What does a website chatbot cost?
DoubleDown AI publishes every price before you pay, so this guide can be exact. A website chatbot starts at R299 a month with a R250 once-off setup fee. The next plans are R649, R1 199 and R2 500 a month. The checkout takes the setup fee and the first month in one payment, then the monthly runs by debit order one calendar month later. There is no contract and no notice period; it is month to month.
| Plan | Monthly | Setup, once | Paid at checkout | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | R299 | R250 | R549 | Answers, captures the lead, English and Afrikaans |
| Intermediate | R649 | R300 | R949 | Your branding, emails the visitor back, product cards |
| Pro | R1 199 | R395 | R1 594 | Books appointments, takes payment in the chat |
| Pro+ | R2 500 | R500 | R3 000 | No “Powered by” badge, dedicated support |
The full comparison, message allowances and top-up packs are on the pricing page, which is generated from the same price list the checkout charges.
What does the setup fee cover?
The build. The chatbot is trained on your website, your price list and your FAQs, branded to your site, and installed with one line of code, in about 30 minutes, any time, any day. The setup fee is charged once and is never discounted, because on the website chatbot it is also the entire referral commission a partner earns for introducing you.
Are there discounts?
Two, and only on the website chatbot. Pay for the year up front and every plan is 10% cheaper on the recurring price. Skip the free trial, on any plan, and your first month is 10% cheaper; after that you pay the normal monthly price. Both together: the year is 10% off and its first month another 10%, added, not compounded. The no-trial discount is forfeited the moment a trial starts, so it is a decision to make before trying, not after.
Is there a free trial?
Yes: fifty messages over seven days, no card, one per business. It is the only free trial DoubleDown AI offers on any product, and it is the honest way to answer the cost question, because the question underneath it is “will it work on my site?”
How does that compare with the alternatives?
A person is the alternative, and the comparison is hours. A receptionist covers roughly forty-five hours of a 168-hour week; a chatbot covers all of them for less than a day of that salary. The overseas chatbot platforms price in dollars, bill per seat and leave the training to you. Gartner’s 2022 survey found 54% of service organisations already using some form of conversational AI and predicted chatbots would be the primary service channel for about a quarter of organisations by 2027 1; its 2025 survey of customer-service leaders expects self-service and live chat to overtake phone and email as the top channels by the same year 2. The market has moved from whether to which.
What is not included?
Bulk messages beyond the plan allowance, which are sold as top-up packs on the Pro and Pro+ plans, and anything custom-built, which is quoted from scope under Custom AI. There is no Enterprise plan; the ladder stops at Pro+, and a business that needs more than Pro+ buys a message pack or a custom build.
Questions people ask
Can I change plans later?
Yes, from inside your dashboard, up or down, at any time. The new monthly applies from the next debit.
Do I pay VAT on top?
Prices are shown as charged at checkout. The invoice you receive itemises the setup fee and the first month as two lines.
Why is setup never discounted?
Because on the website chatbot the setup fee is the whole referral commission a partner earns. Discounting it would silently take a partner’s income.
Sources
- Gartner, “Gartner Predicts Chatbots Will Become a Primary Customer Service Channel Within Five Years”, press release, 27 July 2022
- Gartner, “Self-Service and Live Chat Will Surpass Traditional Channels as Top Customer Service Technologies by 2027”, press release, 27 August 2025
Where we do this
The same build runs for businesses in Witbank, Pietermaritzburg and Rustenburg, and the city pages set out what changes locally — the languages, the trading hours and the sectors that dominate. Everything is deployed and supported remotely from Vanderbijlpark.