A successful business stands on the shoulders of top-notch customer service.
Today, AI-powered chatbots become the innovative solution to build and sustain a stellar support service. These tools can operate around the clock, promptly address customer queries, and converse in a human-like manner.
With chatbot platforms, it’s now easy for startups and small businesses to build and customize chatbots. No need to be a pro developer—these platforms can create ready-to-deploy website chatbots with just a few clicks.
Discover the best chatbot platforms that stood out in our comparison trials, many of which are free and well-suited for small businesses.
The Benefits Of Using An AI Chatbot Platform
An AI chatbot platform uses artificial intelligence to build and deploy chatbots without coding. These chatbots can improve how you interact with your customers, improving customer experiences and business growth.
Chatbot platforms can provide your business with the following:
Instant Automated Support to Customer Concerns: AI Chatbots are trained using company files and data to provide business-related information for customer questions. According to IBM, chatbots respond to around 80% of customer questions. This means most customers get instant answers, avoiding long wait times and frustration.
Scalable tech solution: Startups and SMEs must engage and support as many customers as possible to grab their loyalty. By adopting AI chatbots, SMEs can handle multiple customer concerns simultaneously with consistent quality and speed
Conversational support service: According to the Harvard Business Review, bots engaging in human-like speech enhance customer experience, and position your business as an approachable and reliable brand.
The 8 Best AI Chatbot Platforms
| Name | Unique Feature | Free Plan | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickCEP | Quick no-code AI chatbot creator for Shopify E-commerce stores | ✅ | Free: $0/mo Starter: $49/mo Growth: $99/mo Enterprise: custom pricing |
| ManyChat | Rule-based chatbot builder for Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS. | ✅ | Free: $0/mo Pro: $15/mo Premium: custom pricing |
| MobileMonkey | Automated sales outreach tool supporting targeted advertising, customer segmentation, and social media support. | 7-day free trial | Starter: $199/mo Pro: $399/mo Advanced: $799/mo |
| Drift | Automated message templates and A/B testing capability | No free plans | Premium: $2500/mo Advanced/Enterprise: custom pricing |
| Aivo | Hyper-realistic AI video virtual assistant | 30-day free trial | Pricing available upon inquiry |
| Octane AI | Creates Shopify quizzes for personalized product recommendations | 14-day free trial | Octane: $50/mo Octane Plus: $200/mo Enterprise: custom pricing |
| SnatchBot | Omnichannel NLP chatbots | No free plans | Starter: $99/mo Team: $199/mo Business: $499/mo Enterprise: custom pricing |
| Chatfuel | Intuitive bot builder using message flows or blocks | No free plans | Business: $14.99/mo (FB/IG) or $29.49/mo (WhatsApp) Enterprise: $300/mo |
QuickCEP
QuickCEP collaborates with businesses to improve customer service, boost sales, and gain valuable customer insights with its robust features.
QuickCEP helps startups, SMEs, and Shopify businesses train AI chatbots for sales and customer service. QuickCEP’s no-code chatbots respond to questions 24/7, provide personalized recommendations, track real-time order status, and extract customer insights.
Key Features
Our platform supports businesses through multichannel support that integrates channels like social media and no-code, AI-powered chatbots that engage with customers to address their needs. You may even modify the chatbots according to your branding. Whether it’s about product recommendation, product information, order status, and returns & exchanges, QuickCEP revolutionizes customer interactions.
Key features:
Effortless no-code installation and data analytics.
Seamless Shopify and other e-commerce integrations.
Over 20 customizable chatbot templates.
Supports 20+ languages with real-time translation.
Enables instant real-time logistics tracking.
Smart interaction with Natural Language Processing (NLP).
Marketing automation is another feature QuickCEP offers to e-commerce businesses. Using our propriety AI Email Copilot, draft emails in a heartbeat, sort them out in categories, and learn customers’ email habits and preferences. The AI Copilot adapts your email interactions, boost your efficiency, and further personalize your customer’s experience with your brand.
Access customer insights and data from your dashboard to help you create and segment customer profiles based on your parameters. Automated analytics also displays customer reports and consumer behavior.
Pricing
QuickCEP offers a free plan. For SMEs and startups, the Starter ($49/mo) or Growth plan ($99/mo) is great with its larger conversation limits. Large businesses can opt for the Enterprise plan (custom pricing).
ManyChat
ManyChat creates automated rule-based chatbots for Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS communication.
Make customized chatbots for marketing campaigns, lead generation, and customer support using its intuitive drag-and-drop chat builder.
Pros
Supports Zapier, HubSpot, and MailChimp integration.
Offline SMS automated support. Bots can provide updates and share coupons and promos via text messages.
35+ chatbot templates are available.
Cons
Basic insights and analytics only. No comprehensive reports about customer pain points.
Built-in AI supports chat flow building only.
A chatbot can support one account only.
Pricing
ManyChat has a free plan that supports up to 1000 contacts. To activate SMS and Email bot communication, businesses must opt for paid plans such as pro plan ($15/mo) and the premium plan (custom pricing).
MobileMonkey (Customer.ai)
MobileMonkey started as a chat automation tool for B2C business growth. Eventually, it expanded to sales outreach automation. MobileMonkey’s bots can automate marketing and customer care workflows including targeted ad campaigns and email and social media support.
Pros
Segment customers based on page intent, device type, and visit history.
AI-driven email marketing that validates the recipients’ addresses and assists in drafting emails.
Automate replies to social media DMs.
Cons
Automated messages might feel spammy for customers.
Navigating the interface is a bit challenging.
AI cannot automatically create chatbots.
Pricing:
MobileMonkey offers a 7-day free trial. Paid plans include Starter ($199/mo), Pro ($399/mp), and Advanced plans ($799/mo).
Drift
Drift’s conversational chatbots engage customers, answer their queries, and convert conversations into qualified leads. The bot automatically manages your sales team’s meetings to boost revenues.
Pros
Automated message templates are available.
Easy integration with CRM tools, including Salesforce, HubSpot, or Databox.
Built-in A/B testing capability. Test various workflows and see what works.
Cons
Customizing bot tone and style is unavailable.
Reports are quite confusing.
Tedious bot creation. Chatbot building is a manual “drag-and-drop” process.
Pricing
Drift offers a premium plan ($2500/mo). The advanced and enterprise plans’ prices are available upon inquiry.
Aivo
Aivo’s Agentbot leverages AI to interact with customers by responding to their questions or routing them to live agents. Aivo is a Meta business partner, ensuring seamless conversations across Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Pros
No-code bot building. Write questions and responses to train AI.
Use a hyper-realistic AI video virtual agent to engage customers.
Check customer insights using easy-to-understand charts.
Cons
Non-transparent pricing.
Requires a high learning curve to properly use.
Limited integration options.
Pricing
Aivo offers a 30-day free trial. Paid plans’ pricing is available upon inquiry.
Octane AI
Octane AI creates Shopify quizzes to collect customers’ insights, and preferences. Utilize quiz data to boost your marketing campaigns through personalized product recommendations.
Pros
Octane AI scans your site and provides revenue-generating strategies.
Customize quiz questions and branching paths of your liking.
AI analyzes results in the background. Then guides customers to their preferred products.
Cons
The platform creates quizzes only. Not applicable for customer care.
AI cannot create quizzes on its own.
Custom flows are unavailable.
Pricing
Octane offers the following plans: Octane ($50/mo), Octane Plus ($200/mo), and Enterprise.
SnatchBot
This chatbot platform develops multi-channel bots that engage customers in human-like conversations. Create chatbots using templates or build a customized one supporting a simple, multiple-choice, or complex setup.
Pros
Choose industry-specific templates from the marketplace.
NLP-driven sentiment analysis.
Supports AI+human customer support with seamless agent handover.
Cons
Confusing analytics dashboard.
Templates can be difficult to customize.
High initial learning curve for staff.
Pricing
SnatchBot offers the following plans: Starter ($99/mo), Team ($199/mo), Business, ($499/mo), and Enterprise (custom pricing).
Chatfuel
Chatfuel uses pre-programmed rules to create chatbots for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Create a chatbot using its intuitive flow builder or through message blocks, and let machine learning enable the bot to answer customer questions.
Pros
Get a verified green badge in WhatsApp when using Chatfuel.
Customizable templates are available.
Supports integration with other CRM tools, including Shopify.
Cons
AI doesn’t create bots automatically.
Cannot create knowledge bases for customers.
Limited customer analytics report.
Pricing
Chatfuel offers the following plans: Business ($14.99/mo for FB and IG,$29.49/mo for WhatsApp) and Enterprise ($300/mo).
Does Your Business Need AI Chatbots? Here’s What You Need To Consider
Follow our four-step guide below to assess if your business needs AI chatbots:
Identify your business needs first
Determine existing problems that you must address immediately such as limited support operating hours, low resolution rate, long wait times, and high volume of customer tickets.
Allocate your budget
Check your budget and consider the cost of chatbots. There are many free chatbots on the market like QuickCEP, but some have limited features. Prepare to spend hundreds of dollars monthly to get a fully functional AI chatbot.
Compare your options
Determine chatbot platforms you can afford and compare their functionalities and features. Review their features, integrations, and analytics capability and see if they fit your business needs.
Choose the chatbot that will help you grow your business
Select the AI chatbot that you deem will drastically impact your business growth. Consider as well the ease of implementation and upkeep requirements of the chatbot to ensure its seamless adoption to your business.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How long does it take to build a chatbot?
With an AI chatbot platform like QuickCEP, it takes minutes to build a chatbot. This no-code chatbot builder can rapidly train chatbots using company URLs and files.
Are there any free chatbots?
Yes, there are chatbot platforms that offer free plans. However, most free chatbots can support only 100-150 messages per month, which isn’t enough to support a growing small business.
What’s the best free chatbot?
QuickCEP is the best free chatbot for SMEs, startups, and Shopify stores. Its free plan can help your business automate basic customer support tasks 24/7.
