Botsonic marks up your AI usage on every plan. BYOKChat connects directly to your OpenAI key — zero markup, $19/month flat.
Takes 10 minutes · Cancel anytime · No AI markup ever
Price comparison
Botsonic
$16–$499/mo
+ AI markup on every message
Free to start
$19/mo
Zero AI markup — ever
✓ Choose BYOKChat if:
→ Stick with Botsonic if:
We'd rather you make the right choice than the wrong one. Both tools have real uses.
Honest. Every ✗ is real. Every ✓ is verified.
| Feature | BYOKChat | Botsonic |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $19/mo | $16/mo |
| Free tier | Yes — 50 conversations/mo | Limited trial |
| AI markup on usage | None — you pay OpenAI directly | Yes — markup on every message |
| Bring your own API key | Yes ✓ | No ✗ |
| Messages per month | Unlimited | 2,000 (starter) |
| Knowledge base (starter) | 100MB | 50MB |
| Lead capture | Yes ✓ | No ✗ |
| Analytics / funnel | Full funnel ✓ | Basic |
| Embeddable widget | Yes ✓ | Yes ✓ |
| Native CRM integrations | No — webhook / Zapier only | Limited |
No credit card. Create your chatbot in 30 seconds.
OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini. We encrypt it. You pay them directly.
Step-by-step guide →Paste URLs or upload PDFs. BYOKChat trains the AI on your knowledge base.
Copy it from the Embed tab. Paste on your site. Done.
Every feature on every plan. No AI markup. Cancel anytime.
Try it — no card needed
Everything you need to scale
The math
Why BYOK saves money
You pay OpenAI directly at $0.001–0.003/conversation at current GPT-4o mini rates.
Yes, especially if cost control matters. Botsonic starts at $16/month but marks up every AI call on top of the platform fee. BYOKChat starts at $19/month and uses a bring-your-own-key model — you connect your OpenAI API key directly and pay at OpenAI's standard rates with no platform markup. For users running real conversation volume, BYOKChat typically ends up cheaper despite the higher nominal price.
Lead capture is the main difference. BYOKChat's chatbot collects visitor names and emails mid-conversation and surfaces them in your analytics dashboard with the full conversation context. Botsonic does not include lead capture. BYOKChat also provides a full conversion funnel in analytics: visitors → leads → signups → paying customers.
Botsonic charges $16/month at entry, then adds an AI markup on every message. As your volume grows, so does that hidden cost. BYOKChat charges $19/month flat for the platform, and your AI costs go to OpenAI at roughly $0.001–0.003 per conversation. At 500 conversations per month, BYOKChat costs approximately $19 + $1–2 in API fees — around $20–21 total.
Yes. 50 conversations per month, unlimited messages within those, and you can train your bot on up to 200 pages of content. No credit card required.
OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google Gemini, Mistral AI, Grok (xAI), and DeepSeek. You choose the model and pay that provider directly.
No credit card. No AI markup. Train on your content and embed on your site in 10 minutes.
Start free — no credit card →Takes 10 minutes · Cancel anytime · No AI markup ever