Best AI chatbot for a small business website in 2026
In short
The right website chatbot depends on its job: support, live chat or sales. Crisp and Tidio are inboxes with AI as an add-on; Chatbase, SiteGPT and Wonderchat are AI chatbots billed by message volume; Brift is a sales agent that also prices the visitor’s project, at a flat rate.
Tools compared
| Tool | Published price | What is included | Answers visitors | Gives a price | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crisp | Free, then $45, $95 or $295 per month per workspace (source) | 0 to about 1,350 automated conversations a month depending on plan; $10/month per extra agent | Yes, with AI credits (from the Mini plan) | No built-in price calculator | Shared multichannel inbox |
| Tidio | Free, then from $24.17/month (Starter), $49.17 (Growth), $300 (Plus) (source) | 50 lifetime Lyro AI conversations on Free and Starter; more on higher plans | Yes, with Lyro AI (volume depends on plan) | No built-in price calculator | Live chat and e-commerce integrations |
| Chatbase | $32, $120 or $400 per month (billed yearly) (source) | 700, 4,000 or 15,000 message credits a month | Yes, trained on your documents and pages | No built-in price calculator | General-purpose AI agent with many integrations |
| SiteGPT | $59, $129 or $429 per month ($39, $79, $259 billed yearly) (source) | Up to 4,000, 10,000 or 40,000 messages a month (lighter model) | Yes, trained on your website | No built-in price calculator | Support chatbot trained on your site |
| Wonderchat | Free, then $124 or $417 per month (billed yearly) (source) | 5,000 or 25,000 credits a month (about 1,000 or 5,000 resolutions) | Yes, trained on your site and documents | No built-in price calculator | Automated support with human handoff |
| Brift | $79/month after a 7-day trial ($632/year) | Unlimited conversations, agent + quote or ROI calculator | Yes, from your website’s own information | Yes: price range built from your website | Builds itself from your website URL in 60 seconds |
Published by Brift. Every price links to the tool’s pricing page, read on the date shown.
Three kinds of website chatbots
Inboxes (Crisp, Tidio) are built for a team answering live across the website, email and social channels. AI is a module that uses credits or a capped number of conversations depending on the plan.
Chatbots "trained on your site" (Chatbase, SiteGPT, Wonderchat) answer questions from your pages and documents. They are billed by messages or credits, so the bill grows with traffic.
Sales agents (Brift) have a goal: turn the question into a request. They answer, qualify and, for quote-based businesses, show a price range before offering a call.
What matters for a small business
Volume included: a $32 plan capped at 700 message credits costs more than it looks once the site gets traffic.
The price question: it is the one visitors of a contractor or a service business ask most. A chatbot that answers "contact us" leaves it open.
Setup: some tools need scripted flows or a knowledge base; others build themselves from your website.
Which tool for whom
- Crisp
- You have a team answering live on several channels and want a shared inbox.
- Tidio
- You run an online store and want live chat tied to e-commerce.
- Chatbase
- You want a general AI agent wired into many tools, with predictable volume.
- SiteGPT or Wonderchat
- Your need is mainly support: answering FAQs from documentation.
- Brift
- Your site must produce quote requests or bookings, and visitors ask "how much?".
- Not Brift
- If you need a team inbox or an after-sales support tool, Brift is not one.
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FAQ
What is the best free AI chatbot for a website?
Crisp, Tidio and Wonderchat have free plans, but AI is absent or very limited there (Tidio includes 50 lifetime Lyro AI conversations on Free and Starter).
Can an AI chatbot give a price?
Most repeat the prices written on your site. Brift adds a calculator that works out a range from the visitor’s answers.
Are these prices current?
They were read on each tool’s pricing page on October 23, 2026; each price links to its source.
Isn’t Brift biased here?
Yes, Brift publishes this page. That is why every price links to its source and the page says when not to choose Brift.