AskVault vs Chatbase (2026) - pricing, channels and limits compared
The short answer
AskVault is the better Chatbase alternative when you need several agents, messaging channels or more messages per dollar. It suits teams running more than one brand, store or client, and anyone who wants WhatsApp and Telegram answered by the same agent as the website. Pick Chatbase if you need one agent on one website and you value a long track record and a large catalogue of help-desk integrations more than allowance per dollar.
Both products do the core job well. They read your pages and documents, answer from them, and show where an answer came from. The real differences are in what each one meters and what it charges extra for.
Pricing side by side
Chatbase figures below were checked against Chatbase's pricing page on 2026-10-24. We leave out Chatbase's content allowances because its own pages give different numbers; check its pricing page for the current figure. AskVault figures come from the live AskVault pricing page. All prices are month-to-month in US dollars; Chatbase takes 20% off for annual billing.
| Chatbase | AskVault | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | None listed; 7-day trial on paid plans | $0: 50 messages, 5 MB, 1 workspace, no time limit |
| Entry paid plan | Hobby, $40/mo: 700 credits, 1 agent | Starter, $39/mo: 2,000 messages, 15 MB, 2 workspaces |
| Mid plan | Standard, $150/mo: 4,000 credits | Growth, $99/mo: 6,000 messages, 40 MB, 5 workspaces, 4 seats |
| Top self-serve plan | Pro, $500/mo: 15,000 credits | Business, $249/mo: 15,000 messages, 100 MB, 15 workspaces, 10 seats |
| Agents included | 1 on every tier; extra agents $300 per agent per year | 2, 5 or 15 workspaces by tier |
| Remove vendor branding | Paid add-on | Included from Growth |
| Running out of allowance | Auto-recharge at $40 per 1,000 credits | Hard cap: buy a top-up pack or upgrade, never billed past your plan |
AskVault prices exclude tax. Payment runs through Dodo Payments, our merchant of record, and any sales tax or VAT that applies to you is shown at checkout.
What a "credit" and a "message" actually buy
Both products charge more for premium models. On Chatbase a premium model spends several credits per answer. On AskVault a premium model spends more than one message credit per answer. The headline numbers above are what you get at base-model rates, so if you plan to run a frontier model on every answer, divide both columns by that model's cost before you compare.
The add-on math most comparisons skip
A Chatbase Hobby customer who wants a second agent and no Chatbase logo pays $40 a month, plus $300 a year for the extra agent, plus the branding add-on. The closest AskVault plan with both is Growth at $99, which also carries five workspaces and 6,000 messages. If you only ever need one branded agent, that gap disappears, and Chatbase's simpler packaging may suit you better.
Channels: where your customers can reach the agent
AskVault answers on these channels from one knowledge base and one inbox:
- Free. Website widget and hosted chat page.
- Starter. Website widget, hosted chat page and REST API. See the API quickstart.
- Growth. Adds WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, SMS and email. WhatsApp runs on your own WhatsApp Business account and SMS on your own Twilio account, so Meta and Twilio bill message fees to you directly. Setup guides: WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack.
- Business. Adds the voice channel. Voice minutes are sold separately.
- Make, for connecting AskVault to other apps, on Growth and above. See the Make guide.
Zapier setup is not currently available.
Chatbase includes WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Slack on every plan, Hobby included. Its help-desk and CRM integrations, such as Zendesk, Salesforce and HubSpot, start on Standard (Chatbase pricing page, checked 2026-10-24). AskVault's messaging channels start on Growth.
Answer quality and trust
Both tools ground answers in your own content and cite sources. Two things work differently on AskVault:
- Answers are checked against your content. When an answer looks unsupported or low-confidence, the conversation is flagged into a Needs Review queue, so a shaky answer gets a second look from your team instead of slipping by unnoticed. See AI safety.
- "I don't know" is an allowed answer. When nothing in your content covers a question, the agent says so and logs the gap. You see those gaps in AI Insights and can fix them with a Q&A pair in a minute.
The AskVault crawler also renders JavaScript-heavy sites built with React or Vue, so single-page apps get indexed with their real text instead of an empty shell. Read how the crawler works.
We have not run a head-to-head accuracy benchmark against Chatbase, and we would be wary of anyone who claims one without publishing the test set. Run the same 20 real customer questions through both free plans; it takes about an hour and tells you more than any review.
Where Chatbase is the better choice
- Maturity. Chatbase has a large customer base and plenty of tutorials. AskVault is a younger product without public reference customers yet. If vendor track record is part of your risk review, that counts.
- Integration catalogue. Chatbase connects to Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot, Gorgias, Freshdesk, Zoho Desk, Messenger and Instagram, among others.
- One agent, one site. If that is all you need, Chatbase's packaging is simple and the multi-workspace advantages on this page are worth nothing to you.
- Never running dry. Auto-recharge means a busy month turns into a bigger bill instead of a paused agent. Some teams prefer that trade.
Where AskVault is the better choice
AskVault wins on allowance, agents and channels.
- More allowance where most teams buy. 2,000 messages on Starter against 700 credits, and 6,000 on Growth against 4,000. Both top tiers include 15,000, and AskVault's is half the price.
- Several agents without add-ons. Agencies, multi-brand stores and teams with separate docs and sales bots get 2 to 15 workspaces included.
- Branding removal included from Growth.
- Messaging channels including WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and SMS from Growth, all feeding one live chat inbox.
- A bill you can predict. The allowance is a hard cap, so a viral week cannot produce a surprise invoice.
- Commerce lookups built in from Growth. Order-status lookups for Shopify and WooCommerce and human handoff come as ready-made skills rather than custom actions you wire to your own API.
How to switch from Chatbase
- Create a free AskVault account and paste your site URL into onboarding. Pages become answerable as they are indexed.
- Re-upload your files. Gather the PDFs and documents you trained Chatbase on and drop them into the Knowledge.
- Test with real questions in the chat playground. Add Q&A pairs wherever an answer is thin.
- Swap the script tag. Replace the Chatbase embed with the AskVault widget snippet. You can keep both live on different pages while you compare.
The full checklist is in migrating from Chatbase.
FAQ
Is AskVault a good Chatbase alternative?
Yes, if you need more than one agent, Telegram, Discord or SMS, or more messages per dollar. If you need a single agent and the widest integration list, Chatbase is a reasonable choice.
Is AskVault cheaper than Chatbase?
Entry prices are almost identical. AskVault includes more workspaces at each paid tier and more messages on Starter and Growth, and it includes branding removal from Growth instead of selling it as an add-on.
Does AskVault have a free plan?
Yes: $0, no time limit, 50 messages a month, 5 MB of content, the web widget and a hosted chat page. No credit card.
Can I bring my own OpenAI or Anthropic key?
Not on self-serve plans. Model cost is included in the plan price, and paid workspaces pick their chat model in AI settings.
How current are these Chatbase figures?
They were read from Chatbase's own pricing page on 2026-10-24. Pricing pages change, so check the source before you buy, and email [email protected] if you spot a figure that has moved.
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