Let’s start the discussion about the costs to develop a chatbot.
AI has become the forefront of modern-age personalized experiences. From healthcare to finance, and ecommerce, it has transformed how brands connect with their potential customers and understand them to deliver improved experiences.
One of the most promising areas of AI development is chatbots and virtual assistants, streamlining customer support with human-like interactions. 56% of businesses use conversational AI, particularly chatbots, which disrupts their industry.
AI-powered chatbots have not only helped customers with seamless shopping or any other online experience but also helped businesses scale across industries.
The growing demand for personalization, efficient customer support, and automation of manual service tasks drives the rapid growth of AI chatbots.
You can see several prominent examples of AI chatbots asking you questions and concerns whenever you land on any website.
Understanding the growing demand and streamlining customer support operations, businesses seek an instant AI customer support chatbot, that can help them analyze their customers, their demands, and queries to boost sales and convert missed leads.
But, how do you create an AI customer support chatbot for your business? How much does it cost to build one? Let’s explore the Costs to Develop a Chatbot, factors affecting the cost, challenges, and best practices to get you started with an AI chatbot.
By the end of this blog, you will understand how OnGraph can be your AI chatbot development partner.
The global conversational AI market is expected to soar to $169.4 billion by 2025, which reflects an impressive CAGR of 36.2%.
From fintech to eCommerce, edtech, and healthcare, AI chatbots are making strides. Here are some stats that will help businesses the needs of the hour.
Chatbots cut response times, handling simple questions automatically and smoothly transferring complex cases to live agents. 46% of companies using AI chatbots or assistants rely on them for voice-to-text dictation.
Each business has different demands for AI chatbots. Thus, developing different types of AI chatbots may cost differently.
Take a look at the use cases, and how much does a chatbot cost. Let’s breakdown the chatbot pricing comparison.
Chatbot Type | Description | Use Cases | Cost |
1. Rule-Based Chatbots | Follows pre-set rules, providing simple answers based on keywords or commands; cannot handle complex questions or contextual understanding. | FAQs, basic customer support, and simple booking systems. | $1,000 – $2,000 |
2. Machine Learning (ML) Chatbots | Learns and improves over time from interactions, giving more accurate responses; requires extensive training data for better accuracy. | Advanced customer support, personalized marketing, and task automation. | $2,000 – $4,000 |
3. Natural Language Processing (NLP) Chatbots | Human-like responses, and understanding of context, intent, and emotion; enable more meaningful interactions. | Complex customer service, virtual assistance, healthcare, and financial advice. | $5,000 – $8,000+ |
4. Hybrid Chatbots | Combines rule-based and AI-driven responses; answers simple queries with rules and switches to AI for more complex issues, offering scalability for businesses. | E-commerce support, lead generation, HR support, educational platforms. | $5,000 – $10,000 |
5. Voice-activated chatbots | Used in virtual assistants and smart devices. | Virtual assistants, automotive systems, smart home devices, customer support hotlines. | $5,000 – $10,000 |
6. Contextual Chatbots | Uses deep learning to track conversation history, user details, and context, enabling highly personalized responses and memory of past interactions. | CRM, personalized shopping, healthcare monitoring, and financial services. | $5,000 – $10,000+ |
You must understand, that the cost range is just an estimation. It might vary depending on several factors. We will highlight the costs to develop a chatbot.
Every business wants cost-effective solutions. Thus understand what factors can impact the overall development cost of the chatbot. Here are some key factors that might elevate the AI chatbot cost.
The Costs to Develop a Chatbot may vary depending on what type of chatbot you want for your business. The Costs to Develop a Chatbot will increase with complexity.
The basic chatbot can help you respond to simple queries and is a lot cheaper. While it incorporates advanced features and functionalities, like simulation and emotional analysis to generate human-like and personalized responses, the cost will go up.
The Costs to Develop a Chatbot range from $1k up to $10k+ from basic to advanced, affecting the cost of chatbot for enterprises
AI chatbots can be integrated into multiple platforms, such as websites, apps, and social media for wider reach and to target unique audiences.
With the increasing demand for cross-platform visibility, businesses opt for multi-platform AI chatbot support. Building an AI chatbot that works well with all platforms is higher than the basic AI chatbot that can only work with a single platform.
The cost may range between $5k to $50k depending on your choice of platform.
To make the entire customer support process hassle-free, you need third-party integrations. To connect your AI chatbot to existing systems like CRM software, payment gateways, databases, chat platforms, and APIs, it will add up your development cost.
These integrations ensure that your businesses work smoothly while helping you track and manage every piece of information.
The integration cost ranges between $5k to $$30k.
Each business has different requirements for what their AI chatbot can do for them. Creating an AI chatnor that aligns with specific business needs, including features, capabilities, UI/UX, will cost you more than having a white-label AI customer support chatbot.
The cost of custom on-demand AI chatbot development ranges between $5k to $75k. But you can get your own AI chatbot for just $5k with our white-label offerings. From small UX/UI customizations to one-month free support, it covers it all.
Where their customer information is related, security becomes the topmost priority of every business. AI chatbot analyzes history data, preferences, and behavior of customers to make smart decisions and offers personalized experiences.
So, ensuring complete security is necessary and businesses need to follow standard security and compliance rules like GDPR. adding additional security features like this will add up the Costs to Develop a Chatbot.
Integrating security from basic to advanced ranges between $2k to %30k.
To make your AI chatbot more interactive, it must offer different ways to interact with your customers. For example, your customer should be able to connect with you over chat, email, voice call or audio all initiated by an AI chatbot. To integrate more ways, you need to invest more.
Interaction Channels | Estimated Cost Range |
Single Channel (e.g., Text) | $5,000 – $10,000 |
Multi-Channel (Text, Voice, Email) | $15,000 – $50,000+ |
The location of the development team also decides the development cost. Thus, you must explore your options across the globe and outsource the best and most cost-effective development team that will help you scale with sustainable solutions.
Location | Hourly Rate Range |
North America | $100 – $250 per hour |
Western Europe | $80 – $200 per hour |
Eastern Europe | $40 – $100 per hour |
Asia (e.g., India, China) | $20 – $70 per hour |
The cost also depend whether you want an in-house development team vs hiring a development agency. If you choose to hire your own team, you have to invest in the process from hiring to incentivizing them monthly.
But if you hire a company to do the job, it will cost less. OnGraph is known for its AI customer service chatbot development with white-label solutions.
For an app to work flawlessly, it requires consistent support and maintenance. Also, to stay ahead of trends, you need to integrate the latest tools, integrations, and technology to engage customers.
From fixing errors to updating, upgrading, and troubleshooting issues, and adding new features, it all costs your business to stay in the league.
The cost may vary depending on the type of addition or upgrade you require. The costs may range between $5k to $15k.
With time new AI models are launching to work better with data analysis and generate more human-like answers. For an AI chatbot to work accurately, it is important to train and optimize your AI model to offer a personalized customer experience while providing accurate answers and insights for better decision-making.
To work with AI models, you need AI experts who can add up your hiring and skilling costs.
The cost of training and optimizing AI models ranges between $5k to $30k (per year).
These are the core factors that add up to the AI chatbot development costs. There are some additional development costs that you should also consider.
What technology you use defines its functionality, scalability, flexibility, and costs. Here is the AI chatbot pricing.
Technology and Tools for AI Chatbot Development | Purpose | Examples | Estimated Cost Range |
Natural Language Processing (NLP) Engines | Helps chatbots understand human language, identify user intents, and extract details. | Google Dialogflow, IBM Watson Assistant, Microsoft Bot Framework, Amazon Lex | Free to $0.075 per request, custom pricing for enterprise plans |
Machine Learning (ML) Models and Frameworks | Trains chatbots to improve responses through deep learning and data analysis. | TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, Custom ML Models | Open-source (free) to $10,000–$50,000+ for custom models |
Cloud Services and Hosting Platforms | Provides the storage and computing power to run chatbots. | AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure | $500–$25,000+ annually, as per usage |
Messaging and Communication APIs | To communicate across popular messaging platforms. | Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp Business API, Twilio (SMS & Voice), Slack | Free (Messenger) to $0.005–$0.02 per message/voice minute |
Development Frameworks and SDKs | Speeds up development by providing pre-built chatbot libraries and features. | Rasa, Botpress, Microsoft Bot Framework SDK, Botkit | Open-source (free) to $990+/month for enterprise features |
Data Storage and Databases | Manages and stores user data, conversation history, and training data. | Firebase, MongoDB Atlas, Amazon RDS, Google Cloud Firestore | Free tiers available, $25–$10,000+ annually based on storage needs |
Analytics and Monitoring Tools | Tracks chatbot performance, user interactions, and potential issues. | Google Analytics, Chatbase, Mixpanel | Free (basic plans) to $1,000–$5,000+ for custom monitoring |
You can choose any technology based on your business’s requirements and costs. To choose the right one, you can take expert guidance, they will help you understand-
If you seek expert guidance, they will also guide you on how can you reduce or optimize AI chatbot development.
Developing an AI chatbot is an expensive process, but with these tips and implementations, you can save significant costs without impacting the quality.
Here are tips that you must know.
Instead of developing your AI chatbot from scratch, choose pre-built solutions. It covers your Costs to Develop a Chatbot, you only have to pay for the customization, added features, and tailored functionality that aligns with your brand.
Free tools like Rasa, Botpress, and TensorFlow are excellent for building AI chatbots without high license fees. Using these open-source tools allows businesses to create and customize chatbots while saving money.
They are also very flexible and come with a strong support community, making them a smart choice for budget-friendly chatbot development.
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Launching a basic version of the chatbot, or MVP, allows businesses to include only the most essential features first. This way, they can get user feedback and make updates based on actual needs.
It also avoids spending on extra features that might not be necessary. By focusing on essentials, companies save time and money.
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Training a machine learning model from starting is costly and consumes data and computing power. Rather than train your model, businesses can use pre-trained models from companies like Google, IBM, and Amazon. These models are already highly accurate and save both time and money.
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Cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure let businesses adjust chatbot resources based on demand. With pay-as-you-go pricing, companies save on upfront costs and manage resources efficiently.
These services also include built-in security, saving time and money on setup and maintenance.
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Agile development helps manage time and resources better by breaking the project into small, repeatable steps. This approach allows teams to adjust features based on feedback, reducing the chance of going over budget and ensuring the chatbot meets user and business needs.
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If custom training is needed, improving how data is gathered and labeled can save time and money. Using techniques like semi-supervised and active learning reduces the amount of labeled data needed. Partnering with data labeling companies is also a cost-effective way to get quality training data.
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These tips can help you save significant Costs to Develop a Chatbot. Once your AI chatbot is ready to launch, you can start monetizing it.
Generating revenue is the ultimate goal of AI chatbot development. Here are some strategies that help you generate revenue from your AI chatbot development.
Monetization Strategy | Description |
1. Subscription Plans | Offer premium tiers with basic services for free, and charge for premium features via monthly or annual subscriptions. |
2. In-app purchases or Transaction Fees | Enable users to purchase products, services, or virtual goods directly through the chatbot. |
3. Lead Generation and Affiliate Marketing | Capture customer information and forward leads to businesses that pay per lead. |
4. Sponsored Messages and Advertising | Allow advertisers to promote relevant content, products, or services through the chatbot. |
5. Data Monetization | Sell insights derived from anonymized interaction data, revealing trends and customer preferences. |
6. Chatbot as a Service (CaaS) | Offer your custom-built chatbot platform as a service to other businesses. |
7. Freemium with Paid Features | Provide a free version of the chatbot with limited functionality and charge for advanced features. |
8. Consulting Services | Offer paid consulting for the setup, customization, and optimization of the chatbot. |
9. License and White-Label Solutions | Create a chatbot that businesses can white-label, allowing them to use your solution under their branding for a fee. |
10. Pay-Per-Use and On-Demand Services | Charge customers for each interaction or query, particularly for high-value services like legal or medical advice. |
You can use expert guidance to understand which strategy works well for your businesses and start curating your marketing strategies to make a wider impact.
The most important thing is to measure your success and revenue generated against your investment. Integrating AI chatbots within your business workflow can help you strengthen your customer relationship.
AI chatbots offer several benefits and help you streamline your business’s workflows. Here are more returns that you will get for developing an AI chatbot.
AI chatbots can save businesses a lot of money by responding to multiple customers at the same time. It helps you automate routine tasks, reducing support costs by 30%.
This savings improves return on investment (ROI), especially for businesses with high customer interactions.
The best part of having an AI chatbot is its 24/7 availability. They are available for your customers irrespective of time and location. You do not have to worry about having human support working shifts.
This availability boosts customer satisfaction and keeps them engaged. 80% of businesses plan to use chatbots for customer service in 2024 for better customer experience.
AI algorithms help you analyze customer’s preferences and purchasing behavior. It helps recommend products or services that might interest customers.
This enhances the shopping experience and can lead to increased sales. AI chatbots will drive over $112 billion in retail sales by 2024, highlighting their revenue potential.
AI chatbots gather valuable information during conversations with customers. This data helps businesses understand customer preferences, behaviors, and pain points.
Analyzing this information allows businesses to improve their products, services, and marketing strategies, making it easier to target the right customers.
AI chatbots can engage visitors to your website and identify potential customers right away. They do this by asking useful questions and collecting contact information, helping businesses find promising leads early.
Chatbots can also set up follow-ups, schedule meetings, and provide information to guide interested customers toward making a purchase.
AI chatbots can enhance key customer support metrics, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT). They achieve this by providing quick, reliable, and consistent assistance.
When customers are satisfied with support, they are more likely to remain loyal and recommend the brand to others, creating more business opportunities.
These benefits will help your business scale with the right investment.
Also Read- How to Use AIML In Chatbot Development with Python
OnGraph is your go-to place for creating a strong, secure, and effective chatbot development services. Our chatbot developers will help you from the start, helping you set your goals for deployment.
Whether you need a simple chatbot or a more complex AI-driven one, we provide a solution that can grow with your needs.
As a top generative AI development company, we take care of everything—design, development, integration, and ongoing maintenance—to ensure your chatbot keeps improving.
With OnGraph, you can create a chatbot that enhances customer service, streamlines operations and opens up new ways to earn money, such as through lead generation and in-chat purchases.
The cost to develop AI customer support depends on what type of chatbot you want for your business. The cost of chatbot, from simple to complex, it can range from $1k up to $10k.
But you can launch your white-label AI customer support app for just $5k, ready to launch in minutes.
Our experts follow a strategic approach that requires the following simple steps-
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