Chatbase builds AI agents that answer customers from your own content. People search for a Chatbase alternative when they want the same idea with a different bill, or when most of their customer conversations happen in Instagram and Facebook DMs rather than on a website. This page explains what Chatbase’s pricing page said in 2026, then how VivaDialog does the job: the AI Agent, the Knowledge entries it answers from, and Website chat. We make VivaDialog, so read that part knowing it. Prices are in US dollars and change, so confirm them on the vendor’s page.
What Chatbase lists
From Chatbase’s pricing page, read in 2026 and billed yearly:
| Plan | Per month | Message credits a month | Agents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $32 | 700 | 1 |
| Basic | $120 | 4,000 | 1 |
| Business | $400 | 15,000 | 1 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Not stated |
Each of the three paid plans showed 40 MB of storage for training content, and a 7-day trial. The page listed no free plan. It also showed struck-through prices of $40, $150, and $500, which we read as the monthly price before the yearly discount, though the page does not spell that out.
Chatbase’s home page described agents for customer conversations over chat, email, and voice, with Website, Meta apps, Slack, and WhatsApp named among the places they run. It did not name Instagram or Messenger separately, so check that before you buy if DMs are your main channel. It also showed a Helpdesk where AI and people work from the same conversation.
The unit to estimate is the message credit. Hobby includes 700, and the next two plans raise that to 4,000 and 15,000, so estimate your monthly volume first.
How VivaDialog answers from your facts
VivaDialog has two AI layers, and both answer only from text you write.
AI replies in an automation. In a rule you pick Answer with AI under How should it reply? and write the facts it may use, such as prices and opening hours. It writes one short reply in the customer’s language, and it is told never to invent prices, stock, dates, or policies you did not give it.
The AI Agent. It answers DMs that no flow or rule handled, from entries you write under Knowledge in the Automations section. You click New entry and choose Question and answer or Note. Import CSV adds up to 200 rows at once, with the columns question and answer. Under Test a question you can type what a customer would ask and see which entries it would answer from. That test uses no AI and no quota.
Entries are capped per plan:
| Plan | Knowledge entries |
|---|---|
| Starter | 50 |
| Growth | 200 |
| Pro | 500 |
| Premium | 1,000 |
Each entry has a title of up to 300 characters and text of up to 1,500, and a language. The AI Agent comes with Starter and higher plans.
What it answers, and when it stays quiet
- Answer DMs on: Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, email, or Website. It never answers comments.
- Only questions your entries cover is the default. When no entry fits, it sends nothing of its own. You choose Leave it to your team (the conversation is tagged
needs-person) or Send a fixed message. - Every question lets it answer in general terms, with an instruction not to state prices, stock, dates, or policies you have not given it. VivaDialog asks you to confirm that choice.
- Flows and rules answer first. After someone on your team replies, the AI Agent stays quiet in that conversation for 24 hours. It sends at most 5 answers in one conversation in 24 hours, or 20 on Website chat.
Every automatic AI reply ends with a short note such as “(automated reply by AI)”, so the customer knows. Owners and admins can switch that note off.
Website chat for the website side
If you came for a chat bubble on a site, VivaDialog has one. Owners and admins create it under Settings > Channels on the Website chat card with Create a chat widget, then paste one line of code before </body>. The AI Agent answers website visitors once you turn it on for Website chat. Add a chat widget to your website has the steps and the limits. Website chat comes with every paid plan, not the trial.
Cost and units
Chatbase counts message credits. VivaDialog charges a flat price per workspace and counts AI replies: 200 a month on Starter ($9, or $7.20 billed yearly), 1,000 on Growth ($12, or $9.60), 3,000 on Pro ($20, or $16), and 8,000 on Premium ($35, or $28). Those numbers are in the pricing page. The two units are not the same, so do not compare 700 credits with 200 replies directly. Estimate how many customer messages you get that the AI should answer, then check each plan against that number.
You can also bring your own AI account. Use your own AI key supports OpenRouter, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Groq, and Google Gemini. With a key, automation AI replies are billed by your provider and do not count against the plan’s AI quota. Website chat is the exception: it always uses VivaDialog’s built-in AI. Use your own OpenAI or OpenRouter key for auto replies goes into the details.
Where Chatbase is the better pick
- You want to train an agent on documents, URLs, or a catalog. The VivaDialog help describes two entry types and a CSV import, with text you write yourself. It does not describe crawling a site or uploading files.
- You want voice or Slack agents. VivaDialog has neither.
- Your customers are only on your website and you do not need social DMs.
VivaDialog fits better when your customers already write to you in Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, or email and you want one inbox, one set of facts, and a flat monthly price. Instagram auto reply: what you can automate and the limits covers the Meta limits behind the DM replies.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Chatbase alternative?
It depends on where your customers write. For website-only agents trained on documents, Chatbase is built for that. For DMs on Instagram and Facebook plus a website chat in one inbox, VivaDialog.
Does Chatbase have a free plan?
The pricing page we read in 2026 listed a 7-day trial on the paid plans and no free plan.
Can VivaDialog’s AI answer from my website?
It answers from the entries and instructions you write. The help does not describe crawling a website.
Can the AI answer Instagram comments?
An automation can answer a comment with an AI reply written from the facts in that automation. The AI Agent itself answers DMs only.
Will the AI make up prices?
It is told not to state prices, stock, dates, or policies you did not give it, and to say someone from your team will follow up. Test with Test it first before you switch the automation on.
VivaDialog is in early access right now, and participants get the Growth plan free for 30 days. The pricing page has the details.