AI chatbot cost calculator

Showing 500 AI chats and 3 teammates a month, in US dollars, billed monthly. Your team’s 200 chats aren’t in the sum.

Tools are listed alphabetically. Prices as of October 2026, from the pages linked under Prices used.

The same sum for 3 teammates, in US dollars on monthly billing, at 100, 500, 1,500 chats the AI answers a month, next to Freshchat, Crisp, Chatbase and SupportVia.

• The plan that costs least is picked for each tool, among the plans that allow your number of teammates. Where a plan’s page doesn’t price chats past its allowance, a plan that covers them all wins, and the total says “From”.
• Every chat the AI answers counts once on every tool: one Fin outcome on Intercom, one automated resolution on Zendesk, one AI resolution on LiveChat, one Freddy session on Freshchat, one automated chat on Crisp and one AI conversation on SupportVia.
• Chatbase counts message credits, not chats. We assume 3 credits a chat; change it in the form if yours differ.
• Chatbase’s monthly prices are the ones its page shows struck through beside each yearly price ($40, $150 and $500). Its page doesn’t label them as the monthly rate.
• Crisp’s AI is worked out from Crisp’s own words: its credits cover “around” 90, 450 or 1,350 automated conversations. Crisp’s page shows a $10 extra seat without saying which plans can add one; we allow it on all three.
• Intercom is priced with its Essential seats. Fin can also run with another helpdesk, with no seats but a monthly minimum. Seats are at Intercom’s list prices: $39 a seat billed monthly and $29 billed yearly. New customers pay $29 or $19, for as long as they stay subscribed; the sums don’t use that discount.
• SupportVia is the cheapest published plan for your teammates, with any AI chats past its monthly allowance priced as extra AI conversations, at the plan’s price for each. Extras are something you turn on, with a monthly cap you set: without them, those chats go to your team instead. Chats your team answers aren’t counted.
• Taxes are excluded on every row, and are added where they apply. Other tools’ dollar prices are converted at the rate in the form, which isn’t a live rate.
• Yearly billing is the yearly price per month. Crisp and Freshworks show one price only, so it’s used for both.

Every price was read on the vendor’s own pricing page in October 2026. Prices change, so check the page before you decide.

• An outcome isn’t always an answered question. As of October 2026, Intercom’s pricing page counts a Fin outcome when the customer confirms the issue is resolved, when they don’t ask for more help after Fin replies, or when Fin completes a workflow (Procedure), including handoffs. So a customer who leaves without replying can count.
• Credits run down at different speeds. On Chatbase, a long chat uses more message credits than a short one. Its auto-recharge adds $40 per 1,000 credits when the balance drops below a level you set.
• Handovers change the sum. Tools that bill per resolution don’t bill every chat the AI joins. On SupportVia’s published plans, a chat counts once the AI sends its first reply, even if your team takes it over later. If many of your chats go to people, the Zendesk and LiveChat rows can come out lower than shown. Intercom also counts some handoffs as outcomes (Procedures).
• Seats grow with your team. Intercom, Zendesk, LiveChat and Freshchat charge per person. Crisp and Chatbase charge per plan, with a limit on people. SupportVia’s published plans include 2, 5 or unlimited teammates.
• Price isn’t everything. The large suites do far more: email, tickets and other channels. For the full picture of each tool’s pricing, read the AI chatbot pricing study and how Intercom Fin is priced, or compare tools one by one on the alternatives pages, such as SupportVia vs Intercom.

A custom-built chatbot is quoted once, and someone still has to watch the chat and keep its answers up to date after launch. If you bring your own AI key, the AI provider bills you for tokens separately from any tool’s plan. See how your own AI account works with SupportVia.

SupportVia is an AI chatbot for your website that answers from your own pages, shows the page it read, and hands the chat to your team when it isn’t sure. Plans count one thing: AI conversations, as a monthly allowance. Chats your team answers are unlimited, and your own OpenAI, Claude or compatible account works on every plan (up to 1,000 conversations a month on Starter, up to 5,000 on Growth and no monthly cap on Pro) and never uses your AI conversations.

Starter is $29 a month for 150 AI conversations. See every plan on the pricing page.

Writing about support tools? Link to the calculator so your readers can work out their own numbers. Paste this where you mention it:

<a href="https://supportvia.app/tools/ai-chatbot-cost-calculator">AI chatbot cost calculator</a> by SupportVia

How much does Intercom Fin cost for 500 chats?

On Intercom’s published prices as of October 2026, 500 Fin outcomes and 3 Essential seats come to $612 a month on monthly billing: $117 for the seats and $495 for Fin. Fin bills outcomes, not every chat, so your own number can be lower.

Why isn’t Tidio included?

Tidio sells its Lyro AI in tiers of its own, next to billable conversations and Flows visitors, so it isn’t in the sum. See how Tidio charges in the AI chatbot pricing study.Read the AI chatbot pricing study

Does it include what my own AI key costs?

No. Each row uses the tool’s own AI. On any SupportVia plan you can connect your own OpenAI, Claude or compatible account instead (up to 1,000 conversations a month on Starter, up to 5,000 on Growth and no monthly cap on Pro); its answers never use your plan’s AI conversations, but your AI provider bills you for them separately.

How often are the prices updated?

Every price was read on the vendor’s own page in October 2026, and the date is shown beside each source. We plan to check them every quarter. Check the vendor’s page before you decide.