AOVA vs Chatbase: an honest comparison for small businesses
If you're looking for a Chatbase alternative, or just want to know how AOVA vs Chatbase compares, this page puts the two side by side: what you pay per answer, which channels each one covers, what it can learn from, and what happens when a client wants a person. Both let you build an AI assistant from your own documents and website without writing code, so the differences are in the details.
You'll get a comparison table checked against Chatbase's own pricing page and docs, a plain list of where Chatbase is the better choice and where AOVA is, and a 15-minute plan for moving an assistant over. It takes about ten minutes to read. We make AOVA, so we've kept to facts you can check yourself, and we say where the other side wins.
Who each one is for
Chatbase is built for online businesses that want an AI agent on their website and in their support stack. It connects to Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, email and phone lines, hands conversations to helpdesks such as Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk or HubSpot, and lets the agent take actions: collect leads, book through Calendly, look up Stripe subscriptions, help with Shopify orders, or call your own API. Prices are in US dollars.
AOVA is built for small businesses, experts and course creators who talk to clients in messengers, Telegram first. It answers on your website, through a share link and QR code, in Telegram (including voice messages), on WhatsApp and through an API. It can learn from audio and video recordings as well as documents, websites and Dropbox folders, and you pay for the answers it actually gives, in euros. It collects clients' contact details on every plan and, from Pro, can book a session in your Cal.com calendar or work with your other tools through actions. It covers fewer channels than Chatbase and has no helpdesk integrations.
The comparison table
Checked on November 3, 2026 on Chatbase's pricing page and documentation, and on AOVA's own plans. Prices and features change; we'll update this table every quarter. Where Chatbase doesn't publish something, we say so rather than guess.
| AOVA | Chatbase | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan | Pro: €29 a month, 3,000 credits | Hobby: $40 a month ($32 billed yearly), 700 message credits |
| Free plan | Free: 200 credits, given once | No free plan listed; a 7-day trial on each paid plan |
| How an answer is charged | By the tokens it uses. Typical answer ≈ 11 credits on Claude Sonnet (the default), ≈ 4 on Claude Haiku | A fixed number of credits per message, by model: 1 to 5 credits on the recommended models |
| Typical answer on entry plan | ≈ €0.11 (Sonnet), ≈ €0.04 (Haiku) | ≈ $0.06 (1-credit models), ≈ $0.11 (2-credit models such as Claude Sonnet) |
| Extra credits | €15 for 1,000 | $40 for 1,000 |
| Assistants per plan | Unlimited projects and assistants on every plan | 1 agent on each plan; extra agents $25 per agent a month |
| Team members | Free 1, Pro 3, Business 10, Enterprise unlimited (view-only members are free) | Hobby 2, Basic 3, Business 5 |
| Remove "Powered by" label | Included from Business (€149 a month) | Add-on, $99 a month |
| Website chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Share link + QR code | ✓ | Not listed on their pricing page |
| Telegram | ✓, built in | Not in the integrations listed in their docs |
| ✓ (text messages) | ✓ | |
| Instagram, Messenger, Slack | - | ✓ |
| API | ✓ on every plan | ✓ from Basic ($150 a month) |
| Voice | Telegram voice messages: understood and answered by voice, 18 languages | Voice and phone calls (Twilio, SIP) from Basic |
| Audio and video as knowledge | ✓ transcribed into text, 8.8 credits a minute | Not among the data sources in their docs (files: PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX) |
| Website as knowledge | One page, whole site or sitemap; refreshed weekly on Pro, daily on Business | Crawl or sitemap; weekly auto-resync on Basic and Business |
| Other knowledge sources | Files, linked Dropbox folders | Files, text, Q&A, Notion pages, support tickets |
| Human handoff | From Pro: you reply yourself from the Inbox, on Telegram and the website chat | Helpdesk inbox from Basic; takeover on the chat bubble, email, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram; 12 helpdesk integrations |
| Collect leads | ✓ on every plan: name, phone, email, what they need | ✓ (an action) |
| Actions | From Pro: Cal.com booking, ready-made actions (Shopify, HubSpot, Freshdesk, Zapier, Make, n8n…), your own API | Calendly, Stripe, Shopify, web search, human escalation, custom API actions; 5 to 12 per agent by plan |
| Webhooks to your tools | From Pro: new lead, new conversation, handoff, booking | ✓ |
| Languages | Answers in the client's language; AOVA Studio in English and Russian | Chat bubble text can be translated into many languages, including right-to-left ones |
| Where data is stored | In the EU (AWS, Ireland). Models marked "Data in the EU" also process requests there | Not stated on their pricing page, which lists GDPR compliance, SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA (HIPAA-eligible on Enterprise) |
A note on the price row, because it's the one people care about most. The two products count differently. Chatbase charges a fixed number of credits per message for each model, so a long answer costs the same as a short one. AOVA charges for the tokens each answer actually uses, so an answer that reads more of your knowledge costs more, and a short one costs less. Our figures are averages from real answers; your own will show up under Settings → Plan & credits → Usage. On Chatbase, actions can add requests to the model, and so credits, to an answer.
For a Sonnet-class answer on the entry plan, the two come out at about the same price: around 11 cents, in euros for AOVA and in dollars for Chatbase. On cheaper models AOVA is lower. Where the real difference shows is around the edges: AOVA starts €11 lower, has a free plan, sells extra credits at €15 instead of $40 per 1,000, and doesn't charge per assistant.
Where Chatbase is better
Say it plainly, because it decides whether AOVA is right for you at all:
- More channels. Instagram, Messenger, Slack, email and phone lines. If your clients write to you on Instagram, AOVA can't answer them there today.
- More built-in actions. Stripe subscription lookups, web search and Calendly come ready-made, and each agent can have 5 to 12 actions depending on the plan. AOVA's actions cover orders, CRMs, newsletters, Freshdesk tickets, Cal.com booking and your own API, but not Stripe or web search.
- Helpdesk integrations. If your team works in Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, HubSpot, Salesforce or a similar tool, Chatbase can hand live chats over there. AOVA can open a Freshdesk ticket, but live conversations stay in AOVA's own Inbox.
- More knowledge source types. Notion pages, Q&A pairs and past support tickets can all be sources in Chatbase.
- Voice calls. Chatbase can answer phone calls and voice conversations on its Basic and Business plans. AOVA does voice messages in Telegram, not calls.
- Compliance paperwork. Chatbase lists SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA (on Enterprise). If a customer or regulator asks for those reports, that matters.
- Developer tools. SDKs for iOS and Android and client-side actions.
If two or more of these are must-haves, Chatbase is probably the better fit, and that's fine.
Where AOVA is better
- Telegram, with voice. A Telegram bot is a first-class channel in AOVA, not a workaround. It understands voice messages and can answer with a voice reply in 18 languages. See Use voice messages in Telegram.
- Recordings become knowledge. Upload a webinar, a call or a course video and AOVA transcribes it into text the assistant answers from. More in Transcribe webinars and calls into your chatbot's knowledge base.
- No website needed. Share the assistant as a link and a QR code for your Instagram bio, a flyer or the front desk (how it works).
- Lower entry price and a free plan. €29 a month for Pro, or try it on 200 free credits, with unlimited assistants on every plan. Extra credits cost €15 per 1,000.
- Leads on every plan, booking from €29. The assistant asks for a name, phone and email when a client wants to book or be called back, even on the Free plan; from Pro it can book a session in your Cal.com calendar (collect contact details, actions).
- Branding off from Business. Removing "Powered by AOVA" from the website chat is part of the Business plan, not a separate yearly add-on.
- Data stored in the EU. Your knowledge and conversations are stored with AWS in Ireland. If you need processing to stay in the EU too, pick a model marked Data in the EU. Details are in our Privacy Policy.
- Simple handoff for small teams. When a client asks for a person, the conversation waits for you in the Inbox and you reply from there, on Telegram or the website chat. No helpdesk to set up. See AI chatbot handoff to a human.
- English and Russian. The whole Studio and these guides exist in both languages, and the assistant answers clients in whatever language they write.
Switching from Chatbase in 15 minutes
You don't need an export tool. Your knowledge is the same files and website you already gave Chatbase.
- Sign up at AOVA Studio (the Free plan is enough to test).
- Add your knowledge. Open Knowledge, create a knowledge base and add the same files. To add your site, click Add knowledge → Website and choose Whole website or From sitemap (details). If you keep documents in Dropbox, link the folder instead of uploading copies.
- Create the assistant. In Assistants, click New, pick the knowledge base and paste the instructions you wrote in Chatbase. They usually work as they are: who the assistant speaks for, tone, what not to do.
- Test it with ten real questions from your Chatbase conversation history. Where an answer is wrong, the fix is almost always a missing or outdated line in a file.
- Connect a channel. For your website, copy the widget snippet and swap it for Chatbase's (embed the chat widget). For Telegram, paste a bot token from @BotFather (connect Telegram).
- Run both for a few days if you like, then cancel the one you don't need.
FAQ
Is there a free Chatbase alternative? AOVA has a Free plan with 200 credits, given once, which is enough for about 18 to 50 test answers, depending on the model. Chatbase doesn't list a free plan on its pricing page; it offers a 7-day trial on each paid plan.
Does Chatbase work with Telegram? Telegram isn't among the integrations listed in Chatbase's documentation (checked November 3, 2026). AOVA connects to Telegram directly with a bot token, including voice messages.
Which is cheaper, AOVA or Chatbase? For a typical answer on a Sonnet-class model, about the same: around 11 cents. AOVA is cheaper to start (€29 vs $40 a month), has a free plan, cheaper extra credits and no fee per extra assistant. If you need helpdesk integrations or phone calls, compare Chatbase's Basic plan instead.
Can I keep my Chatbase bot's answers when I switch? You move the knowledge, not the bot: upload the same files, add the same website and paste the same instructions. Answers come from that knowledge, so they're usually close from the first test.
Can AOVA collect leads and book appointments? Yes. Collecting a client's name, phone and email is on every plan, and new leads show up in the Inbox. From Pro, the assistant can find free times in your Cal.com calendar and book one, and send leads to your CRM or to Zapier, Make or n8n.
Is my data used to train AI models? Not on AOVA: we don't use your content or conversations to train models. Chatbase's pricing page says your data is "not used to train models".
Plans and prices: AOVA pricing and Manage your plan and credits.