- Website AI chatbots at a glance
- Ten website AI chatbots to look at
- Which website chatbot for which business
- Telling visitors they're chatting with AI
- Widget, support agent or sales assistant?
- Questions to ask before a chatbot goes on your site
- Signs your website needs a chatbot
- My plain advice on website chatbots
- Frequently asked questions
An AI chatbot for your website sits in a chat window, answers visitors' questions from your own pages and documents, captures leads and hands harder questions to a person. Some are quick widgets you paste in, others are fuller agents for support and sales, and a few are built for online shops. Ten options follow in no particular order.
Most website visitors leave without asking the question that would have turned them into a customer. They don't want to fill in a form and wait.
A chatbot answers them while they're still on the page. The ten tools below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the vendor's own website, read this week. For bigger platforms, see my round-up of chatbot builders.
Website AI chatbots at a glance
I checked the free plan column on each tool's own website, as of Oct 2026. Yes means the site names a free plan, a free version, a free account, a free edition or an open source release. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to try it, so check the vendor's page before you sign up.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| BotPenguin | No-code chatbot and agent builder | One bot across website and WhatsApp | Yes |
| Botsonic | Custom AI chatbot builder | A website bot in minutes | Not stated |
| ChatBot | AI chatbot software | Answering questions and helping customers buy | Trial only |
| Chatbot Builder AI | Chatbot and GPT builder | Bots for website and social channels | Trial only |
| Denser | AI agent for support and help desks | Support bots built on your own knowledge | Not stated |
| Elfsight AI Chatbot | AI chatbot website widget | Adding a chat assistant as a simple widget | Not stated |
| Thinkstack | AI agent and chatbot generator | Chat forms and human handoff | Not stated |
| Tidio | AI customer service and live chat | Online shops mixing AI and live chat | Trial only |
| Wonderchat | AI agents for support and sales | Bots that cite your content in replies | Not stated |
| Zipchat | AI agent for ecommerce | Online stores recovering abandoned carts | Trial only |
Ten website AI chatbots to look at
BotPenguin
Best for: Small businesses that want one no-code bot to capture leads and book appointments on the website, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.
Botsonic
Best for: Site owners who want a custom AI chatbot trained on their content and live on their website quickly.
ChatBot
Best for: Online businesses that want an AI customer service agent answering questions and helping visitors buy, with a free trial.
Chatbot Builder AI
Best for: Marketers who want custom chatbots and GPTs for their website and social channels, with a free trial on the site.
Denser
Best for: Support teams that want an AI agent answering from their own documents and pages, with a sister AI office assistant.
Elfsight AI Chatbot
Best for: Website owners who already use ready-made website widgets and want an AI chatbot assistant added to their site in the same way.
Thinkstack
Best for: Businesses that want a chatbot trained on several data sources, with chat-style forms and handoff to a live person.
Tidio
Best for: Online shops and service firms that want an AI agent and live chat working together across channels, with a trial of the AI agent.
Wonderchat
Best for: Teams that want a bot to deflect repeat questions and qualify leads, citing their own content in every reply.
Zipchat
Best for: Ecommerce stores that want an AI agent to sell, support and recover abandoned carts on the website and messaging channels.
Which website chatbot for which business
- A widget added without code: Elfsight AI Chatbot.
- One bot across website and WhatsApp: BotPenguin.
- A custom bot live in minutes: Botsonic or Chatbot Builder AI.
- Answering and helping visitors buy: ChatBot or Tidio.
- Support bots built on your documents: Denser or Wonderchat.
- Chat-style forms and human handoff: Thinkstack.
- Online shops recovering carts: Zipchat.
Telling visitors they're chatting with AI
Article 50 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, read here in the unofficial consolidated text, says providers must ensure AI systems intended to interact directly with people are designed so those people are informed they're interacting with an AI system.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
If visitors from the EU use your site, make it obvious they're talking to AI, not a member of staff. It's also good manners everywhere: a short line in the greeting saves confusion when the bot reaches the edge of what it knows.
Widget, support agent or sales assistant?
A widget answers common questions from your pages. It's quick to set up and fine for most small sites.
A support agent goes deeper, drawing on help articles and documents and passing tickets to your team.
A sales assistant is tuned to recommend products, qualify leads and recover abandoned carts, which matters most for online shops.
Questions to ask before a chatbot goes on your site
- Does it answer only from your content, or from the open web too?
- Can it show where each answer came from?
- How does a visitor reach a real person?
- Where do the leads it captures go?
- Can you read every conversation it has?
- Does it work with your website builder?
Signs your website needs a chatbot
- The same questions arrive by email. Answer them on the page.
- Visitors leave product pages fast. Offer instant help.
- Contact forms go cold overnight. Capture leads live.
- Your team repeats itself all day. Let the bot handle basics.
Do you make AI chatbots for websites? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on website chatbots
Feed it your ten best pages, not the whole site, and read the first hundred conversations yourself. You'll see which questions it gets wrong and which pages are missing, and you'll fix your website as well as your bot.
Not sure you need one yet? My piece on the reasons a website needs a chatbot sets out the case.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI chatbot for a website?
It's a chat window on your site that answers visitors' questions from your own content, captures leads and hands harder questions to a person.
Can I add an AI chatbot without coding?
Yes. Most of the tools above give you a snippet or plugin to paste into your website builder.
Is there a free website chatbot?
Some tools offer a free plan or free trial. Check the free plan column above and confirm on each vendor's site.
Will a chatbot make things up?
It can, if it's allowed to answer beyond your content. Choose a tool that answers from your own sources and shows where each answer came from.
Can a chatbot book appointments or take orders?
Several can, through integrations with calendars, shops and CRMs. Test the full flow before visitors use it.
Should my chatbot say it's AI?
Yes. It's fairer to visitors, and in the EU the AI Act expects people to be told they're interacting with an AI system.
