How much does an AI chatbot cost for a small business in 2026?
In October 2026, a small business pays between about $29 and $150 a month for an AI chatbot that answers visitors on its website, on the self-serve plans of the products below. Products that charge per resolved conversation cost about $1 each time the chatbot solves a request. The monthly price matters less than what each product counts as usage, so two plans with the same price can give you very different amounts of answers.
What are the ways AI chatbots are priced?
| Pricing model | What you pay for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Per response | Each reply the chatbot sends | Sincra |
| Per credit or message, by AI model | A quota of credits or messages; a reply costs more with a more capable model | Chatbase, SiteGPT |
| Per conversation | Each chat the AI takes part in, however many replies | Tidio's Lyro AI agent |
| Per outcome | Each conversation the AI resolves | Intercom's Fin AI agent |
What do five products charge?
Published prices in US dollars, read on each company's own pages on the dates given in the sources.
| Product | Entry price | What it includes | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sincra | $29 a month | 500 responses a month | No |
| Chatbase | $40 a month | 700 message credits a month | Yes, 50 credits a month |
| SiteGPT | $59 a month, or $468 a year | Up to 4,000 messages a month with its smaller model, or 400 with its larger one | No |
| Tidio, Lyro AI agent | Starts at $32.50 a month, as displayed | From 50 Lyro conversations a month | Yes, with the first 50 Lyro conversations |
| Intercom, Fin AI agent | $0.99 per outcome | Charged once per conversation; a monthly minimum applies when Fin runs on another helpdesk | See Intercom's pricing |
What else changes the bill?
- The AI model. Where usage depends on the model, the same plan can give ten times fewer replies with the larger model. SiteGPT's pricing page states that ratio for its two models.
- Add-ons. Removing the vendor's branding from the chat is often extra: $99 a month at Chatbase and from $39 a month at SiteGPT. At Sincra it is part of the Business plan.
- Going over the plan. Some products sell top-ups, such as $40 per 1,000 credits at Chatbase or $59 for 5,000 messages at SiteGPT. Others, like Sincra, stop the AI until the next month and charge nothing extra.
- Seats and other quotas. Platforms with live chat for your team charge for more than the AI. Tidio has separate quotas for conversations your agents handle, AI conversations and automated flows.
- Monthly or yearly display. Some pricing pages show the yearly rate first. Check which one you are reading.
How do I estimate my own cost?
- Count the chats you expect in a month. A simple start is the number of enquiries you already get by email, phone and contact form.
- Estimate the replies per chat. Three to five is a reasonable range to test with.
- Multiply the two to get replies a month, then check that number against each product's unit.
An example with 200 chats a month and four replies per chat, which is 800 replies:
- Sincra: the Lite plan, $49 a month, covers 1,000 responses.
- SiteGPT: the Starter plan, $59 a month, covers it with the smaller model.
- Chatbase: if each reply costs one credit, 800 credits is more than the 700 in the $40 plan. One auto-recharge of 1,000 credits would bring the month to $80.
- Intercom Fin: at $0.99 per outcome, the cost depends on how many of the 200 chats count as an outcome. If all do, that is $198.
- Tidio: 200 Lyro conversations. Its pricing page has a calculator for that volume.
At higher volumes the order changes. Plans with large message bundles, such as SiteGPT's, cost less than Sincra once you need several thousand replies a month.
What should a small business choose?
If you want a chatbot on one website and a bill you can predict, look for a flat plan with one usage unit and no overage. If you expect high volume, compare message bundles. If you have a support team and several channels, a customer service platform will cover more than a website chatbot.
Sincra is the flat-plan option here: see how it works and what it costs, or read how it compares with Chatbase, Tidio and SiteGPT.
Sources
- Chatbase: pricing page, read October 4, 2026.
- Tidio: pricing page, read October 5, 2026.
- SiteGPT: pricing page, read October 5, 2026.
- Intercom: Fin AI Agent outcomes and pricing page, read October 5, 2026.
- Sincra: our pricing page.
The product names are trademarks of their owners, and Sincra is not affiliated with any of them. If something here is out of date, write to support@sincra.cloud and we will correct it.