Botpress is an open-source platform for building, deploying, and managing AI-powered chatbots and conversational agents. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Montreal, Botpress has evolved from a traditional dialog management platform into a modern AI agent development environment that natively integrates with large language models including GPT-4, Claude, and others.
The platform occupies a useful middle ground in the conversational AI landscape: more capable and customizable than pure no-code tools like Tidio or Drift, yet more accessible than fully code-first frameworks like Rasa or building from scratch with LangChain. Developers get full code access when they need it; non-technical builders can use the visual flow editor for the majority of bot construction.
Key Features#
Visual Flow Builder with LLM Integration Botpress's core interface is a node-based visual flow builder where developers map out conversation paths, decision points, and integrations visually. Native LLM integration means that nodes can leverage GPT-4 or Claude for natural language understanding, response generation, and intelligent routing — without requiring separate API setup for most use cases.
Knowledge Base and RAG Support Botpress includes built-in knowledge base management with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) support. Teams can upload documents, connect to web content, or sync with existing knowledge bases. The platform handles chunking, embedding, and retrieval automatically, enabling bots to answer questions from custom knowledge sources without infrastructure configuration.
Agent Actions and Tool Use Botpress agents can be configured with "Actions" — code functions that the AI can call to interact with external systems. This enables agents to look up CRM records, search databases, send notifications, create tickets, or execute any API call. Actions make the difference between a bot that answers questions and an agent that takes action.
Multi-Channel Deployment A single Botpress agent can be deployed to web chat, WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and custom channels via webhook. Each channel is managed from the same visual interface, with channel-specific message formatting handled automatically.
Conversation Analytics Botpress provides conversation-level analytics including message volume, drop-off points, popular intents, and failure rates. Teams can identify exactly where conversations go wrong and use this data to improve flows systematically.
Self-Hosting Option Botpress is fully self-hostable for organizations that require data sovereignty. The Docker-based deployment is well-documented, and the open-source community maintains active documentation for self-hosted setups.
Pricing#
Free — $0/month Includes 5 bots, 2,000 incoming messages per month, access to core features, and community support. Suitable for individual developers testing the platform or building small-scale bots.
Team — ~$89/month Includes 10 bots, 25,000 incoming messages per month, collaboration features, priority support, and advanced analytics. The standard commercial tier for small teams and businesses.
Business — ~$495/month Includes unlimited bots, 100,000 monthly messages, advanced security features, custom LLM configurations, and dedicated support.
Enterprise — Custom Pricing Unlimited messages, SLA guarantees, dedicated infrastructure options, SSO, advanced security controls, and enterprise customer success. Pricing negotiated based on volume and requirements.
Self-Hosted: The open-source version is free to self-host with no feature or message restrictions. Organizations bear their own infrastructure costs (hosting, LLM API fees).
Who It's For#
Botpress is well-suited for developers and technical product teams building conversational AI features for their products or internal tools. It's also a strong choice for digital agencies building AI chatbot solutions for clients across industries, since the platform is designed to support multiple bots with a single management interface.
Mid-market companies that need more than simple FAQ bots — agents that take actions, integrate with business systems, and handle complex conversations — but don't have the resources or time to build from scratch with LangChain or similar frameworks will find Botpress's balance of power and speed compelling.
The self-hosting option makes Botpress particularly attractive for companies with data privacy requirements in healthcare, legal, or financial services.
Strengths#
Fastest Path from Idea to Production Agent: Botpress's combination of visual flow builder, native LLM integration, and pre-built integrations dramatically reduces the time from concept to deployed agent compared to building from scratch.
Open-Source Foundation with Commercial Support: The open-source core provides transparency, community support, and the confidence of self-hosting capability, while commercial tiers add the managed infrastructure and support that production deployments need.
Excellent Knowledge Base and RAG Implementation: Botpress's built-in RAG pipeline is one of the better implementations in the no-code/low-code space, enabling accurate, citation-supported answers from uploaded knowledge sources with minimal configuration.
Extensible Through Code: Unlike purely visual builders, Botpress allows developers to drop into code when the visual tools aren't sufficient. This extensibility means teams rarely hit hard limitations and can build arbitrarily complex agents.
Limitations#
Message-Based Pricing Limits Predictability: Cloud plan costs are tied to incoming message volume, which can be difficult to predict for bots with unpredictable traffic. High-traffic deployments can face unexpected tier upgrades.
LLM Costs Are Additional: Botpress's pricing covers the platform but not the underlying LLM API calls (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.). Teams should factor OpenAI or Anthropic API costs into their total cost of ownership calculations.
Steeper Curve Than Pure No-Code Tools: While easier than pure code frameworks, Botpress still requires comfort with technical concepts — webhooks, JSON, API integrations — that may challenge non-technical users. It is not as simple as Tidio or Drift for basic chatbot use cases.