Chatbase in 2026 is a fast, credit-metered AI support-agent platform: paid plans run $40/month (Hobby, 700 message credits), $150/month (Standard, 4,000 credits, helpdesk, voice and telephony), and $500/month (Pro, 15,000 credits), with a free 50-credit sandbox and 20% off annual billing. It's a strong pick if your goal is a website support agent trained on your docs, live within days, but costs escalate with usage and add-ons, and it's built for support deflection rather than running broader business workflows. If you'd rather have a done-for-you AI agent — phone answering, lead follow-up, appointment setting — built and operated for you, Agents by AIQ offers that as a managed service you can scope on a call.
Bottom line: Chatbase is a well-priced, transparently documented DIY platform for customer-facing support agents, and the right choice for teams willing to build and maintain the agent themselves. It isn't a universal answer: costs scale with usage, every plan includes only one AI agent, and businesses that want an operated, done-for-you agent across phone and workflows should look at a managed alternative instead.
TL;DR
- Chatbase paid plans in 2026 are $40/mo (Hobby, 700 message credits), $150/mo (Standard, 4,000 credits), and $500/mo (Pro, 15,000 credits); annual billing cuts each by 20% to $32/$120/$400.
- The Free plan gives 50 message credits and 1 MB of training content, and agents are deleted after 14 days of inactivity — it's a test sandbox, not a deployment.
- Every self-serve plan from Free through Pro includes exactly 1 AI agent; extra agents cost $25 per agent/month.
- The helpdesk, voice, telephony, outbound campaigns, and API access all start at the Standard tier ($150/mo), not Hobby.
- Add-ons add up: auto-recharge credits at $40 per 1,000, extra agents at $25/mo each, and removing 'Powered by Chatbase' branding at $99/mo.
- Chatbase holds a 4.8/5 on G2 (45 reviews), 4.3/5 on Capterra (73 reviews), and 3.9/5 on Trustpilot (64 reviews).
- Chatbase is strongest for website support deflection; it answers tickets in place in Zendesk but mostly escalates into Freshdesk, Intercom, Gorgias, HubSpot, and Help Scout.
Head-to-head
| Dimension | Chatbase | Agents by AIQ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free–$500/mo published tiers; $40/1,000 credit overage, $25/extra agent, $99/mo branding removalwinner | Month-to-month, scoped per business |
| Ease of use | No-code self-serve; train from a URL or PDF in minutes | Nothing to build — AIQ Labs designs and runs the agentwinner |
| Features | Support agents, helpdesk, human handoff, voice/telephony (Standard+), AI Actions, Procedures | AI receptionist on a real phone number, voice, sales/SDR, support, email, marketing, appointment setting, workflow automationwinner |
| Support | Priority support and success manager on Enterprise only; escalates into most third-party help desks | Operated by the AIQ Labs team as part of the servicewinner |
| Integrations | Stripe, Zendesk, Salesforce, Intercom, HubSpot, Zapier, Shopify, Slack, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and morewinner | Integrated with the tools the business already uses |
| Setup | Usable agent in an afternoon from existing content; 7-day trial on paid tierswinner | Starts with a scoping call, then a done-for-you build |
| Ownership & terms | Monthly or annual subscription; annual locks you in for a year | Month-to-month; the client owns everythingwinner |
Scores
Chatbase
chatbase.co ↗Chatbase is a no-code platform for building and running customer-facing AI agents. You point it at your content — website pages, PDFs, DOC/DOCX, TXT, CSV, Q&A pairs, Notion, and on the Pro plan past support tickets — and it trains a retrieval-augmented agent that answers customer questions in natural language. Founded by Yasser Elsaid in late 2022 and incorporated in 2023, it was among the first SaaS products to productize RAG and has since grown into a broader support suite: a native helpdesk that unifies website, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram conversations, live human handoff, ticketing, AI Actions that call external APIs, and Procedures that structure multi-step tasks. Deployment spans web chat, email, WhatsApp, Slack, Instagram, Messenger, and — from the Standard plan — voice and telephony. Chatbase reports 10,000+ businesses as customers, including testimonials from an OpenAI startups lead and CMOs in hospitality. Its design center is speed and support deflection: upload a knowledge base, set a prompt, and ship a support widget in under an hour. Review-site ratings cluster around 4.8 on G2, 4.3 on Capterra, and 3.9 on Trustpilot, with complaints centering on flow limitations and pricing jumps as usage grows.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 50 message credits/mo, 1 agent, 1 member, 1 MB training content, limited models, agents deleted after 14 days of inactivity |
| Hobby | $40/mo | 700 message credits/mo, 1 agent, 2 members, 5 AI Actions, 10 MB training, integrations, basic analytics ($32/mo billed annually) |
| Standard | $150/mo | 4,000 message credits/mo, 1 agent, 3 members, 8 AI Actions, 20 MB training, helpdesk, voice, telephony, outbound campaigns, API access ($120/mo billed annually) |
| Pro | $500/mo | 15,000 message credits/mo, 1 agent, 5 members, 12 AI Actions, 40 MB training, advanced analytics, tickets as a source ($400/mo billed annually) |
| Enterprise | — | Custom limits, SSO, custom roles, white-labeling, audit logs, SLAs, HIPAA-eligible, priority support, success manager |
Pros
- Fastest path to a working support bot: point it at a website, PDF, or help-center export and it trains almost immediately — a usable agent can be live in an afternoon
- Unusually transparent cost model: published plans, per-model credit rates, and add-on prices are all public
- Full support workflow in one product: AI agent, native helpdesk, human handoff, and multi-channel deployment
- Workspace-based billing (not per seat) helps small teams; free plan and 7-day trials lower the entry risk
- Strong review ratings (4.8 G2, 4.3 Capterra) and 10,000+ reported business customers
- Zendesk integration answers tickets in place, not just escalates
Cons
- Credit metering punishes success: heavier models burn up to 5 credits per reply, and auto-recharge at $40 per 1,000 credits can exceed the base plan price
- Every self-serve plan includes only 1 AI agent — running three distinct bots on Standard requires two $25/mo add-ons
- Helpdesk, voice, telephony, and API access are locked to Standard ($150/mo) and above, so the $40 Hobby tier misses the features many buyers want
- Branding removal costs $99/mo, a steep tax for small businesses wanting a clean customer-facing widget
- In help desks other than Zendesk (Freshdesk, Intercom, Gorgias, HubSpot, Help Scout), documented behavior is to escalate rather than answer in place
- Relatively thin independent review base (~180 ratings across G2, Capterra, Trustpilot) for a product claiming 10,000+ businesses
Agents by AIQ
agentsbyaiq.com ↗Agents by AIQ is the agent-design and operation arm of AIQ Labs, the team behind the AI Business Sites platform. Rather than handing you a DIY toolkit, it designs, builds, connects, and runs done-for-you AI agents for small and mid-size businesses. The service covers AI receptionists and phone answering on a real phone number, browser-based voice agents, sales follow-up and SDR agents, customer support agents, email agents, marketing agents, appointment setters, and workflow automation — integrated with the tools the business already uses. The positioning is deliberately different from platforms like Chatbase: not another AI wrapper, but a managed build operated by a team, presented on the site as an engineer's notebook where agents are sketched and designed for the visitor's specific business. Target buyers are owner-operators and small teams in trades, legal, healthcare, insurance, real estate, ecommerce, and professional services who are losing missed calls, suffering slow lead follow-up, or drowning in manual busywork. Engagements are month-to-month with no long lock-in, and the client owns everything that is built. The primary next step is booking a call to scope the agent for your business.
Pros
- Done-for-you: the agent is designed, built, connected, and run for you — no DIY prompt engineering or flow building
- Covers phone answering on a real phone number, not just website chat widgets
- Spans revenue workflows (sales follow-up, appointment setting) beyond support deflection
- Month-to-month terms with no long lock-in, and the client owns everything built
- Backed by the team behind the AI Business Sites platform
Cons
- Not self-serve — you start by booking a scoping call rather than signing up and building instantly
- Managed service rather than a platform, so you don't get hands-on dashboard control of the agent yourself
- Scope and fit need to be discussed per business rather than picked from a public plan grid
Pricing compared: sticker price vs. real bill
Where Chatbase genuinely wins in 2026
The limits that matter for a small business
Which should you pick?
FAQs
How much does Chatbase cost in 2026?
Chatbase's published plans are Free ($0, 50 message credits/month), Hobby at $40/month (700 credits), Standard at $150/month (4,000 credits, helpdesk, voice, telephony, API access), and Pro at $500/month (15,000 credits, advanced analytics), with custom Enterprise pricing. Annual billing cuts paid tiers by 20% to $32, $120, and $400 per month. Add-ons include $40 per 1,000 auto-recharge credits, $25 per extra AI agent per month, and $99/month to remove Chatbase branding.
Is Chatbase's free plan usable for a real business?
Not for production. The Free plan includes only 50 message credits per month, 1 MB of training content, limited models, and one member — and agents are deleted after 14 days of inactivity. It works as a sandbox to test answer quality and the training process, but an active support operation needs at least the Hobby tier, and the helpdesk and voice features require Standard at $150/month.
What is a Chatbase message credit and how fast do they burn?
A message credit is consumed each time your AI agent generates a response, and the rate depends on the model you pick — roughly 1 credit on cheaper models up to 5 credits on heavier ones like Claude Opus-class models. Credits reset monthly with no rollover, and auto-recharge adds non-expiring credits at $40 per 1,000 when your balance drops below a threshold you set. Picking the cheapest model that handles your hardest questions is the documented way to control cost.
How many AI agents do I get on a Chatbase plan?
One. Every self-serve plan from Free through Pro includes exactly one active AI agent. If you need separate bots for, say, customer support, lead capture, and internal documentation, each additional agent costs $25 per month as an add-on — so three distinct bots on the Standard tier means the $150 base plan plus $50 in agent add-ons.
Is Chatbase still worth it in 2026?
For a website or in-product support agent trained on your own content, yes — it scores well for fast deployment, transparent pricing, and a complete support workflow with its native helpdesk and human handoff, backed by a 4.8/5 G2 rating. It's the weaker choice if your tickets live in a help desk other than Zendesk (where it escalates rather than answers), if you need a predictable bill at high volume, or if you want a managed agent handling phone calls and revenue workflows — in those cases a done-for-you service like Agents by AIQ fits better.
How is Agents by AIQ different from a platform like Chatbase?
Chatbase is a self-serve platform: you build, train, tune, and monitor the agent yourself and pay metered message credits. Agents by AIQ is a done-for-you service: the AIQ Labs team designs, builds, connects, and runs the agent for your business — AI receptionists on a real phone number, sales follow-up, appointment setting, support, and workflow automation — integrated with your existing tools, on month-to-month terms where you own everything. You start by booking a call to scope the agent rather than signing up for a plan.
Sources
- Chatbase Pricing
- Chatbase Review & Pricing Guide 2026 (Featurebase)
- Chatbase Review 2026: Features, Pros, Cons, and Pricing (Lindy)
- Is Chatbase Worth It? Review, Pricing and Credits 2026 (Macha)
- Chatbase Pricing 2026: Plans, Message Credits, and Add-On Costs (Layer3Labs)
- Chatbase Pricing 2026 (SetSmart)
- Chatbase vs Voiceflow vs Botpress: 2026 Pricing Compared (Tech Insider)
- Chatbase Pricing: What You'll Really Pay (Teammates)
- Agents by AIQ