Short answer: in Lithuania in 2026 an AI chatbot for a business costs anywhere from a few dozen euros a month to a few thousand euros. A ready-made SaaS tool (such as Tidio or Intercom) starts at $29 a month, and AI replies are usually billed separately, by volume. A chatbot configured by a Lithuanian vendor costs roughly €400 to €1,500 one-off, and subscription packages roughly €50 to €800 a month. A chatbot that connects to your systems and checks an order or enters data on its own is already an AI agent - from about €1,500.
Looking for US prices instead? I collected per-resolution pricing, agency rates and custom-build costs separately: AI automation and chatbot cost in the US.
I took the Lithuanian prices from vendors' public price lists (summer 2026) and the SaaS prices from the tools' own pricing pages. And I'll state my own position up front: we don't build FAQ chatbots, we build agents that do the work. So I have nothing to sell you at the cheap end and can write straight.
Four levels of chatbot and what they cost
When two vendors ask €400 and €4,000 for a "chatbot", they are usually offering completely different things. Here is what the market actually looks like:
| Option | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-made SaaS tool (Tidio, Intercom and similar) | from $29/mo + AI conversations | A chatbot built from your FAQ and website text, which you configure yourself |
| Chatbot configured by a vendor | ~€400–€1,500 one-off | The vendor collects the answers, configures the bot and installs it on your website or Messenger |
| Subscription package | ~€50–€800/mo | The vendor maintains and updates it, and the price often depends on conversation volume |
| Chatbot with integrations (AI agent) | from ~€1,500 | Connects to your online store, CRM or warehouse and takes actions on its own |
At the cheapest end there are also Lithuanian packages for about €200 a year. At the most expensive end are international studios whose minimum projects start at $10,000 and which are usually irrelevant for a small business.
The line between the third and fourth rows is the most important one in the whole table. Up to it, a chatbot only talks. Beyond it, it does something in your systems. I wrote about that difference here: how an AI agent differs from a chatbot.
How SaaS tools charge: a fee per conversation
The entry price of SaaS tools looks good, but AI replies are usually charged on top. Two examples from their price lists:
- Intercom Fin - $0.99 for every resolved conversation, plus seats from $29/mo per person.
- Tidio - plans from $29/mo, and AI conversations (Lyro) are bought as a separate package by volume.
Let's do the math. If Fin resolves 500 conversations in a month, you pay $495 for those alone, plus seats for your team. For low volume that's the cheapest route. But the fee grows with traffic, and in e-commerce traffic can grow several times over in December. So before choosing, ask what counts as a "resolved conversation" and what your worst month would cost, not your average one.
What drives a vendor's chatbot price
When a vendor configures the chatbot for you, five things set the price:
- How much knowledge there is and how organized it is. If the answers are already written down in one document, it's fast. If prices, deadlines and exceptions live in your employees' heads, someone has to write them out. That time often isn't on the vendor's invoice - your people pay it.
- Languages. Lithuanian, English, Russian, Latvian - each language has to be checked separately, because a mistake in a foreign language is noticed last.
- Channels. Website, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, email. Each channel is a separate connection.
- Handover to a person. Who the bot hands the conversation to when it doesn't know the answer, how the person gets the full context, and what happens after hours.
- Integrations. This is the biggest price jump. When the bot has to look up an order in the system itself, it's no longer a chatbot but an agent, and the price changes with it.
Costs that aren't on the price list
A chatbot is cheap to buy. It's more expensive to own. Three things worth counting in advance:
- Updates. Prices, delivery times or the returns policy changed - who updates the bot? If every change is billed at an hourly rate (in Lithuania specialists charge roughly €35 to €80 an hour), by the end of the year that can cost more than the bot itself.
- Growing traffic. If you pay per conversation, a successful month is also an expensive month.
- Confidently wrong answers. A bot that boldly states the wrong return deadline costs more than its subscription. So insist on two things: the bot answers only from information you've approved, and when it doesn't know, it hands the conversation to a person.
What maintenance really includes and how many hours it takes, I wrote up separately: what it takes to keep an AI agent running reliably.
When the cheapest option is enough
More often than vendors would like. If the answers are the same for everyone (opening hours, price list, delivery terms, returns policy), if your whole FAQ fits in one document and if few customers write in, take a ready-made SaaS tool for a few dozen euros a month and spend a couple of hours configuring it yourself. There's no point paying €1,500 for the same result.
A benchmark from the e-commerce article: 100 messages a month is about 8 hours of work, worth roughly $375. A custom solution won't pay off at that volume. A tidy FAQ on your website and a ready-made tool will be cheaper.
When a chatbot is no longer a chatbot
Three signs you need an agent, not a chat robot:
- The answer depends on the customer's data. "Where's my order #4417?" A chatbot can only point to the account page. An agent looks in the system and answers specifically.
- Something has to happen after the conversation. Register a return, enter an order, update the CRM.
- There are lots of messages and they eat people's time. If someone on your team spends half a day answering the same questions, the problem isn't conversation quality, it's hours.
Those are exactly the agents we build. We price them differently from the chatbot market: the build price depends on scope, and for the work you pay up to $7 for every hour the AI did in place of a person. The same hour done by a person costs a US employer $46.89, wages plus benefits (BLS, June 2026). The monthly minimum is $300, and servers, monitoring and updates are included. Before a full rollout we show the benefit within 2 weeks on your real data, and if we don't hit the goal, we refund the money.
In the e-shop example with 900 messages a month, the difference between manual work and an agent comes to about $2,992 a month. You can run your own numbers in the ROI calculator, and all the automation prices (not only chatbots) are in the pricing article.
Five questions for the vendor before you pay
- What exactly is included in the price? How many channels, how many languages, and what triggers an extra invoice.
- How is the monthly fee calculated? Fixed or per conversation, and what your busiest month would cost.
- Who updates the answers, and for how much? Included, or billed by the hour?
- What happens when the bot doesn't know the answer? The right answer is that it hands over to a person with the whole conversation, not that it makes something up.
- Where will I see what the bot replied? If there's no conversation log, you'll learn about mistakes from your customers.
The full vendor checklist with red flags is here: how to choose an AI automation agency.
Questions about AI chatbot prices
How much does an AI chatbot for business cost in 2026?
A ready-made SaaS tool starts at $29 a month, and AI conversations are usually billed separately. A chatbot configured by a Lithuanian vendor costs roughly €400 to €1,500 one-off, and subscription packages roughly €50 to €800 a month. A chatbot that connects to your systems and takes actions is already an AI agent - from about €1,500.
Does an AI chatbot have a monthly fee?
Almost always. SaaS tools charge a subscription and often a separate fee for every AI conversation, for example Intercom Fin at $0.99 per resolved conversation. Vendor packages cost roughly €50 to €800 a month. When comparing offers, ask what your busiest month would cost, not your average one.
Why does one vendor offer a chatbot for €400 and another for several thousand?
Usually they are different products. A cheap chatbot answers from your FAQ and doesn't connect to anything. A more expensive one connects to your online store, CRM or warehouse and takes actions on its own, and every integration is a separate piece of work. The number of languages and channels and the handover to a person also raise the price.
Is a ready-made SaaS chatbot worth choosing?
Yes, if the answers are the same for every customer, your whole FAQ fits in one document and there aren't many messages. Then a ready-made tool for a few dozen euros a month gives the same result as a custom solution. It isn't worth it when the answer depends on the customer's data in a system, or when something has to be done after the conversation.
How much does a chatbot that sees orders and the CRM cost?
Such a chatbot is already an AI agent, and on the Lithuanian market it costs from about €1,500, and more if it connects to several systems. We build these agents for up to $7 per hour of AI work, where the same hour done by a person costs a US employer $46.89, and the monthly minimum is $300. How that pays off with your numbers is shown by the ROI calculator.