Chatbot pricing in the UK in 2026 runs from free or about £25 a month for a ready-made AI website chatbot to £3,000 to £18,000 or more for a custom build. Most small businesses pay £25 to £150 a month. Prices are indicative and usually exclude VAT.
At a glance
- Entry-level UK AI website chatbot plans start at about £25 a month (billed monthly).
- A managed UK AI chatbot is offered at £39 a month plus VAT with unlimited chats and no contract.
- UK small-business chatbot plans are available from £49 a month.
- One UK agency guide puts build costs at £0 to £15,000, with running costs of £0 to £800 a month.
- Another UK guide gives AI chatbot builds as £8,000 to £18,000, FAQ bots from about £3,000 and enterprise projects beyond £60,000.
- ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Copilot all have free plans, but these are general assistants rather than chatbots trained on your own site.
How much does a chatbot cost in the UK?
In 2026 a UK business chatbot costs roughly £25 to £500 or more a month for the platform. If you want something made to order, add a one-off build cost of about £500 to £18,000 or more. These figures are indicative and usually exclude VAT.
For most small businesses the number that matters is the monthly one. A ready-made AI chatbot that learns from your website, with no big build fee, typically lands between £25 and £150 a month. That covers a dental practice, a small law firm, a trades business or a letting agency that mainly wants to answer common questions and catch enquiries out of hours.
The range is wide because “chatbot” covers very different things. A simple FAQ bot that follows set rules is cheap. A bespoke AI system wired into your CRM and booking diary is a software project, and it is priced like one. When you read a quote, check which of these you are actually being offered.
All prices in this guide were gathered in November 2026. Providers change their plans often, so treat our figures as a guide and check the current price before you commit.
Chatbot pricing by type: build cost and monthly cost
Costs split into a one-off build fee and a monthly running cost, and the split changes a lot by type. The table below shows indicative market estimates drawn from UK guides and provider pages, not fixed quotes.
| Chatbot type | One-off build | Monthly cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rule-based FAQ bot | About £0 to £3,000 | About £0 to £50 | Follows set questions and answers, often with buttons |
| AI website chatbot (ready-made) | Often £0 | About £25 to £150 | Reads your website and answers in plain language |
| Custom-trained AI chatbot | About £3,000 to £18,000 | About £50 to £500 | Trained on your documents and tuned to your tone |
| CRM-integrated chatbot | About £8,000 to £18,000 | About £100 to £800 | Reads and writes to your CRM, diary and email |
| Enterprise project | £60,000 and above | Quoted individually | Multiple systems, teams and languages |
The sources do not agree exactly, and we would rather show you that than hide it. One UK agency guide puts build costs at £0 to £15,000 with running costs of £0 to £800 a month. Another puts AI chatbot builds at £8,000 to £18,000, with FAQ bots from about £3,000. The gap comes from what each counts as a “chatbot”. The lower figures include ready-made tools with no build fee at all.
What each tier means in practice
A rule-based bot only answers what someone has written into it. If a customer words a question differently, it often fails. An AI website chatbot copes with natural wording because it reads your pages. A custom-trained or integrated bot goes further and can act on what it learns, for example by checking a diary or updating a customer record.
What do UK chatbot platforms charge per month?
Example UK entry prices run from about £25 a month to £499 a month for advanced automation, with £39 plus VAT, £49 and £75 sitting in between. What you get at each step varies more than the price suggests.
| Example price | What to know |
|---|---|
| About £25 a month | Entry-level AI website chatbot, billed monthly |
| £39 a month plus VAT | Managed AI chatbot with unlimited chats and no contract |
| From £49 a month | Plans aimed at UK small businesses |
| About £75 a month | Typical mid-tier plan with more features or higher limits |
| About £499 a month | Advanced automation tier |
International tools such as Tidio and Chatbase start at around £20 to £25 a month. They can be perfectly good, but they are built for a global market, so UK-specific needs like VAT invoices and UK data questions are worth checking.
Chat limits and answer caps
Unlimited chats and capped answers can look similar on a pricing page, but they behave very differently. A plan with a monthly cap on AI answers is cheap while you are quiet and can become costly, or simply stop replying, in a busy month. A plan with unlimited chats gives you a steady bill. If your website gets seasonal peaks, such as a letting agent in September or a gym in January, this matters more than the headline price.
What to compare
- Chat or answer limits, and what happens when you reach them
- Your own branding on the chat window
- Lead capture, so enquiries reach you with contact details
- Handover to a human when the bot is unsure
Chati includes branding, lead capture and bookings. It also shows the sources for its answers and hands chats to your team when it is unsure. You can see current plans on our pricing page.
Dollars, exchange rates and VAT
Some tools show their prices in US dollars. Your card is charged in pounds at that day’s exchange rate, so the bill can drift from month to month. Add 20% VAT where it is not already included and a “$25” plan can cost noticeably more than it first appears. Look for prices shown in pounds with the VAT status stated.
What drives the price of a chatbot?
The main drivers are the number of chats, how the bot is trained on your content, integrations with your other systems, handover to staff, languages and the level of support. Each one moves either the monthly fee or the build cost.
Chat volume and usage costs
Every AI answer uses computing power, and providers pass some of that cost on. This is why some plans cap answers and others charge by usage. It’s simple: more visitors asking more questions means higher running costs, one way or another.
Training on your own content
A generic chatbot answers from general knowledge, which can be wrong for your business. A chatbot trained on your own website answers with your opening hours, your fees and your services. Chati is trained on the customer’s own data, so answers come from their website, and it shows the sources so a visitor can see where an answer came from. That is more useful than a generic reply, and it makes mistakes easier to spot and fix.
Integrations
Connecting the bot to bookings, a CRM or email is where prices climb. Each link needs setting up and testing, and some third-party tools charge for access. A bot that only answers questions is cheap. A bot that books an appointment and updates your records is doing more work and costs more to build.
Other drivers
- Handover to staff: passing a chat to a person needs routing and notifications.
- Languages: extra languages can mean extra testing.
- Support: a managed service costs more than a do-it-yourself tool, but saves you time.
What hidden costs should UK businesses watch for?
The extras that raise a headline price are VAT, setup fees, overage charges, annual lock-in, extra user seats and paid integrations. Ask about each before you sign.
- VAT: many UK prices are shown ex-VAT. At 20%, a £39 plan becomes £46.80 a month.
- Setup fees: some providers charge to load your content or design the widget. Others do not.
- Overage charges: ask whether going over your chat limit slows the bot down, stops it or adds a bill.
- Annual lock-in: a low monthly price may need a 12-month commitment. No-contract plans cost a little more but are easier to leave.
- Extra seats: a team inbox for handed-over chats can be charged per person.
- Paid integrations: connecting to your CRM or diary can be an add-on.
Keeping answers up to date
A chatbot is only as good as the information behind it. When your prices or opening hours change and the bot is not refreshed, it will give old answers. Ask how often it re-reads your site and whether that costs extra.
UK GDPR and data questions
Chats can contain names, phone numbers and sometimes sensitive details. Put these questions to any provider:
- Where is chat data stored, and for how long?
- Is our data used to train other companies’ models?
- Can we delete a chat or a customer’s data on request?
- Will you sign a data processing agreement?
For regulated businesses such as solicitors and dental practices, these answers matter as much as the price.
Should you buy a chatbot platform or commission a custom build?
For most small UK businesses, a managed platform trained on their own website is cheaper and faster to start. A custom build makes sense when you need deep links into other systems that a ready-made tool cannot reach.
Rough cost over a year
| Route | Year-one cost (indicative) |
|---|---|
| Ready-made platform at £25 to £150 a month | About £300 to £1,800 |
| Custom build at £3,000 to £18,000 plus running costs | About £3,600 to £24,000 or more |
These are our own sums from the ranges above, not quotes. They show the scale of the difference rather than a precise price.
When custom integration is worth paying for
Pay for custom work if your enquiries depend on information held in another system, such as live availability, case management or a bespoke booking process. For answering questions and capturing leads, a platform will usually do the job.
Chati’s team has been developing apps since 2009, and we offer custom integration alongside a ready-to-use chatbot trained on your own data. We think the sensible path is to start with the simpler route and add integration only where it earns its keep. You can read how Chati works for the detail.
Is there a free chatbot for business?
Yes, free tiers exist, but general assistants like ChatGPT do not answer from your website, show sources or hand chats to your team. They are useful tools, just not a customer-facing chatbot.
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Copilot all have free plans. They are built to help one person with a task, such as drafting an email. They do not sit on your website, and they do not know your fees, your opening hours or your policies unless you paste them in each time.
What free plans cover and where they stop
Free chatbot builders do exist and usually limit the number of chats, show the provider’s branding and leave out features such as lead capture, bookings and human handover. Some are fine for a quiet site with a few common questions.
When free is fine and when it costs you leads
Free works if you are testing the idea or receive very few enquiries. It starts to cost you when a visitor asks something at 9pm, gets a vague answer and leaves, with no contact details captured and no one told. A paid chatbot that shows its sources, captures the lead and hands the chat to your team when it is unsure protects those enquiries. Chati does all three.
How to choose a chatbot and judge value for money
Compare chatbots on monthly cost, what is included, source citations, human handover, lead capture and bookings, not on headline price alone. A cheap plan that lacks handover or lead capture can cost more in missed enquiries.
A short checklist
- Is the price in pounds, and is VAT stated?
- Are chats unlimited or capped?
- Does it learn from your own website?
- Can it show where its answers come from?
- Can it hand a chat to a person?
- Can it capture leads and take bookings?
- Is there a contract, a setup fee or an overage charge?
- How is UK GDPR handled?
Questions to put to any provider
Ask what happens in your busiest month, how quickly you can cancel, who can see the chat history and how wrong answers get corrected. A clear, quick reply is a good sign.
What this looks like by sector
- Dental practices: out-of-hours questions about fees, emergencies and new patient appointments, so bookings and handover matter.
- Solicitors: careful handling of enquiries and data, so GDPR answers and a clean handover to a fee earner count most.
- Trades: quick lead capture while you are on a job, so a bot that takes details and passes them on is the priority.
- Letting agents: repeat questions about viewings, fees and availability, where unlimited chats help in busy months.
Our industry guides show how Chati fits each of these. If you would like a clear price for your own business, contact Chati and we will talk it through with you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an AI chatbot cost per month in the UK?
Entry-level plans start at about £25 a month, and many small businesses pay between £25 and £150. Advanced automation tiers can reach £499 a month or more.
Is VAT included in chatbot prices?
Often not. Many UK providers quote prices ex-VAT, so add 20% unless the page says VAT is included. Check this before comparing plans.
How much does a custom AI chatbot cost to build?
UK guides suggest about £3,000 for a simple FAQ bot and £8,000 to £18,000 for an AI chatbot build, with enterprise projects beyond £60,000. Running costs come on top.
Are there setup fees for a website chatbot?
Some providers charge them and others do not. Many ready-made platforms have no build fee at all, so ask for the full first-year cost in writing.
Can a small business use a free chatbot?
Yes, for testing or very low enquiry volumes. Free plans usually limit chats and leave out lead capture, bookings and human handover.
How long does it take to set up a chatbot?
It depends on the route. A ready-made chatbot that reads your website is much quicker to launch than a custom build with integrations. Ask any provider for a timescale before you sign.
Can a chatbot hand over to a real person?
Yes, if the product supports it. Chati hands chats to your human team when it is unsure, so a customer is not left with a poor answer.
Is a chatbot worth it for a small business?
It can be, if it answers common questions accurately and captures enquiries you would otherwise miss. Compare the monthly cost with the value of a single new customer for your business.
