Botpress vs Chatbase Comparison 2026
Botpress is a visual builder over a real runtime, built for developers who need an agent that does something rather than only answers FAQs, with your own code where the flow ends and deployment to a site, WhatsApp or Discord. Chatbase trains a chat widget on your own pages and documents and answers only from that, aimed at anybody with a support page and no engineering time to spend. The price gap tracks the difference: Botpress starts at $150 a month billed annually, Chatbase at $32, and each meters usage differently too, conversation packs against message credits.
At a glance
- Chatbase starts cheaper, at $32.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Botpress | Chatbase | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $150 | From $32 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial (they differ) | None | 7 days |
| API |
Botpress
Build an agent, pay by the conversation
Botpress is the developer end of the chatbot market: a visual builder over a real runtime, with your own code where the flow is not enough, and deployment to a site, WhatsApp or a Discord server. Pricing is a small platform fee plus conversation packs, so a bot nobody talks to costs almost nothing. It expects more of whoever sets it up than the tools sold to marketers do.
Our note
This is the most capable and the least friendly option in this category, and both halves are true. Pick it when the bot needs to reach into your own systems, and pick something else when the job is answering the same five questions on Instagram.
Only on this side
- Works with Instagram
- Works with Discord
- Works with WhatsApp
Chatbase
A support agent trained on your own pages
Chatbase builds a chat agent from your site, your documents and your help centre, then puts it on the page as a widget. Answers come from what you fed it rather than from the open web, which is the whole reason to use one of these rather than a general assistant. It also hands off to a person when the agent is out of its depth.
Why people weigh these two
- Chatbase instead of Botpress
- An agent trained on your own pages from $32; a faster route to a support bot than building flows and code on Botpress's runtime.
- Botpress instead of Chatbase
- Botpress builds the same kind of AI agent with more control, free to start and paid from $150 by the conversation, for teams that outgrow a trained widget.
Which one should you pick
Buy Botpress if the bot has to reach into your own systems: custom code sits inside the builder itself, and it deploys to a site, WhatsApp and Discord from one agent. Plus is $150 a month billed annually with $25 of AI usage included and conversation packs at $65 per hundred, real money for a bot that gets used, closer to free for one that mostly sits idle.
Buy Chatbase if the questions are already answered somewhere in writing, your docs, your help centre, your site, and you want a widget rather than a build. It starts at $32 a month for 700 message credits, with a free plan offering 50 credits a month before that, though agents on the free plan are deleted after 14 days of inactivity. It hands off to a person when it is out of its depth rather than guessing.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper to start?
- Chatbase, by a wide margin: $32 a month for 700 message credits, against Botpress Plus at $150 a month billed annually. Both also have a free starting tier before that.
- Which one can run custom code, not just answer from documents?
- Botpress. Custom logic sits inside its builder for whatever the flow cannot handle alone. Chatbase answers only from what you feed it: your site, documents and help centre.
- Can either one hand a conversation to a human?
- Chatbase does, escalating when the agent is out of its depth. Botpress's listing does not describe a handover feature; its strength is deploying a self-contained agent to a site, WhatsApp or Discord.
- How does each one charge for usage?
- Botpress sells a small platform fee plus conversation packs, $65 per hundred on Plus, with $25 of AI usage included monthly. Chatbase sells message credits directly, 700 a month on Hobby at $32, consumed per message.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.