chatbase is built to put an agent on a site, and also on Meta apps and Slack. CertuAI is built around WhatsApp.
- You need it to work with your other tools. Its plan table lists Stripe, Zendesk, Salesforce, Intercom, HubSpot, Shopify, Zapier, Slack and more, plus API access, depending on the plan. CertuAI's pricing page lists none of those.
- You want to choose the AI model. Its plan table lists models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and others on paid plans.
- You are a larger company. The Enterprise plan lists single sign-on, audit logs, custom roles and service level agreements, and its site states SOC 2 Type II.
- You need little. At $40 a month, Hobby costs less than CertuAI Start at $75.
When CertuAI fits better
- WhatsApp is where your customers write. CertuAI includes WhatsApp in every plan, from the 7 free days. On Chatbase, WhatsApp is ticked from the Hobby plan.
- You want to count replies, not credits. Start covers 1,600 AI replies a month whatever the question, and the plan page says so in replies.
- You have a small team. CertuAI Start includes 5 people and Pro 10. Chatbase Hobby includes 2 members and Standard 3.
- You want the CRM in the same price. Every CertuAI plan includes one, and each chat becomes a contact in it.
Where CertuAI falls short
- No free plan. After the 7 days you choose a paid plan, and the lowest one is $75 a month.
- No public review ratings. CertuAI has no rating on a review site to show you. You have to judge it by trying it.
- A monthly reply limit. Start covers 1,600 AI replies a month. A busy number needs Pro or Max.
- WhatsApp first. CertuAI is built around WhatsApp, with Instagram and Messenger next to it. Its pricing page lists no connection to help desks or sales tools such as Zendesk, Salesforce or HubSpot.
- US dollars only. Prices are in US dollars, so check that your card accepts dollar payments.
5 alternatives to Chatbase, one by one
CertuAI is first because CertuAI makes this page. The others are in no ranked order. Each has facts read on that company's own page, with the address.
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1. CertuAI
An AI agent that answers your customers on WhatsApp by itself, for owners of small businesses. Start $75 a month (1,600 AI replies, 1 WhatsApp number, 5 people), Pro $120 a month (5,000 AI replies, 3 WhatsApp numbers, 10 people) and Max $249 a month (10,000 AI replies, 3 WhatsApp numbers, 25 people). A CRM is included in every plan, and Instagram and Messenger messages are answered on every paid plan. 7 days free, no card, counted from when your WhatsApp connects. The price follows the number of AI replies a month, not the number of seats. See CertuAI plans and prices.
CertuAI makes this page. Source: certuai.com/pricing, checked on 10 October 2026.
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2. Botpress
A builder for AI agents, priced by conversation. The Free plan has 100 conversations with no top-ups. Plus is $150 a month billed annually with 250 conversations a month, and extra packs of 100 conversations cost $65. Its page says Plus includes WhatsApp.
Source: botpress.com/pricing, checked on 10 October 2026.
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3. Tidio
Live chat for websites with an AI agent called Lyro. It has a free plan with 50 billable conversations a month, and its plan table ticks the WhatsApp integration on every plan. Lyro is sold by AI conversation: from $32.50 a month for 50 with the annual switch on.
Source: tidio.com/pricing, checked on 10 October 2026.
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4. Intercom
A help desk with an AI agent called Fin. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome on every plan, charged at most once per conversation, and the page says you pay nothing when Fin cannot answer. The help desk itself is priced per seat a month, on top of that.
Source: intercom.com/pricing, checked on 10 October 2026.
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5. Crisp
A shared inbox with a website chat widget, priced as a flat rate per workspace and not per conversation. It has a free plan with 2 seats. WhatsApp Business is part of the omnichannel inbox on the Essentials plan: $95 a month per workspace, with 10 seats and $25 of AI credits included, which Crisp describes as around 450 automated conversations.
Source: crisp.chat/en/pricing, checked on 10 October 2026.
How we checked
We opened each company's own page on 10 October 2026 and wrote down what it said, with the address. We did not use review sites, sales calls or older lists. We did not convert any currency: $ always means US dollars, and a price in euros stays in euros.
Some pages open on yearly billing and some on monthly billing. Each price above says which one it is. Where a page shows different prices in different countries, we say so and quote the standard list.
Prices change. If you are reading this months from now, open the addresses below before you decide anything.
Questions people ask
How much does Chatbase cost?
On 10 October 2026 its pricing page listed a Free plan with 50 message credits a month, Hobby at $40 a month with 700 credits, Standard at $150 with 4,000 credits and Pro at $500 with 15,000 credits, on monthly billing. Yearly plans are 20% off. Extra credits cost $40 per 1,000.
Does Chatbase work with WhatsApp?
Yes, on paid plans. In its plan table the WhatsApp row has an X under the Free plan and a tick from Hobby, at $40 a month. Its guide says the connected number can only be used by the AI agent, and cannot also be used in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app.
Is one Chatbase message credit one answer?
Not always. Its pricing page says each request to the AI model costs a number of message credits that depends on the model you choose, and that an agent using an action can make two requests for one answer. So 700 credits can be fewer than 700 answers.
Is there a free alternative to Chatbase?
Chatbase itself has a free plan. Among the alternatives on this page, Botpress, Tidio and Crisp publish a free plan too. CertuAI does not: it has 7 days free with no card, and then you choose a paid plan.
Which Chatbase alternative is built for WhatsApp?
CertuAI is built around WhatsApp: every plan includes at least one WhatsApp number, and Start costs $75 a month with 1,600 AI replies. Crisp includes WhatsApp Business from its $95 plan, and Tidio's plan table ticks WhatsApp on every plan.
Who wrote this comparison, and is it paid?
CertuAI wrote it, and CertuAI is one of the options on the page, listed first for that reason. Nobody paid to be included and no link here earns a commission. Every fact about another company comes from that company's own page, with the address shown, and was checked on 10 October 2026.
Want to see it answer before you choose? Build your agent and watch it answer with your own business information. 7 days free, no card, counted from when your WhatsApp connects. Plans from $75 a month.
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