So, how much does a chatbot cost?

The answer depends on the path you take.

Some teams start lean with DIY tools that cost just a few dollars a month. Others invest in custom builds that dig deep into their systems. And for global companies, enterprise AI chatbots deliver scale, compliance, and reliability—but at a much higher price tag.

This guide strips it down to real numbers.

You’ll see exactly what chatbots cost in 2025 across every approach—from $0 DIY tools to six-figure enterprise builds—and how to tell which option makes sense for your business.

TL;DR – How Much Does a Chatbot Cost in 2025?

• DIY chatbots: Start at $0/month with limited features, and scale up to $15–$70/month or $199–$499 for lifetime access. Ideal for lean teams, fast setup, and plug-and-play integrations across websites, social platforms, and ecommerce.

• Pay-as-you-go chatbots: Pricing is tied to usage—typically $0.99 per resolution. Best if you want to pay only when the bot works. Great for experimentation, but costs can stack fast with high volume.

• Outsourced chatbot builds: Expect to pay $2,000–$10,000 for basic bots, $10,000–$50,000 for mid-tier setups, and up to $150,000+ for high-end, enterprise-grade custom builds.

• Enterprise platforms: Pricing typically starts around $3,000–$6,000/month and can climb well past $15,000/month depending on scale, compliance, and integrations. At this level, you’re paying for deep customization, security, and the ability to handle millions of conversations reliably.

• In-house chatbot development: Hiring a developer costs $125K–$155K/year, plus infrastructure, hosting, and maintenance. Offers total control—but also full responsibility and higher upfront investment.

By the end of this post, you’ll know what you should pay, what you're really getting, and what path makes the most sense based on your size, goals, and budget.

Factors That Affect Chatbot Development Costs

Chatbots don’t come with a one-size-fits-all price tag.

The cost depends on a mix of factors—some obvious, some sneaky. The big drivers usually look like this:

• Development path: Whether you build it yourself, outsource, hire in-house, or go enterprise.

• Type of chatbot: Rule-based bots are generally cheaper, while AI-powered bots with natural language processing (NLP) or generative AI are pricier.

• Features: Things like CRM integrations, and omnichannel (WhatsApp, Instagram, website) support add to the bill.

• Complexity: A simple FAQ bot is dirt cheap. A bot that schedules appointments, processes refunds, and talks like a human? That’s a bigger investment.

• Ongoing costs: Hosting, AI tokens, support, and updates all add up over time.

In short: the upfront setup is just one piece of the puzzle—long-term costs and scalability are where most businesses see the real differences.

So let’s break down the actual options—starting with the cheapest and moving up.

DIY Chatbots

These are the no-code tools you can launch in minutes.

Think SiteChatify, Tidio, Landbot, ManyChat. Quick to set up, easy to test, and friendly on the wallet.

What’s the real cost here?

SiteChatify (monthly • yearly • lifetime)

• Free: $0 — 1 AI agent, 100 messages/mo, 10 links.

• Hobby: $25/mo, $150/yr, $199 lifetime — 2 agents, 2,000 messages/mo, 200 links, premium support, integrations, lead notifications, watermark removed.

• Standard: $40/mo, $240/yr, 299 lifetime — 4 agents, 4,000 messages/mo, 500 links.

• Premium: $70/mo, $420/yr, $499 lifetime — 10 agents, 10,000 messages/mo, 1,200 links.

• Notes: fast setup, AI agents with actions (bookings, lead capture, tickets), chat history, future updates included.

Tidio

• Free plan to experiment; paid tiers start around $29/mo (Starter), $59/mo (Growth), with AI add-ons available. Great for live chat + AI blends.

Landbot

• Clean flow builder. Plans typically start around $39/mo after trial. Good for visual journeys and web widgets.

ManyChat

• Strong on social (IG, FB, WhatsApp). Free to start; Pro from ~$15/mo. Best for conversational marketing and DM automations.

What exactly do you get?

• Setup that’s ridiculously fast — you can launch in minutes.

• Pre-built flows & templates — FAQs, lead capture, cart recovery, booking.

• Plug-and-play integrations — Shopify, WordPress, HubSpot, Stripe, Calendly, etc.

• LLM brains baked in — solid natural-language understanding and multilingual out of the box.

The trade-offs

DIY tools are fantastic for simple and mid-tier use cases. Thanks to modern LLMs, they already handle multiple languages and understand natural questions far better than old rule-based bots.

Where friction shows up is when you need:

• Heavy customization (deep, bespoke backend integrations/workflows).

• Advanced compliance (HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR audits, DPAs).

• Very high traffic (tens of thousands of monthly conversations—usage fees and overages can stack).

So the ceiling is really: “Can it scale with my business needs without ballooning my costs?”

Enterprise Chatbots

If DIY tools are casual rides, enterprise chatbots are like corporate jets—built for scale, deep integrations, compliance, and serious uptime guarantees.

What do they cost?

• IBM watsonx Assistant (Enterprise): Starts at $6,000/month for deployments up to 50,000 users—a solid baseline for scale and compliance.

• Ada: Enterprise deployments typically begin around $4,000/month and can go up to $64,000/month depending on use cases and customizations.

• Yellow.ai: AWS-powered enterprise offerings range from approximately $10,000/year for simpler setups to $25,000/year for more comprehensive, multi-use-case solutions.

• Qualified.com: Custom-priced, enterprise marketing and sales chatbots—reach out to their sales team for quotes tailored to your needs and scale.

In short: Enterprise-level bots generally start in the $3,000–$10,000+/month range before going even higher based on features, integrations, and compliance needs.

What do you get for that investment?

• AI specifically trained on your business data — customized logic, personas, and behaviors.

• Serious compliance: SOC 2, ISO, HIPAA, GDPR — essential for regulated industries.

• Omnichannel coverage: web, mobile, voice, social, email—you name it.

• Rock-solid scalability: ready for thousands or even millions of conversations.

• White-glove support and SLAs—downtime simply isn’t an option.

The trade-off

Enterprise chatbots deliver unmatched power—but they come with steep costs.

For many SMBs, they’re overkill. But if you’re in healthcare, banking, or global retail—and you need scale, compliance, and guaranteed uptime—they’re often the only realistic choice.

In-House Developer

Some teams decide to skip SaaS tools and agencies and build their chatbot internally.

What’s the cost?

If you're hiring in the U.S., a single solid software developer—or even an AI-savvy engineer—typically earns:

• Base salary: around $125,000/year on average for general software engineers (indeed.com)

• For AI or ML-specialized engineers? Expect $120,000–$182,000/year (glassdoor.com )

That’s just base pay. Add on benefits, infrastructure, hosting, and tools, and you’re easily hitting six figures before the bot even launches.

What do you get for that money?

• Total control over design, data, and integrations

• No monthly SaaS fees—everything is yours

• Full flexibility to connect deeply into your own systems

The trade-offs

• It’s slow, expensive, and often needs a team (frontend, backend, AI engineers, project manager)

• You’re on the hook for bugs, updates, hosting, and future maintenance

• If your needs aren’t complex, this path can cost way more than it’s worth

Bottom line: Hiring someone in-house gives you full control—but you pay a high price even before shipping. For most small to mid-size businesses, it makes more sense to start with a DIY or outsourced solution and consider in-house only if you have unique, long-term needs.

Outsourcing

Want something custom without hiring your own team — or wrestling with DIY? Outsourcing your chatbot to an agency sits right between SaaS and enterprise builds. You're paying for hands-on expertise, design, and a smoother rollout.

What does it cost?

Based on real-world examples (2025):

• Basic chatbots: If all you need is simple logic or a rule-based bot, agencies often start at around $2,000–$10,000 for one-off builds.

• Mid-tier bots: With integrations, smarter features, or workflows — expect $10,000–$50,000.

• High-end/custom projects: Think enterprise-ready, highly customized bots — costs can climb to $50,000–$150,000+.

What do you actually get?

• A chatbot built exactly for your business needs — from flow logic to integrations with your systems.

• Instant access to a (hopefully) proven team — UI, AI, backend, quality assurance — no hiring delays.

• Faster deployment than building from scratch.

• Ongoing support — but expect extra fees for maintenance or updates.

The trade-offs

• Agency quality varies. Some deliver brilliantly, some come with endless back-and-forths and scope creep.

• After launch, you're paying for support by the hour or contract — you still don’t own a full-time team.

Bottom Line: Outsourcing makes sense when you need more customization and polish than DIY tools, but you’re not ready for the fixed overhead of an in-house team or the scale (and price tag) of enterprise chatbots. Just note that many agencies charge a retainer for updates and support, so factor in potential ongoing costs.

Pay-as-you-go

If you’re not into flat subscriptions or full builds, pay-as-you-go gives you flexibility: you pay only when the bot actually delivers value.

What does it cost?

Here’s what actual platforms charge in 2025:

• Intercom’s Fin AI Agent: you’re billed $0.99 per resolved conversation—and you only pay once the bot resolves it successfully. Plus, there’s a 50-resolution/month minimum. (intercom.com)

• Freshdesk’s Freddy AI Agent (in the Omni suite): prices start at $100 for 1,000 sessions.

  It’s a usage-based pack model, meaning you prepay for a bundle of sessions (like credits), and each customer interaction handled by the AI counts against that bundle. Once the 1,000 sessions are used up, you’ll need to purchase another pack.

What do you actually get?

• A billing model that scales with performance: you pay only when the bot solves something

• Perfect for lean, flexible setups—no fixed fees required.

• Smart for seasonal spikes or testing — the bill bends, not breaks.

The trade-offs

• Volume adds up. Even a busy bot can cost hundreds or thousands per month.

• Setup, training, and integration are still on you—they’re not free.

• Ideal if you know your support volume and prefer a “pay only when working” style. For long-term, heavy usage, other models might be cheaper.

Bottom line: Pay-as-you-go is perfect for businesses that want AI power without big upfront commitments. It’s flexible, cost-efficient, and future-proof—but you’ll want guardrails in place so your “cheap” experiment doesn’t suddenly become a budget nightmare.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

So, now that we’ve walked through the different pricing models, let’s make this practical.

How do you actually figure out if a chatbot is worth it for your business? Here’s a simple step-by-step framework to help you do the math:

1. Identify the queries

Start by looking at your support inbox or chat logs. Which questions keep popping up? Password resets? Order tracking? Shipping updates? Basic troubleshooting?

Those are prime candidates for automation.

2. Estimate the % of queries a chatbot could handle

Not every question is bot-friendly (yet). But many are.

Estimate what portion of your support volume falls into the “simple and repetitive” bucket.

3. Estimate how much time agents spend on those repetitive queries

Let’s say you get 3,000 customer messages a month, and about 40% of them (1,200) are simple enough for a bot.

If your agents spend 4 minutes per response, that’s:

1,200 x 4 mins = 4,800 minutes = 80 hours/month spent on queries a bot could handle.

That’s basically two full workweeks—every single month.

4. Estimate the annual cost of handling those manually

Now let’s put a price on that time.

If your average agent (salary + benefits) costs $25/hour, that’s:

80 hours/month x $25 = $2,000/month = $24,000/year spent answering basic, repetitive questions.

5. Compare the costs

Now stack that $24,000 against what a chatbot would cost you.

Even a solid mid-tier chatbot at $200/month would run you just $2,400/year. That’s a 10x return, and you free your agents up for higher-value work.

Bottom line: The math usually surprises people. A chatbot often pays for itself in months—not years.

So, what’s the smartest move?

If you're just getting started—or you're a business that wants results without breaking the bank—DIY tools like SiteChatify are a no-brainer. They're fast, cheap, and surprisingly powerful.

If you’ve got more complex needs but aren’t ready to go full enterprise, outsourcing gives you that custom touch without hiring a full team.

Pay-as-you-go is perfect if you're experimenting or only want to pay when the bot actually works.

And if you're running a big operation where downtime isn’t an option, enterprise or in-house might be worth it—but know that you're playing in the deep end.

Bottom line: Start lean. Prove the value. Then scale.

You don’t need a $50,000 build to see results. In most cases, a smart setup under $100/month can already save you thousands—and hours of your team’s time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Chatbot AI Free or Paid?

Both.

Many DIY chatbot platforms offer free plans, but they come with limits—like capped messages, fewer integrations, or only one chatbot. Paid plans usually start as low as $15–$30/month and scale up depending on features, usage, and support.

For businesses, the real value kicks in once you move to paid tiers, since you get higher limits, integrations, and advanced AI features.

How much does it cost to own a bot?

“Owning” a bot depends on the path you take:

• DIY chatbot software: $0–$70/month (or $199–$499 lifetime plans).

• Outsourcing to an agency: One-time build fees range from $2,000–$50,000+, with optional support retainers.

• Enterprise chatbots: $3,000–$15,000+/month, depending on compliance, scale, and integrations.

• In-house development: $125K–$155K/year per developer, plus hosting and maintenance.

So ownership can be nearly free if you go DIY—or six figures annually if you build and maintain in-house.

How much does it cost to build a chatbot?

If you’re talking about a custom build (not just signing up for SaaS), outsourcing agencies typically charge:

• $2,000–$10,000 for simple rule-based bots

• $10,000–$50,000 for mid-tier bots with integrations and smarter features

• $50,000–$150,000+ for enterprise-grade, highly customized solutions

If you try building in-house, just one developer’s salary is $125K+/year in the U.S., and you’ll often need more than one person.