Live chat, helpdesk and Lyro AI agent for small and mid-size ecommerce businesses.
Chatbase vs CustomGPT.ai
Features, pricing, strengths and trade-offs — and which one fits your situation.
The verdict
Editor’s verdict
Both build AI agents from your own content, but Chatbase focuses on customer support deployment, while CustomGPT.ai focuses on answer accuracy over large content libraries. Choose Chatbase if you want a free plan to start, native WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger channels, custom actions like order lookups, and a help desk for human takeover. Choose CustomGPT.ai if you have large or varied content (thousands of documents, videos, podcasts), need citations on every answer, want support for 90+ languages, and plan to build on its RAG API. CustomGPT.ai has no free plan and no built-in live chat inbox, so support teams that need human agents in the same tool will find Chatbase closer to a complete setup. Neither suits teams that need detailed conversation flows; Botpress or Voiceflow handle that better.
Chatbase has a free plan, while CustomGPT.ai offers a free trial.
Which should you choose?
Choose Chatbase if…
- You need quickly launching an AI support agent trained on your website and documents
- You're one of: small and mid-size businesses, saas support teams, agencies deploying simple support bots
- You want a free plan (CustomGPT.ai only has a trial)
- Fast setup: a working agent from a URL in minutes
Choose CustomGPT.ai if…
- You need businesses that need accurate, citation-backed answers from large document collections
- You're one of: knowledge-heavy businesses, publishers and educators, internal knowledge base teams
- Strong focus on answer accuracy with cited sources
At a glance
| Chatbase | CustomGPT.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Quickly launching an AI support agent trained on your website and documents | Businesses that need accurate, citation-backed answers from large document collections |
| Free plan | Yes | Trial only |
| Starting price | From $40/mo | From $99/mo |
| Learning curve | Low | Low |
| Platforms | Web, API | Web, API |
| Ideal for | Small and mid-size businesses, SaaS support teams, Agencies deploying simple support bots | Knowledge-heavy businesses, Publishers and educators, Internal knowledge base teams |
Feature comparison
| Chatbase | CustomGPT.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Train on your website / docs | Yes | Yes |
| Human handoff | Yes | — |
| Website widget | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Limited | |
| Instagram / Messenger | Yes | — |
| Live chat inbox | Standard plan and above | No |
| Multilingual | Yes | 90+ languages |
| Takes actions / API calls | Yes | — |
| Analytics | Yes | Yes |
IncludedLimited / higher plansNot available— Not confirmed
Security & enterprise
| Chatbase | CustomGPT.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Business / enterprise plan | Yes | Yes |
| SSO (SAML / OIDC) | Enterprise plan | Enterprise plan |
| SCIM user provisioning | — | Enterprise plan |
| SOC 2 | Type II | Type II |
| ISO 27001 | — | — |
| HIPAA (BAA available) | — | — |
| GDPR DPA | Yes | Yes |
| Data residency options | — | — |
| No training on your data | Yes | — |
| Audit logs | Enterprise plan | Yes |
| Admin controls | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
From each vendor's security documentation. "—" = not confirmed. What to ask vendors · Compare all tools
What each tool does
Chatbase
Chatbase lets you create an AI agent by pointing it at your website, files or text, then embed it as a chat widget or connect it to messaging channels. Agents can run custom actions such as looking up orders or collecting leads, and escalate to humans through a built-in help desk. It is popular with small and mid-size businesses that want a support bot without building flows.
Key features- Trains on websites, files, text and Q&A with auto-resync
- Custom actions that call external APIs and collect leads
- Native help desk with live human takeover
- Deploys to web widget, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Slack
- Escalation to Zendesk, Salesforce, Intercom, Freshdesk and others
- Choice of AI models on paid plans
CustomGPT.ai
CustomGPT.ai is a no-code retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) platform that builds AI agents from websites, sitemaps, documents, videos and audio. Answers include citations and are restricted to your content to reduce hallucinations. It is used by businesses, publishers and internal knowledge teams with large or varied content libraries.
Key features- Ingests websites, sitemaps and 1,400+ document formats
- Indexes YouTube videos and audio files
- Citations and anti-hallucination controls on every plan
- Support for 90+ languages
- RAG API for building custom apps
- Connectors for Google Drive, Notion, Confluence, Zendesk and HubSpot
Pricing
Chatbase
Free plan (50 message credits); paid from $40/mo (Hobby); Standard $150/mo, Pro $500/mo
CustomGPT.ai
No free plan; 7-day free trial; paid from $99/mo ($89/mo billed annually) Standard
Prices last checked September 2026. Plans change often — confirm on each vendor's site.
Pros and cons
Chatbase
Strengths- Fast setup: a working agent from a URL in minutes
- Custom actions and Stripe integration go beyond Q&A
- Broad channel coverage from one agent
- Free plan for testing
- Message-credit model means heavy usage consumes credits quickly
- Removing Chatbase branding is a paid add-on
- Help desk and advanced analytics require higher tiers
- Limited control over complex, multi-step conversation logic
Not ideal for: Teams that need detailed conversation flows and branching logic may prefer Botpress or Voiceflow.
CustomGPT.ai
Strengths- Strong focus on answer accuracy with cited sources
- Handles very large content volumes and many file types
- API access included from the entry plan
- Wide language support
- No free plan, only a short trial
- No native WhatsApp or Messenger channel; requires Make or Zapier setup
- No built-in live chat inbox for human agents
- Entry plan keeps only 7 days of analytics history
Not ideal for: Teams wanting a combined chatbot and live chat helpdesk should look at Tidio or Intercom Fin instead.
Integrations
Chatbase
CustomGPT.ai
FAQ
What is the main difference between Chatbase and CustomGPT.ai?
Chatbase is built for quickly launching an AI support agent trained on your website and documents; CustomGPT.ai is built for businesses that need accurate, citation-backed answers from large document collections.
Is Chatbase or CustomGPT.ai cheaper?
Chatbase starts from $40/mo and CustomGPT.ai starts from $99/mo (as of September 2026). On entry price, Chatbase is cheaper — but compare what each plan includes, since limits differ. Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.
Do Chatbase and CustomGPT.ai have free plans?
Chatbase has a free plan, while CustomGPT.ai offers a free trial.
Which is easier to use, Chatbase or CustomGPT.ai?
Both have a low learning curve.
What are good alternatives to Chatbase and CustomGPT.ai?
Other chatbots tools worth comparing include Tidio, ManyChat and Botpress.
