AI Chatbot Pricing in 2026: Per-Resolution vs Flat (Intercom, Tidio, Chatbase Compared)
What does an AI support chatbot actually cost? We pulled the live pricing pages for Intercom Fin, Tidio Lyro, and Chatbase in July 2026 and did the per-conversation math. The gap between metered and flat pricing is bigger than any feature difference.
AI chatbot pricing is confusing by design. One vendor charges per "resolution," another per "conversation," a third per "message credit" — and none of those words mean the same thing.
So instead of comparing marketing pages, we pulled the live pricing pages of three popular AI support chatbots in July 2026 and did the arithmetic. Every number below links to the source, so you can verify it yourself. The short version:
Monthly cost of 500 AI-handled conversations
Competitor pricing checked August 2026 · one website · bars to scale
+ seat costs · $0.99/resolution
at the $0.65/convo entry-tier rate
Standard plan credits
flat — AI assistant included, no meter
Same job. 20× price spread. The difference isn't features — it's the billing model.
The three billing models
Per-resolution. You pay every time the AI successfully answers someone. Intercom Fin works this way. The better the bot performs, the more you pay.
Per-credit / per-conversation quotas. Your plan includes a bucket of AI conversations or message credits; overage costs extra. Tidio Lyro and Chatbase work this way.
Flat, with a fair-use cap. One monthly price includes a generous allowance. GhostChat works this way. Your bill doesn’t change when the bot has a busy month.
What each vendor actually charges (July 2026)
Intercom Fin — $0.99 per resolution, plus seats
Intercom's pricing page lists Fin at $0.99 per outcome— charged when a customer confirms resolution, stops replying, or Fin completes a workflow. That's on top of per-seat plan pricing, and add-ons like Copilot run $29/agent/month.
The math scales against you: 500 AI resolutions a month is $495 in Fin fees alone — before a single seat is paid for. Per-resolution pricing means your bill grows precisely because the product is working.
Tidio Lyro — from $32.50/mo for 50 AI conversations
Tidio's pricing page sells the Lyro AI agent as a separate quota: paid Lyro plans start at $32.50/mo for 50 AI conversations. That's 65 cents per AI conversation at the entry tier — on top of the base Tidio plan (Starter is $24.17/mo with 100 billable live conversations).
You can technically add Tidio to multiple sites, but per their own FAQ, the widget shares one appearance and behavior config across all of them — there's no per-site AI knowledge base on a single sub.
Chatbase — message credits, and $1,188/yr to remove branding
Chatbase's pricing runs on message credits: Hobby is $32/mo for 500 credits, Standard is $120/mo for 4,000, and auto-recharge overage costs $40 per 1,000 credits. A single AI reply can consume multiple credits depending on the model.
The add-ons are where it compounds: removing the Chatbase branding from your widget is $1,188 per year, and extra team members are $300/agent/year.
GhostChat — AI included in every plan, from $0
GhostChat's pricing includes the AI assistant in every plan — even Free ($0, 25 AI replies/mo included): Pro is $12/mo (up to 3 sites, 200 AI replies/mo included) and Team is $39/mo (unlimited sites, 10 team seats, 600 AI replies/mo included). No per-resolution fees, no credit packs, no branding-removal add-on on Team plans — past the included allowance, visitors route to you instead of billing you.
The per-conversation math
Here's what a month of 500 AI-handled conversations on one site costs on each product, using the verified numbers above:
| Product | Billing model | ~Cost for 500 AI convos/mo | Effective per convo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom Fin | $0.99/resolution + seats | ~$495 + seat costs | $0.99 |
| Tidio + Lyro | Base plan + AI quota | ~$24 base + Lyro tier sized for 500 convos (entry tier is 50 convos for $32.50) | ~$0.65 at entry tier |
| Chatbase | Message credits | $32–$120 depending on credits per reply | $0.04+/credit, multiple credits per reply |
| GhostChat Team | Flat | $39 (within the 600-reply included allowance) | ~$0.05, capped |
At 500 conversations a month, the spread between the cheapest and most expensive option is roughly 20×. No feature gap in this market is that large.
The multi-site multiplier
Metered pricing gets dramatically worse if you run more than one site — an agency with client sites, or a founder with a few products. Per-resolution and per-credit models multiply with every property, and most vendors scope a subscription (or at least the AI's knowledge base) to a single site or workspace.
On GhostChat's Team plan, $39/mo covers unlimited sites — each with its own widget config, welcome message, and AI FAQ knowledge base — under one login, with 10 team seats included. The same footprint on per-site or per-resolution pricing runs into hundreds or thousands per month.
Where the expensive options earn it (honest caveats)
Intercom is a full enterprise suite. If you need Salesforce workflows, SLAs, and a large support org, Fin’s price rides on genuinely deep tooling. Small sites are paying for infrastructure they’ll never touch.
Quotas exist everywhere — including ours. GhostChat’s flat plans have included allowances (25 AI replies/mo on Free, 200 on Pro, 600 on Team). The difference: past the allowance, visitors still reach you live or by email — you’re never billed overage.
AI doesn’t replace you. Every product on this list hands off to a human when the bot is out of depth. Pricing should reflect the bot’s share of the work — which is exactly why paying per successful answer feels backwards.
Why flat pricing is even possible
Modern small language models made AI support cheap to serve. GhostChat's assistant runs on Claude Haiku with aggressive prompt caching — a typical grounded answer costs us well under a cent. Vendors charging $0.65–$0.99 per AI conversation aren't covering compute; they're pricing against the salary of the human you'd otherwise hire.
That's a fine business model. It's just not one you're obligated to fund — especially if you're a small site where the "salary saved" framing never made sense to begin with. See how the assistant works on our AI chatbot page, or compare plans on pricing.
AI support without the meter
AI assistant included in every plan — even the free one. No per-resolution fees, no credit packs.
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