One of the most common questions I receive from business owners is: "How much does it cost to build an AI chatbot?" The honest answer is that it depends — but that is not helpful. So here is a detailed price breakdown based on real projects I have delivered, with specific numbers and what drives the cost up or down. ## Quick Answer | Chatbot Type | Cost Range | Timeline | |-------------|-----------|----------| | Simple FAQ bot (rule-based) | EUR 300–800 | 3–7 days | | AI FAQ bot (OpenAI-powered) | EUR 800–1,500 | 1–2 weeks | | AI sales assistant | EUR 1,500–3,000 | 2–4 weeks | | Full customer support automation | EUR 3,000–8,000 | 4–8 weeks | | Multi-channel AI platform | EUR 8,000–25,000 | 8–16 weeks | These are freelance developer prices. Agencies typically charge 2–5x more for equivalent work. ## What Determines the Price ### 1. Intelligence Level **Rule-based chatbot (EUR 300–800):** Predefined question-answer pairs. No AI involved. Works for simple FAQs with predictable questions. Limited to exact keyword matching or button-based navigation. **AI-powered chatbot (EUR 800–3,000):** Uses OpenAI GPT or similar models to understand natural language and generate contextual responses. Can handle unexpected questions, maintain conversation context, and learn from your business data. This is what most businesses need in 2026. **RAG-based chatbot (EUR 2,000–8,000):** Retrieval-Augmented Generation — the chatbot searches through your documents, product catalog, or knowledge base to find relevant information, then generates accurate answers. This is the gold standard for support automation. ### 2. Integration Complexity Each integration adds development time and cost: | Integration | Additional Cost | |------------|----------------| | Website widget | EUR 100–300 | | WhatsApp Business API | EUR 300–800 | | Telegram | EUR 200–500 | | CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce) | EUR 400–1,000 | | E-commerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce) | EUR 300–700 | | Payment processing | EUR 300–600 | | Email/ticketing system | EUR 200–500 | | Custom API | EUR 200–800 | ### 3. Conversation Design Depth A chatbot that handles 5 scenarios costs less than one handling 50. The key cost drivers: - Number of conversation flows - Multi-language support (add 30–50% per language) - Personality and tone customization - Fallback and error handling sophistication - Human handoff logic ### 4. Data and Training - **No custom training (use general AI):** Included in base price - **Custom knowledge base (10–50 documents):** EUR 200–500 - **Large knowledge base (100+ documents, product catalog):** EUR 500–1,500 - **Fine-tuned model on your data:** EUR 1,000–3,000 ## Real Project Examples ### Example 1: E-commerce Support Chatbot — EUR 1,800 **Client:** Online clothing store in Barcelona **What it does:** Answers product questions, recommends items based on conversation, handles return policy inquiries, escalates complex issues to human agents **Tech:** Django + OpenAI API + PostgreSQL **Result:** 70% of support inquiries automated, 35% conversion increase **Timeline:** 3 weeks ### Example 2: Appointment Booking Bot — EUR 1,200 **Client:** Dental clinic chain **What it does:** Books appointments via WhatsApp, checks availability, sends reminders, handles rescheduling **Tech:** Python + WhatsApp Business API + Google Calendar API **Result:** 60% reduction in phone calls, 40% fewer no-shows **Timeline:** 2 weeks ### Example 3: AI Sales Assistant — EUR 2,500 **Client:** SaaS company **What it does:** Qualifies leads on the website, answers product questions from documentation, books demo calls, integrates with HubSpot CRM **Tech:** Django + OpenAI + LangChain + HubSpot API **Result:** 3x more qualified leads, 50% faster response time **Timeline:** 4 weeks ## Ongoing Costs Beyond development, plan for these monthly expenses: | Cost Item | Monthly Range | |-----------|-------------| | OpenAI API calls | EUR 10–200 (depends on volume) | | Server hosting | EUR 5–50 | | WhatsApp Business API | EUR 0–100 (per-conversation pricing) | | Maintenance and updates | EUR 0–200 (optional retainer) | **Total monthly running cost for most businesses: EUR 30–150.** For a business handling 1,000 customer conversations per month, OpenAI API costs are typically EUR 20–50. This is far cheaper than a single part-time support agent. ## ROI Calculation Let us calculate the return on investment for a typical EUR 2,000 AI chatbot: **Assumptions:** - 50 customer inquiries per day - Chatbot handles 60% automatically - Average support agent costs EUR 12/hour - Each inquiry takes 5 minutes for a human **Before chatbot:** - 50 inquiries x 5 min = 250 min/day = 4.2 hours/day - 4.2 hours x EUR 12 x 22 working days = EUR 1,109/month **After chatbot:** - 20 inquiries handled by humans x 5 min = 100 min/day = 1.7 hours/day - 1.7 hours x EUR 12 x 22 = EUR 449/month - Plus running costs: EUR 50/month **Monthly savings: EUR 610** **Payback period: 3.3 months** ## How to Choose the Right Chatbot for Your Budget **Budget under EUR 1,000:** Start with an AI FAQ chatbot on your website. Use OpenAI API for natural language understanding. Focus on your top 10–20 most common questions. This alone can reduce support load by 30–40%. **Budget EUR 1,000–3,000:** Add integrations (WhatsApp, CRM), custom knowledge base, and human handoff. This is the sweet spot for most small and medium businesses. **Budget EUR 3,000–10,000:** Full support automation with RAG, multi-channel deployment, analytics dashboard, and conversation intelligence. Suitable for businesses with high support volume. **Budget EUR 10,000+:** Enterprise-grade platform with custom AI model training, advanced analytics, A/B testing of responses, and SLA-backed infrastructure. ## What I Offer I build custom AI chatbots starting from EUR 800, using Python, Django, and OpenAI API. My approach: 1. **Free consultation** to understand your use case and recommend the right solution 2. **Fixed pricing** with milestone-based payments (30/30/40) 3. **2–4 week delivery** for most projects 4. **30-day bug fix period** included 5. **Ongoing support** available as a monthly retainer I am based in Barcelona, work remotely with clients across Europe and worldwide, and have delivered chatbots for e-commerce, healthcare, SaaS, and service businesses.