How Much Does it Cost To Build a Chatbot in 2023?
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Like most software projects the chatbot cost really depends on the scale and complexity of the project.
These requirements will govern the effort involved in building your perfect automated assistant and the ongoing effort required to keep it running smoothly.
Let’s take a look at some of the governing factors in how much your chatbot project will cost.
How much does it cost to create a chatbot to fix our [insert business problem]?
We are often asked this question by clients looking to start their first conversational AI project.
At this point, we tend to ask a specific set of questions to get an idea about the scope of the project they have in mind. You can read a bit more about your chatbot scope here.
Chatbot cost can be broken down into 2 parts.
- One off design, development, deployment of the chatbot
- Ongoing monthly maintenance, hosting and management costs
Spoiler alert: we can’t give an exact price without knowing the details of your project. However, we can give some estimates based on the type of project. Jump to the end if you'd like to go straight there.
Let’s dive in and take a look at the key drivers impacting the price for custom chatbots.
Deployment Channel Chatbot Cost
The first requirement to consider is the channel in which the bot should function.
By this, I mean where the bot will be used.
It could be as a website widget implemented on your webpage or deployed into existing messaging platforms.
Examples of these platforms include Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Telegram, and Viber. Some of these examples provide more complex UI elements which can be utilised in your bot.
Other obvious channels to deploy a chatbot are voice; Google Assistant, Alexa or even Conversational IVR systems which can be connected to the same conversational engine as your text-based chatbots although voice assistants will invariably need work specific to voice channels.
For our custom chatbot integrations, we normally provide one channel with the project and then charge per extra channel, as required.
We’ve found that our clients will often want a web-based chatbot first and create and deploy different versions to other channels depending on the chatbot use case.
Extra channel development costs vary, depending on the amount of work required to create the best user experience for the platform.
Features
Depending on where the chatbot will work in there is also scope to provide other functionality such as voice capability for web chatbots or enhanced chatbot interface features specific to the deployment platform.
Again, costs depend on the amount of complexity and effort involved in building each feature.
As an example, adding voice interaction capability to a web chatbot would be £3,000+.
Human-agent handover via live chat or WhatsApp integration is also a popular feature.
Natural Language Ability Chatbot Cost
If a chatbot is required to support more complex natural language understanding (NLU- you can read more about some of the tech terms here) features and not just UI elements such as buttons then this will mean that additional effort is needed to train the bot and design and implement a more complex conversational flow.
In reality, most text-based chatbots will have some level of NLU and, of course, voice assistants are all NLU.
We utilise the best of breed NLU solutions to create our conversational experiences.
In particular, we use Google Dialogflow ES and CX for many of our projects and, as a result, we are Google Tech partners and experts in Dialogflow. For onprem or open source solutions we also use Rasa.
Conversation Skills
The complexity, scope and volume of the required conversational ability also affect cost. This relates to specifics such as:
- The number of branches in the conversation tree
- The number of questions that have to be handled by the chatbot, which can often be in the thousands
- The number of training phrases needed; this element can improve the accuracy of the chatbot, (you can read more about training data here)
- The complexity of conversational ability i.e. support for complex user enquiries, multi-turn conversations.
- Number of entities needed to support the required responses, don’t forget you can remind yourself of terminology here
Languages
Chatbots are capable of supporting different languages, as long as these are supported by the NLP engine.
It’s possible to add different language permutations to the same chatbot project. However, each language will need its own testing and all the responses for each language and potentially any responses returned by business logic may need to be altered for each language.
A conversational designer will also need to consider the nuances of each language here, so costs for each language will depend on the size and complexity of the conversational ability for the primary language.
Integration Chatbot Costs
Connect your chatbot to existing systems: APIs, RPA, Knowledge Bases
The other area which will impact cost is dependent on the planned role of the chatbot: what the chatbot will need to do to carry out its role?
Will the chatbot need to integrate with current systems to provide its responses?
Will it need to hand over to live agents?
Will it need to connect with CRM and ticketing solutions?
Some chatbots may need to carry out complex interactions to provide answers to customer queries.
You can read more about possible integrations here, but the rule of thumb is that if the system you want to integrate with has an API and a means of authenticating then we can integrate with it.
Chatbots can also leverage other AI systems to provide relevant information to govern conversational flow. For example, sentiment analysis.
With so many possibilities for chatbot features, it's hard to estimate the price here as each integration can have its own complexities and sets of APIs to authenticate with.
Integration Chatbot Costs
Connect your chatbot to existing systems: APIs, RPA, Knowledge Bases
The other area which will impact cost is dependent on the planned role of the chatbot: what the chatbot will need to do to carry out its role?
Will the chatbot need to integrate with current systems to provide its responses?
Will it need to hand over to live agents?
Will it need to connect with CRM and ticketing solutions?
Some chatbots may need to carry out complex interactions to provide answers to customer queries.
You can read more about possible integrations here, but the rule of thumb is that if the system you want to integrate with has an API and a means of authenticating then we can integrate with it.
Chatbots can also leverage other AI systems to provide relevant information to govern conversational flow. For example, sentiment analysis.
With so many possibilities for chatbot features, it's hard to estimate the price here as each integration can have its own complexities and sets of APIs to authenticate with.
Deployment & Infrastructure Security
Often security demands for a chatbot project need specific features, for example, HIPAA compliance.
In these cases, SSO, RBAC, and on-prem or private cloud deployment can be used to ensure compliance with company security policies.
These can have an impact on overall project costs and again, costs are based on the demands of a specific project.
Chatbot Training & Maintenance
We offer our chatbot solutions based on a SAAS model.
Costs incurred tend to be based on a yearly subscription and again depend a lot on the scale and complexity of the chatbot.
These monthly costs will cover the following:
- Access to our world-class chatbot and voice assistant analytics platform (Chatseer)
- Daily supervised learning and improvements
- Monitoring conversations and confirming qualified intents as well as checking for unmatched intents and fixing them as needed
- Third-party and integration maintenance. Making sure your bot is performing well and healthy!
- Natural Language Understanding service costs (depending on volume and platform used).
- Hosting and data storage
- Chatbot reporting interface
- Post-development support.
As a rule, monthly maintenance costs tend to be in the region of 10% of the initial implementation cost.
Chatbot Packages
The cost of a chatbot project can vary widely depending on the overall scale of the project and the features required.
We tend to split our projects into 3 packages. You can see the features included and the one-off project costs and monthly costs in the table below.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the cost of a capable chatbot does not have to be prohibitive and it’s often easy to start small and add features as business needs require them.
We make sure all our chatbot and voice assistant projects will scale. So even if you want to start with a smaller scale chatbot solution, your company can still expand and build on this to create a large scale solution further down the line.
Discovery and requirements phase
We provide a discovery and requirements service for conversational AI projects. Our aim is to help businesses understand the potential of conversational AI and identify the requirements for a specific project.
This service typically includes an analysis of the business needs and goals, an assessment of the available data and resources, and the identification of potential challenges and opportunities.
We will work closely with you to understand the problem that needs to be solved, and to identify the key requirements for the conversational AI project. We will also recommend different conversational AI platforms and supporting technologies that can be used to build the solution.
Our goal is to help your organisation understand the potential of conversational AI and to provide you with a clear plan for how to proceed with the project. The cost of the service will depend on the complexity of the project and the level of support required from the service provider.
Deliverables
Project Cost: £3,000 to £15,000
Proof of concept (POC)
If you have an idea or use case for a conversational AI product or feature it's normally good practice to create a POC.
A POC is an early model that does not have all the final product's functionality, the main goal of a POC is to test the technical feasibility of a solution, and to identify any potential challenges or issues that would need to be addressed before moving forward and investing time and money on the development of a full-fledged system or application.
We aim to keep costs down but ensure all the work can be used as a basis for a production project.
Deliverables
- Define the problem or use case
- Identify the data and resources required
- Analyse and select conversational AI platforms and supporting technologies
- Build a simple conversational AI model
- Create integration for the chosen channel
- Carry out all required integration works
- Test the POC
- Evaluate the results
- Iterate and improve the model based on the results
Project Cost: £2,500 to £15,000
Small Project
A smaller chatbot project is a relatively simple and straightforward implementation of a conversational AI system, typically designed to address a specific use case or business need. This type of project may involve building a chatbot that can handle simple customer inquiries, such as answering FAQs or providing information about products or services.
The chatbot can be built using pre-built chatbot platform or framework, with pre-trained models that can handle natural language processing (NLP) and understand the user's intent. The chatbot can be integrated with the business's website or mobile app, and can be accessed by customers through a chat interface.
The chatbot's functionality can be limited to the specific use case that it is designed to address, such as providing customer support or information about a particular product or service. The chatbot's responses can be pre-defined, and the chatbot can be trained to understand and respond to a limited set of customer queries.
The cost of a smaller chatbot project will depend on the complexity of the use case, but generally, it is relatively low compared to a larger, more complex conversational AI project. Additionally, a smaller chatbot project will typically require less time and resources to develop and launch, and may be used as a stepping stone to larger, more complex projects in the future.
Project Cost: £2,500 to £10,000
Monthly Maintenance Cost: £200 to £1000 (depending on volumes)
- Website chatbot
- Facebook Messenger chatbot
- NLU
- 10-20 intents
- 100s training phrases
- 5 – 10 rich UI elements
- knowledge base support
- Small talk
- 1 language
Medium Project
A medium chatbot project is a more complex implementation of a conversational AI system that addresses multiple use cases or business needs. This type of project typically involves building a chatbot that can handle a wider range of customer inquiries and provide a more personalized experience.
The chatbot can be built using pre-built chatbot platform or framework, with pre-trained models that can handle natural language understanding and complex conversations. The chatbot can be integrated with multiple channels such as website, mobile app, social media platforms etc.
The chatbot's functionality can include multiple use cases, such as providing customer support, answering frequently asked questions, providing information about products or services, and even handling transactions. The chatbot's responses are generated through a combination of predefined and dynamic responses, and the chatbot can be trained to understand and respond to a wide range of customer queries.
The chatbot can also be integrated with other systems such as CRM, ERP, or inventory management systems to retrieve information and perform actions. The chatbot can also be equipped with features such as personalization, sentiment analysis, and analytics to provide a more engaging and personalized experience for the customers.
The cost and time required for a medium chatbot project will be higher than a smaller chatbot project as it involves more complexity, advanced features and integrations. However, this type of project can bring significant benefits to the business, such as cost savings, improved customer engagement, and increased efficiency.
Project Cost: £10,000 to £25,000
Monthly Cost: £500 to £2,500 (depending on volumes)
- Website chatbot
- Facebook Messenger chatbot
- Microsoft Teams Chatbot
- Slack Chatbot
- Alexa Skill
- Google Assistant
- NLU
- 1000s of training phrases
- 50-100 intents
- 10-25 rich UI elements
- Simple integration
- 1 or 2 languages
Large Project
A large scale or enterprise chatbot project is a comprehensive implementation of a conversational AI system that addresses multiple business needs and use cases across an organization. This type of project typically involves building a chatbot that can handle a wide range of customer inquiries and provide a more personalized experience, and it can integrate with multiple internal systems and processes.
The chatbot can be built using pre-built chatbot platform or framework, include extensive bespoke coding and complex integrations. The chatbot can be integrated with multiple channels such as website, mobile app, social media platforms, SMS, smart Interactive voice response (IVR), and even voice assistants like Alexa, Google Home or even digital humans.
At this level functionality can include multiple use cases, such as providing customer support, answering frequently asked questions, providing information about products or services, handling transactions, and even automating internal and external processes such as smart IVR integrations.
The chatbot can also be integrated with other internal systems such as CRM, ERP, inventory management, and HR systems to retrieve information and perform actions, as well as with external systems like payment gateways, and logistics providers.
Large scale or enterprise chatbot projects are complex and require significant resources and expertise. They can be costly, but they bring significant benefits to the business, such as cost savings, improved customer engagement, increased efficiency, and automation of internal processes. Additionally, a well-designed and executed enterprise chatbot can provide a competitive advantage and can help in differentiating the business from its competitors.
Project Cost: £25,000 to £100,000+
Monthly Cost: £2,500 to £5,000+ (depending on volumes)
- Large scale enterprise chatbot with multiple API integrations
- 10,000s of training phrases
- Personalised UX
- 1000s intents
- Multiple knowledge bases
- Deployed to multiple channels including conversational IVR
- Custom user interface elements
- Bespoke functionality
- Multiple languages
About The Bot Forge
Consistently named as one of the top-ranked AI companies in the UK, The Bot Forge is a UK-based agency that specialises in chatbot & voice assistant design, development and optimisation.
If you'd like a no-obligation chat to discuss your project with one of our team, please book a free consultation.