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How much does a chatbot cost? For the language model itself you pay a fraction of a US cent to a few cents per conversation: in our example 0.002 dollars on a small model and 0.04 dollars on a large one. An off-the-shelf tool such as Intercom Fin charges per resolved question, 0.99 dollars, plus a subscription per agent. A custom chatbot costs mostly the build, about 4,250 euros in our example, then a few hours of upkeep a month. At 1,000 conversations a month both routes come to around 8,000 euros in the first year; from the second year custom costs about half, and the gap grows with your volume.
How we build AI around your work: AI for business and AI automation.
The model cost: what an AI chatbot costs per conversation
A language model charges in tokens: pieces of text of a word or part of a word. You pay separately for what goes in and what comes out. What goes in is not only your customer's question, but also your instructions, the knowledge the model needs to answer correctly and the conversation so far. That is why the input is usually much larger than the answer. English text costs fewer tokens per word than Dutch, French or German.
| Model | Per million tokens, in / out | Per conversation | Per 1,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small: Claude Haiku 5.5 or GPT-6 Luna | 0.10 / 0.50 dollars | 0.002 dollars | 2.13 dollars |
| Large: Claude Sonnet 5.5 or GPT-6.1 Sol | 2 / 10 dollars | 0.04 dollars | 42.50 dollars |
| Top model: GPT-6 Astra | 10 / 50 dollars | 0.21 dollars | 212.50 dollars |
Model prices in dollars, before VAT. The conversation has five questions of 3,000 input tokens and five answers of 250 tokens. For most customer questions, such as opening hours, an appointment or an order status, a small model is enough. A large model pays off for long documents or questions that need reasoning. A chatbot rarely needs a top model. Work out your own volume with the AI cost calculator.
One conversation, token by token
Example conversation on a bike shop's site
You are talking to an AI assistant. A colleague takes over if you ask.
- Do you repair electric bikes too?3,000 tokens in
- Yes, all brands. You book a service with an appointment.250 tokens out
- How long does a service take?3,000 tokens in
- If you bring it in before 10, it is usually ready the same day.250 tokens out
- Can I come by on Thursday?3,000 tokens in
- Thursday has room at 9 and at half past 9. Shall I book 9 o'clock?250 tokens out
- Yes please, in the name of Sarah.3,000 tokens in
- Done: Thursday at 9, service of an e-bike. You will get a confirmation by email.250 tokens out
- Should I bring the battery?3,000 tokens in
- Yes, bring the battery and the key. See you Thursday!250 tokens out
What this one conversation costs in tokens
Input: 15,000 tokens
Output: 1,250 tokens
- Small modelClaude Haiku 5.5 or GPT-6 Luna0.10 dollars in, 0.50 out, per million tokens0.002dollars per conversation2.13 dollars per 1,000 conversations
- Large modelClaude Sonnet 5.5 or GPT-6.1 Sol2 dollars in, 10 out, per million tokens0.04dollars per conversation42.50 dollars per 1,000 conversations
- Five questions and five answers.
- Per question 3,000 tokens in: the question, the knowledge sent along and the conversation so far.
- Per answer 250 tokens out.
- Model prices before VAT. Build and upkeep are not included.
Where the money really goes
Per 1,000 conversations you pay 2.13 dollars on a small model in that example and 42.50 dollars on a large one. That is rarely what makes a chatbot expensive. This is:
| What | Why it takes time | What it does to the price |
|---|---|---|
| Supplying your knowledge | Price lists, terms and answers must be right, current and readable for a model | The biggest item in the build |
| Setting what it does not do | No promising prices that do not exist, no medical or legal advice, handing over on a complaint | Small, but every rule must be tested |
| Testing | Dozens to hundreds of real questions, the odd ones too, and again after every change | Grows with the number of topics |
| Integrations | Booking an appointment, looking up an order or adding an enquiry to your CRM | Build work per integration |
| Languages | Testing every language, with its own knowledge where your offer differs | Extra testing per language |
| Follow-up and upkeep | Reading conversations, seeing where it hesitates, updating knowledge | A few hours every month |
An off-the-shelf chatbot tool takes over part of that work, but not the most important part: you always supply your knowledge and rules yourself. Every integration with your systems is build work, just as with AI automation.
Worked example: a year of chatbot, three routes
An online store with 1,000 conversations a month, 700 of them handled without a colleague. Two agents take the rest. The off-the-shelf tool is Intercom Fin on the Essential plan; for custom we count a small and a large model. We count 85 euros an hour for build and upkeep, inside the Belgian market range, and a rate of 1.12 dollars to the euro. Before VAT. With a higher hourly rate in your market, the custom routes cost more; the tool route does not change.
| Per year | Intercom Fin | Custom, small | Custom, large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start-up | Your own time to supply knowledge | Build: 50 hours x 85 = 4,250 euros | 4,250 euros |
| Per conversation or resolved question | 700 x 0.99 dollars x 12 = 8,316 dollars | 1,000 x 0.0021 dollars x 12 = 25.50 dollars | 1,000 x 0.04 dollars x 12 = 510 dollars |
| Seats for your team | 2 x 29 dollars x 12 = 696 dollars | Your own inbox | Your own inbox |
| Upkeep | Your own time | 4 hours a month x 85 x 12 = 4,080 euros | 4,080 euros |
| First year | 9,012 dollars, about 8,040 euros | about 8,350 euros | about 8,790 euros |
| Second year | about 8,040 euros | about 4,100 euros | about 4,540 euros |
| At 5,000 conversations a month, per year | about 37,700 euros | about 4,190 euros | about 6,360 euros |
A tool starts faster and needs no build; do count your own time for knowledge and upkeep. Custom costs more at the start and less per conversation, and the integrations with your own systems are yours. At 5,000 conversations a month we count 3,500 resolved questions and the same two seats. The amounts are an example; your own volume and number of resolved questions decide the outcome.
A tool or a custom chatbot?
| Your situation | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want to start this month, with few integrations | An off-the-shelf tool | No build, live fast |
| You already have a helpdesk such as Intercom or Zendesk | The AI inside that helpdesk | Works with your existing inbox and history |
| Many conversations a month | Custom | You pay per token, not per resolved question |
| The chatbot must look into or record something in your own systems | Custom | Integrations on your own platform |
| Sensitive data, or you want to choose where it lives | Custom | You choose the environment and the model |
| Your team needs answers from hundreds of your own documents | An assistant of your own | See ChatGPT or Copilot for when a general assistant falls short |
And what does an AI agent cost?
An AI agent does more than answer: it carries out tasks in your systems, such as drafting a quote or updating a file. Per task it often uses more tokens, because it takes several steps and reads data in between. In our email agent example the model costs between about 2 and 236 euros a month for 880 emails, depending on the model. There too the build remains the big item: integrations, rules on what it may decide itself and checks by a person. What an agent is exactly: AI agents explained.
Your chatbot must say it is AI
In the EU, since 2 August 2026, Article 50 of the AI Act applies: whoever talks to an AI system must know it, unless that is obvious, and at the latest at first contact. For a chatbot on your site that means a clear notice at the top of the conversation, as in the example above. More in our news item on EU AI Act transparency obligations. If your chatbot processes personal data, the GDPR applies too: what you keep, for how long and who sees it, and that belongs in your privacy policy. How to arrange this in your business: the EU AI Act for business.
How we build your chatbot
- We collect the questions your customers ask now, from your emails, your phone and your contact form.
- We put your knowledge in order and have you check it.
- We choose the smallest model that answers well enough, and measure that on your own questions.
- We test with real questions before the bot goes live.
- We connect it to your calendar, inbox or CRM, where that saves time.
- We follow up on conversations and adjust.
Sometimes it turns out along the way that a plain form or a smart automation returns more than a chatbot. Then we say so; which automation tool fits is in Make, Zapier or n8n.
Before you have a chatbot built
- A list of the questions your customers ask most.
- Who supplies the knowledge and keeps it current.
- What the chatbot may not do: promise, advise or decide.
- When it hands over to a person, and to whom.
- Which systems it must talk to: calendar, shop, inbox or CRM.
- A notice that your customer is talking to AI, in the first message.
- Which data it keeps, for how long and where.
- How you measure whether it works: fewer emails, more appointments, fewer calls.
Questions about what a chatbot costs
How much does a chatbot cost per month?
The model cost is small: in our worked example 2.13 dollars per 1,000 conversations on a small model and 42.50 dollars on a large one. An off-the-shelf tool such as Intercom Fin charges 0.99 dollars per resolved question plus a subscription per agent. On top comes the time to follow up conversations and update your knowledge.
How much does it cost to have an AI chatbot built?
That depends on how much knowledge it must know, which systems it talks to and how thoroughly it is tested. In our example 50 hours of build, about 4,250 euros, plus a few hours of upkeep a month. Ask for a price based on your questions, your knowledge and your integrations.
How much does one conversation with an AI chatbot cost?
A ten-message conversation costs about 0.002 dollars on a small model such as Claude Haiku 5.5 and 0.04 dollars on a large model such as Claude Sonnet 5.5. That assumes 3,000 input tokens per question and 250 tokens per answer.
Is an off-the-shelf chatbot tool cheaper?
With few conversations and no integrations, often yes, because you pay no build. With many conversations a price per resolved question gets expensive: in our example at 5,000 conversations a month about 37,700 euros a year, against about 4,190 euros for a custom chatbot on a small model.
How much does an AI agent cost?
More per task than a chatbot per conversation, because an agent takes several steps and reads more, but the model cost usually stays small next to the build. The integrations with your systems and the checks by a person decide the price.
Must a chatbot say it is AI?
In the EU, yes: since 2 August 2026 Article 50 of the AI Act requires that your customer knows they are talking to AI, unless that is already clear, and at the latest at first contact.