Table of Contents
- What is Botpress AI?
- Is Botpress a conversational AI framework or a platform?
- How does Botpress work?
- What features does Botpress offer?
- Botpress Studio and flow building
- Knowledge bases
- Channels and integrations (Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, and more)
- Human handoff
- How much does Botpress cost in 2026?
- What counts as a Botpress conversation?
- What happens when you pass the limit?
- What does Botpress cost at your volume?
- Is the old $89 Botpress plan still available?
- What are Botpress's pros and cons?
- Pros
- Cons
- What do users say about Botpress?
- Who should use Botpress?
- What are the best Botpress alternatives?
- Botpress vs SiteGPT: which one fits?
- How to choose between Botpress and its alternatives
- Frequently asked questions
- Basics
- What is Botpress AI?
- Is Botpress open source?
- Does Botpress use ChatGPT?
- Does Botpress require coding?
- Pricing and free plan
- Is Botpress free?
- How much does Botpress cost?
- What does a Botpress conversation cost beyond the plan?
- Can you remove Botpress branding?
- Features and integrations
- Does Botpress integrate with Slack, Telegram, and Discord?
- Does Botpress integrate with Zendesk?
- Can Botpress keep its knowledge base up to date?
- Can you self-host Botpress?
- Alternatives
- What are the best Botpress alternatives?
- Is there a free Botpress alternative?
- Is Botpress or SiteGPT better for customer service?
- Sources
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Feb 7, 2026 06:04 AM
Botpress AI is a cloud platform for building AI agents with a visual Studio and custom code. It fits teams that have a developer and need custom conversation flows across WhatsApp, Slack, and web chat. Teams that only need answers from their own content pay less and launch faster with a content-trained tool.
TL;DR
- Botpress is a builder platform. You design flows in Studio, add code where you need it, and deploy to web chat, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, and more.
- Pricing changed on 14 May 2026. New workspaces pay per conversation: free for 100 conversations, Plus at $150 a month, Team at $750 a month, both billed annually. AI usage is included.
- Extra conversations cost $65 per 100 on Plus and $50 per 100 on Team. Packs are added automatically and you cannot turn that off.
- Botpress is no longer self-hostable. The open-source v12 version was sunset and Botpress Cloud is the only option for new builds.
- If you do not need custom flows, SiteGPT answers from your own content from $39 a month billed yearly. It has no flow builder and no free plan.
Aspect | Verdict |
Best for | Teams with a developer that need custom flows, code, and messaging channels |
Free plan | Yes. 100 conversations, 3 seats, 3 AI agents |
Paid pricing | Plus $150 a month, Team $750 a month, billed annually, AI usage included |
Biggest strength | Visual flows plus code in one Studio, with a large integration hub |
Biggest limitation | Build time and skills. Cost climbs with conversation volume |
Self-hosting | Not available. Botpress v12 was sunset |
Capterra rating | 4.5 out of 5 from 37 reviews |
What is Botpress AI?
Botpress AI is a cloud platform for building, deploying, and running AI agents. You build an agent in Botpress Studio, connect a knowledge base, add integrations, and publish it to a channel such as web chat or WhatsApp.
The company is based in Canada. In June 2025 it raised a $25 million Series B led by Framework Venture Partners, with HubSpot Ventures and Deloitte Ventures joining.
Botpress sits on the builder side of this category. A content-trained chatbot answers questions from your documents. A builder platform lets you script what the agent does step by step. The difference between those two levels is covered in AI agent vs chatbot.
Is Botpress a conversational AI framework or a platform?
Botpress is a hosted conversational AI platform today. It started as an open-source framework that developers installed on their own servers, and many search results still describe it that way.
That version is gone for new users. The Botpress documentation states that v12 "has been officially sunset" and is not available for download or new deployments.
What remains open source is the tooling around the cloud product: the CLI, the SDK, and the public integrations. The platform that runs your agent is Botpress Cloud.
How does Botpress work?
Botpress works by combining a visual flow with an AI model and your content. A flow is a set of nodes. Each node holds cards, and each card does one job.
- Autonomous Node lets the AI model decide the next step inside limits you set.
- Execute Code runs your own JavaScript in the flow.
- Knowledge Bases let the agent answer from your content using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
- Flow logic cards route the conversation between paths.
What features does Botpress offer?
Botpress offers five feature groups that matter for a buying decision: the Studio, knowledge bases, integrations, human handoff, and model choice.
Botpress Studio and flow building
Botpress Studio is a drag-and-drop canvas with code access. You can sketch a flow visually and then write code for the parts a card cannot do.
This is where Botpress is the stronger pick. A content-trained tool such as SiteGPT has no flow canvas at all. If your agent must collect five fields, call an API, and branch on the result, Botpress is built for that job. Other visual builders are compared in the drag and drop chatbot builder guide. If you have no developer, the no-code chatbot builder ranking lists eight builders that need no code, with prices and free plans.
Knowledge bases
Botpress knowledge bases accept six source types, according to the knowledge base documentation:
- Websites, from a root domain or single pages
- Documents (PDF, HTML, TXT, DOC, DOCX, MD) up to 50 MB each
- Tables
- Rich text
- Live web search
- Integration sources such as Notion and Google Drive
Websites are indexed once by default. You can set a re-crawl schedule, such as daily, so the agent picks up page changes.
Channels and integrations (Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, and more)
Botpress Cloud connects to channels and business tools through its integrations hub. The hub lists:
Type | Integrations listed |
Channels | Web chat, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram, Microsoft Teams, Discord |
CRM | HubSpot, Salesforce |
Helpdesk | Zendesk, Intercom |
Content | Notion, Google Drive, Confluence |
AI models | OpenAI, Anthropic, and other providers |
Installing an integration is quick. Making it do something useful in a flow still takes configuration, and sometimes code.
Human handoff
Botpress supports human handoff on the Plus plan and above. The handoff documentation says new workspaces get it through Botpress Desk, the company's AI helpdesk. Older workspaces use the previous handoff integration.
Routing rules, teams, and role-based access start on the Team plan. How handoff differs across tools is covered in AI chatbots with human handoff.
How much does Botpress cost in 2026?
Botpress costs $0 for 100 conversations, $150 a month for Plus, and $750 a month for Team. The two paid prices are for annual billing. All figures below come from botpress.com/pricing.
Plan | Price (billed annually) | Conversations included | Extra conversations | Seats | AI usage included |
Free | $0 | 100 | Not available | 3 | Included, no top-ups |
Plus | $150 a month ($1,800 a year) | 250 a month | $65 per 100 | 3 | $25 a month |
Team | $750 a month ($9,000 a year) | 1,500 a month | $50 per 100 | Unlimited | $150 a month |
Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | Custom |
The pricing page says annual billing saves 20%. That puts monthly billing at about $187.50 for Plus and $937.50 for Team. Confirm the monthly figure at checkout.
What counts as a Botpress conversation?
A Botpress conversation is any exchange with at least two messages from the end user in a billing month. A conversation that runs across two months counts in both. Test conversations in the emulator count too.
AI-only and human-assisted conversations count the same. On the voice channel, 3 minutes of a call counts as 1 conversation.
What happens when you pass the limit?
Botpress adds a pack of 100 conversations automatically when you reach 95% of your quota. You cannot turn this off. Unused conversations in a pack expire at the end of the month.
Each conversation includes $0.10 of AI usage. If a workspace reaches 95% of its AI usage limit, Botpress buys a $10 credit at cost. That credit carries over for up to 12 months.
What does Botpress cost at your volume?
The table below does the math for five volumes on annual billing. It picks the cheaper plan at each volume and ignores the early 95% trigger.
Conversations a month | Cheapest plan | Monthly cost | Cost per conversation |
250 | Plus | $150 | $0.60 |
500 | Plus + 3 packs | $345 | $0.69 |
750 | Plus + 5 packs | $475 | $0.63 |
1,000 | Plus + 8 packs | $670 | $0.67 |
1,500 | Team | $750 | $0.50 |
Team becomes cheaper than Plus above 1,150 conversations a month. At that point Plus needs 10 packs and costs $800.
Is the old $89 Botpress plan still available?
The $89 Plus plan is a legacy price. Botpress announced that the new pricing applies only to workspaces created after 14 May 2026, and that existing workspaces keep their previous pricing.
The previous model charged $89 a month for Plus or $495 a month for Team, with AI Spend billed on top, as documented in December 2025. Many reviews still quote those numbers. A new sign-up will not see them.
How these prices compare across the category is in the AI chatbot pricing comparison. If you are still deciding between per-conversation, per-outcome and flat pricing, the AI chatbot pricing models guide works one example through each model.
What are Botpress's pros and cons?
Pros
- Flow control and code in one place. You can design a flow visually and run your own JavaScript inside it.
- A real free plan. 100 conversations, 3 seats, and 3 agents cost nothing.
- AI usage is now included. New workspaces no longer get a separate AI Spend bill on top of the plan.
- Wide channel coverage. WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram, Teams, and Discord are all in the hub.
- CRM and helpdesk integrations. HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk, and Intercom are listed.
- Unlimited AI agents on paid plans. Agencies and multi-brand teams do not pay per bot.
- Scheduled re-crawling. Website sources can refresh daily.
Cons
- It takes skills to build. A Capterra reviewer wrote that "Botpress has a steep learning curve" for non-technical users.
- Cost rises with volume. 1,000 conversations a month costs $670 on Plus.
- Auto-added packs cannot be switched off. A traffic spike becomes a bill.
- No self-hosting. Teams that chose Botpress for on-premise control have to look elsewhere.
- Collaboration costs $750 a month. Plus stops at 3 seats. Roles, routing, and real-time co-editing need Team.
- Voice is Enterprise only.
What do users say about Botpress?
Botpress holds 4.5 out of 5 on Capterra from 37 reviews. Capterra's sub-scores are 4.1 for ease of use and 4.0 for customer service.
The pattern in those reviews is consistent. Developers praise the mix of low-code and code. Non-technical reviewers report a hard first few weeks.
Who should use Botpress?
Botpress is a good fit if you:
- Have a developer, or a technical builder, who will own the agent
- Need multi-step flows with API calls and branching
- Serve customers on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, or Teams
- Run many agents and want one price for all of them
- Want to start free and test before paying
Botpress is a poor fit if you:
- Want a website chatbot that answers from your help content this week
- Have no one to build and maintain flows
- Need a fixed monthly bill at 1,000 or more conversations
- Must run the software on your own servers
What are the best Botpress alternatives?
The best Botpress alternative depends on why you are leaving. No tool here is best overall. Each row names the case it fits. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page.
# | Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free option | Main trade-off |
1 | Teams that design flows together on one canvas | Not published. Usage-based, quoted on request | Not confirmed on the pricing page | You need a sales conversation to get a price | |
2 | Website customer service answered from your own content | $59 a month, or $39 a month billed yearly | 7-day trial, card required | No flow builder and no free plan | |
3 | Small teams that want a content-trained bot with a free tier | $40 a month, or $32 a month billed yearly | Free plan, 50 message credits | Removing branding costs $99 a month | |
4 | Engineering teams that must self-host | Free Developer Edition, then custom | 1 bot, up to 1,000 external conversations a month | Code-first. No hosted no-code builder |
Voiceflow comes first because it is the closest match for the reason most people choose Botpress: building custom flows. SiteGPT is second because it solves a different job, and it only fits if that job is yours. If you need several agents across departments that also query databases, the GPTBots review covers a no-code platform with a free plan and credit-based usage.
Botpress vs SiteGPT: which one fits?
Botpress and SiteGPT solve different problems. Botpress is a builder for custom agents. SiteGPT is a chatbot trained on your own content for customer service and lead generation.
Feature | Botpress | SiteGPT |
Core job | Build custom flows and agents | Answer questions from your content |
Flow builder | Yes, visual plus code | No |
Content sources | Websites, documents, tables, Notion, Google Drive | 12+ sources: websites, sitemaps, files, YouTube, GitHub, Google Drive, Notion, Dropbox, OneDrive, SharePoint, Box, help centers |
Content refresh | Scheduled re-crawl for websites | Monthly on Growth, weekly plus daily scan on Scale |
Customer channels | Web chat, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram, Teams | Web chat. Slack, Crisp, Messenger, and Google Chat from Growth. Zendesk from Scale. WhatsApp as a paid add-on |
Free plan | Yes, 100 conversations | No. 7-day trial with a card |
Entry paid price | $150 a month billed annually | $39 a month billed yearly ($59 monthly) |
Billing unit | Conversations | Messages |
Human handoff | Plus and above | All plans |
Choose Botpress when the agent has to follow steps you design, or when your customers are on Telegram, Instagram, or Teams. SiteGPT covers WhatsApp through a paid add-on ($39 a month billed yearly) and has no Telegram, Instagram, Teams, Intercom, or HubSpot integration today.
Choose SiteGPT when the job is answering questions from content you already have. Starter costs $468 a year on annual billing. Botpress Plus costs $1,800 a year. That is $1,332 less, or 74%.
The two plans do not count usage the same way. Botpress counts conversations. SiteGPT counts messages, with up to 4,000 a month on Starter using GPT-4.1-mini or 400 using GPT-4.1. Estimate your own volume in both units before comparing.
How to choose between Botpress and its alternatives
If you need... | Pick... | Why |
Custom flows with code and API calls | Botpress | Studio combines a visual canvas with JavaScript |
A bot on WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram | Botpress | Those channels are in its integration hub |
A free plan to prototype | Botpress or Chatbase | Botpress gives 100 conversations. Chatbase gives 50 message credits |
Flow design shared across a team | Voiceflow | A collaborative canvas is its main product |
Answers from your website and help center, live this week | SiteGPT | It trains on existing content with no flows to build |
A flat bill at higher volume | SiteGPT | Plans have fixed monthly prices and message limits |
Software on your own servers | Rasa | It supports self-managed deployment. Botpress does not |
Frequently asked questions
Basics
What is Botpress AI?
Botpress AI is a cloud platform for building AI agents. It combines a visual Studio, custom code, knowledge bases, and integrations with channels such as WhatsApp and Slack.
Is Botpress open source?
Botpress Cloud is not open source. The open-source v12 version was sunset and is not available for new deployments. The CLI, SDK, and public integrations for the cloud product remain open source.
Does Botpress use ChatGPT?
Botpress can use OpenAI models, the same family that powers ChatGPT. Its integrations hub also lists Anthropic and other model providers.
Does Botpress require coding?
Botpress does not require code for a simple agent. Custom logic, API calls, and complex flows usually need JavaScript in an Execute Code card. If nobody on the team writes code, the Landbot alternatives guide compares flow builders that a marketer can run alone.
Pricing and free plan
Is Botpress free?
Botpress has a free plan with 100 conversations, 3 seats, and 3 AI agents. The free plan has no top-ups or overage packs.
How much does Botpress cost?
Botpress Plus costs $150 a month and Team costs $750 a month, both billed annually. Plus includes 250 conversations and Team includes 1,500. Enterprise pricing is custom.
What does a Botpress conversation cost beyond the plan?
Extra Botpress conversations cost $65 per 100 on Plus and $50 per 100 on Team. Packs are added automatically at 95% of the quota.
Can you remove Botpress branding?
Yes. White-label web chat is included from the Plus plan at $150 a month billed annually.
Features and integrations
Does Botpress integrate with Slack, Telegram, and Discord?
Yes. The Botpress integrations hub lists Slack, Telegram, and Discord, along with WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Microsoft Teams.
Does Botpress integrate with Zendesk?
Yes. Zendesk is listed in the Botpress integrations hub, next to Intercom, HubSpot, and Salesforce.
Can Botpress keep its knowledge base up to date?
Yes, for websites. You can set a re-crawl schedule such as daily.
Can you self-host Botpress?
No. Self-hosted versions are no longer available for download, purchase, or new deployments.
Alternatives
What are the best Botpress alternatives?
Voiceflow fits teams that design flows together. SiteGPT fits website customer service answered from your own content. Chatbase fits small teams that want a free tier. Rasa fits teams that must self-host.
Is there a free Botpress alternative?
Chatbase has a free plan with 50 message credits a month. Rasa has a free Developer Edition for 1 bot. SiteGPT has no free plan, only a 7-day trial that needs a card. If the budget has to stay at zero, the caps on six free plans are listed in free chatbots for a website.
Is Botpress or SiteGPT better for customer service?
Botpress is better when service involves custom steps, such as checking an order through an API. SiteGPT is better when most questions can be answered from your website and help center, and you want a fixed price.
Sources
All pages opened on 3 October 2026.
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