How Much Does an AI Chatbot Cost?
An AI chatbot can cost anywhere from $0 for a basic DIY widget to $30–300/month for a SaaS tool, to a one-time custom build. A done-for-you chatbot trained on your real business — services, pricing, FAQs — and connected to your lead capture starts at $1,500 CAD from Handbuilt, and you own it with no per-seat fees.
The three pricing tiers
What you pay tracks how custom and connected the chatbot is.
- DIY widgets: free to ~$50/mo — generic, you set it up and maintain it
- SaaS chatbots: ~$30–300/mo — better, but templated and rented forever
- Custom build: one-time from $1,500 CAD — trained on your business, yours to keep
What drives the price of a custom build
Scope is everything: a single website chatbot trained on your FAQs is at the lower end; one that also books appointments, qualifies leads, connects to your CRM, and works across your site and social DMs sits higher. Handbuilt quotes a flat CAD price after a short discovery call so there are no surprises.
Recommended package
AI Starter System
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Fixed price in CAD · USD / AUD / NZD quotes on request. Built remotely for small businesses across Canada, the US, Australia & New Zealand.
One AI worker, live in days.
Get a chatbot quoteCommon questions
For a basic FAQ deflector, sometimes. If you want it trained on your real business, capturing qualified leads and connected to your tools, a custom build pays back by converting visitors a generic widget loses.
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