Botpress vs ManyChat
Botpress and ManyChat side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Botpress | ManyChat | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Customer Support & Chatbots | Customer Support & Chatbots |
| Starting price | Free; paid plans from $150/mo (checked October 2026) | Free; paid plans from $14/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Both list a free tier, so you can try each before paying.
ManyChat has the lower starting price ($14/mo against $150/mo for Botpress). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Customer Support & Chatbots category.
About each tool
Botpress
Platform for building AI support agents and chatbots with Studio, Desk and an ADK. Free has 100 conversations a month; paid plans start at $150 a month billed annually.
Who it is for
Botpress says it is aimed at customer support teams handling complicated tickets, and names SaaS, healthcare, education, retail and fintech as example industries. It also sells a done-for-you service and a custom Enterprise tier for teams without in-house builders or with larger needs.
Strengths
- The pricing page lists unlimited AI agents on Plus and Team (3 on Free) and unlimited seats on Team, with billing per conversation rather than per seat.
- The Hub lists 88 integrations, 13 of them channels: Discord, Instagram, LINE, Messenger and Facebook, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Sunshine Conversations, Telegram, Twilio, Viber, Webchat, WeChat and WhatsApp.
- Botpress lists Intercom, Zendesk, HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, and says Desk can connect to an existing Zendesk or Intercom setup through OAuth or work as a full replacement.
- The ADK docs describe a TypeScript-based kit with an adk command-line tool for searching, adding and upgrading integrations from the Botpress Hub.
- The privacy statement says Botpress does not use customer or end-user content, including conversation data, for model improvement or training, and processes end-user data on the customer's instructions.
- Botpress states it is SOC 2 compliant and GDPR compliant and was penetration tested by KPMG (vendor claims on its homepage).
Limitations
- Billing is per conversation (at least two end-user messages in a billing month; a conversation spanning two months counts in both, and each anonymous session counts separately). Unused conversations expire at month end.
- The pricing page lists included AI usage ($25 on Plus, $150 on Team, plus $0.10 of AI usage per conversation), while the May 2026 pricing post says the separate AI charge was removed and each conversation includes a proportional AI quota. Confirm which applies to your workspace.
ManyChat
Chat automation builder for Instagram, TikTok, Messenger, WhatsApp and more, with a Free plan. Paid plans start at $14 a month billed annually ($17 monthly).
Who it is for
Manychat's plan pages point Essential at basic comment, story and DM automations with lead capture, and Business and Advanced at higher contact volumes, unlimited channels and team Inbox workflows. Its pricing is built around Active Contacts per month, so it suits accounts whose monthly engaged audience fits a tier.
Strengths
- Manychat lists a Free plan with up to 4 live automations, 25 Active Contacts a month, 1 user and 2 channels from Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and Telegram.
- The Essential help page lists unlimited automations, comment, story and DM replies, email and phone capture, follower checks, contact tagging and Google Sheets sync.
- Pro lists up to 3 channels including WhatsApp, SMS and email, WhatsApp broadcasts and automations, 3 users and 2 Inbox seats, and a 14-day free trial.
- Business lists unlimited channels, 5 users, 3 Inbox seats (expandable to 5) and lead assignment; Advanced lists 10 users and 5 Inbox seats (expandable to 10).
- Manychat says exceeding the Active Contact limit does not stop automations right away; it sends alerts at 70%, 90% and 100% and lets you set an overage threshold under Settings, Billing, Subscription.
- Manychat lists a refund for cancellations within 30 days of the first plan purchase, and says you can cancel anytime and keep access until the billing period ends.
Limitations
- Pricing is metered by Active Contacts (Free 25, Essential 250, Pro 2,500, Business 7,500, Advanced 25,000 a month); extra contacts are billed as overage, for example Pro $0.05 monthly or $0.038 annual, and counts reset each billing cycle even on annual plans.
- Free shows "Powered by Manychat" on the first message and excludes WhatsApp, SMS and email; Essential allows 2 channels and excludes WhatsApp, SMS and email, and the Essential help page lists AI-powered automation as a reason to upgrade to Pro.
- Manychat's AI terms say it may use AI inputs and outputs to provide and improve the features, that it contractually limits its AI providers from using content to train their general-use services, and that it uses OpenAI and Azure OpenAI.
