If you’ve ever used an online chat service on a website, app or via Facebook Messenger, chances are you’ve encountered an AI chatbot.
A recent Oracle study found that 80% of business decision-makers plan to use chatbots by 2020. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) play a huge role in fueling the widespread adoption of chatbots.
An AI chatbot can help marketers interact with customers, generate leads and increase revenue without all the manual work of traditional customer service. In this blog, we’ll break down nine of the best AI chatbots on the market today.
What Is an AI Chatbot?
An AI chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to interact with consumers, answer their questions and provide solutions to their problems. Using text-based or auditory systems, chatbots are meant to simulate conversations a person would have with a real human agent.
In the past, chatbots were limited to basic conversations. But the limitations of chatbot technology meant that humans still needed to jump in to handle more complex topics.
As the technology has evolved, AI chatbots have become drastically more human-like. They can now understand requests and tailor custom responses using natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU). These platforms are sophisticated enough to hold intelligent conversations with customers, answer common questions and even sell products.
Organizations can deploy AI chatbots on all types of platforms, including websites, mobile apps and messaging apps.
The Best AI Chatbots to Guide Your Customers Through the Sales Funnel
Looking for an intelligent chatbot program to add to your marketing toolbox? Here are nine of the best AI chatbots available today.
1. ManyChat
ManyChat is a software designed to create Facebook Messenger chatbots to help market, sell and support products. Nearly half a million businesses currently use ManyChat. It aids with everything from acquiring new followers to sharing content automatically to chatting with visitors to answer questions.
Features:
- The easy-to-use drag and drop builder allows you to create chatbots quickly with no prior coding experience
- Create a custom menu with automated bot replies to answer common questions
- Send messages and automate actions based on keywords
- Create landing pages, buttons and custom widgets to promote your Messenger bot
Pricing:
ManyChat offers free and professional plans. The Pro plan starts at $10/month for 500 subscribers and increases incrementally from there.
2. Chatfuel
Chatfuel is another AI chatbot designed to help you create Facebook Messenger chatbots with no prior coding experience. You can add a Chatfuel Messenger bot to your Facebook page or app to interact with customers, increase sales and qualify leads without all the manual work. The editing features allow you to create unique designs with customized conversational rules.
Features:
- Chatfuel scripts interactive conversations and uses AI to recognize keywords and provide the correct response
- Automate FAQs by defining answers to common questions
- The conversation will transfer to a real human if questions become too complicated
- Analytics technology offers feedback about the performance of the bot
Pricing:
Chatfuel offers a free plan that includes up to 1,000 subscribers and 100k conversations per month. You can purchase professional and premium versions to access more advanced features. Pricing starts at $15/month for the Pro plan and $199/month for Premium.
3. MobileMonkey
MobileMonkey is a full-service mobile agency that offers chatbots for Facebook Messenger. It includes capabilities for chat blasts, customer surveys, event registrations, drip campaigns and much more.
Features:
- The drag-and-drop interface is designed for non-technical users with no coding experience
- The AI component matches chatbot content to user intent via keywords and interactions
- Grow your leads by segmenting your audience, creating conversion funnels and nurturing leads with drip campaigns
- Humans can override chatbots and enter the conversation if needed
Pricing:
There are four pricing plans available: Free, PRO, PRO Unicorn and Team Plan. Pricing for the paid plans ranges from $49/month to $199/month.
4. Aivo
Widely considered one of the world’s largest AI chatbot platforms, Aivo can create bots for all types of organizations. It responds to customer requests in real-time using text or voice-based technology.
Aivo AgentBot uses a natural language understanding engine to interpret conversational language and learn from every interaction. It integrates human empathy and human-like dialogues into your chat-based customer service communications.
Features:
- AI chatbot technology allows customers to respond in real-time using pre-defined rules and automated responses
- Uses natural language understanding to engage in human-like conversations with your customers
- Can integrate with third-party applications such as Salesforce, Zendesk and Zapier
Pricing:
The Aivo Essential Plan starts at $192/month and includes features such as analytics, training, free content packs and unlimited seats. Advanced and Enterprise plans come with a free 14-day trial but require you to talk to a sales department.
5. ItsAlive
ItsAlive is another popular AI chatbot platform developed for Facebook Messenger. It's used by big-name companies such as Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson. ItsAlive requires a higher degree of tech-savviness compared to more straightforward programs.
Features:
- Uses algorithms, keyword detection and various conditions to drive intelligent conversations
- Can hand off conversations to a human counterpart when necessary
- Provides full analytics, lead generation tools and Intercom support
Pricing:
Paid plans range from $19-$99 per month. ItsAlive also offers free and custom plans.
6. Imperson
Imperson develops chatbots for enterprise companies that support text, audio, video, AR and VR across all major messaging platforms. Its end-to-end managed solution for deploying and hosting bots makes it a favorite for high-profile clients such as Disney, Microsoft and Amazon.
Features:
- Includes a full-service creative studio for hosting bots
- Advanced analytics provide valuable data to optimize and improve performance
- The conversation navigator leads customer interactions using relationship memory, NLP user intents and dialogue context
Pricing:
Contact Imperson directly for pricing details.
7. Pandorabots
Pandorabots is one of the oldest and largest chatbot hosting services. Over 300,000 chatbots have been built on the Pandorabots platform to date.
This tool allows you to build and deploy chatbots on your website, mobile apps and popular messaging platforms including Messenger, Twitter and Slack. Pandorabots supports Artificial Intelligence Markup Language, or AIML, an open standard scripting language that allows you to create more sophisticated bots.
Features:
- Supports Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML)
- Allows you to deploy bots on popular messaging apps including Messenger, Twitter, Slack, Telegram and KiK
- Offers a wide range of solutions, from a free DIY platform to turnkey chatbot development
Pricing:
Pandorabots offers four different packages: Sandbox, Developer, Pro and Enterprise. The Sandbox version is free while the other packages range from $19 to $199 per month.
8. Bold360
Bold360 patented its own natural language processing technology that allows a chatbot to understand a customer’s intent without the need for keyword matching. Its conversational AI can interpret complex language, reply with natural responses and remember the context of a whole conversation.
Features:
- Provides a centralized system to handle all agent and AI-powered conversations across chat, email, social, SMS and more
- Allows customers to purchase products directly through the chatbot
- Uses patented NLP to understand intent without keyword matching
Pricing:
Bold360 offers three packages: Agent, Service and Advice. Contact the company directly for a quote.
9. Botsify
Botisfy allows your company to create intelligent chatbots for websites and social media platforms with no prior coding experience required.
Features:
- Includes customizable templates and a user-friendly drag-and-drop experience
- Collects information from users through conversational lead generation forms
- Offers a “Tree View” of chatbot conversations to help you understand the flow of each interaction between a chatbot and end user
Pricing:
Botsify’s self-service plan costs $50 per month, while the fully managed plan costs $300 per month. You can sign up for a 14-day free trial if you want to try it out.
Combine an AI Chatbot With Personalize to Reach Your Customers
Marketing is all about creating an incredible user experience for your customers. And an AI chatbot is just one of many invaluable tools you can use to make your customers feel important – and spend more as a result.
Are you interested in adding more AI-based tools to your arsenal? Check out Personalize. It’s a personalization tool that reveals the products and services your customers are most interested in at any given time – and it’s proven to increase response rates by 50%.
The AI engine crunches data like time on page, visit frequency and recency to identify their top interests, handing you the data you need to promote the right products at the right time. Plus, it hooks directly into popular CRMs and email platforms including HubSpot, MailChimp and Zapier.
Ready to learn more? Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Personalize today.
