The craze to find the best chatbot software is the digital version of the gold rush.

Why?

The way brands communicate with prospective and existing customers — no matter their stage in the conversion funnel — is changing rapidly. The turbulent 2020 and, it’s safe to say now, 2021 only contributed to the urgency of personalization, speed, and reciprocity, bringing chatbots to the front lines by default.

Building and launching chatbot assistants promptly and efficiently have become a high mark of personalized marketing. After all, bots are one of the few channels capable of offering a genuine one-on-one customer experience between brands and users without imposing a great demand on one's resources.

What is a Chatbot?

Very simply put, a chatbot is a type of conversational software that allows businesses to communicate with their audiences in an instant and personalized way, without having to compromise on automation. 

More complexly put, they are divided into two main categories:

• Rule-based chatbots: work on the principle of a structured flow often pictured as a decision tree. They have a less flexible conversation flow that AI-based bots, but they are more accessible to anyone who wants to build a chatbot. These chatbots don’t use artificial intelligence, but they are still capable of sophisticated actions using a variety of integrations and backend power-ups.

• AI chatbots: AI chatbots either operate on natural language processing (NLP) or are integrated with a large language model (LLM) like OpenAIs GPT-3 and are hence able to understand natural human language. They may or may not use machine learning, too. NLP chatbots' main advantage is offering the person it’s interacting with a more natural conversational experience. 

How can a Chatbot Help Your Business?

Chatbots offer numerous benefits and advantages to your business, and can be used in different contexts like customer support, lead generation, recruiting, and many more. 

Yep, you read recruiting right. Chatbots are not just an advantage when it comes to your external customers, but internal as well, as they offer customer, employee and business benefits. 

The top 13 are listed in this article. 

How do you Easily Implement a Chatbot on Your Website?

It’s, well, easy!

How?

With no-code (or low code) tools!

No-code is a type of web development that allows anyone, even those without any coding knowledge, to develop web software using a visual interface instead of having to write code. No-code solutions include drag-and-drop options, pre-built and pre-designed templates, and other features that enable people across different business sectors to easily fulfill their web development needs.

Now, when it comes to chatbots, no-code tools allow users to build sophisticated conversational assistants that they can deploy to easily connect with customers in an instant and personalized fashion. No-code chatbots are quick to build and implement (it can be done in 30 minutes or less), and they are just as easy to tweak and maintain. 

How to Choose a Chatbot Solution

Choosing the chatbot solution that’s right for you and your business depends on the business area you work in and what you’ll be using chatbots for.

However, there are some overall things to keep in mind when choosing, such as:

• Pricing system: the pricing will vary according to each software, but consider whether or not the monthly pricing is feasible for you, if you get a free trial, or if you can get a personalized quota based on how you’ll use the chatbot. 
• Integrations: a chatbot can work well on its own, but to make the best use of it, you’re likely to want to connect it with other tools you’re already using. Make sure you choose a chatbot solution that offers those integrations. 
• Ease of use: if we’re talking about a no-code chatbot solution, we can assume they’ll be easy to get started with. Yet some chatbot builders are easier to get around than others. Think of who’ll be building your chatbots, if you’ll need special training to use the tool, etc.

There are a lot of chatbot solutions out there, so the trick is to find the right fit which will help boost your business operations. 

If you’re unsure where to star, let me give you a hand!

The Best Chatbot Software to Keep on your Radar

The chatbot market is foreseen to grow by $6.8 billion, increasing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of almost 29.7% during the 2019-2024 period. Hence, the unceasing increase in chatbot usage shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Bots offer a speedy and effective solution for leads and customers while saving on company overhead.

However, in order to create quality bots with matching efficiency, you need the right chat software, which brings me to the goal of this article — recommend the best chatbot software on the market for the upcoming year of 2022.

1. Landbot

Native Channel Integrations: Web, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and API

Chatbot to Human Agents Handoff: Yes

‍Free Plan: Yes

‍Free Trial: Yes

Pricing: Starts at $30/month

The first on our list of the best chatbot software is Landbot. Now, you might think we are a bit biased (and you are probably right), but our passion for the product is fairly objective. Just keep reading and judge for yourself!

Landbot’s chatbot builder is one of the most intuitive no-code chatbot development software options on the market. Its users most appreciate the easy and flexible game-like building experience that often reminds them of stacking blocks of LEGO.

The no-code chatbot builder interface allows you to build and launch bots in minutes. It also does a great job of enabling you to create tool integrations that would have otherwise been impossible for non-tech professionals. Its integration toolbox boasts essentials such as Google Sheets, Calendly, Zapier, and Slack or more advanced integrations such as Webhooks, Segment, Salesforce, Zendesk, etc. If you are interested to know more, you can access a full bot-building introduction course on Landbot Academy.

Key features include interactive UI elements such as carousels, enriched buttons, in-chat mini-forms, formatted questions — which make for a unique CX — as well as a powerful live chat manager. Other capabilities such as conditional logic, variables calculations, and powerful (spreadsheet-like) formulas, make it a smart and powerful marketing and sales tool.

While Landbot allows you to build a bot for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger Bots, as well as for any channel with API, it offers the greatest flexibility with website chatbots (e.g. chatbots for WordPress), offering to publish them (without coding) in four key formats:

• Chat widget;
• Page pop-up;
• Seamless website embed;
• Stand-alone landing page.
  

One of Landbot’s key advantages is its very quick learning curve. It allows marketers, sales reps, or customer service professionals to create complex chatbots (rule-based or AI) independently, without interference or dependence on developers. (However, developers, too, can find their ground with Javascript blocks and CSS opportunities.)

Feel free to check out some of the best chatbot examples done with Landbot.

2. Dialogflow

Native Channel Integrations: Dialogflow Messenger, Dialogflow Web Demo, Dialogflow Phone Gateway, Hangouts Chat, LINE, Slack, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Facebook Workplace

Chatbot to Human Agents Handoff: Coding Required

‍Free Plan: Yes

‍Free Trial: No

Pricing: Complex pricing for paid plans

Dialogflow is one of many Google tools. It’s a low-code platform for creating AI-powered chatbots driven by natural language processing (NLP). In other words, it enables you to create intelligent conversational assistants without having to start from scratch. For example, thanks to the system, you don’t need to teach your bot the difference between time, date, and place. It already knows it; you just need to work it into the conversation.

Why is Dialogflow useful? 

One word — scalability!

It’s hosted on Google’s Cloud Platform, which is one most flexible platforms in terms of scalability. In other words, Dialogflow can fit any sized business, from a startup to a large enterprise. It is available in two virtual agent services: Dialogflow CX (an advanced agent type suitable for large or very complex agents) and Dialogflow ES (the standard agent type suitable for small and simple agents). Plus, it supports over 30 languages!

Dialogflow is a versatile software that, as you may have noticed, supports a large number of channels. Although it takes a bit longer to grasp, its UI is powerful, and almost all of the work can be done without coding. However, composing an AI conversation does require a bit more practice.

However, suppose you find Dialogflow overwhelming in aspects beyond conversation design or wish to include rich UI elements in a natural conversation. In that case, you can use the tool as an extension of another builder.‍

For example, Landbot features a native Dialogflow integration. You can build a part of your bot in Landbot and part in Dialogflow, and also dialogflow-WhatsApp chatbots, witching from natural conversation to structured rule-based choices whenever necessary. As an example, imagine a support FAQ bot with which customers can interact freely. However, if they express the intention of providing feedback to bot switches from natural language to a predefined flow in Landbot, they introduce them to a playful yet structured customer experience.

3. Chatfuel

Native Channel Integrations: Facebook Messenger

‍Chatbot to Human Agents Handoff: Yes

‍Free Plan: Yes

‍Free Trial: No

Pricing: Starts at $9.99/month (user-based pricing)

Different chatbot solution caters to different needs. Chatfuel is exclusively devoted to Facebook Messenger bots. The platform already has over 360,000 chatbots built on the social media platform and serves 17+ million users worldwide.

Chatfuel has a fairly intuitive visual interface that helps non-tech users design and build automated conversational flows. The key features allow you to send a message with text cards, image cards, carousels, etc. While you can use the platform to build a chatbot for any use case, the feature setup is particularly advantageous for eCommerce businesses (e.g., cart reminder features)

The platforms support about 50 languages and integrations such as Google search, Bing search, JSON API, Subscribe plugin, RSS import, Digest, IFTTT, Zapier, user input, and LiveChat.

4. Botsify

Native Channel Integrations: Web, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, WordPress, SMS (Twilio)

Chatbot to Human Agents Handoff: Yes

‍Free Plan: No

‍Free Trial: Yes

‍Pricing: Starts at $49/month

Botsify is a simple chatbot platform that lets you create AI chatbots for your website or messaging app of choice without hassle. 

This tool has built-in NLP algorithms and machine learning combined with a drag-and-drop user interface that doesn’t require coding skills. However, the software appears slightly out of date compared to the competition. Still, some of its biggest advantages besides the number of channels, include its smart chatbot templates and its many integrations such as Shopify for eCommerce or Dashbot.io for analytics.

Overall, Botsify is a good option if you are looking to create a long-term support bot. However, if you intend to build marketing bots for every campaign, it's not the best fit — the pricing limits both the number of chatbots and the number of users.‍

5. MobileMonkey

Native Channel Integrations: Facebook Messenger, Web, SMS, Instagram Direct

Chatbot to Human Agents Handoff: Yes

‍Free Plan: No

‍Free Trial: Yes‍

Pricing: Starts at $19/month

MobileMonkey is, once again, a Facebook Messenger bot builder dedicated to helping marketers build high-converting chatbots. It specializes in connecting your bot with your broader marketing stack, ad campaigns, and drip marketing included.

It offers different products depending on whether you are an agency, marketer, or SMB, which include built-in conversational forms, lead magnets, as well as marketing automation tools and focuses on growing your customer and converting your visitors into leads.

Today, it also features bots for the web and event SMS channel. However, its Facebook potential and capabilities remain the strongest, making it a solid choice for businesses highly reliant on Facebook marketing.

6. TARS

Native Channel Integrations: Web, WhatsApp

Chatbot to Human Agents handoff: Yes

‍Free Plan: No

‍Free Trial: Yes‍

Pricing: Upon request based on the chosen plan (Business, Premium, or Enterprise)

TARS is another on our list of drag-and-drop chatbot software which you can use to create website chatbots. Once again, it's relatively straightforward to use with zero coding skills required.

A great advantage of TARS is its 800+ chatbot templates for a variety of use cases and industries. Like Landbot or MobileMonkey, TARS focuses on creating bots that generate leads and increase your marketing ROI.

The primary downside to this chat software is the price. Since there is no freemium, the price range makes it one of the most expensive chatbot platform options out there. Still, the high price is compensated by an advanced set of analytics and marketing tool integrations.

7. Drift

Native Channel Integrations: Web, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS, Voice Assistant

Chatbot to Human Agents Handoff: Yes

‍Free Plan: No

‍Free Trial: Yes

Pricing: Upon request based on the chosen plan (Premium, Advanced, or Enterprise)

Drift is one of the leading conversational marketing and sales live chat and chatbot platforms set to help brands and companies connect with customers who are ready to buy now. The tool offers incredibly strong lead generation features centered around live chat and AI-powered chatbot capabilities. However, it also boasts other automation tools such as email and video.

However, the solution is not for everyone. The most obvious challenge is the steep pricing which is significantly higher than that of its competitors. For instance, while TARS is expensive, even its cheapest plans include two professionally-designed chatbots. 

Furthermore, Drift’s chatbot builder is no-code but somewhat lacks in capabilities compared to the tools above AND is only available with the enterprise edition!

So, while Drift has proven itself a powerful tool for sales and marketing and is a strong contender in the category, it’s a tool more suited for enterprises where chatbots form part of a larger and much more diverse marketing and sales strategy.

Chatbots for 2022

If you haven’t already, investing in smart chatbots is a must-have for any business in 2022. We’ve hopefully given you a hand in choosing the best chatbot software to power your business in the coming year!‍