As digital marketing rapidly evolves, chatbots have become essential tools for seamless communication, excellent customer service, and higher conversions. Among the abundance of marketing solutions available, Chatfuel has long been recognized as a favorite platform, enabling businesses to build high-quality chatbots without a technical background. However, as technology progresses and market trends shift, exploring alternative chatbot builders is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.
In this post, we’ll explore the best alternatives to Chatfuel in detail. We will evaluate each solution’s features, user interfaces, scalability, and integration capabilities to help you select the best solution for your business’s chatbot strategy.
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Chatfuel features
Chatfuel offers a wide range of features that make it easy to create and manage chatbots for various business goals. Some of the key Chatfuel features include:
- Easy-to-use interface. Chatfuel’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface is a notable highlight, allowing users to build chatbots without coding skills.
- Templates and add-ons. Users can choose from a variety of templates for eCommerce, real estate, restaurants, beauty, healthcare, insurance, travel, and more, along with plugins to speed up chatbot development and incorporate advanced features.
- Message blocks. Chatbot conversation flows can contain various message blocks with text, images, buttons, quick replies, and other elements to engage users.
- Audience segmentation. Chatfuel allows users to segment their audience based on demographics, behavior, or interaction history. This feature fosters personalized messaging and relevant communication tailored to different customer groups.
- Localization. Within the platform, users can set up their chatbots in as many languages as they need without building a separate bot for each language. It’s especially handy for companies that run their business in different countries.
- Analytics and reporting. With Chatfuel, users can monitor their chatbot performance and user interactions and collect insights into audience behavior based on various metrics, including open rates, click-through rates, and user retention.
- Integrations. Chatfuel’s significant advantage is its ability to seamlessly integrate with numerous platforms and third-party tools, including Google Sheets, Shopify, and many others.
Chatfuel provides robust features, making it one of the top choices for individuals and companies looking for powerful chatbot builders. However, several disadvantages might make you consider Chatfuel’s competitors.
Chatfuel downsides
Based on Chatfuel reviews on Capterra, we’ve compiled a list of commonly mentioned issues:
- Watermark on the trial version.
- High cost. Several users have raised concerns about Chatfuel’s pricing structure, especially following changes made due to the pandemic. These changes have made it difficult for startups and non-governmental organizations with limited budgets to afford this platform.
- Steep learning curve. Users often mention the need for a tutorial video or some supplementary materials to use the platform effectively.
- User interface complexity. Some users note that Chatfuel is somewhat outdated and not entirely intuitive, especially for those without prior experience.
- Limited customization. Some users found the platform not flexible enough, especially when implementing more complex or unique bot scenarios.
- Strong focus on Facebook Messenger. The platform offers a wide range of advanced features specifically for building Facebook chatbots. However, it neglects other communication channels and limits chatbot features for platforms outside of Facebook.
- Limited NLP. Users report problems with their chatbots, including chatbots failing to recognize user inputs and being unresponsive.
- Unsatisfactory customer support. Several Chatfuel reviews point out that customer support response times can be slow and that solutions offered are sometimes not helpful.
Some Chatfuel reviews also mentioned performance issues, scalability limitations, and integration difficulties.
If you can’t overlook any of these complaints, keep reading for our list of the best Chatfuel alternatives, along with their core features and pricing.
Top Chatfuel alternatives
We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of some of the most prominent Chatfuel competitors that offer better features and affordable pricing. Let’s now explore them to help you find the perfect solution for your needs.
SendPulse
SendPulse is a robust multichannel marketing platform that features a powerful chatbot builder for popular social media and messaging platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, among others.
SendPulse’s intuitive drag-and-drop builder and extensive library of pre-made templates will allow you to craft high-quality, effective chatbots quickly and effortlessly without any coding expertise. You can develop comprehensive, multi-step chatbot flows and leverage various text and multimedia elements, and triggers to automate numerous customer interactions across your sales pipelines. SendPulse also seamlessly integrates with OpenAI’s ChatGPT model, allowing your chatbot to engage with subscribers in a more conversational and human-like manner and enabling your employees to focus on more complex, high-priority queries.
By implementing a SendPulse-powered chatbot, you can streamline a wide variety of routine workflows, significantly saving time, money, and human resources. With this Chatfuel alternative, you can let your chatbot handle sales, 24/7 customer support, and appointment booking, as well as frequently asked questions and common issues, among other tasks.
SendPulse-based chatbots can also serve as secure payment gateways, allowing you to accept payments without depending on external platforms. By integrating payment systems and incorporating payment buttons into your chatbot flows, you can securely process payments using a variety of options, including PayPal, Stripe, Fondy, and more.
Pricing. This Chatfuel alternative offers a free plan that lets you create 3 bots, send up to 10,000 messages monthly across all your bots, manage 500 subscribers, and use 10 variables. For advanced features, such as WhatsApp integration and unlimited bots, messages, triggers, and variables, you can opt for SendPulse’s paid plan that starts at $10 per month for 500 subscribers.
ManyChat
ManyChat stands out as another excellent Chatfuel alternative available for Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. It allows users to create chatbots for various purposes, including sales, promotion, and customer support.
ManyChat provides two main tools for crafting and modifying chatbot flows: the Basic Builder and the Flow Builder. The Basic Builder is ideal for making simple message adjustments. The Flow Builder, on the other hand, offers drag-and-drop capabilities for creating more complex flows, offering a structured overview of your chatbot’s content.
This Chatfuel competitor also offers an extensive library of ready-to-go chatbot templates. Some are free, while others require users to purchase a paid plan beforehand. The platform allows you to use a wide range of chatbot components, including card galleries, audio, and video attachments, delay blocks for scheduling messages, and clickable buttons.
Pricing. This alternative to Chatfuel offers a free plan covering unlimited custom flows and 1,000 contacts for Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook. ManyChat’s paid plans, starting at $15 per month, include unlimited contacts, growth tools and keywords, unlimited tags, and advanced segmentation capabilities.
WotNot
WotNot is a versatile platform designed for lead generation, customer support, and appointment scheduling. Using its no-code builder, you can effortlessly create chatbots for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and your website.
WotNot allows you to create custom bots from scratch by simply dragging and dropping elements onto the bot builder canvas. Alternatively, you can choose one of the pre-made bots from their template library and tailor them to your brand’s needs. This Chatfuel alternative also offers an extensive selection of chat elements, including carousels, buttons, forms, delays, and sliders, allowing you to enhance user experience.
Using this platform, you can also develop effective FAQ chatbots supported by an AI knowledge base. By leveraging AI, these bots can deliver accurate, human-like responses to common inquiries, thereby enhancing the overall customer experience. For more complex issues, WotNot offers an agent handover feature to seamlessly transition customers to human support when necessary.
Pricing. This Chatfuel competitor offers a free plan that includes 500 chats and unlimited users. If you expect to exceed this chat limit, you should consider opting for WotNot’s paid plan, which starts at $49 per month and covers up to 2,000 chats.
Tidio
Tidio is a robust AI-powered bot builder that allows businesses to resolve customer inquiries on autopilot, increase conversions, deliver seamless support, and significantly enhance revenue.
This Chatfuel competitor allows you to select from 35+ pre-built chatbot templates or craft custom automated flows from scratch using an intuitive drag-and-drop builder. The platform also offers the Lyro AI Agent, a conversational AI that lets you effectively engage with your audience and handle the majority of customer inquiries across different live channels. With its support for seven languages and the ability to use your existing data, this agent can take over routine customer service tasks and eliminate the need for additional hiring.
By using Tidio, you can take proactive steps to automatically interact with your website visitors and guide your prospects through your sales funnels. The tool enables you to use plug-and-play chatbots to handle missed conversations, provide discounts, recover abandoned carts, suggest products, and streamline other tasks effortlessly.
Pricing. Tidio offers a free plan that includes 50 live chat conversations, 100 chatbot triggers, unlimited tickets, and 3 seats. Its most affordable paid plan costs $29 monthly and offers 100 live chat conversations, 500 chatbot triggers, unlimited tickets, and 3 seats.
Engati
Engati is a comprehensive chatbot platform that helps businesses build lasting relationships with customers through live chats and chatbots for Instagram, WhatsApp, and Shopify. Its Gen-AI-powered chatbots can help companies improve user experiences by facilitating customer support, appointment booking, sales, and more.
Engati prioritizes a seamless WhatsApp chatbot experience, allowing businesses to offer customers a hassle-free shopping journey directly within WhatsApp. This includes browsing and adding products to the cart without redirection to external pages. Additionally, Engati enables businesses to inform customers about ongoing sales and discounts via WhatsApp, allowing them to drive more conversions and revenue growth from chatbots.
Using the platform’s AI-powered chatbots, you can provide your subscribers with personalized product suggestions to enhance conversion rates, acquire new customers, and streamline customer retargeting. Engati also offers helpful features for recovering abandoned carts, launching personalized promotional campaigns across multiple channels, boosting engagement, and reactivating clients.
Pricing. With this alternative to Chatfuel, you can create a chatbot for free using its basic features. To unlock Engati’s advanced features, you will need to select one of the platform’s paid plans. Contact customer support for detailed pricing information.
TARS
TARS is another great Chatfuel alternative that specializes in conversational AI and can be seamlessly integrated with your company’s infrastructure. It primarily focuses on building chatbots for WhatsApp and websites, aiming to enhance customer experiences, streamline customer support, and boost conversions.
This platform allows you to create location-aware chatbots, which can efficiently gather geolocation data from leads and use it to offer personalized lead-generation experiences. TARS’s geolocation keyboard feature allows your potential customers to easily share their location by dropping a pin on a map or searching via Google Maps, all within seconds.
For businesses with an international audience, TARS offers a significant advantage by supporting over 100 languages, allowing them to communicate with customers effortlessly in their preferred language. Moreover, the platform integrates robust AI capabilities to further enhance chatbot effectiveness.
Pricing. This platform offers a free 14-day trial. However, as it uses a tailored pricing structure, you will need to provide your company details to receive a final cost estimate.
Botsify
Botsify is a powerful automation platform that allows businesses to develop effective bots for various communication channels, including websites, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
This platform offers a user-friendly, intuitive interface and a wide range of pre-designed templates tailored for various industries, including education, travel, food, and restaurants, among others. With Botsify, you can create a customized chatbot for one or multiple communication channels supported by the platform.
Also, this Chatfuel competitor supports messaging in over 100 languages, allowing you to communicate with a diverse audience and increase customer satisfaction effectively. Moreover, Botsify provides users with a human handover function for a seamless customer transition to live support, as well as payment collection through secure links, among other valuable features.
Pricing. Botsify offers a free 14-day trial. Once the trial expires, you will need to purchase a paid plan to continue using this platform. The most affordable paid plan costs $49 per month and offers 2 chatbots, unlimited users, conversations, and forms.
Qualified
Qualified is a feature-rich sales automation platform that enables users to effortlessly create chatbots without technical expertise. Using its robust features, businesses can effortlessly provide automated 24/7 customer support, offer product recommendations, facilitate appointment booking, boost sales, and more.
This Chatfuel alternative equips users with the necessary tools to identify their top customers and effectively engage with them. One of its standout features is its AI-powered chatbot, which can help you streamline lead qualification and convert your prospects into customers on autopilot. The platform’s bots are able to initiate sales discussions, schedule meetings, or transfer prospects to your human agents when their assistance is necessary.
Pricing. This Chatfuel competitor doesn’t offer a free plan. The platform’s paid plans start at $3,500 per month and include AI conversations copilot, live chat, custom chatbots, buyer intent signals, and support for up to 15 users.
Userlike
Userlike is a comprehensive chatbot platform that allows you to assist your customers at every stage of their buyer journey across multiple communication channels, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and live chat.
This alternative to Chatfuel offers efficient AI-powered chatbots that can quickly identify customer inquiries and address them, using human-like accurate answers. Its interactive help section features auto-complete inputs, enabling users to find answers easily. With Userlike’s seamless GPT-4 integration, you can create a comprehensive knowledge base and provide users with consistent, relevant answers right from it.
With this platform’s help, businesses can significantly reduce the workload of their customer support team by delegating frequently asked questions and common issues to a chatbot and only involving human agents for more nuanced interactions.
Pricing. You can explore the platform during a 14-day free trial. As your trial expires, you will need to select one of Userlike’s paid plans. The cheapest paid plan costs $90 monthly and includes core features, unlimited conversations and contacts, add-ons, and WhatsApp campaigns.
Botsurfer
Botsurfer is another excellent Chatfuel alternative for crafting effective Facebook Messenger chatbots. Its straightforward AI software allows you to create a bot that provides around-the-clock assistance, boosts lead generation, increases conversions, and provides relevant, natural answers to common customer inquiries.
With Botsurfer’s drag-and-drop builder, you can effortlessly create a wide variety of automated chatbot flows, including complex flows with numerous steps and elements. These include action keywords that allow you to provide pre-defined answers to specific keywords used by your customers. Additionally, you can use segmentation and personalized responses to make interactions more relevant and personal.
The platform also allows you to build a chatbot menu that efficiently guides users to their desired actions. In addition to the primary menu, you can incorporate multiple tiers of sub-menus, organized hierarchically, to enhance user experience.
Pricing. This Chatfuel competitor offers a 30-day free trial. Once it expires, you’ll need to purchase Botsurfer’s paid plan that costs around $100 + VAT per page for 10,000 unique conversations monthly, unlimited trigger keywords, and sequences of conversation scenarios.
Wrapping up
Given the variety of chatbot software available, selecting the most suitable one can be challenging. When considering different options, it’s crucial to evaluate not only their features but also their pricing. Therefore, we’ve compiled a summary of all the Chatfuel alternatives mentioned in our post, including their ratings on G2, the availability of a free plan, and their starting prices.
Platform | G2 | Free plan | Paid plans start at |
SendPulse | 4.6 | Yes | $10/month |
ManyChat | 4.6 | Yes | $15/month |
WotNot | 4.6 | Yes | $49/month |
Tidio | 4.7 | Yes | $29/month |
Engati | 4.1 | No | On request |
TARS | 4.6 | No | On request |
Botsify | 4.2 | No | $49/month |
Qualified | 4.9 | No | $3,500/month |
Userlike | 4.4 | No | $90/month |
Botsurfer | – | No | $105/month |
With numerous chatbot builders available, the ten platforms mentioned above offer comprehensive features and ease of use, making them all worthy of your consideration. However, if you’re looking for an affordable solution with a powerful no-code chatbot builder and robust omnichannel marketing tools, SendPulse is an excellent choice. Explore our chatbot builder today and streamline your customer interactions!