Every chatbot demo looks brilliant. It answers the easy question, cracks a polite joke and books a fake meeting with a fake customer. Then it goes live on your site and tells a real buyer your return policy is "a great question."
The gap between those two moments is the provider. Some companies build the bot for you, train it on your content and keep tuning it. Others hand you a platform and a help center and wish you luck. Both can work. Picking the wrong one for your team is how chatbots end up switched off three months later.
We judged every provider on five things:
- Your contentDoes it answer from your own content?
- Leads and handoffDoes it qualify leads and hand off cleanly?
- Setup effortHow much lands on your plate?
- Who runs itWho looks after it once it is live?
- PricingHow does the pricing work?
Full disclosure: Sash Digital publishes this list, and Habix Corp is our build partner. We ranked on the criteria above, and we say plainly who each option is wrong for, us included.
Quick Comparison
Filter by model to see who builds the bot for you and who hands you the tools.
| Provider | Type | Best for | Who runs it after launch | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sash Digital#1 | Done for you Build plus growth | Lean teams that want the bot to bring in qualified leads | Sash, alongside your marketing | Fixed scope build, quoted per project |
| Habix Corp#2 | Done for you Build | Businesses that want a custom bot on a new or existing website | Habix, with post launch support | Written quote per project |
| Intercom (Fin)#3 | Platform | Support teams with high ticket volume | Your support team | From $0.99 per Fin outcome; help desk seats from $29 a month |
| Tidio#4 | Platform | Small online stores starting out | You | Paid plans from $24.17 a month, Lyro AI from $32.50 a month |
| Botpress#5 | Platform Build it yourself | Teams with a developer who wants full control | Your developer | Plus from $150 a month billed annually |
Which Provider Fits Your Team?
Answer three questions. The match comes straight from the "best for" and "not for you if" notes in this guide.
1. Sash Digital
Done for you build plus growth
Best for: founders and lean teams who want a chatbot that answers customers, qualifies leads and books sales calls, with the same team running the traffic that feeds it.
Most chatbot providers stop at the bot. Sash builds it and then points it at your funnel. The bot is trained on your own content, policies and product details, so it answers from what is actually true about your business instead of guessing. When a visitor looks like a real buyer, it asks the qualifying questions, books them into your calendar and passes the conversation to a person with the full transcript attached.
The build is a fixed scope project, so you know what you are getting and what it costs before anything starts. It also plugs into a marketing retainer, which is the part most providers cannot offer. The people tuning the bot are the same people running your ads, SEO and landing pages, so when a campaign starts sending a new kind of visitor, the bot gets updated for them in the same week.
When you outgrow answering questions and want the bot to take actions, like updating your CRM or flagging orders, Sash builds AI agents on the same foundation.
- What you getA bot grounded in your content, lead qualification, calendar booking, human handoff with transcripts, and ongoing tuning.
- IntegrationsCRMs, help desks, Slack, email and anything else with an API.
- PricingFixed scope build, quoted after a scoping call. A bot that answers from your existing content is a smaller build than one wired into CRM, billing and help desk systems.
- Not for you ifYou want a free widget you can switch on this afternoon. A platform like Tidio will suit you better.
2. Habix Corp
Done for you build
Best for: businesses that want a custom chatbot built into their website, ideally alongside a new site or redesign.
Habix is a web studio that builds conversational assistants for websites and has a live demo on its own site you can try before talking to anyone. Its strength is the craft side: the bot is designed and built to fit the site it lives on rather than dropped in as a generic widget. Clients work directly with the founder and the builders, get written quotes, and own the code and design at launch.
Habix also builds and manages websites, which makes it a strong pick if your site needs work too. It is our build partner, and it built the site you are reading this on.
- What you getA custom built website chatbot, design to match your site, code ownership and post launch support.
- PricingWritten quote per project.
- Not for you ifYou also need someone running ads and SEO to fill the bot with visitors. Habix focuses on the build.
Tell us what the bot should do. We'll scope it, quote it, and show you how it plugs into your funnel.
3. Intercom (Fin)
Platform
Best for: support teams handling a high volume of tickets who want an AI agent that resolves common questions on its own.
Fin is Intercom's AI agent. It answers customers from your help content and hands off to your team when it cannot resolve something. You pay per outcome rather than per seat, which keeps the cost tied to results. Fin can run on Intercom's own help desk or alongside other help desks, including Salesforce.
- PricingFrom $0.99 per Fin outcome, according to Intercom's pricing page. Intercom help desk seats start at $29 per seat per month if you want the full platform.
- Not for you ifYour main goal is sales and lead generation rather than support, or your volume is low enough that a support platform is overkill.
4. Tidio
Platform
Best for: small online stores that want live chat and a basic AI assistant without a big upfront cost.
Tidio combines live chat, automated flows and an AI agent called Lyro in one dashboard. It is quick to set up, has a free plan, and offers native Shopify actions on its Growth plan and above. The trade off is that you do the setup and upkeep yourself.
- PricingFree plan with 50 conversations a month. Paid plans start at $24.17 a month, and the Lyro AI agent is an add on from $32.50 a month, per Tidio's pricing page.
- Not for you ifYou want a bot built around a custom sales process, or you do not have time to train and maintain it.
5. Botpress
Build it yourself platform
Best for: teams with a developer who want to build their own AI agent and control every detail.
Botpress gives you a visual builder called Botpress Studio for designing AI agents, with deployment to web chat, WhatsApp and Slack. It is flexible and powerful, which is exactly why it needs someone technical to get the most out of it.
- PricingFree tier with 100 conversations. Plus costs $150 a month billed annually, and Team costs $750 a month billed annually, per Botpress's pricing page.
- Not for you ifNobody on your team wants to own the build. A platform without an owner becomes an abandoned bot fast.
What Would the Platforms Cost You Each Month?
Platforms charge in different ways: per outcome, per seat or a flat plan. Set your numbers to compare their starting prices side by side.
Starting prices only. Each platform has usage limits and higher tiers, and your own setup time is not included. Check the pricing pages before you buy.
Built for You or Built by You?
The real choice is not between five brands. It is between two models.
Choose a provider
Sash Digital or Habix CorpIf you are short on time, the bot needs to fit a specific sales process, or you want someone accountable for whether it works.
Choose a platform
Intercom, Tidio or BotpressIf you have someone in house to set it up and maintain it, and your needs match what the platform does out of the box.
Whichever way you go, the launch basics are the same:
- 01Start with one job
- 02Feed the bot real content
- 03Set clear rules for handing off to a human
- 04Review transcripts every week
We cover that launch checklist in why your business needs an AI chatbot.
FAQ
If you want it built and looked after for you, Sash Digital or Habix Corp. If you want to set it up yourself on a small budget, Tidio has a free plan and is quick to start.
Platforms range from free plans to a few hundred dollars a month, plus usage charges. Custom builds are quoted per project and depend on how many systems the bot connects to.
A chatbot answers questions and hands off to a person. An AI agent can also take actions, like updating records or sending emails. Our AI chatbot glossary entry explains more.
Yes. A well built bot asks qualifying questions, books good fits straight into your calendar and passes the conversation to your team with the transcript.
Build it yourself if you have a developer with time to own it. Hire a provider if you need it working quickly and want someone accountable for results.
Sources
- Intercom pricing page, intercom.com/pricing
- Tidio pricing page, tidio.com/pricing
- Botpress pricing page, botpress.com/pricing
Prices checked October 12, 2026. Providers change their pricing often, so confirm on their sites before you buy.