The best AI chatbots for small business websites, compared honestly.
We make one of these, so we've tried to be fair: real strengths, real catches, and prices as listed in November 2026. If another tool fits you better, use it.
How to choose in one minute.
First decide whether you will reply to chats yourself. If you will, a live chat tool like tawk.to, Crisp or Wix Smart Chat suits you. If you want visitors answered automatically while you work, you need an AI agent that learns your site: Tidio's Lyro, Chatbase or ours. Then compare what it really costs at your volume, not the headline price.
At a glance.
| Free plan | Paid from | Live human chat | Main catch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tidio | Free (limited) | $29 a month | Yes | AI metered separately |
| Chatbase | Free (limited) | $40 a month | No | Credit based |
| Crisp | Free (no AI) | $45 a month | Yes | AI mostly on $95 plan |
| tawk.to | Free | Add-ons | Yes | AI is a paid add-on |
| Wix Smart Chat | Free | Free | Yes | Wix sites only |
| The AI Co-Founder | Free (limited) | $15 a month | No | Leads by email |
Prices as listed by each company in November 2026, in US dollars. Plans change often, so check each pricing page before you decide.
Each option, fairly.
Tidio
Best for: Online stores that want live chat and an AI agent in one inbox.
Price: Free plan with 50 conversations a month. Starter is $29 a month (about $24 billed yearly). The Lyro AI agent is metered separately, and the free plan includes a one time allowance of 50 Lyro conversations.
Strengths: Mature product, strong Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, combines human live chat with AI.
Watch out for: Pricing has several meters (conversations, Lyro AI and Flows), so the real monthly cost depends on how much the AI answers.
Chatbase
Best for: Businesses that want a custom AI bot trained on documents and web pages.
Price: Free plan with 50 message credits a month (free bots are deleted after 14 days of inactivity). Hobby is $40 a month, Standard $150, Pro $500, with about 20% off yearly.
Strengths: Fast to set up, flexible training sources, a widely used product with lots of integrations.
Watch out for: Credit based billing makes costs harder to predict, and the paid plans start higher than most small shops spend.
Crisp
Best for: Small teams sharing one inbox for chat and email.
Price: Free plan for 2 seats without AI. Mini is $45 per workspace a month with a small AI allowance; the fuller AI chatbot comes with Essentials at $95.
Strengths: Flat pricing per workspace rather than per agent, with chat, email and a knowledge base together.
Watch out for: Most AI features sit on the higher plans, so a solo owner who mainly wants automatic answers pays for a team inbox.
tawk.to
Best for: Owners with no budget who will answer chats themselves.
Price: Free live chat with unlimited agents. AI Assist and removing tawk.to branding are paid add-ons.
Strengths: Genuinely free core product, unlimited agents and chats, works on almost any site.
Watch out for: Built around humans replying. Automatic AI answers cost extra, and someone still needs to watch the inbox.
Wix Smart Chat
Best for: Wix site owners who want something built in.
Price: Free to install from the Wix App Market.
Strengths: Made by Wix, so it fits Wix sites with no setup and connects to your Wix inbox.
Watch out for: Wix only, and best suited to owners who reply to chats themselves.
The AI Co-Founder (ours)
Best for: Small shop and service owners who want visitors answered automatically and every lead sent to their email, without watching a chat inbox.
Price: Free plan with 50 conversations a month. Starter $15 a month (1,500 conversations), Pro $39 (5,000). Done for you setup and care is $99.
Strengths: Builds itself from your website in about a minute, answers in the visitor's language, says when it doesn't know instead of guessing, and emails you each lead with the full conversation. On Wix, WordPress and any site with one line of code.
Watch out for: We are new, with few reviews so far, and there is no live human chat: leads come to your email for you to follow up.
Common questions.
What is the best AI chatbot for a small business website?
It depends on whether you will answer chats yourself. For human live chat on a budget, tawk.to and Crisp are strong. For an AI agent that answers automatically, Tidio, Chatbase and The AI Co-Founder are the main options, with different pricing models.
Is there a free AI chatbot for small business websites?
Several have free plans with limits: Tidio, Chatbase and The AI Co-Founder each include a small number of AI conversations, while tawk.to and Crisp offer free live chat with AI as a paid extra.
What is the cheapest AI chatbot that answers automatically?
Among the options here, The AI Co-Founder's Starter plan is $15 a month for 1,500 conversations. Compare costs at your own volume, since each company measures usage differently.
Do I need live chat as well as an AI chatbot?
Not always. If you are rarely available to reply, an AI that answers and sends you the lead by email can work better than a chat box nobody watches.