Best AI Chatbots for Websites of 2026
AI chat widgets you can add to any website, ranked on what 500 AI conversations a month really costs, how they learn your content and how they hand off to a person.
By , research by the BestBots team ยท Updated Oct 19, 2026
Fact checked against each company's published pricing, documentation and verified user ratings. How we score
Tidio is the best AI chatbot for most business websites: one widget does live chat and AI answers, there is a free plan, its Lyro AI agent is priced in clear tiers from $39 for 50 conversations, and it has 4.6 on G2 from 1,968 reviews. If you would rather pay only for chats the AI actually solves, Intercom's Fin at $0.99 per outcome is the better model.
Our top picks
We compared eight AI chatbots you can add to any website, using their pricing pages, docs and review listings as of October 2026. Every price links to its source, and scores follow our rubric.
How to choose
Start with the billing unit. It decides your bill more than the plan price.
- Per conversation (Tidio Lyro, Botpress): every chat the AI touches counts, solved or not. Predictable, but you pay for traffic.
- Per resolution or outcome (Intercom Fin, Zendesk, HubSpot, ChatBot.com): you pay only when the AI solves the chat. Better value when much of your traffic gets handed off.
- Message credits (Chatbase): each AI reply costs 1 to 5 credits by model. Cheap on small models, expensive if you pick the top model.
- Token credits (Crisp): a dollar allowance spent on tokens; Crisp estimates $0.05 to $0.10 per conversation.
Then check four things:
- What it learns from. Your website, help center, PDFs and past conversations. Confirm it can be limited to your sources.
- Handoff. When the AI is unsure, can it pass the chat to a person in the same widget with context? Every pick here can.
- Where it runs. Website only, or also WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger from the same inbox.
- Your platform. For WordPress and Shopify specifics, see best AI chatbot for WordPress and best AI chatbot for Shopify.
Our picks, in detail
- Starting price
- $29 per month
- Price per resolution
- Not per resolution: $0.70 to $0.78 per Lyro conversation on monthly tiers
- Free plan
- Yes
- Human handoff
- Yes, rule based handoff and ticket creation
Tidio combines live chat, the Lyro AI agent and no code Flows in one widget, with a free plan of 50 conversations a month and 10 seats. Lyro is sold in clear monthly tiers from $39 for 50 conversations to $700 for 1,000, and Tidio has the strongest review record here: 4.6 on G2 from 1,968 reviews.
Pros
- Free plan and a 7 day trial with no credit card
- Lyro learns from your site and FAQs; setup described as minutes
- 4.8 on the Shopify App Store from 1,357 reviews and 4.6 on G2 from 1,968
- Lyro can also plug into Zendesk, Intercom or Salesforce
Cons
- Billed per Lyro conversation, not per resolution, so failed answers still count
- Prices scale with conversation tiers on two meters, human and AI
- Premium's resolution guarantee is quote only
- Language count is not published on the Lyro page
Skip it if you expect thousands of AI conversations a month; at $0.70 per Lyro conversation it costs more than per resolution tools that only bill solved chats.
- Starting price
- $40 per month
- Price per resolution
- Not published; billed by message credits ($40 per 1,000 extra)
- Free plan
- No
- Human handoff
- Yes, built in helpdesk shared by AI and humans
Chatbase builds an agent from your website, files and documents, and the $40 Hobby plan includes 700 message credits, where one reply on a basic model costs 1 credit. It works on your site, WhatsApp, Slack and Meta apps, and Standard at $150 adds a helpdesk inbox shared by the AI and your team.
Pros
- Train on docs and sites without code
- Multiple model choices, per its site
- SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA listed; does not train on customer data
- 4.8 on G2 from 46 reviews
Cons
- Credit use varies from 1 to 5 per request by model and multiplies when actions run
- One agent per plan, $300 per year for each extra
- Removing Chatbase branding costs $1,188 per year
- Voice and the helpdesk inbox are not on Hobby
Skip it if you want a free plan; Chatbase has a 7 day trial, and removing branding costs $1,188 a year.
- Starting price
- $0.99 per outcome
- Price per resolution
- $0.99 per outcome
- Free plan
- No
- Human handoff
- Yes, and a handoff to a human is not billed as a resolution
Intercom's Fin charges $0.99 per outcome, and a handoff to a human is not billed as one, so you pay for results rather than traffic. Fin runs standalone on another helpdesk with no seat fees and a 50 outcome monthly minimum, answers in 60+ languages, and holds 4.5 on G2 from 3,925 reviews.
Pros
- Billed per outcome at $0.99, and requests for a human are not charged
- Runs standalone on Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshworks, Front, Zoho, Gorgias and others with no seat fees
- 14 day trial with unlimited outcomes and no credit card
- Largest review base in this list: 4.5 on G2 from 3,925 reviews
Cons
- Assumed resolutions count: a customer who leaves without replying after Fin answers is billed
- Monthly seat prices are $10 to $14 higher than annual
- Voice costs double at $1.99 per outcome and is sold through sales
- Qualification outcomes cost $9.99 each
Skip it if your site gets few chats; inside Intercom you also pay $39 to $139 per seat a month.
- Starting price
- $45 per month
- Price per resolution
- None; bundled credits, Crisp estimates $0.05 to $0.10 per AI handled conversation
- Free plan
- Yes
- Human handoff
- Yes, routes to operators when unsure or when credits run out
Crisp's $95 Essentials plan includes 10 seats and $25 of AI credits, which Crisp estimates covers around 450 automated conversations, roughly $0.05 to $0.10 each. Its free plan gives 2 seats of live chat, and AI translation covers 50+ languages.
Pros
- Flat workspace price with 4 to 20 seats included
- Free plan and 14 day trial with no card
- AI credits bundled; Crisp estimates $0.05 to $0.10 per AI conversation
- Choice of OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Mistral or Crisp hosted models, with EU processing options
- 4.5 on G2 from 205 reviews
Cons
- Credit to conversation ratio is an estimate, not a contract rate
- Tool connected AI agent, ticketing and 100+ integrations only on the $295 Plus plan
- Trustpilot score is 2.0 from 55 reviews, 70% one star, citing support delays and account suspensions
- Hugo stops answering when credits run out unless pay as you go is on
Skip it if you want AI on the free plan; the Free tier has no AI credits, and the tool connected AI agent starts on the $295 Plus plan.
- Starting price
- $150 per month billed annually
- Price per resolution
- Not published
- Free plan
- Yes
- Human handoff
- HITL handoff to human agents
Botpress' free plan includes 100 conversations a month with AI usage, 3 agents and 3 seats, and its builder lets you design flows, call APIs and connect web chat, WhatsApp, Messenger, Slack and Teams. Plus is $150 a month on annual billing for 250 conversations, with $0.65 per extra conversation in packs of 100.
Pros
- Free tier with 100 conversations
- Unlimited agents on paid plans
- Per conversation rate drops to $0.50 on Team
- 4.5 on G2 from 514 reviews
Cons
- Paid plans shown only with annual billing
- Conversation packs auto add at 95% of quota and cannot be disabled
- You build and maintain the support logic
- Voice channel only on Enterprise
Skip it if you want a bot live in an afternoon; Botpress is a builder, and conversation packs auto add at 95% of quota with no off switch.
- Starting price
- $100 per seat per month
- Price per resolution
- $0.50 (50 HubSpot credits); voice $0.50 per minute
- Free plan
- No
- Human handoff
- Yes, with full context; not billed if handed to a human within 72 hours
HubSpot's Customer Agent answers chats from your knowledge base, website and CRM data, and bills 50 credits ($0.50) per resolved conversation, with a conversation handed to a human within 72 hours not billed. Service Hub Professional at $100 per seat includes 3,000 credits a month, about 60 resolutions.
Pros
- $0.50 per resolution is among the lowest published rates in the category
- Reads CRM records, past conversations and files, so answers use customer context
- Covers chat, email, forms, WhatsApp, Messenger and inbound voice in all HubSpot languages
- Third party AI providers are contractually barred from training on your data; SOC 2 Type 2
Cons
- Needs Service Hub Professional or Enterprise, not available on Starter
- $1,500 to $3,500 one time onboarding fee
- Credits are shared with other HubSpot AI features and do not roll over
- Pricing page and product catalog show different seat figures, so confirm your quote
Skip it if you are not on HubSpot; Professional also carries a one time $1,500 onboarding fee.
- Starting price
- $25 per user per month
- Price per resolution
- $0.99
- Free plan
- No
- Human handoff
- Yes, into built in live chat
ChatBot.com's Essential plan is $25 per user a month with 10 AI resolutions, and Growth is $99 with 200, then $0.99 per extra resolution. It hands off into LiveChat's built in live chat and also runs on WhatsApp, Messenger and Shopify.
Pros
- $0.99 per resolution, only when the AI solves the question
- Live chat, inbox and ticketing included
- 14 day trial without a card
Cons
- Only 10 resolutions included on Essential
- Per user pricing adds up for larger teams
- 28 G2 reviews, a thin rating base
Skip it if several people answer chats; pricing is per user.
- Starting price
- $25 per agent per month
- Price per resolution
- $1.50 committed, $2.00 pay as you go
- Free plan
- No
- Human handoff
- Yes, routes to Zendesk agents with context
Zendesk's AI agents run inside Suite plans from $69 per agent a month, answer in 80 languages and route to Zendesk agents with context. Since May 2026, new accounts are only charged for LLM verified resolutions, at $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay as you go.
Pros
- AI agents included on every Suite plan, with a resolution allowance
- 80 languages, according to Zendesk
- Mature ticketing, QA and workforce add-ons in one platform
- A resolution is only billed if the request is never escalated to a human
Cons
- $2.00 pay as you go per resolution is about twice Fin's $0.99
- Seat fees run $25 to $149 per agent per month before AI usage
- Copilot for human agents is a separate $50 per agent add-on
- Resolution billing rules changed on May 18, 2026; older accounts stay on the previous platform until they move
Skip it if you are a small site; the included 5 resolutions per agent a month run out fast, and 500 AI chats can top $800.
What it costs
Here is the cheapest published setup for 500 AI conversations a month with one person covering handoffs, monthly billing unless noted.
| Tool | Billing unit | 500 AI conversations a month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crisp | Token credits | about $95 | Essentials covers around 450, then pay as you go |
| Chatbase | Message credits | about $150 | Standard, 4,000 credits; fits if chats average up to 8 replies on a 1 credit model |
| Tidio | Per Lyro conversation | $350 | Lyro 500 tier; add a Customer Service plan for human chats |
| Botpress | Per conversation | about $345 | Plus $150 (annual) plus 3 packs of 100 at $65 |
| HubSpot Customer Agent | Per resolution | about $320 plus $1,500 onboarding | $100 seat with 60 resolutions, then $0.50 each |
| ChatBot.com | Per resolution | $396 | Growth $99 for 200, then $0.99 |
| Intercom Fin | Per outcome | up to $495 | Standalone, only solved chats billed |
| Zendesk AI agents | Per resolution | about $812 | Suite Team $69 plus 495 at $1.50 committed ($1,059 pay as you go) |
Read this with one caveat: per resolution tools bill only solved chats. If the AI solves 60% of 500 chats, Intercom's bill is about $297, not $495. Per conversation tools bill all 500. Rates for every chatbot are tracked in the AI Price Index.
Website chatbot vs live chat vs contact form
A contact form costs nothing and asks visitors to wait for an email. Live chat answers in real time but only while someone is at the desk. An AI chatbot answers at 2 a.m., handles the repetitive questions (shipping, pricing, hours, how do I) and passes the rest to a person.
For a small site, the usual setup is AI first, with handoff to live chat in business hours and a captured email after hours. Tidio, Crisp and Chatbase all support that in one widget.
What to set up first
- Sources. Point it at your FAQ, pricing, policies and help docs. Remove outdated pages, because the bot will quote them.
- Guardrails. Tell it not to promise discounts, refunds or delivery dates it cannot verify.
- Handoff rules. Billing disputes, complaints and sales questions above a set value go to a person.
- Lead capture. Ask for an email before handoff after hours.
- Review loop. Read transcripts weekly for the first month and fix gaps in your content.
Red flags
- Auto top ups you cannot turn off. Botpress conversation packs add automatically at 95% of quota.
- Branding fees. Chatbase charges $1,188 a year to remove its branding; Tidio $16.67 a month on annual.
- Included resolutions that vanish. Zendesk's included resolutions expire annually and cap at 10,000 a year.
- Onboarding fees. HubSpot Service Hub Professional adds $1,500 one time.
- Choosing the biggest model by default. On Chatbase, a top model costs up to 5 credits per reply against 1 for a small model.
How we picked
We started from the chatbots small and mid sized businesses search for when adding AI chat to a website, kept those that publish pricing for an AI agent on a website widget, and recorded only what their pricing pages, docs and review listings say. We did not run the bots on a live site. Factors and weights are on how we score. For support desks and enterprise agents, see best AI chatbots for business.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI chatbot for a website?
Tidio is the best fit for most small business websites: live chat and an AI agent in one widget, a free plan, clear Lyro pricing from $39 for 50 conversations and 4.6 on G2 from 1,968 reviews. If you only want to pay for chats the AI solves, Intercom's Fin at $0.99 per outcome is the better model.
Is there a free AI chatbot for my website?
Yes, with limits. Botpress' free plan includes 100 AI conversations a month. Tidio's free plan covers 50 human chats a month and 50 lifetime Lyro AI conversations. On WordPress, the free AI Engine plugin runs a chatbot on your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key, so you pay only the model usage.
How do I add an AI chatbot to my website?
Sign up, point the tool at your website URL or help center so it can learn your content, set the tone and handoff rules, then paste a short script tag into your site's footer or install the vendor's plugin for WordPress, Shopify or Wix. Most tools let you test the bot before it goes live.
Can I train a chatbot on my own website content?
Yes. Chatbase, Tidio, Crisp, Intercom and Botpress all crawl your website and accept documents or PDFs. Chatbase caps training text at 10 MB to 40 MB per agent depending on plan.
How much does an AI chatbot for a website cost?
Entry plans with AI start around $25 to $45 a month (ChatBot.com $25 per user, Tidio Lyro $39, Chatbase $40, Crisp $45). At 500 AI conversations a month, expect roughly $95 to $500 on small business tools and more on enterprise helpdesks.
What is the difference between a website chatbot and live chat?
Live chat connects visitors to a person on your team. An AI chatbot answers on its own from your content and hands off to a person when needed. Most tools here, including Tidio, Crisp and Chatbase, do both in one widget.
Will an AI chatbot give wrong answers on my site?
It can, especially when your content is thin or contradicts itself. Limit it to your own sources, write clear handoff rules for pricing, refunds and legal questions, and review transcripts for the first few weeks.
Which website chatbot works best with WordPress?
Tidio's WordPress plugin has 70,000+ active installs and 4.8 stars from 395 ratings, and the AI Engine plugin has 90,000+ installs and 4.9 from 871 ratings. Our WordPress guide compares them in detail.