Choose Chatbase if you want a no-code AI chatbot builder for basic customer support and lead capture, and you're okay with message credit limits.
Choose ManyChat if your focus is social media marketing automation across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, and you need broadcast and growth tools.
Helply is best if you need an AI agent that goes beyond chat to actually resolve support tickets and execute tasks like account updates and password resets.
Chatbase: No-Code AI Chatbot Builder
Chatbase is an AI-powered platform for building and deploying custom support agents.
The service lets businesses build AI agents, answer customer questions, escalate complex queries to humans, and analyze conversations.
It's designed for non-technical users who want to create and deploy a chatbot without writing code.
Chatbase Features
- No-code agent builder that lets non-technical users create and deploy AI chatbots
- LLM-powered responses with model comparison and selection
- Real-time data sync with CRMs, order management tools, and knowledge bases
- AI actions to perform tasks like updating subscriptions or processing refunds
- Smart escalation rules to hand conversations to human agents
- Integrations with Slack, Stripe, Zendesk, Notion, and Salesforce
Chatbase Pricing
| Plan | What's Included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 50 message credits/month, 1 agent, 1 seat, 10 training links, agents deleted after 14 days inactive | $0/month |
| Hobby | 2,000 message credits, 1 agent, 5 AI actions, 40 MB data per agent, API access | $40/month |
| Standard | 12,000 message credits, 2 agents, 10 AI actions per agent, 3 seats | $150/month |
| Pro | 40,000 message credits, 3 agents, 15 AI actions per agent, 5+ seats, advanced analytics | $500/month |
| Enterprise | Custom message credits and agents, priority support, SLAs | Custom |
Note: Prices verified as of December 2025.
Extra message credits cost $14 per 1,000. Removing Chatbase branding costs $39/month.
Chatbase Pros
- Easy to set up and customize with brand colors
- Non-technical users can build chatbots without code
- Web scraper learns from existing pages to provide answers
- Useful for lead generation and after-hours customer engagement
Chatbase Cons
- Pricing complaints and reports of unclear billing practices
- Users report lost training data and poor PDF ingestion
- Customer service is unresponsive according to multiple reviews
- Message credit model can get expensive at scale
Who Should Use Chatbase
- Startups and small businesses that want a quick AI chatbot without coding
- Marketers and founders looking to automate basic customer queries
- Teams that want to train a chatbot on existing website content
Who Should Avoid Chatbase
- Enterprises needing robust support or strict compliance
- Companies with high message volumes where credit costs add up
- Teams requiring reliable knowledge base ingestion from PDFs
ManyChat: Social Media Marketing Automation Platform
ManyChat is a chatbot and marketing automation platform for messaging channels like Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, and email.
It's built for marketers who want to automate conversations, collect leads, and send broadcasts across social platforms.
The platform emphasizes multi-channel marketing with a visual flow builder and AI-assisted features.
ManyChat Features
- Visual drag-and-drop flow builder for creating automation sequences
- Multi-channel support: Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, email, and TikTok
- Growth tools that capture social comments and auto-message commenters
- AI intention recognition to detect message intent
- Segmentation with tags, custom fields, and analytics
- Live chat handover when the bot can't handle a query
ManyChat Pricing
| Plan | What's Included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Up to 1,000 contacts, basic flow builder, limited growth tools, 10 segmentation tags | $0/month |
| Pro | Unlimited contacts, unlimited growth tools and keywords, advanced segmentation, analytics, integrations, no branding | From $15/month (scales with contacts) |
| Elite | Everything in Pro, dedicated onboarding, customer success manager, priority support | Custom |
Note: Prices verified as of December 2025.
Pricing scales with your contact list size. Every DM sender counts as a contact.
ManyChat Pros
- Rich feature set for social media marketers
- Easy drag-and-drop interface for building complex flows
- Effective for customer engagement and lead generation on social platforms
- Multi-channel broadcasts and sequences
ManyChat Cons
- Per-contact pricing leads to unexpectedly high bills
- Customer support complaints and billing issues after cancellation
- Reports of bugs and latency in chatbot responses
- Some integrations require third-party tools like Zapier
Who Should Use ManyChat
- Social media marketers and content creators
- E-commerce businesses focused on Instagram and Facebook engagement
- Teams that need broadcast and growth tools for lead nurturing
Who Should Avoid ManyChat
- Businesses with large contact lists on a strict budget
- Companies requiring robust technical support
- Teams that need advanced AI for actual ticket resolution, not just marketing
Helply: AI Support Agent That Resolves Tickets
Helply is an AI customer support platform designed to handle tier-1 tickets from start to finish.
Where Chatbase and ManyChat focus on chat interfaces and marketing, Helply is built to actually resolve issues.
The AI can perform real actions like updating accounts, resetting passwords, and processing requests through its Actions and Guidance features.
Helply Features
- AI Agent trained on your knowledge base and historical support tickets
- Knowledge Bridge keeps documentation, help articles, and internal docs synced
- Guidance flows for interactive troubleshooting and customer onboarding
- Actions let the AI execute tasks through integrations, not just respond
- Multilingual support for global teams
- Continuous learning from ticket history to improve accuracy
Helply Pricing
| Plan | What's Included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 2,000 AI Answers/mo, 1 Knowledge Bridge, up to 5 AI Actions/Agent, 1 Agent, API Access, Basic Analytics | $99/month |
| Growth | 12,000 AI Answers/mo, 2 Knowledge Bridges, up to 10 AI Actions/Agent, up to 3 Agents, Advanced Analytics | $299/month |
| Scale | 40,000 AI Answers/mo, 4 Knowledge Bridges, up to 15 AI Actions/Agent, up to 5 Agents | $799/month |
| Enterprise | Unlimited AI Answers, Unlimited Knowledge Bridges, Unlimited AI Actions/Agent, Unlimited Agents, Advanced+ Analytics | Custom Pricing |
Flat monthly pricing. No per-message credits or per-contact billing surprises.
Helply Pros
- Resolves tickets end-to-end, not just answers questions
- AI can execute real tasks through Actions and integrations
- Flat-rate pricing without message credit or contact-based charges
- Learns from your historical tickets to improve over time
Helply Cons
- Newer platform with fewer public reviews than established competitors
- Setting up complex Guidance flows takes time upfront
- Integration library still growing
Who Should Use Helply
- SaaS companies that want AI to actually resolve support tickets
- Support teams that need the AI to execute actions like password resets and account changes
- Growing companies that want predictable monthly costs
- Teams serving multilingual customers
Who Should Avoid Helply
- Marketers focused purely on social media automation and broadcasts
The Verdict
| Chatbase | ManyChat | Helply | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best For | No-code AI chatbot for websites | Social media marketing automation | AI that resolves support tickets |
| Primary Use Case | Lead capture and basic Q&A | Broadcasts and lead nurturing | Tier-1 ticket resolution |
| Pricing Model | Message credits | Per contact | Flat monthly rate |
| Can Execute Tasks | Limited | No | Yes |
| Learns From Tickets | No | No | Yes |
| Starting Price | $40/month | $15/month (scales) | $99/month |
Chatbase works for teams that need a basic AI chatbot on their website without touching code. Just keep an eye on those message credits.
ManyChat is the go-to for social media marketers running campaigns across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
Helply is in a different category. Other platforms give you a chatbot that talks. Helply gives you an AI agent that works.
Actions that handle real requests, Guidance flows that solve problems step by step, and pricing that stays flat no matter how many tickets you resolve. Every Helply plan also comes with VIP 1-1 Slack support, so you have a direct line to our team whenever you need it.
Ready to automate real support work?
White-glove setup and dedicated Slack access included.
About the author
Bildad Oyugi
Head of Content
Bildad is a digital marketing expert with over 5 years of experience in copywriting, content marketing, and editing. Outside of work, he enjoys videography and spending time with his family.
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