Guide
A WordPress AI chatbot without monthly fees: what it really costs
Hosted chatbot services charge every month, and their AI is usually metered on top: per conversation, per resolution or per credit. There is another way: a WordPress plugin with your own AI key. You pay the AI provider directly, often a few dollars a month, and either nothing or a one-off or yearly licence for the plugin. Here is what that really costs.
Maqsood R.Founder, HolaReply · Updated · 4 min read
The short answer
- You can run an AI chatbot on WordPress without a monthly subscription by using a plugin that works with your own AI key, such as HolaReply (free), MxChat (free), or a lifetime licence like WPBot ($149) or Hyve ($79).
- You still pay the AI provider for usage, about $1.70 to $3 per 1,000 questions on Google Gemini Flash, depending on how long your pages and answers are.
- There is no per-conversation fee and no plan that cuts your chatbot off at a limit.
Where monthly chatbot fees come from
A hosted chatbot runs on the vendor’s servers and uses the vendor’s AI account, so it charges you monthly for both. The AI part is usually metered (see what 1,000 AI conversations cost on each):
| Service | How the AI is charged | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Tidio | Per Lyro AI conversation, on top of the chat plan | $39/mo for 50; $700/mo for 1,000 (monthly billing) |
| Chatbase | Message credits | Hobby $40/mo for 700 credits; Standard $150/mo for 4,000 |
| Chatway | Per resolved conversation | $0.50 each after the first 10 |
| ChatBot.com | AI resolutions per plan, per user | Essential includes 10 a month; extra $49.50 per 50 |
The alternative: a plugin plus your own AI key
With a WordPress plugin that uses your own key, the chatbot runs on your site. Answers are written by an AI provider such as Google Gemini, which bills you directly at its own price. There is no middleman margin per message.
| Model | Per 1,000 questions |
|---|---|
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | about $1.01 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | about $1.38 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash (until 31 Dec 2026) | about $2.82 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash (from 1 Jan 2027) | about $5.63 |
From Google’s Gemini API pricing page, 25 September 2026. Thinking tokens and longer answers raise the cost. Details in our Gemini guide.
Plugins with no monthly fee
| Plugin | Licence | Answers from your own content |
|---|---|---|
| HolaReply | Free; Pro from $79, paid once, for the team Sales Desk | ✓ Free |
| MxChat | Free; paid add-ons | ✓ Free, local storage |
| Hyve Lite / Hyve | Free; lifetime from $79 | ✓ Free (OpenAI) |
| WPBot | Free core; yearly from $39; lifetime from $149 (5 sites) | Paid, per its FAQ |
| WoowBot (WooCommerce) | Yearly from $49; lifetime from $149 (5 sites) | Pro |
| AI Engine | Free; Pro from $79/yr; lifetime from $499 (5 sites) | Pro, with a vector database |
| Webkul WooCommerce AI Chatbot | $599 one-time | ✓ |
From each plugin’s WordPress.org page or pricing page. “Yearly” licences cover updates and support; the plugins keep working if you don’t renew.
The catches nobody mentions
You need to set up an AI account
Creating a key and turning on billing takes ten minutes, but it is a step some owners find daunting. For Gemini: aistudio.google.com/api-keys, then Set up billing. Google’s free tier is fine for testing; for a live site use billing, which Google requires if your visitors are in the EU, UK or Switzerland.
Prepaid credit can run out
New Gemini accounts prepay. When the credit reaches zero, requests stop. Turn on auto-reload, and choose a plugin that still takes enquiries when the AI is unavailable.
“Lifetime” means the licence, not the AI
A lifetime licence removes the plugin fee, not the AI usage. It also usually includes support for the first year only.
You look after it
A plugin runs on your hosting and needs updates like any other. The upside: conversations and leads stay in your own database.
What a year really costs
| Setup | Licence | AI | Year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| HolaReply Free + Gemini 3.8 Flash | $0 | about $34–68 | about $34–68 |
| HolaReply Pro + Gemini 3.8 Flash | $79, paid once | about $34–68 | about $113–147 |
| Tidio Starter + Lyro 1,000 (monthly billing) | $348 (Starter $29/mo) | $8,400 | about $8,748 |
| Chatbase Standard (yearly billing) | $1,440 | included | $1,440 |
The AI range covers Gemini 3.8 Flash at today’s price and at the price Google has announced for 2027. Hosted plans include hosting, dashboards and support you don’t get from a key alone.
See one running. The chat on this page is HolaReply, running on Gemini with no monthly fee to us. Ask it anything about this site.
“Does HolaReply have a monthly fee?”“How much does the AI cost?”
Open the chatQuestions people ask
Is there a completely free AI chatbot for WordPress?
The plugin can be free (HolaReply, MxChat, Hyve Lite), and Google’s free tier lets you test at no cost. For a live site, expect to pay the AI provider a few dollars a month.
Do lifetime chatbot licences include AI?
No. A lifetime licence covers the plugin. The AI provider bills you for usage separately.
What happens if my AI credit runs out?
The AI stops answering until you top up. HolaReply keeps taking enquiries meanwhile, so you don’t lose leads.
Is my own key safe in a plugin?
A good plugin stores it encrypted on your server and never sends it to the browser. HolaReply encrypts it and never shows it again.
Which is cheaper at high volume?
Your own key, by a wide margin: per-conversation and per-resolution pricing grows with every chat, while your own key costs fractions of a cent per answer.
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
- Gemini API billing (prepay)
- Tidio pricing
- Chatbase pricing
- Chatway pricing
- ChatBot.com pricing
- MxChat on WordPress.org
- Hyve pricing (Themeisle)
- WPBot pricing
- WoowBot pricing
- AI Engine Pro pricing
- Webkul WooCommerce AI Chatbot
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 AI chatbot without the monthly bill.
Free for WordPress, on WordPress.org. No per-message fees on your own Gemini, OpenAI or Claude key (about $1.70 per 1,000 answers on Gemini Flash), or optional HolaReply AI credits.