Chatbase bills your messages. We bill your bots.
Chatbase sells message credits: 500 for $32/mo, 4,000 for $120, 15,000 for $400, then $40 per 1,000. Animam sells bots: €29/mo for one, €199/mo for 10, with no message meter. The consequence fits in one sentence — over there, an agent that succeeds costs you more.
Chatbase pricing taken from their public page on July 28, 2026. Ours are the ones shown on our pricing page.
One agency, ten clients
The case where the gap stops being theoretical: a web agency deploying an agent for ten of its clients, over one year.
| Line item | Chatbase | Animam |
|---|---|---|
| Base subscription | 1 440 $ (Standard, for API access) | 2,388 € (Agency, all in) |
| 9 extra agents | 2 700 $ | included (10 bots) |
| Remove their branding | 1 188 $ | included |
| Messages | 4,000 shared credits, then $40 per 1,000 | 6,000 pooled conversations |
| Before the first message | ≈ 5 328 $ | 2,388 € |
One caveat, in fairness: their pricing page does not state how many agents the Standard tier includes. The calculation assumes one. If it is three, the gap narrows — it does not reverse.
What Chatbase does better
Saying it here saves you discovering it after signing.
- Certifications. SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA. We have neither, and we say so on our governance page too. If your client needs one, the question is settled.
- The integration catalogue. Shopify, Zendesk, Slack, WhatsApp. We have Stripe, Google Calendar, external MCP servers and WordPress. On a line-by-line connector comparison, we lose.
- Channels. They cover chat, email, Slack and WhatsApp. We cover web, forms, API and voice.
Where the comparison stops applying
The client with no website. An agent hosted on its own page, reachable by QR code, with place context in the URL: one code per property, per restaurant table, per job site. A tool that installs on a website is no use to someone who has none.
Mechanisms, not attestations. Quote amounts are computed server-side — the model picks a SKU, never a number. A visitor’s identity is verified server-side before any action in their name. And a weekly digest cross-checks what the agent claimed against the tools it actually called, flagging actions announced but never performed. That is a different axis from a certification, not a lesser one.
The fleet, for an agency. One bot per client, €15 per bot beyond 10, driven from a single API key, with demos built on your prospects’ own sites before you even call them.
Frequently asked questions
Does Chatbase bill per message?
Yes. Its tiers are expressed in message credits — 500 credits at $32/mo, 4,000 at $120, 15,000 at $400 — with top-ups at $40 per 1,000 credits. Animam charges a flat amount per bot, whatever the message volume.
What does it actually cost for an agency with ten clients?
On Chatbase, as of July 28, 2026: the Standard tier at $1,440/yr for API access, extra agents at $300/yr each, and branding removal at $1,188/yr — roughly $5,300/yr before a single message. On Animam, the Agency plan is €199/mo, i.e. €2,388/yr, with white-label included and ten bots covered.
What does Chatbase do better than Animam?
Certifications — SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA, which Animam does not have — and the integration catalogue, notably Shopify, Zendesk, Slack and WhatsApp. If one of those is a requirement, Chatbase is the right call.
What if my client has no website?
Animam serves a hosted page per agent, reachable by QR code, carrying place context in the URL — one code per listing, per table, per site. Chatbase’s public documentation mentions no equivalent.
Try it on your own site
Twenty seconds, no account. You will see what your visitors would see.