Guide
How much does an AI chatbot cost per month? Real prices for 1,000 conversations
Chatbot prices are hard to compare because every vendor counts something different: seats, conversations, resolutions, message credits or tokens. This guide puts them on one scale: what about 1,000 AI conversations a month costs, using each vendor’s published prices on 25 September 2026.
Maqsood R.Founder, HolaReply · Updated · 5 min read
The short answer
- For about 1,000 AI conversations a month, an AI chatbot costs from about $1 with your own AI key to around $990 with per-resolution services, from published prices on 25 September 2026.
- With your own key you pay only usage: about $1.70 per 1,000 answers on HolaReply for WordPress with Gemini Flash. On any website, HolaReply has the AI included in the plan, from $19 a month for 500 AI conversations.
- Hosted services charge per resolution ($0.50–$0.99 each), per AI conversation (Tidio Lyro: $700 a month for 1,000) or in credits (Chatbase Standard: $150 a month), usually on top of a plan or seats.
- Count seats, branding removal and channels too: they often cost more than the AI.
The five ways chatbots charge for AI
| Model | How it works | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Your own AI key | You pay the AI provider per token; the plugin is free or has a licence | HolaReply for WordPress, AI Engine, WPBot, MxChat |
| Per resolution / outcome | You pay each time the AI resolves a conversation | Intercom Fin $0.99; Chatway $0.50; HubSpot Customer Agent $0.50 |
| Per AI conversation | A monthly bundle of AI conversations | Tidio Lyro from $39/mo for 50; HolaReply on any website $19/mo for 500 (Pro) or $49/mo for 2,500 (Business) |
| Message credits | A monthly allowance; each AI reply uses credits | Chatbase from $40/mo (700 credits); tawk.to AI Assist from $29/mo (1,000 messages) |
| AI included in a per-seat plan | Seats plus a small AI allowance, extra packs on top | ChatBot.com: 10 AI resolutions a month on its entry plan; extra $49.50 per 50 |
What 1,000 AI conversations a month costs
| Option | Roughly per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Your own Gemini key (3.1 Flash-Lite) | about $1 | Plus a plugin licence if you need one |
| Your own Gemini key (3.8 Flash) | about $3 (about $6 from 2027) | Google has announced a price rise for January 2027 |
| tawk.to AI Assist | about $89–99 | Credits count per AI message; assumes 3 messages per conversation |
| Chatbase Standard | $150 ($120 billed yearly) | 4,000 credits; most replies use 1–2 |
| Chatway | up to $500 | $0.50 per resolved conversation |
| Tidio Lyro (1,000 tier, monthly billing) | $700 | On top of a Tidio plan |
| Intercom Fin | up to $990 | $0.99 per outcome, on top of seats |
| ChatBot.com extra resolutions | about $990 | $49.50 per 50, beyond the plan’s allowance |
“Up to” where you pay only for resolved conversations. Hosted services include hosting, dashboards, support and sometimes live chat and other channels, which you should weigh against the price.
Why your own AI key is so much cheaper
A hosted service resells AI with its platform, support and margin on top. With your own AI key, you pay the AI provider’s price directly. For a website chatbot, a typical question sends about 2,500 tokens of context and gets about 250 tokens back. On Gemini 3.8 Flash at September 2026 prices, that is about $0.0028 per answer, or $2.82 per 1,000. Measured on HolaReply for WordPress itself, which sends only the few passages that match (about 1,900 tokens in and 70 out), it is about $1.70 per 1,000, the figure on our pricing page, until Google’s prices rise on 1 January 2027.
The trade-offs: you set up an AI account and billing, and the plugin runs on your own site. In return you get the lowest price and your conversations stay in your own database. No AI account? HolaReply AI credits work with no key, paid as you use them. On any website, HolaReply AI is included in the plan, so there is no key to set up; the Shopify app, coming soon to the Shopify App Store, works the same way.
Other costs to count
- Seats. Many platforms charge per team member (Intercom from $29–39 per seat per month).
- Branding removal. Often an add-on (Chatbase $99/mo).
- Channels. WhatsApp, SMS and voice are usually billed by usage.
- Your time. Setup, writing the missing answers and reviewing unanswered questions.
Estimate yours
Count your conversations
A small business site might see 200–2,000 chats a month; start with your contact form volume times three.
Pick a pricing model
Per resolution and per conversation grow with every chat; your own key grows by fractions of a cent.
Add the fixed costs
Seats, plan fees, branding removal.
Compare per 1,000
Put every option on the same scale, as in the table above.
The HolaReply pricing page has a calculator for Gemini usage at your volume.
Ask the chatbot itself. The chat on this page is HolaReply. Ask it what it would cost for your number of chats.
“What would 3,000 questions a month cost?”“Is there a monthly fee?”
Open the chatQuestions people ask
How much does an AI chatbot cost for a small business?
From a few dollars a month with your own AI key, to $150–$1,000 a month for about 1,000 AI conversations on hosted platforms, depending on how they charge.
Is there a free AI chatbot?
Several have free plans or free plugins. With a free plugin and your own key you still pay the AI provider for usage, usually a few dollars a month; hosted free plans cap AI replies (for example tawk.to: 100 AI messages a month).
What is a “resolution” in chatbot pricing?
A conversation the AI handles without a person, as defined by each vendor. Intercom calls it an outcome and charges $0.99; Chatway and HubSpot charge $0.50.
Will AI chatbot prices go up?
Some will: Google has announced that Gemini 3.8 Flash prices double on 1 January 2027. Choose a setup that lets you switch models.
What does HolaReply cost?
On any website: Pro $19 a month (500 AI conversations) or Business $49 a month (2,500), with HolaReply AI included and no AI key; a year costs ten months, and there is a 7-day free trial with no card. On WordPress: the plugin is free, with your own Gemini, OpenAI or Claude key, or HolaReply AI credits with no key ($12 per 1,000 answers, cheaper in larger packs); Pro is $59 and Business $99, paid once for one site with a year of updates, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. On Shopify: the app is coming soon to the Shopify App Store, with a free plan to start (50 AI conversations a month), and Pro $19 and Business $49 a month billed by Shopify.
Sources
Checked on 25 September 2026. Prices and features change; tell us in the chat if something here is out of date and we will fix it.
- Gemini API pricing
- Intercom pricing
- Chatway pricing
- HubSpot Customer Agent
- Tidio pricing
- Chatbase pricing
- tawk.to AI Assist plans
- ChatBot.com pricing
Founder of HolaReply. He builds AI assistants that answer only from a business’s own website, and checks every fact in these guides against the products’ own pages.
More by Maqsood R. →An honest AI chatbot for a few dollars a month.
One line of code on Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or any website: 7 days free, no card. Free plugin for WordPress; Shopify app coming soon.