Alternatives / ChatBot
Looking for an open source ChatBot alternative? We compared 3 open source chatbot builders by license, channels, and pricing. Typebot and Hexabot are source available, while ChatbotX is open core with an MIT community edition.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Typebot | Visual chatbot flows (FSL) | Functional Source License |
| Hexabot | AI agents with workflows (FCL) | FCL-1.0-ALv2 |
| ChatbotX | Multichannel chat marketing | MIT Community Edition + commercial Enterprise features |
We looked for open-source tools that build chatbots like ChatBot. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Typebot is a visual editor for building and deploying chatbots with drag-and-drop flows, themes, and analytics. Hexabot is a self-hosted platform for AI agents and workflow automation with memory, RAG, MCP, and human handoff. ChatbotX is a self-hostable white-label chat marketing platform for WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, and more.
Typebot uses the Functional Source License and Hexabot uses the Fair Core License, so both are source available. ChatbotX has an MIT community edition with commercial enterprise directories. Its white-label tier costs $299 per month and role-based access control needs enterprise plans. Hexabot's free plan covers one user and ten workflows.
All three had commits within days or weeks of this update.
ChatBot is a proprietary service priced by chats. Open-source builders can be self-hosted, but each of these has license limits you should read.
Typebot is a visual chatbot builder for questions, conditions, variables, forms, webhooks, API integrations, embeds, payments, and custom logic. Current versions use a Functional Source License and are described as Fair Source.
Pricing: Self-hostable source available software; current license is not OSI-approved.
Hexabot combines visual workflows, actions, AI agents, persistent memory, RAG, MCP tools, custom tools, channels, PostgreSQL, and extensibility. Current v3 releases use the Fair Core License with Apache-2.0 as a future license.
Pricing: Source available under FCL; verify current commercial and future Apache-2.0 terms.
ChatbotX is an MIT Community Edition platform combining visual flows, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, email, webchat, live inboxes, CRM, broadcasts, sequences, AI agents, human handoff, APIs, and integrations.
Pricing: MIT Community Edition is self-hostable; Enterprise features and white-label services may be paid.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typebot | Chatbot builder | FSL (source available) | Yes | Chat flows |
| Hexabot | Agent platform | FCL-1.0-ALv2 (source available) | Yes | Workflow agents |
| ChatbotX | Chat marketing | MIT Community + enterprise | Yes | Agencies |
Want a visual flow builder
Typebot has drag-and-drop flows, conditional logic, and analytics.
Want agents with memory and RAG
Hexabot adds MCP, human handoff, and visual or YAML workflows.
Want chat marketing on WhatsApp and Instagram
ChatbotX supports many messaging channels and bring-your-own AI models.