Chatling alternatives: a website chatbot on a small budget
Yevhen Kurapov, co-founder · Updated Oct 20, 2026
Chatling's free plan gives 200 credits, about 40 replies on its free models; Starter is $25 a month for 1,750 credits with WhatsApp and Instagram. Elfsight is cheapest for website-only chat, from $5 a month billed yearly. ChatPal's free plan gives 100 replies on every channel, then $20 for 500. Tidio and Crisp suit teams that also chat live.
We make ChatPal, one of the tools below, and list its limits on the same terms as everyone else's.
Chatling is one of the cheaper ways to put an AI chatbot on a small business website: $25 a month gets you 1,750 credits and the main messaging apps. The alternatives below compete on the same ground: a low monthly bill for a bot that answers from your own pages. Before comparing, know what Chatling's numbers mean in replies, because the free plan and the paid plans count very differently. We make ChatPal, one of the six, and it isn't the cheapest for website-only chat.
What Chatling's plans buy, in replies
Credits, not replies. Chatling charges AI credits per reply, and the rate depends on the model: from 0.5 credits for the lightest models to 25 for the heaviest.
The free plan. 200 credits a month, 1 agent, 1 seat, 500,000 characters of knowledge, website only. The free plan includes base models only, GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT 5.1, and both cost 5 credits a reply. That makes 200 credits about 40 replies a month.
Starter, $25 ($21 billed yearly). 1,750 credits, 2 agents, 10 million characters, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Telegram, weekly or monthly re-sync. Light models such as GPT-6 Luna or Claude Haiku 5.5 cost 1 credit, and Gemini 2.5 Flash 0.5. On those, 1,750 credits is 1,750 to 3,500 replies.
Growth, $75 ($63 billed yearly) for 6,000 credits, and Scale, $295 ($246 billed yearly) for 35,000 credits and no Chatling branding. Below Scale, removing "Powered by Chatling" is $35 a month. Extra credits are $10 a month per 1,000.
Why people look for an alternative
- The free plan runs out fast. About 40 replies covers a dozen or so real conversations. That is enough to see the bot work, not to run it.
- The branding. On a $25 plan, $35 more a month to remove the logo more than doubles the bill.
- The model decides the bill. Switch to a stronger model for better answers and the same credits buy 5 to 25 times fewer replies.
When Chatling is still the right choice
Stay if you're on Starter with a light model and your answers are good: $25 for well over a thousand replies, with the messaging apps included, is hard to beat. Chatling also has live chat on every plan, actions and workflows, Google Sheets and Cal.com on the free plan, and daily re-sync on Growth. If the logo doesn't bother you, it is a strong budget pick.
How we chose
We picked tools a small business would consider for a low-cost AI chatbot on its website, and kept one better-known name, Chatbase, for scale. On October 20, 2026 we read each pricing page and the documentation on what the AI learns from and what happens at the limit. We make ChatPal; we didn't test the others hands-on. The tools are grouped by the situation they suit, not ranked.
Chatling and five alternatives
| Tool | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Chatling | Staying on Chatling | Free for 200 AI credits a month; Starter $25 a month, or $21 billed yearly, for 1,750 credits; Growth $75, or $63 billed yearly, for 6,000 |
| ChatPal | Free plan with messaging apps | Free for 100 replies a month; $20 for 500, $50 for 1,500 and $120 for 4,000, billed monthly |
| Elfsight AI Chatbot | Cheapest website-only chat | Free for 50 messages and 200 views a month; Basic $5 a month billed yearly for 300 messages; Pro $10 for 1,000; Premium $20 for 3,000 |
| Tidio | Live chat first, AI added | Free plan; Starter $29 a month billed monthly, or $24.17 billed yearly; Lyro AI from $32.50 a month billed yearly for 50 AI conversations |
| Crisp | Live chat first, AI added | Free with no AI; Mini $45 a month with $5 of AI credits, about 90 automated conversations; Essentials $95 with $25, about 450 |
| Chatbase | The better-known name | Hobby $40 a month billed monthly, or $32 billed yearly, for 700 message credits; 7-day trial, no free plan |
Staying on Chatling
Chatling
Price: Free for 200 AI credits a month; Starter $25 a month, or $21 billed yearly, for 1,750 credits; Growth $75, or $63 billed yearly, for 6,000
Good at
- WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Telegram from Starter, plus live chat on every plan
- On Starter, light models cost 0.5 or 1 credit a reply, so 1,750 credits can be 1,750 replies or more
- Knowledge re-syncs weekly or monthly from Starter, daily from Growth
Keep in mind
- The free plan's models cost 5 credits a reply, so 200 credits is about 40 replies
- “Powered by Chatling” stays until Scale ($295 a month) or a $35 monthly add-on
Free plan with messaging apps
ChatPal
Price: Free for 100 replies a month; $20 for 500, $50 for 1,500 and $120 for 4,000, billed monthly
Good at
- Website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram and Zendesk on every plan, the free one included
- One reply is one message, whichever AI model you choose, and the free plan needs no card
- Books appointments through Calendly, Altegio or Google Calendar, and collects leads, on the free plan too
Keep in mind
- For website-only chat, Elfsight costs less, and Chatling's $25 plan covers more replies on a light model
- One assistant on the free plan, and replies to your own tests count toward the month
Cheapest website-only chat
Elfsight AI Chatbot
Price: Free for 50 messages and 200 views a month; Basic $5 a month billed yearly for 300 messages; Pro $10 for 1,000; Premium $20 for 3,000
Good at
- Learns from your website URLs, files (PDF, DOCX, TXT and more), Q&A pairs and text
- Installs on Wix, WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow and other site builders
Keep in mind
- A website widget: the AI doesn't answer on WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger
- Plans also cap widget views (5,000 a month on Basic), and removing Elfsight branding starts at $30 a month billed yearly
Live chat first, AI added
Tidio
Price: Free plan; Starter $29 a month billed monthly, or $24.17 billed yearly; Lyro AI from $32.50 a month billed yearly for 50 AI conversations
Good at
- Free live chat for 50 conversations a month with 10 seats, plus Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and email
- A Lyro conversation counts once however many replies it takes
Keep in mind
- Lyro is a separate package from the live chat plan
- The free plan's 50 Lyro conversations come once, not every month
Crisp
Price: Free with no AI; Mini $45 a month with $5 of AI credits, about 90 automated conversations; Essentials $95 with $25, about 450
Good at
- Its AI agent, Hugo, learns from crawled web pages, files and your Crisp help articles
- WhatsApp Business, Instagram DMs and SMS in one inbox from Essentials
Keep in mind
- When the credits run out, Hugo stops and new chats go to your team, unless you turn on pay-as-you-go
- Web pages don't refresh on their own; you re-crawl them by hand
The better-known name
Chatbase
Price: Hobby $40 a month billed monthly, or $32 billed yearly, for 700 message credits; 7-day trial, no free plan
Good at
- WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Slack, Shopify and Calendly from Hobby
- AI actions on every plan; auto-recharge adds 1,000 credits for $40 so the bot doesn't stop
Keep in mind
- No free plan, and Hobby has fewer credits than Chatling Starter at a higher price
- Removing the “Powered by Chatbase” label is $1,188 a year
What the same month costs
Two small websites. One has about 100 chats a month, the other 500. For tools that count replies, we assumed three AI replies per chat, so 300 and 1,500 replies; that's our assumption, so count a week of your own chats. Prices listed on October 20, 2026, billed monthly unless noted.
| Tool | 100 chats a month | 500 chats a month | What it counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatling | $25 (Starter) | $25 (Starter, 1-credit model) | Credits per reply |
| ChatPal | $20 (500 replies) | $50 (1,500 replies) | Replies |
| Elfsight | $5, billed yearly (300 messages) | $20, billed yearly (3,000 messages) | Messages and views |
| Crisp | About $45 (Mini, about 90 AI chats, then pay-as-you-go) | $95 (Essentials, about 450 AI chats) plus pay-as-you-go | AI credits in dollars |
| Chatbase | $40 (Hobby) | $80 (Hobby plus 1,000 credits) | Credits per reply |
| Tidio | Lyro from $32.50 billed yearly for 50 AI chats; larger steps on its pricing page | Same | AI conversations |
Add $35 a month to Chatling if you want its logo gone. Elfsight's yearly prices are paid up front for the year.
So ChatPal isn't the cheapest for a website-only bot. Elfsight is, by a distance, and Chatling Starter covers far more replies than ChatPal's $20 plan if you stay on a light model. ChatPal makes sense on price in two cases: when you want to run free for real (100 replies a month, with no time limit or card), and when the same assistant has to answer on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger or Telegram, which ChatPal includes on the free plan.
What you give up on the cheapest plans
Messaging apps. Elfsight's AI answers on your website only. Chatling, Chatbase and Crisp add WhatsApp and Instagram on paid plans. ChatPal and Tidio list them on the free plan.
WhatsApp on your phone. Chatling's WhatsApp setup needs a number that isn't in use by a WhatsApp account. ChatPal can connect your number while you keep using the WhatsApp Business app: your team replies from the phone and the assistant answers what they don't pick up.
Fresh answers. Crisp and ChatPal don't re-crawl your site on a schedule; you refresh a page after you change it. Chatling re-syncs weekly from Starter.
What happens at the limit. Crisp's Hugo stops and passes new chats to your team unless you turn on pay-as-you-go. Elfsight's free plan switches off when it goes over its monthly views. ChatPal alerts you at 80% of your monthly messages; at 100% the assistant pauses automatic replies until you upgrade or the month resets, and your team can still reply.
Chatling or ChatPal
Choose Chatling if:
- you want the most replies for $25 and are happy on a light model;
- you use its actions and workflows, or Cal.com and Google Sheets;
- the "Powered by Chatling" line doesn't bother you.
Choose ChatPal if:
- you want a free plan you can actually run on: 100 replies a month on every channel;
- your customers write on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger or Telegram as well as the website;
- you take bookings: ChatPal books through Calendly, Altegio or Google Calendar inside the chat.
Here is ChatPal answering a price question from a demo salon's own price list.
Moving from Chatling
- Note your sources. Write down the URLs and files your Chatling agent learned from, and copy any Q&A pairs you wrote.
- Add them in ChatPal. Open Knowledge: add your site on Website & links, upload files on the Files tab, and paste Q&A pairs on the Q&A & snippets tab.
- Test on the free plan. Ask last month's questions in the Playground. Its replies count toward your 100, so test the ten that matter most.
- Swap the widget, then connect WhatsApp or Instagram from Integrations if you need them.
For the whole free-chatbot question, see how to get a free AI chatbot for your website. If Chatbase or Tidio is your other candidate, read Chatbase alternatives or Tidio alternatives. How every vendor here prices AI is compared in AI chatbot pricing.