How much does a business chatbot cost in 2026?

Two options: build from scratch or use a ready-made service

Custom development makes sense when you have an unusual process: complex pricing logic, integration with your own ERP, or specific security requirements. You pay for analysis, development, and testing, then for support and servers. It takes weeks of work, with a separate budget for every change.

Ready-made service (SaaS) gives you the essentials for an online store right away: catalog, answers to questions, orders, payments, delivery, and analytics. You pay monthly, with updates and support included. It’s enough for most online stores — and setup takes an evening, not a month.

What makes up the price of a ready-made service

• Subscription — access to the dashboard, channels, and operators.
• AI responses — how many times per month the bot replies using AI. This is the main limit because every response costs the service money.
• Integrations — Nova Poshta, OLX, payments: included in some plans and available as add-ons in others.
• Operators and channels — how many people work in the dashboard and how many messaging apps are connected.

Example: LEO Chat plans

Prices for October 2026, billed monthly:

• Start — 990 ₴/міс: 300 AI responses, 2 channels, 2 operators. Nova Poshta and OLX are add-ons for 290 ₴ each.
• Business — 2 490 ₴/міс: 2 000 AI responses, all channels, 5 operators, Nova Poshta and OLX included, revenue dashboard.
• Pro — 5 990 ₴/міс: 8 000 AI responses, 15 operators.
• Free — 0 ₴ with lower limits, so the bot stays active if you don’t renew your plan.

Paying upfront costs less: −5% for 3 months, −10% for 6, −20% for a year, and −30% for 2 years. If you run out of AI responses, you can buy an answer pack — 0,5 ₴ per response, with volume discounts. These responses don’t expire at the end of the month. See current prices on the pricing page.

How to estimate how many AI responses you need

Estimate how many messages from buyers you receive each month across all channels, then subtract those handled with buttons (catalog, cart, branch selection—they don’t use AI replies). A store with 10–15 inquiries a day usually needs Start; with several channels and dozens of inquiries a day, choose Business.

Our honest advice: start with a trial and check the actual number of replies in your dashboard during the first two weeks. It’s more accurate than any forecast.

What to compare besides price

1. Does the bot know your catalog, including prices and availability, or does it only answer FAQs?
2. Can it place orders and accept payments, instead of just “handing the customer off to a manager”?
3. Can you see how much revenue it brought in—in UAH, not messages?
4. Can you hand a conversation over to a person and view its history?
5. How long does it take to launch without a developer?

A cheap bot that doesn’t sell costs more than a bot for 2 490 ₴ that closes a few orders each week. Learn how to calculate the return in our article on how to calculate chatbot sales.