Chatvia vs ChatBot.com: no fee per seat
ChatBot.com charges for every person on your team and gives you only a few AI answers a month. Chatvia, the free self-hosted agent platform I built, has no fee per user and no cap on AI answers. This post puts the two side by side and says who should pick which.
The short answer
Chatvia, if you want an AI agent that answers every question from your own knowledge, with your whole team on board and your data on your own server.
ChatBot.com, if you already use LiveChat and you want scripted chat flows more than AI answers.
What ChatBot.com is
ChatBot.com is a hosted chatbot builder from the company behind LiveChat. You build chat flows in a visual editor, and AI answers are added on top. It runs on their cloud.
There is no free plan. Plans start at about $19 per user a month. The first plan includes only 10 AI resolutions a month, and more come in packs you buy.
What Chatvia is
Chatvia is a free platform for AI chat agents that you host yourself. One command installs it on your own server. Agents answer from your files, websites and Q&A, and they work on your website, in Slack, Teams, WhatsApp and more.
The full source code is yours. Without a key you get one workspace with unlimited agents, teams and replies. Every feature works except the API, voice, Live Chat, capabilities and forms, and four Enterprise security features.
Paying per person
ChatBot.com charges for each person on your team. Add five teammates, and you pay five times.
I never liked seat pricing for this kind of tool: it punishes you for letting more people in. So Chatvia has no fee per user. Invite your whole team, and give each person the right access with roles and 41 permissions. The software is free, and there are no limits on agents, teams or replies, with or without a key. A Pro license key adds more workspaces, the API, capabilities and forms and hides the "Powered by Chatvia" line for $199 a year.
Ten AI answers a month
This is the part that bothers me most. On ChatBot.com's first plan, the AI resolves 10 chats a month. After that, you buy packs. The AI part, the part most teams want today, is the part you get least of.
Chatvia has no cap on AI answers. Your agent answers as often as your AI provider allows. You pay the provider for what the model uses, at their price, with nothing added on top. A typical answer from a fast model costs a fraction of a cent. With an open-weight model on your own hardware, the AI cost can be zero.
If you want a limit, set one yourself: a monthly message limit for a workspace or a single chatter.
Flows first, or the agent first
ChatBot.com starts from flows. You draw each path a chat can take, and the AI fills the gaps.
Chatvia starts from the agent. You write a persona, add your files, website and Q&A pairs, and the agent answers questions you never planned for. Hybrid search and a reranker find the best passages, and answers show their sources.
Flows still have a place. Collecting a lead is the usual example, and Chatvia covers that too: an agent can show a real form mid-chat, and every answer is stored as a lead.
Your data, your model
ChatBot.com keeps your chats and content on its cloud, and the vendor picks the AI model.
Chatvia runs on a server you choose: your cloud account, your data center, or a machine in your office. You choose any model: OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, Groq, OpenRouter, or your own server with Ollama or vLLM. Each agent can use a different one.
Channels and handoff
ChatBot.com covers your website, Messenger, Slack, LiveChat and more. Handing a chat to a person goes through LiveChat.
Chatvia covers a chat widget, a hosted chat page, voice chats, Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, a command bar and a REST API. Your team can take over a widget chat live from the dashboard, with no second product to buy.
Tools and guardrails
ChatBot.com connects to other systems with webhooks and integrations, and has basic safety settings.
Chatvia agents can use 24 ready-made connectors, like GitHub, HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion and Zendesk, or any MCP server. For each tool you decide: it runs, it waits for a person's OK, or it never runs. Every call is logged.
Guardrails are built in. They catch prompt injection, mask personal data like card numbers, keep the agent on topic, and stop abusive language.
When ChatBot.com is the better choice
If your team already works in LiveChat, ChatBot.com fits in with no extra work. It also makes sense if you mainly want scripted flows with only a little AI, or if you never want to run a server. A flow builder is the right tool when you know every question in advance.
My verdict
ChatBot.com is a flow builder with AI added on top, and the AI is the part it rations. Chatvia puts the agent first, with no cap on answers and no fee per user. You keep your data, you pick the model, and forms, handoff and many channels come in one install.
| Chatvia | ChatBot.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on your own server | Yes | No |
| Source code | Yes | No |
| Price of the software | Free | From about $19 per user a month |
| Free plan | The whole product is free | No |
| AI answers | No cap, you pay your AI provider at cost | 10 a month on the first plan, then packs |
| Choice of AI model | Any, including local models | Chosen by the vendor |
| Hand a chat to a person | Yes | Yes, through LiveChat |
Want to try it? Install Chatvia and build your first agent. A few minutes is enough.
Prices are from ChatBot.com's pages and public reviews in October 2026. They change often, so check them before you choose.