How much does an AI chatbot cost? Prices from nine pricing pages
What nine chat tools list on their own pricing pages today, what counts as one AI conversation or resolution on each, what a month costs at the same volume, and the charges that sit outside the plan price.
MagizAI Team6 min read
On nine vendors' own pricing pages, checked on 13 October 2026, the cheapest paid plan that includes an AI chatbot ran from $19 to $55 a month, per seat on some and billed yearly on several. AI answers often cost extra: from $0.49 to $2.00 per AI conversation or resolution. Volume decides the rest.
We make MagizAI, so we are not neutral. Every number below comes from each company's own pricing page, read on 13 October 2026, in US dollars as the page showed it to us. Prices change often, so check the page before you buy.
AI chatbot pricing comparison: what nine tools list today
| Tool | Cheapest paid plan with AI chat | How AI use is charged | Source page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom | Essential, $29 per seat a month, billed annually | $0.99 per Fin outcome | intercom.com/pricing |
| Zendesk | Suite Team, $55 per agent a month paid yearly ($69 monthly) | 5 automated resolutions per agent a month included, then $2.00 each pay as you go | zendesk.com/in/pricing |
| LiveChat (new plans sold as Text) | Essential, $19 per user a month, billed annually | 10 AI resolutions a month included, 50 more for $49.50 | livechat.com/pricing |
| Freshchat | Growth, $19 per agent a month, billed annually | $49 per 100 AI agent sessions, 500 sessions free once | freshworks.com/live-chat-software/pricing |
| Tidio | Starter, $24.17 a month billed annually, 100 billable conversations | Lyro AI Agent from $32.50 a month billed annually, for 50 AI conversations | tidio.com/pricing |
| Crisp | Mini, $45 a month per workspace, 4 seats | $5 of AI credits included, which the page puts at around 90 automated conversations | crisp.chat/en/pricing |
| Chatbase | Hobby, $40 a month, 700 message credits, 2 members | Message credits per AI request, depending on the model | chatbase.co/pricing |
| Gorgias | Starter with AI Agent, $40 a month billed monthly, 50 tickets | 30 automated interactions included, $1.00 each on Starter | gorgias.com/pricing |
| tawk.to | Live chat free; AI Assist from $29 a month | The page does not say how many AI answers each tier includes | tawk.to/add-ons |
| MagizAI | See /pricing | See /pricing | /pricing |
Two notes on the table. Zendesk sent us to its regional page for India, which showed US dollars. LiveChat's pricing page now shows plans for Text, which it describes as the next product from the LiveChat team; existing LiveChat customers keep their plans.
What counts as one AI conversation, resolution or credit
The sticker price matters less than the unit behind it. The same month of chats can produce very different counts, because every vendor defines its unit in its own way:
- Intercom, per outcome. Counted when a customer confirms the issue is resolved, does not ask for more help after Fin replies, or when Fin completes a workflow, handoffs included. At most one per conversation. If the customer asks for a person, you pay nothing.
- Zendesk, per automated resolution. A request the AI agent resolved without any escalation to a human agent.
- Freshchat, per session. Every exchange between a visitor and the AI agent within 24 hours counts as one session, and the page sets no condition about resolving anything.
- Tidio, per Lyro AI conversation. Any customer conversation with at least one reply from the AI agent.
- Chatbase, per message credit. Each request to the AI model costs credits depending on the model you chose, and an answer that uses an action, such as checking a calendar, can take several requests. Credits renew at the start of each calendar month.
- Crisp, AI credits in dollars. The plan includes a dollar amount of AI usage rather than a fixed number of answers, with an estimate of conversations beside it.
- Gorgias, per automated interaction, on top of a helpdesk priced by tickets a month rather than by agents.
Resolution and outcome pricing charges when the vendor's test for a finished job is met. Session and conversation pricing charges when the AI takes part at all. Ask which one you are buying.
What a month costs at the same volume
Here is an illustration with the listed prices, not a quote. Take a team of two people and 300 conversations a month that the AI handles from start to finish, assume each of those counts as one billable AI unit, and use annual prices where the page shows them.
| Tool and plan | Seats | AI | Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom Essential | 2 × $29 = $58 | 300 × $0.99 = $297 | $355 |
| Zendesk Suite Team | 2 × $55 = $110 | 10 included, 290 × $2.00 = $580 | $690 |
| LiveChat (Text) Essential | 2 × $19 = $38 | 10 included, 6 packs of 50 at $49.50 = $297 | $335 |
| Freshchat Growth | 2 × $19 = $38 | 3 × $49 = $147, after the free 500 are used | $185 |
In every row the AI charge is bigger than the seat charge. So when you work out AI chatbot cost per month, look at the usage line first: at this volume it is most of the bill, not the seat price. Zendesk also lists committed resolutions, but its regional page showed that price in pounds next to dollar plan prices, so it is left out here.
Who pays for the AI itself
Every answer an AI chatbot writes comes from a language model, often run by a provider such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google, and someone pays for it. The tools in the table fold that cost into an allowance, credits or a per-resolution price. Some let you bring your own API key instead, so the provider bills you directly by the token and the tool charges only for its software.
That changes the maths. Provider prices depend heavily on the model: on Anthropic's pricing page, checked on 13 October 2026, output from Claude Haiku 5.5 costs $0.50 per million tokens for prompts up to 100,000 tokens, while Claude Fable 5.1 costs $50. Our page on running a chatbot on your own key explains how that works.
Costs that sit outside the plan price
- Add-ons. Intercom's Copilot is $29 per agent a month billed annually, or $35 monthly. Removing Chatbase branding is $99 a month, and tawk.to's white-label add-on is $29 a month.
- Channels. Intercom's page lists WhatsApp as charged per conversation and SMS per message, on top of seats.
- Overage and top-ups. Gorgias Starter charges $0.40 per ticket over the plan, and Chatbase's auto-recharge adds credits at $40 per 1,000.
- Extra people. Crisp adds agents beyond the included seats at $10 a month each.
- Billing period. Several pages show annual prices by default. Zendesk Suite Team is $55 a month paid yearly and $69 paid monthly.
- Minimums and tax. Intercom requires at least one full seat, and Fin on another helpdesk has a minimum monthly commitment. Crisp's prices exclude VAT where it applies.
How to estimate your own number
- Count last month's chats, emails and messages that a chatbot could have taken.
- Guess honestly how many the AI could finish alone. Start low.
- Count the people who need to read and answer chats.
- Price that volume on each pricing page, monthly and yearly, including the add-ons you know you need.
For how to compare the tools themselves and run a fair trial, see our buyer's comparison guide.
MagizAI's own plans are flat monthly prices, listed on the pricing page. One plan runs on your own AI key with no message cap from us, and the others include a set number of AI messages and pause at that cap instead of billing for more. Our team also sets up and trains the chatbot at no cost, with the plan billed as usual.