A custom AI chatbot for a website or app starts at $500, with delivery in as little as 2 days, and ongoing maintenance available from $100/month. That covers conversation flow design, integration into your site or app, and deployment — a chatbot that actually knows your business, not a generic template with your logo on it.
Custom chatbot vs. a chatbot builder
Drag-and-drop chatbot builders are cheap or free, but they're limited to scripted decision trees — good for FAQs, bad at handling a real conversation or anything outside the script. A custom chatbot built on a real language model can actually understand what someone is asking, hold context across a conversation, and be trained specifically on your business's information.
What changes the price
The starting price covers a chatbot trained on your business's information with a defined scope. Cost increases with:
- Integration complexity — connecting to a booking system, CRM, or order system vs. a standalone widget
- Conversation scope — a narrow FAQ bot is simpler than one handling bookings, orders, or account lookups
- Custom design — matching your exact brand and interaction style vs. a standard chat widget
- Ongoing training — a chatbot that improves from real conversations needs periodic review, covered by the maintenance plan
Where a chatbot actually helps
The clearest wins are instant answers to common questions outside business hours, qualifying leads before a human gets involved, and handling simple bookings or orders without staff time. A chatbot that just repeats your FAQ page back to visitors isn't worth building — the value is in handling real questions and real actions.
Common questions
How is a custom chatbot different from ChatGPT embedded on my site?
A custom chatbot is trained specifically on your business — your services, pricing, policies, and tone — and can be connected to your actual systems (booking, CRM, order status). A generic embed only knows what's in its training data and can't take real actions in your business.
How long does it take to build a chatbot?
A standard chatbot is live in as little as 2 days. More complex integrations (booking, order lookups, CRM sync) take longer, scoped individually.
Does a chatbot need ongoing maintenance?
Yes, if you want it to stay accurate as your business changes — hours, pricing, and policies update, and the chatbot needs to know. Maintenance plans start at $100/month.
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