We wanted something that could answer customer questions without adding more work for our team. Fetchply was easy to set up and started working with our Shopify store pretty quickly.
It’s a practical app for stores that want faster support and a better shopping experience.
UsmanElite Kids
FAQ
Straight answers before you start.
Setup, control, channels, pricing, and privacy. Open a question or ask the live Fetchply assistant for more detail.
Fetchply gives every customer question the right path. Repeat questions can receive approved Instant Answers, predictable requests can follow Guided Flows, open questions can use your business knowledge, and complex conversations can reach your team.
Skip the inbox. Meet the founder.
Book a free 30-minute call with Haroon, the founder behind Fetchply. Bring your store, your workflows, and your hardest customer questions — leave with a plan for the agent that answers them.
A free live-chat widget is not automatically a free AI agent. We compared what each no-cost entry point actually lets you run, how unresolved questions reach a person, and what happens when you outgrow it.
We scored documented capability from 1 to 5 against the weighted criteria below. A 5 means the official material shows an unusually strong fit for this use case; it is not a customer rating or a promise of real-world performance.
Included AI access35%
Whether no-cost access includes real AI answers and a usable monthly allowance.
Knowledge training25%
Website, file, and Q&A sources available before paying.
Human handoff20%
What happens when AI cannot resolve the question.
Upgrade path20%
Card requirements, first paid step, and how recurring AI usage is sold.
Quick comparison
Scores show weighted documented fit for this guide’s use case. Use the detailed notes below to check the tradeoffs that matter to your team.
Rank
Platform
Best for
Fit score
1
Fetchply
Businesses that want to publish a content-trained AI support agent before paying
4.74/5
2
Tidio
Teams evaluating polished live chat and a limited AI Agent starter allowance
3.80/5
3
Chatbase
Teams that want to prototype a content-trained AI agent
3.72/5
4
Tawk.to
Teams that can staff a free human live-chat inbox
3.47/5
5
Crisp
Teams that want free shared live chat and may add automation later
3.44/5
Ranked options and tradeoffs
#1
Fetchply
4.74/5
First-party product review
Businesses that want to publish a content-trained AI support agent before paying
The strongest documented free fit because the no-cost plan includes AI replies, knowledge training, a website widget, and a shared inbox rather than stopping at human live chat.
Strengths
Free plan includes 200 AI messages each month with no card
Train from website pages, files, text, and Q&A, with human handoff included
Limitations
The 200-message allowance is for testing or lower-volume sites
Advanced capacity and some integrations require a paid plan
when the free plan needs to include a trained AI agent and a path to human support.
Choose Tawk.to
when humans will staff chat and unlimited-agent live chat matters more than autonomous AI.
Choose Tidio
when you want to evaluate an established live-chat suite before buying recurring AI usage.
FAQs
Common questions
What is the best free AI chatbot?
Fetchply: the free plan includes a full content-trained AI agent with 200 messages a month and no credit card, plus the shared inbox. Tawk.to is the pick if you want free human-staffed live chat instead of AI.
Do free AI chatbot plans include real AI answers?
Not always. Some free tiers cover live chat software only, with AI as a paid add-on or metered per conversation. Check whether the free plan includes AI messages, how many, and whether a card is required.
What happens when I outgrow a free plan?
Compare the first paid step. Fetchply moves to $18 a month with 5,500 AI messages; some builders jump to around $40 a month, and suites add per-seat or per-conversation fees. The cheapest free tier is not always the cheapest second month.
How did you rank the best free chatbots?
By what the free tier can actually run: whether it includes content-trained AI answers, how many messages you get, whether human handoff is included, and whether a credit card is required. Upgrade pricing broke ties, since most teams outgrow free.
Do free chatbot plans require a credit card?
Some do, especially trials that convert to paid automatically. Fetchply’s free plan requires no credit card at all. Check each contender’s signup flow so a forgotten trial does not turn into a surprise bill.
Can I train a free chatbot on my own website content?
On Fetchply, yes: the free plan lets you crawl your site, upload files, and add Q&A pairs, so its 200 monthly AI messages give grounded answers. On other platforms, check whether the free tier includes AI training or only live chat software.
Do free plans include human handoff?
Not always, and it matters: an AI-only free tier leaves hard questions stranded. Fetchply’s free plan includes the shared inbox with assignment, and Tawk.to’s free live chat is human-staffed by design. Verify handoff before you commit.
When is Tawk.to a better free pick than Fetchply?
When people, not AI, will answer your chats. Tawk.to’s core live chat is free with unlimited agents, which suits teams that can staff the widget live; AI assistance there is a paid add-on rather than part of the free tier.
What happens when a free chatbot can’t answer?
This is where free tiers diverge most. On Fetchply, even the free plan routes the conversation to the shared inbox so a person can reply. On AI-only free tiers, an unanswerable question can simply end the chat, so test this case yourself.
How much setup does a free AI chatbot need?
Mostly pointing it at your content. On Fetchply you crawl your website, upload documents, or paste text and Q&A pairs, then embed the chat widget, all without a card. Tools built around scripted flows need those conversations designed first.
Test the #1 pick on your own content.
Train a free Fetchply agent on your website and ask it your customers’ real questions before you decide.
