An AI chatbot for businesses costs anywhere between € 0 (free website builders) and over € 2,500/month (enterprise platforms). For most small businesses, the relevant range is € 50 to € 500/month. This article shows the real costs of chatbots and AI phone assistants, including the hidden line items that often go unmentioned.
The 3 pricing tiers at a glance
| Segment | Monthly cost | Setup cost | Best suited for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-service / DIY | € 0–200 | € 0 (self-setup) | Tech-savvy users, simple FAQs |
| Managed service | € 300–800 | € 1,000–3,000 | Small businesses without an IT department who want a personal contact |
| Enterprise / agency | € 500–2,500+ | € 2,000–15,000+ | Large companies with complex requirements |
Self-service vs. managed service: a direct comparison
The price gap between self-service and managed service is significant. The reason is simple: with self-service you pay less money but invest your own time.
Self-service (DIY chatbot)
You sign up with a platform (e.g. Tidio, Chatbase, Botpress), upload your documents and configure the bot yourself. Typical providers cost € 20 to € 200/month.
Advantages: Cheap, quick to set up, full control.
Disadvantages:
- You need technical know-how for setup and configuration
- Ongoing optimisation is on you (adjusting answers, adding new content)
- Support is usually email or chat only, no personal account manager
- Hidden costs: some providers bill per "resolution" (e.g. € 1 per answered question), which adds up quickly with a high volume of enquiries
- GDPR: many platforms are US-based, so data ends up on US servers
Why a chatbot needs ongoing maintenance
A common misconception: set up the chatbot once and you're done. In practice, a chatbot needs ongoing optimisation to stay good:
- New questions come up: customers ask things you didn't think of during setup. Without regularly reviewing conversations, these go unanswered.
- Content changes: prices, opening hours, services, staff. The bot has to grow with your business.
- Correcting wrong answers: every chatbot gives the odd inaccurate answer at first. Without regular review, you only notice when a customer complains.
- AI models keep evolving: new model versions can deliver better answers, but they need to be tested and adjusted first.
With self-service solutions, this work is on you. Budget 2 to 4 hours a month for reviewing conversations, updating content and fixing errors. With a managed service, the provider handles it for you. For more on what ongoing maintenance actually means in practice, see Why ongoing chatbot maintenance matters.
Managed service
You provide your information (FAQs, price list, brochures), and a provider takes care of everything: setup, training, integration, ongoing optimisation and support. The bot gets better every month because real conversations are reviewed and answers adjusted.
Advantages: No technical effort, a personal contact, the bot keeps getting better, nothing for you to worry about.
Disadvantages:
- Higher monthly costs
- A one-off setup fee
- Dependence on the provider, including on the language model behind it
What does an AI phone assistant cost?
AI phone assistants are usually cheaper than chatbots because they perform a clearly defined task: answering calls and standard questions.
| Solution | Cost/month | Typical volume |
|---|---|---|
| AI phone assistant you set up yourself (market offers) | from € 99 | 50–200 minutes |
| ServasBot phone intake (add-on to ServasBot Inbox) | € 119 (package S) or € 359 (package M) + € 490 setup (one-off) | 1,000 minutes (S) or 3,600 minutes (M) included |
| Traditional call answering service | € 750–2,500 | 500 calls |
| Part-time employee | From € 1,000 | Office hours |
An AI phone assistant is 50 to 80% cheaper than a traditional call answering service. More on this: AI phone assistant vs. answering machine.
Hidden costs: what to watch out for
The monthly price is not everything. Watch out for these items:
- Price per message or resolution: some providers bill per answered question. At 500 enquiries/month and € 1/resolution, that's € 500 that never shows up in the base price.
- Minutes beyond the free allowance: with AI phone assistants, extra minutes often cost € 0.15 to € 0.50/minute.
- Annual billing: many providers lure you in with low monthly prices but require payment upfront for a full year.
- Integration costs: CRM connections, calendar integration or WhatsApp connections often cost extra.
- Setup and training: one-off costs for setting up and initially training the bot. Can run to several thousand euros for complex setups.
The ROI calculation: is an AI chatbot worth it?
Whether an AI chatbot pays off depends on two questions: how many enquiries does it answer automatically? And what would the alternative cost you?
Do the maths with your own numbers. An enquiry you answer yourself costs around € 4.17 at 5 minutes of work and € 50 per hour. A service business with 200 enquiries a month spends around 17 hours on them, which is around € 833 a month.
How many of these enquiries the AI handles without you only shows in real conversations. So the table shows no savings figure. It shows the threshold: how many enquiries the AI has to handle per month before the cost is covered. The calculation spreads the one-off setup over the first year.
Worked example: when the cost is covered (5 min per enquiry, € 50/hr)
| Option | Cost per month in year one | Cost covered from (enquiries handled by the AI per month) |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service Chatbot Standard | € 49 | 12 |
| Self-service Chatbot Plus | € 99 | 24 |
| ServasBot Inbox up to 1,500 chat conversations | ~€ 1,148 (€ 990 + € 1,900 ÷ 12) | 276 |
| ServasBot Inbox up to 3,000 chat conversations | ~€ 1,648 (€ 1,490 + € 1,900 ÷ 12) | 396 |
The formula: monthly cost divided by € 4.17, rounded up. The service business with 200 enquiries covers the cost of a self-service chatbot once the AI handles around 24 of them without the owner. That volume is too low for ServasBot Inbox. Inbox is built for businesses with several hundred conversations a month whose team otherwise answers every question itself. The calculation only counts your working time. Enquiries that go to a competitor because nobody answered are not included.
On top of that come indirect benefits: fewer interruptions, faster response times, 24/7 availability, and the time you get back for your core business.
ServasBot pricing
The main offer is called ServasBot Inbox. The AI answers first in the website chat, your team takes over in the same window. As soon as a team member takes over, the bot pauses. Purchase interest and callback requests go to your team by email with contact details and the request. We run the knowledge base: live in 14 days, a weekly review of conversations with an email of suggested answers, a monthly report, changes within 48 hours.
| Product | Setup (one-off) | Monthly | Included |
|---|---|---|---|
| ServasBot Inbox up to 1,500 chat conversations/month | € 1,900, waived for annual partners | € 990 | 10 users, knowledge from your website and documents, conversation review, weekly email, monthly report, reply suggestions for your team |
| ServasBot Inbox up to 3,000 chat conversations/month | € 1,900, waived for annual partners | € 1,490 | As above, plus unlimited users, 60-minute quarterly review |
| Phone intake S (add-on to Inbox) | € 490 | € 119 | 1,000 minutes, 1 phone number, extra minutes € 15 per 100. The AI phone assistant answers calls outside your hours or when the line is busy and emails name, request and callback number to your team. Your phone number stays the same. |
| Phone intake M (add-on to Inbox) | € 490 | € 359 | 3,600 minutes, 3 phone numbers, 3 calls at once, extra minutes € 15 per 100 |
| Self-service Chatbot Standard | € 0 | € 49 | You build it yourself: up to 250 conversations/month, up to 25 pages, lead email, tutorial videos, email support |
| Self-service Chatbot Plus | € 0 | € 99 | You build it yourself: up to 500 conversations/month, up to 50 pages, inbox with team takeover, Facebook Messenger, priority email support |
| Self-service Chatbot Pro | € 0 | € 199 | Like Plus, plus appointment booking through Cal.com: up to 300 conversations/month, up to 100 pages |
Cost in year one
| Option | Calculation | Year one | From year two |
|---|---|---|---|
| ServasBot Inbox up to 1,500 chat conversations, monthly | 12 × € 990 + € 1,900 | € 13,780 | € 11,880 |
| ServasBot Inbox up to 1,500 chat conversations as an annual partner | 12 × € 990, no setup fee | € 11,880 | € 11,880 |
| ServasBot Inbox up to 1,500 chat conversations with phone intake S, monthly | 12 × (€ 990 + € 119) + € 1,900 + € 490 | € 15,698 | € 13,308 |
| ServasBot Inbox up to 3,000 chat conversations, monthly | 12 × € 1,490 + € 1,900 | € 19,780 | € 17,880 |
| Self-service Chatbot Standard | 12 × € 49 | € 588 | € 588 |
| Self-service Chatbot Plus | 12 × € 99 | € 1,188 | € 1,188 |
All prices are net, excluding VAT. You pay ServasBot Inbox monthly. On the monthly variant you cancel monthly. As an annual partner you commit to 12 months and pay no setup fee. If you cancel earlier as an annual partner, you pay the setup. Above 3,000 chat conversations a month on request. We are taking on 4 customers right now, because we run every knowledge base ourselves.
The guarantee: in the first 30 days you get your money back, setup included, no reason needed. On top comes the live guarantee: live in 14 days, or you do not pay the first month. Every month the report shows the share of conversations the AI handles without your team.
If you'd rather build and maintain the chatbot yourself, you start at a lower price with self-service from € 49 a month, with a 30-day free trial and cancel any time. It comes without the weekly email, the report or the guarantee. All details on ServasBot Inbox, or request a spot directly.
Frequently asked questions
What does a simple chatbot for a website cost?
A simple FAQ chatbot costs from € 20/month on self-service platforms (e.g. Tidio, Chatbase). With ServasBot, self-service starts from € 49/month and you build the bot yourself. If you'd rather hand off preparation and maintenance, go for ServasBot Inbox from € 990/month plus a one-off € 1,900 setup fee, cancel monthly. Annual partners pay no setup fee.
Does a free chatbot make sense?
For initial testing, yes. For live use with customer contact, usually not. Free chatbots often have limited features, no EU hosting and no GDPR-compliant data processing. There's also no support if something goes wrong.
Is an AI chatbot worth it for businesses with few enquiries?
Based on the calculation above, a self-service chatbot covers its cost once the AI handles around 12 to 24 enquiries a month without you. With fewer than 20 enquiries a month, a chatbot rarely pays off. Because of the higher cost, ServasBot Inbox is meant for businesses with several hundred conversations a month. In year one it covers its cost from around 276 enquiries handled by the AI per month.
Chatbot or phone assistant: which should I choose?
It depends on how your customers reach you. If most of them call: phone assistant. If most come through the website: chatbot. Many small businesses start with the phone assistant (cheaper, faster results) and add a chatbot later. At ServasBot, the AI phone assistant is the phone intake of ServasBot Inbox: package S € 119/month including 1,000 minutes, package M € 359/month including 3,600 minutes, € 490 setup. On its own without Inbox, it is available on request. More on this: Does your SME need a chatbot?
Where can I get a GDPR-compliant chatbot with CRM integration built?
From an agency that brings EU hosting, a data processing agreement and interfaces to common systems. ServasBot does not offer a CRM integration. In ServasBot Inbox, purchase interest and callback requests go to your team by email with contact details and the request, and you transfer the data into your CRM from there. If you want to build the chatbot yourself, try self-service free for 30 days. Processing in the EU with hosting in Germany and a data processing agreement are included in every plan.
Conclusion
The cost of an AI chatbot depends on three factors: self-service or managed, the number of enquiries, and the features you want. For most small businesses, the sweet spot is € 30 to € 500/month. What matters is not the cheapest price but what you get for your money: GDPR-compliant EU hosting, personal support and ongoing optimisation make the difference.
Not sure whether an AI chatbot is worth it for your business? Our AI readiness checklist gives you an assessment in 5 minutes.