Free AI chatbot plans usually include one bot, a small monthly allowance of AI replies and the vendor's branding on the widget. The catch is that each vendor counts the allowance differently, in credits, conversations, AI conversations or tokens, and some free tiers include no AI at all. The table below compares what the main free tiers included when we checked each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026.
Prices and limits change often. Treat this as a dated snapshot and check each vendor's pricing page before deciding. We will re-check it every quarter.
Free tiers compared (checked October 2026)
| Vendor | What the free tier includes | Unit | AI replies included | Branding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpideyChat | 1 chatbot on 1 website, setup from 10 website pages, paste-in knowledge | Tokens | 500K tokens a month, about 375 replies | Shown |
| Chatbase | 1 agent, 1 seat, 1 MB of training data | Message credits | 50 credits a month | Shown |
| Chatling | 1 agent, 500,000 knowledge base characters | AI credits | 200 credits a month | Shown |
| DocsBot | 1 bot, 50 source pages, 1 user | AI credits | 100 credits a month | Shown |
| Tidio | 50 billable conversations a month, 10 seats | Conversations | 50 Lyro AI conversations, one-time | Shown |
| Botpress | 3 AI agents, 3 seats | Conversations | 25 conversations a month | Shown |
| Crisp | 2 seats, live chat | Not applicable | None | Shown |
| tawk.to | Live chat, ticketing, knowledge base | Not applicable | None; AI Assist is a paid add-on | Shown |
Sources: each vendor's pricing page, plus Chatbase's FAQ for how credits are spent. Two details are easy to miss. Tidio's 50 Lyro AI conversations are a lifetime allowance, not monthly. And Chatbase's pricing page notes that free agents are deleted after 14 days of inactivity.
The unit matters more than the number
"200 credits" and "25 conversations" can't be compared directly. Convert each to replies, because a reply is what your visitor sees.
- Credits. Chatbase's FAQ lists the credits each AI model uses per response: 1 for most models, rising to 2 to 6 for stronger ones. So 50 credits buys up to 50 replies on a cheaper model and far fewer on a premium one. Chatling and DocsBot also count AI credits.
- Conversations. One conversation can contain many replies. Botpress's 25 conversations could be 100 or more replies, but only 25 visitors.
- AI conversations. Tidio separates ordinary conversations, which include live chat by a person, from AI conversations handled by Lyro.
- Tokens. SpideyChat meters AI tokens, the unit the model itself is billed in. A long answer uses more than a short one. 500K tokens works out to about 375 replies a month at the average reply size we measure in production.
A free tier with no AI is still a free live chat tool, and tawk.to and Crisp are popular for that. It just means a person has to answer every message.
What free tiers usually leave out
Across the vendors above, the same features tend to sit behind the paywall:
- Branding removal. Every free tier in the table shows the vendor's name. Removing it is usually a higher plan or a paid add-on. On SpideyChat it comes with Pro.
- Website crawling at scale. Free tiers often cap the pages or characters a bot can learn. SpideyChat's free plan sets up the first bot from 10 pages of your site; the crawler for up to 150 pages per run comes with Starter at $9.99 a month.
- Lead capture. Recording a visitor's email or phone and sending it to you is a paid feature on many tools. On SpideyChat it is included on the free plan.
- Seats and integrations. Extra team members, webhooks and helpdesk features are usually paid.
None of this makes a free tier useless. It makes it a test, not a long-term setup for a busy site. Our post on what a free plan can prove covers what you can reasonably learn from one.
What happens when you hit the limit
This is the question to ask before you install. Most AI chatbots simply stop replying until the allowance resets. Chatbase's FAQ says the agent then shows a message that it is currently unavailable. SpideyChat pauses replies with a short message telling the visitor this month's usage limit has been reached and suggesting they contact the site owner directly. Neither bills you more without an upgrade.
A bot that goes quiet in the last week of the month is a poor experience for visitors, so watch usage in your first month. If you are regularly close to the limit, the free tier has done its job and shown you real demand.
Two more limits in the small print
Where the bot may run. Some tools let a free bot sit on any site; others tie it to a set number of websites. SpideyChat's free plan runs one chatbot on one website, with subdomains included. Starter allows each chatbot on up to 3 websites, Pro up to 10 and Enterprise unlimited. If you run a shop and a separate booking site, that difference matters on day one.
Monthly or lifetime. A monthly allowance resets, so a free tier can serve a quiet site indefinitely. A lifetime allowance, like Tidio's AI conversations, is a trial in practice: once it is used, AI replies need a paid plan. Neither is wrong, but they suit different goals. Read the wording on the pricing page closely, because "50 AI conversations" says nothing about the period until you find the footnote.
How to choose between free tiers
Run the same test on each:
- Put in your own website content, not a demo.
- Ask the ten questions your customers ask most, including two the site doesn't answer.
- Count how many replies your test used against the allowance.
- Check what the visitor sees when the bot doesn't know.
Our guide to the best free AI chatbot for websites explains the limits worth checking in more depth, and the Chatbase alternatives list compares paid entry prices once you outgrow a free tier.
If you want to compare SpideyChat's free allowance with its paid ones, the pricing page lists every plan's tokens, approximate replies, websites per chatbot and features side by side.