Chatbase Review: Pricing, Plans and AI Agents
Chatbase review verdict: Chatbase is worth it for product, support and marketing teams that want an AI agent trained on their own documents and website, deployed as a site widget and optionally on email, messaging or voice, because self-serve plans start at Hobby $40/month ($32 billed yearly) with 700 message credits, then Basic $150 and Business $500, with a stated 20% yearly discount (Chatbase pricing page, checked November 9, 2026). It is a weaker fit if you need a guaranteed standing $0 plan or an easy refund path.
Ideal for: a site team that needs a visitor-facing agent trained on docs and URLs, a support lead who wants Helpdesk handoff plus Actions on Basic or higher, and a growth team that needs Business-level analytics, ticket training sources and higher credit volume.
Avoid if: you are budgeting on a permanent Free plan the Terms say does not exist, you need prepaid yearly fees with a broad refund right, or you are buying a scraping or data-collection stack rather than a customer-facing agent.
- Price follows credits: Hobby, Basic and Business are monthly subscriptions with fixed credit allowances; Enterprise is custom.
- Trial bills by default: the 7-day trial needs a payment method and converts to paid unless you cancel in time.
- Credits do not rollover: subscription credits reset on the first calendar day of each month; auto-recharge packs do not expire.
By the Unfair Advantage editorial team · Updated November 9, 2026. Method: analysis of Chatbase’s official pricing page (plan cards, comparison table, add-ons and pricing FAQ schema), its Terms of Service, the llm-info summary for AI assistants, the security page, documentation on message credits, models, data sources, channels, Actions and workspace billing settings, plus feature and integrations pages, all re-checked November 9, 2026 (Europe/Paris). We did not open a Chatbase account, train an agent, embed a widget or run a support conversation. Every price is quoted from those pages with its date; anything Chatbase does not publish is marked “not disclosed”.
Who is Chatbase for, and who should skip it?
Chatbase fits teams that need a customer-facing AI agent on a website and adjacent channels, trained on owned content. It does not fit teams shopping for scrapers, proxy networks or cold-email senders.
Worth it when…
- You want visitors to ask questions on your site and get answers grounded in your docs, help center, files or crawled pages.
- You need a self-serve price ladder: Hobby from $40/month, Basic from $150/month and Business from $500/month, with yearly billing at a stated 20% discount.
- You plan to escalate to humans through Chatbase Helpdesk or connected helpdesks, and to let the agent run Actions such as lead capture, calendar booking or commerce lookups on higher plans.
- You care about stated compliance baselines: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA eligibility with a Business Associate Agreement on Enterprise.
Wrong buy when…
- Your job is collecting web data at scale; that belongs with scraping tools, not this review’s product category.
- You need outbound cold email infrastructure; our Instantly review for cold email outreach covers that lane separately.
- You insist on a permanent Free plan: Chatbase’s Terms say it does not offer one, even while some marketing pages still mention Free at $0.
- You want soft refund terms on prepaid months or years: Fees are non-refundable except for the narrow breach path in the Terms.
What does Chatbase do for a website team?
Chatbase is an AI agent platform for customer experience. Its docs and llm-info page describe agents that answer from your content, take Actions in connected tools, and hand off to humans with an AI summary and transcript. One agent can be deployed across website chat surfaces, email, phone voice, WhatsApp, Slack, Messenger and Instagram (llm-info and docs, checked November 9, 2026).
| Job | What Chatbase provides (per Chatbase) | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Answer on-site | Embeddable widgets and chat surfaces trained on your sources | All self-serve plans |
| Train | Website crawl, file uploads, text, Q&A pairs, Notion, and support tickets on higher setups | All plans for core sources; ticket sources on Business per pricing table |
| Act | Actions for escalation, lead capture, calendar, commerce and custom API calls; Action caps per agent by plan | Caps rise Hobby → Basic → Business |
| Escalate | Chatbase Helpdesk inbox plus helpdesk integrations (Zendesk, Intercom and others) on Basic+ | Helpdesk inbox from Basic; many helpdesk integrations from Basic |
| Speak / message | Voice and telephony from Basic; WhatsApp, Slack, Messenger, Instagram listed across plans | Voice/telephony Basic and Business |
| Integrate | API access from Basic; Zapier and major helpdesk/CRM tools from Basic; Shopify and messaging listed on Hobby+ | API from Basic |
Chatbase positions the product as an AI agent rather than a simple FAQ bot. Vendor comparison pages mention Intercom, Zendesk and similar stacks; those names appear here only as decision context, without separate versus pages on this site.
How much does Chatbase cost?
Self-serve Chatbase pricing, checked November 9, 2026 on www.chatbase.co/pricing, is Hobby $40/month ($32/month billed yearly), Basic $150/month ($120/month billed yearly) and Business $500/month ($400/month billed yearly). The page states a 20% yearly discount and lists Enterprise as custom pricing. Prices below are USD.
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly (per month) | Message credits / month | Test credits / month | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $40 | $32 | 700 | 200 | 2 |
| Basic | $150 | $120 | 4,000 | 500 | 3 |
| Business | $500 | $400 | 15,000 | 1,000 | 5 |
| Enterprise | Custom (not disclosed) | Flexible commitment to credits, conversations or resolutions | |||
Yearly savings printed on the cards: Hobby $96/year, Basic $360/year, Business $1,200/year. Each self-serve plan includes 1 agent and 40 MB of training content size in the public comparison table. Extra agents are $25 per AI agent/month; extra storage is $25 per 10 MB/month; removing “Powered By Chatbase” branding is $99/month; auto-recharge credits are $40 per 1,000 message credits (pricing page add-ons, checked November 9, 2026).
The SoftwareApplication schema on the pricing page lists the same three paid offers — Hobby 40, Basic 150, Business 500 — as monthly USD prices, matching the cards. Enterprise price is not disclosed.
Which Chatbase plan should you pick?
Pick by credit volume, channel needs and how hard you lean on Actions, voice and helpdesk integrations. Feature gates are clearer than on many chatbot tools: Hobby is the entry paid plan, Basic unlocks Helpdesk inbox, voice and API, and Business adds advanced analytics plus ticket and source-suggestion training options (pricing comparison table, checked November 9, 2026).
| Capability | Hobby | Basic | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Message credits / month | 700 | 4,000 | 15,000 |
| AI Actions / Procedures per agent | 5 / 2 | 8 / 4 | 12 / 6 |
| Voice / telephony / concurrent calls | No | Yes / Yes / 10 | Yes / Yes / 20 |
| API access | No | Yes | Yes |
| Helpdesk inbox | No (per plan card copy) | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced analytics / tickets as a source / source suggestions | No | No | Yes |
| Auto-resync agents / personalization / outbound campaigns | No | Yes | Yes |
| Models | Limited models + advanced model families listed | Advanced model families listed | Advanced model families listed |
Hobby fits a first public agent with modest traffic and messaging channels that the table marks included (Shopify, Slack, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Calendly, WordPress). Basic is the default when you need voice, API access, Helpdesk inbox or the broader helpdesk/CRM integration list. Business is the self-serve plan when 15,000 credits, advanced analytics and ticket-based training matter. Enterprise adds SSO, HIPAA-eligible controls, audit logs, custom roles, white-labeling, SLAs, a success manager and priority support; its fee is not disclosed publicly.
How do Chatbase message credits work?
Message credits are the usage meter for AI replies. Chatbase’s pricing FAQ states that each request to the AI model costs credits that depend on the chosen model, and that enabled Actions can cause multiple model requests for a single user turn — for example a calendar Action that first fetches slots and then drafts the reply (pricing FAQ schema, checked November 9, 2026).
Subscription credits renew at the start of every calendar month regardless of the subscription anniversary, and unused subscription credits do not carry over. Auto-recharge credits are added when your balance falls below a threshold you set; those packs do not expire. The public add-on price is $40 per 1,000 message credits.
Documentation on models lists recommended credit costs of 1, 2, 4 or 5 credits per message depending on the model tier, with an “Auto” option at 1 credit. The docs FAQ also states that when credits run out, the agent shows an unavailable message until credits are restored. Exact credit burn for your traffic is not disclosed as a universal formula beyond those per-model figures — treat volume estimates as planning, not a guarantee.
Does Chatbase offer a free plan or a free trial?
Treat Free and the trial as two different questions, because Chatbase’s own pages do not fully agree on Free.
Free plan: conflicting official wording
The live pricing page cards checked November 9, 2026 show Hobby, Basic, Business and Enterprise — not a Free card. Chatbase’s Terms of Service §5.1 state: “Chatbase does not offer a free plan,” and say an account without an active plan cannot use the Service until a paid plan is started. At the same time, Chatbase’s llm-info page (last updated September 7, 2026) and llms.txt still say there is a Free plan at $0, and workspace settings docs still describe canceling down to “the free plan.” For buying decisions, this review follows the pricing cards and the Terms: do not budget on a permanent $0 Free tier until Chatbase shows one clearly on pricing and aligns the Terms.
Seven-day trial
Pricing cards show “Start 7-day trial” on Hobby, Basic and Business. Terms §4.5 say Chatbase may offer a free trial of a paid plan for seven days, a valid payment method is required, and each customer, user and email address may receive only one Free Trial. Unless the customer cancels before the trial ends, it automatically converts into a paid subscription and Chatbase charges the plan Fees; ending the trial early also starts the paid subscription immediately. If the end-of-trial charge fails, the paid subscription does not start and the account has no active plan.
What are Chatbase billing and refund rules?
Billing is subscription-based with recurring charges on the payment method on file. Terms §4.1 say payment obligations are non-cancellable and, except where the Agreement explicitly states otherwise, Fees are non-refundable. Chatbase may change Fees; customers who disagree can choose not to renew.
Refund path that is explicit: if the customer terminates for Chatbase’s uncured material breach, Chatbase refunds unused prepaid Fees for the remainder of the then-current Subscription Period (Terms §5.3). Billing-error disputes must be raised within 60 days of the first statement showing the issue (Terms §4.4). Workspace docs add that downgrading from Basic to Hobby can apply a prorated credit toward the new plan, and that canceling a plan disables auto-renewal through the end of the period — wording that still mentions a free plan even though the Terms deny one. Prefer the Terms when those documents conflict.
Credits and invoices are separate levers: watch the Usage page, set usage alerts if auto-recharge is off, and expect agents to stop responding when subscription credits are exhausted unless auto-recharge or a plan change restores capacity (usage docs, checked November 9, 2026).
How do you train and deploy a Chatbase agent?
Chatbase’s quick-start docs say you create an agent, train it on your content, test answers, then deploy. Training sources include website crawling, file uploads (PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT per docs FAQ), pasted text, Q&A pairs, Notion sync and, on supported setups, closed support tickets. Storage is measured as extracted text size against the plan’s MB limit (40 MB on self-serve plans in the pricing table; Extra storage add-on up to 40 MB more for a stated maximum of 80 MB on paid plans per workspace settings docs).
Deployment channels documented for the product include website chat surfaces (widget, in-product, Help Page, Side Panel), email, phone voice, WhatsApp, Slack, Messenger and Instagram. Docs claim 95+ languages with automatic language detection. Actions extend the agent beyond answers: escalate to a human, collect leads, call custom APIs, run commerce or billing lookups where integrations allow. We did not verify latency, answer quality or Action reliability hands-on.
For workflow tools that sit beside a site agent — for example syncing events into other systems — see our n8n review: is the workflow platform worth it? and the comparisons n8n vs Zapier for workflow automation and n8n vs Make for workflow automation. Those pages are about automation routers, not chatbot hosts.
When should you pick another tool instead of Chatbase?
Choose another category when the job is not a customer-facing agent. Scraping, crawling APIs and proxy networks are a different Unfair Advantage cluster; do not use this Chatbase page as a substitute. Cold outbound email is Instanty’s category. Full-suite helpdesks such as Intercom or Zendesk may still be the better system of record if you need deep ticket operations first and AI second — Chatbase can connect to several of those tools from Basic, but it is not a drop-in replacement for an entire support org chart.
If your primary need is newsletter publishing or email marketing automation, that is outside this review’s scope; those products are covered in separate packs when they go live. CustomGPT-style “chat with one document” tools can be enough for an internal demo, but they are not evaluated here as a formal alternative page.
What pitfalls should Chatbase buyers watch?
- Free-plan mismatch: marketing copy still cites Free $0 while pricing cards omit it and the Terms deny a Free plan. Budget from Hobby upward until that gap closes.
- Naming drift: Chatbase’s llms.txt labels paid tiers “Standard” and “Pro,” while the pricing page and schema use “Basic” and “Business.” Use the pricing page names when you buy.
- Trial auto-convert: a payment method is required; cancel before day seven if you do not want the paid plan to start.
- Credit math: Actions multiply requests; heavier models cost 2–5 credits per response; unused monthly credits do not roll over.
- One agent per self-serve plan card: extra agents are add-ons at $25/month each.
- Storage ceiling: 40 MB extracted content on self-serve plans, expandable only within the stated add-on caps unless you move to Enterprise.
- Refunds are rare: non-refundable Fees are the default rule in the Terms.
Is Chatbase worth it?
Yes for teams that need a document-trained AI agent on their website and related channels, with clear self-serve prices from Hobby $40/month and a feature ladder into voice, Helpdesk and API on Basic and Business. No for buyers who need a durable Free plan, scraping infrastructure or soft refund terms.
| Buyer situation | Plan to start | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First site agent, modest traffic | Hobby | $40/month or $32 billed yearly, 700 credits, messaging channels listed included |
| Need voice, API or Helpdesk inbox | Basic | $150/month or $120 billed yearly, 4,000 credits, Helpdesk and voice on the public table |
| Higher volume plus advanced analytics / ticket sources | Business | $500/month or $400 billed yearly, 15,000 credits |
| SSO, HIPAA BAA, SLAs, white-label | Enterprise | Custom commitment; price not disclosed |
| Permanent $0 plan or easy refunds | Skip / verify | Terms deny a Free plan; Fees non-refundable by default |
Key takeaways (checked November 9, 2026)
- Chatbase’s Hobby plan is the entry paid plan for a website AI agent, because it costs $40/month or $32/month billed yearly and includes 700 message credits, 2 seats and 40 MB of training content on the public pricing table (Chatbase pricing page, November 9, 2026).
- Chatbase’s Basic plan is the self-serve step for teams that need Helpdesk inbox, voice and API access, because those capabilities appear on Basic at $150/month or $120/month billed yearly with 4,000 message credits (Chatbase pricing page, November 9, 2026).
- Chatbase’s Business plan is the self-serve plan for higher volume and deeper training analytics, because it lists 15,000 message credits, advanced analytics and tickets as a source at $500/month or $400/month billed yearly (Chatbase pricing page, November 9, 2026).
- Chatbase prices usage in message credits that renew on the first calendar day of each month without rollover, so Actions and higher-cost models can exhaust a tier faster than a raw conversation count suggests (Chatbase pricing FAQ and docs, checked November 9, 2026).
- Chatbase’s Terms of Service state that Chatbase does not offer a free plan and that Fees are non-refundable except for narrow breach cases, so buyers should not treat marketing “Free $0” lines as a standing offer without checking the live pricing cards (Terms of Service and pricing page, checked November 9, 2026).
- Chatbase’s 7-day trial requires a payment method and converts to a paid subscription unless canceled in time, so the trial is a billed onboarding path rather than a no-card sandbox (Terms §4.5 and pricing page, checked November 9, 2026).
Our verdict: Chatbase is a coherent buy when you need a site-facing AI agent with documented credit pricing and a clear Hobby → Basic → Business ladder. Its hard limits are credit burn, the Free-plan contradiction, trial auto-conversion and non-refundable Fees. Start from the pricing cards, run the 7-day trial only if you are ready to cancel or pay, and move to Basic when voice, API or Helpdesk inbox become mandatory.
FAQ
Is Chatbase worth it?
Yes for teams that want an AI agent trained on their own docs and site, embeddable as a website widget, with optional email, messaging and voice channels: Hobby starts at $40/month ($32 billed yearly) for 700 message credits. No if you need a standing $0 plan the Terms say does not exist, or a refund-friendly prepaid buy (Chatbase pricing and Terms, checked November 9, 2026).
How much does Chatbase cost per month?
Self-serve USD prices on the pricing page are Hobby $40/month ($32 billed yearly), Basic $150/month ($120 billed yearly) and Business $500/month ($400 billed yearly), with a stated 20% yearly discount. Enterprise is custom. Add-ons include $40 per 1,000 message credits, $99/month to remove branding, $25 per extra agent/month and $25 per 10 MB storage/month (pricing page, checked November 9, 2026).
Does Chatbase have a free plan?
Marketing pages still mention a Free plan at $0, but the public pricing cards checked November 9, 2026 show Hobby, Basic, Business and Enterprise only, and Chatbase’s Terms of Service state “Chatbase does not offer a free plan.” After cancel, an account with no active plan cannot use the Service until a paid plan is started. Confirm the current Free status in-account before you budget on $0.
How do Chatbase message credits work?
Each model request spends message credits; Actions can trigger multiple requests for one user turn. Subscription credits renew on the first calendar day of each month and unused credits do not carry over. Auto-recharge packs cost $40 per 1,000 credits and do not expire. Docs list model costs from 1 to 5 credits per response depending on the model (pricing FAQ and docs, checked November 9, 2026).
How long is the Chatbase free trial?
Seven days on paid plans. Pricing cards show a 7-day trial, and the Terms require a valid payment method to start it. Unless you cancel before the trial ends, it converts to the selected paid plan and billing starts; ending the trial early also starts the paid subscription immediately (Terms §4.5 and pricing page, checked November 9, 2026).
Can I get a refund from Chatbase?
Usually no. The Terms say payment obligations are non-cancellable and Fees are non-refundable except where the Agreement explicitly provides otherwise. The stated refund path is unused prepaid Fees if you terminate for Chatbase’s uncured material breach. Billing disputes must be raised within 60 days of the first statement showing the error (Terms §4 and §5.3, checked November 9, 2026).
Did Unfair Advantage test Chatbase hands-on?
No. We did not open a Chatbase account, train an agent, embed a widget or place a live call. This review relies on Chatbase’s official pricing page, Terms of Service, llm-info summary, security page, documentation on credits, models, data sources and channels, plus feature pages, all checked November 9, 2026 (Europe/Paris).
Sources
Sources are listed as plain URLs, without links, so this page sends no clicks to vendors. Dates are Europe/Paris verification dates unless a source stamps its own date.
- Chatbase pricing page, www.chatbase.co/pricing (plan cards Hobby/Basic/Business/Enterprise, yearly 20% discount, credit allowances, seats, comparison table, add-ons, pricing FAQ schema and SoftwareApplication offers; checked November 9, 2026 ~21:35–21:38 Europe/Paris)
- Chatbase Terms of Service, www.chatbase.co/legal/terms (Fees non-refundable §4.1; Free Trial §4.5; no free plan and inactive-plan rules §5.1; breach refund §5.3; checked November 9, 2026)
- Chatbase llm-info, www.chatbase.co/llm-info (product summary, channels, Free $0 claim, Hobby/Basic/Business prices; last updated September 7, 2026; checked November 9, 2026)
- Chatbase llms.txt, www.chatbase.co/llms.txt (machine-readable summary; Free/Hobby/Standard/Pro naming; checked November 9, 2026)
- Chatbase security page, www.chatbase.co/security (SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA-eligible Enterprise; checked November 9, 2026)
- Chatbase docs: docs/llms.txt index; user-guides/quick-start/introduction; user-guides/quick-start/your-first-agent; user-guides/chatbot/data-sources; user-guides/chatbot/channels; user-guides/chatbot/actions/actions-overview; user-guides/chatbot/models-comparison; user-guides/workspace/usage; user-guides/workspace/settings; faq/faq; integrations overview (checked November 9, 2026)
- Chatbase enterprise and integrations pages, www.chatbase.co/enterprise and www.chatbase.co/integrations; feature pages www.chatbase.co/features/widgets and www.chatbase.co/features/product-overview (checked November 9, 2026)