Best AI chatbot for WordPress in 2026: 11 plugins and tools compared

We looked at AI chatbots you can run on a WordPress site to answer visitors: dedicated chatbot plugins, live-chat plugins with an AI add-on, and hosted chatbots you add with a script. On October 7, 2026 we read each plugin's official WordPress.org listing (the same figures the WordPress.org plugin directory shows) and each vendor's pricing page, and compared:

• Type: a plugin that runs the chatbot inside WordPress, a plugin that connects your site to a hosted service, or a hosted chatbot added with a script tag.
• AI key: whether you must create an account with an AI provider such as OpenAI and pay for usage yourself, or the AI is included.
• Free plan and entry price, with the billing period where the vendor shows it.
• Active installations, rating and number of ratings as shown on WordPress.org, plus the date of the last update.
• WooCommerce: whether the tool can see carts or orders, which matters if your site is a shop.

WordPress.org rounds installation counts ("90,000+") and ratings move every day, so treat them as a snapshot. A rating based on 800 reviews tells you more than a perfect score from one.

• Best for small business sites that should answer on their own: Nexoply. No AI key, no API bills, answers only from your own information, 12 languages.
• Best AI plugin if you have your own API key: AI Engine, the best-rated AI chatbot plugin in this list, with full control over the model and the look.
• Best live chat plus AI for WooCommerce stores: Tidio, which can show carts and order history to your team and has an AI agent (Lyro).
• Best for lead capture with a CRM: HubSpot, whose free plugin brings forms, live chat and bots tied to contact records.
• Best free live chat: tawk.to, with no limits on agents or chats; AI is a paid extra.
• Best way to try AI without an API key inside WordPress: AI Puffer, with 25 free cloud credits a month.
• Best if you already use Jotform: Jotform AI Chatbot, which also offers WooCommerce order tracking.

Nexoply is a hosted AI assistant for small business websites, not a WordPress plugin. You enter your services and prices, FAQs, policies, opening hours and service areas, or let Nexoply read your public pages and suggest them for you to approve. The assistant answers visitors only from that information and says when it doesn't know, pointing to your phone, email or contact page instead of guessing. To put it on WordPress you paste one script tag in the site footer, with a header and footer plugin such as WPCode or in your theme's footer.php.

• Pricing: Free with 50 conversations a month (no credit card), then Starter $19, Business $49 and Pro $99 a month, AI included. Yearly billing gives two months free. See the pricing page.
• Strengths: no AI key or token bills; website import (15 pages on Free, up to 200 on Pro per scan); answers in 12 languages; every conversation in your dashboard, with unanswered questions you can turn into FAQs; built-in spam protection; sets no cookies.
• Considerations: there is no plugin in the WordPress.org directory, so you add it with a footer plugin or the theme. It's a website assistant only: no live-chat inbox for your team, no WhatsApp, Instagram, email or phone channel. It doesn't look up WooCommerce orders and doesn't take bookings or payments (it links to your booking page, phone or WhatsApp). One chatbot per business.
• Best for: plumbers, salons, clinics, restaurants, hotels, gyms and other service businesses on WordPress whose visitors ask about prices, hours, areas and policies.

Tidio - Live Chat & AI Chatbots connects your WordPress site to Tidio's hosted live chat, helpdesk and AI agent, Lyro. As of October 7, 2026 it has 70,000+ active installations and 4.8 stars from 395 ratings, last updated September 1, 2026. Its listing describes WooCommerce features: your team can view carts and order history, send product cards and recover abandoned carts.

• Pricing: Free plan with 50 billable conversations a month and 50 Lyro conversations one-off. Starter $29/month billed monthly ($24.17 billed annually). The Lyro AI add-on starts at $39/month billed monthly ($32.50 annually) for 50 Lyro conversations a month. 7-day trial. Tidio pricing.
• Strengths: live chat and AI in one place, WooCommerce tools for your team, other channels such as email, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.
• Considerations: human conversations and AI conversations are counted separately, so the bill grows with traffic; the AI allowance on Free and Starter is one-off, not monthly.
• Best for: WooCommerce shops and small teams with someone available to answer chats.

See our detailed Nexoply vs Tidio comparison.

AI Engine by Meow Apps describes itself as "The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress". It is the highest-rated AI chatbot plugin here: 90,000+ active installations and 4.9 stars from 869 ratings, updated October 1, 2026. The chatbot runs inside WordPress and calls the AI model you choose (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral and others) with your own API key. You get chatbot themes, voice, file uploads and popup, inline or fullscreen layouts.

• Pricing: the plugin is free, with a Pro version. You pay the AI provider directly for usage; the developer says there is no markup. We couldn't confirm the Pro price and billing terms, so check AI Engine's site.
• Strengths: full control over the model, prompts and design; regular updates; a large toolkit beyond the chatbot.
• Considerations: you need an account and a payment method with an AI provider, and your AI bill depends on traffic. You decide what the chatbot knows and how it behaves, which takes some setup and testing.
• Best for: site owners, freelancers and agencies comfortable with API keys who want to tune everything.

HubSpot All-In-One Marketing - Forms, Popups, Live Chat is a marketing plugin first: it brings HubSpot's free CRM, forms and live chat to WordPress. It has 200,000+ active installations and 4.3 stars from 207 ratings, last updated September 16, 2026. The listing names several bots: concierge, lead qualification, meetings, ticketing, knowledge base and offline.

• Pricing: free tools with HubSpot branding and basic bots. HubSpot's AI Customer Agent is on Service Hub Professional and Enterprise and uses 50 HubSpot credits ($0.50) each time it resolves a conversation without a person; Professional has a one-time onboarding fee. HubSpot pricing.
• Strengths: every chat lands in a CRM contact record; forms, popups and email marketing in the same plugin.
• Considerations: the free tools include only basic bots; the AI agent needs a paid Professional plan. It's more software than a small site needs if you only want questions answered.
• Best for: businesses that already use HubSpot or want leads to go straight into a CRM.

Tawk.To Live Chat adds tawk.to's free live chat to WordPress: 100,000+ active installations and 4.6 stars from 142 ratings, last updated January 14, 2026. Live chat is free with no limit on agents or chats. AI replies come from a paid add-on, AI Assist.

• Pricing: live chat free. AI Assist from $29/month; removing tawk.to branding is $29/month. See tawk.to pricing for current terms.
• Strengths: genuinely free live chat for any number of agents and chats; a large user base on WordPress.
• Considerations: without the AI add-on, someone has to answer; the free widget shows tawk.to branding.
• Best for: businesses with staff who can answer chats and want to add AI later.

AI Puffer - AI Chatbot, AI Writer & Automation (formerly AI Power) is both a chatbot and a content writer. It has 10,000+ active installations and 4.6 stars from 166 ratings, updated October 7, 2026. You can start with 25 free AI credits a month through AI Puffer Cloud, with no API key, or connect your own OpenAI, Claude or Gemini key.

• Pricing: 25 free AI credits a month on AI Puffer Cloud; with your own key you pay the AI provider. We didn't verify paid plan prices, so check the vendor's site.
• Strengths: two ways to run the AI; content writing and automation in the same plugin.
• Considerations: 25 credits a month is enough to try it, not to run a busy site; with your own key you manage usage and billing yourself.
• Best for: owners who also want AI writing tools in WordPress and like to experiment.

WPBot by QuantumCloud is a chatbot for live support and lead generation with 5,000+ active installations and 4.7 stars from 124 ratings, updated October 7, 2026. The free version works with built-in FAQ answers you write. AI answers need your own OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter or DialogFlow key.

• Pricing: free version on WordPress.org; a Pro version is sold on the developer's site (price not verified). AI usage is billed by your AI provider.
• Strengths: works without AI for simple FAQ flows; choice of AI providers; the same developer makes WoowBot for WooCommerce product search (1,000+ installations, 4.8 stars from 19 ratings).
• Considerations: same as AI Engine: an API key, usage billing and setup are on you.
• Best for: sites that want a simple FAQ bot now and AI later.

Jotform - AI Chatbot adds a Jotform chatbot that trains on your content. Its listing describes WooCommerce features: product questions, order tracking and cart recovery. It has 5,000+ active installations and 5.0 stars, but from a single rating, so the score says little yet. Last updated September 24, 2026.

• Pricing: Jotform's Starter plan is free; Bronze $39/month billed monthly ($408 billed yearly), Silver $49/month ($468/year), Gold $129/month ($1,188/year). We couldn't confirm the free plan's AI limits. Jotform pricing.
• Strengths: pairs with Jotform forms you may already use; WooCommerce order tracking per the listing.
• Considerations: very few WordPress.org ratings; pricing is set by Jotform's overall plans rather than by chatbot usage.
• Best for: Jotform customers and WooCommerce shops that want order tracking from a hosted bot.

Smartsupp - live chat, AI shopping assistant and chatbots is aimed at online shops. It combines live chat with "Mira", an AI shopping assistant. It has 20,000+ active installations and 4.7 stars from 131 ratings, updated October 4, 2026.

• Pricing: we didn't verify Smartsupp's prices; check the vendor's pricing page before you decide.
• Strengths: built for e-shops; live chat and AI in one widget; actively maintained.
• Considerations: price not confirmed here; best suited to stores rather than service businesses.
• Best for: WooCommerce shops that want a sales-focused assistant next to live chat.

Crisp - Live Chat and Chatbot connects WordPress to Crisp's shared inbox. It has 20,000+ active installations and 4.6 stars from 73 ratings. As of October 7, 2026, the plugin was last updated on April 14, 2025, about 18 months earlier. The Crisp service itself is still sold and works with WooCommerce, but check the plugin's compatibility with your WordPress version before you install it.

• Pricing: Free plan without AI. Mini $45, Essentials $95 and Plus $295 a month per workspace; the autonomous AI Agent is on Plus, and the lower plans include small AI credit allowances. Crisp pricing.
• Strengths: flat pricing per workspace, not per seat; many channels.
• Considerations: the WordPress plugin hasn't been updated recently; the fully autonomous AI is on the most expensive plan.
• Best for: small teams that want a shared inbox for chat, email and social messages.

Chatbase lets you build an AI agent trained on your pages and files, then embed it on WordPress through its plugin. The plugin has 5,000+ active installations and 3.4 stars from 13 ratings, and was last updated on March 3, 2025. You can also add Chatbase with its embed code through a footer plugin, the same way as Nexoply.

• Pricing: Free with 50 message credits a month; Hobby $40, Standard $150 and Pro $500 a month billed monthly, about 20% less billed yearly. Removing "Powered by Chatbase" is a $99/month add-on. Chatbase pricing.
• Strengths: many channels (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Slack), actions and integrations.
• Considerations: billing in message credits is harder to predict; the WordPress plugin is older and has few ratings.
• Best for: teams that want one AI agent across several channels.

See Nexoply vs Chatbase and our list of Chatbase alternatives.

• 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging: 100,000+ installations and 4.6 stars from 820 ratings. Live chat and calls; AI isn't its focus.
• WoowBot (AI ChatBot for WooCommerce): 1,000+ installations, 4.8 stars from 19 ratings; a product-search chatbot for WooCommerce from the makers of WPBot.
• Very small listings: Elfsight AI Chatbot (10+ installations), SiteGPT (80+), Zipchat for WooCommerce (70+) and Botsonic (100+, last updated in October 2023) had no ratings on WordPress.org on October 7, 2026, so we couldn't judge them from the directory.

WordPress AI chatbots fall into two camps, and the choice affects your monthly bill more than any feature list.

An own-key plugin can be very cheap on a quiet site and gives you full control. The trade-offs are an extra account to manage, a bill that's hard to predict when traffic spikes, and more testing to keep answers on topic. A hosted chatbot costs a set amount and works without an AI account, but you accept the vendor's limits and pricing. A salon owner who just wants questions about prices and cancellations answered usually prefers the second; a developer building a custom assistant often prefers the first.

WooCommerce has 7,000,000+ active installations, so many WordPress chatbots end up on shops. Shoppers ask two kinds of questions. Policy questions (shipping times and costs, returns, sizes, payment methods) need your information. Order questions ("where is my parcel?") need access to your order data.

• Tools whose listings advertise WooCommerce order or cart features: Tidio (carts, order history, product cards, abandoned-cart recovery), Jotform AI Chatbot (product Q&A, order tracking, cart recovery) and AI Engine Pro (WooCommerce tools). Smartsupp's AI shopping assistant is also aimed at e-shops.
• Nexoply answers policy and product questions from the information you give it, and can send shoppers to your order-tracking page, but it does not look up orders.

If order status is the question you get most, pick a tool with a WooCommerce integration. If most questions are about shipping, returns and products, a chatbot that answers from your own information is enough.

• Self-hosted WordPress (the WordPress.org software on your own hosting): you can install any plugin in this guide, including a footer plugin for a script like Nexoply's.
• WordPress.com: plugins are available on all paid plans (Personal, Premium, Business and Commerce), not only Business. The free plan can't install plugins, so it can't add a chatbot plugin or a third-party chat script. WordPress.com's pricing page says paid plans start at $2.75 a month, billed every three years. WordPress.com plugins.

If you're not sure which you have: if your admin address ends in wordpress.com and you never chose a hosting company, you're on WordPress.com.

A chat widget loads on every page, so it's worth a minute on the listing before you install anything.

• Last updated: most plugins here were updated within the last few weeks. Two weren't: Crisp (April 2025) and Chatbase (March 2025). That doesn't mean they're broken, but check the "Tested up to" line against your WordPress version.
• Number of ratings, not just stars: Jotform shows 5.0 stars from one rating; AI Engine shows 4.9 from 869. The second tells you much more.
• Active installations: a large user base usually means problems are found and fixed faster.
• Where the data goes: hosted chatbots send visitor messages to the vendor; own-key plugins send them to the AI provider. Mention the tool in your privacy policy either way.

Nexoply has no plugin to install from the directory. Instead you paste one script tag once, just before the closing body tag, and it loads on every page:

<script src="https://nexoply.com/widget.js" data-chatbot="YOUR-KEY" async></script>

• With WPCode (recommended): WPCode - Insert Headers and Footers has 3,000,000+ active installations and 4.9 stars from about 1,900 ratings. Paste the code into its Footer box and save. Header Footer Code Manager (600,000+ installations, 4.9 stars) works the same way.
• In the theme's footer.php: paste the code just above the closing body tag. Use a child theme, or the change may be lost when the theme updates.

The widget loads asynchronously, uses a Shadow DOM so your theme's styles don't affect it, and sets no cookies. The full walkthrough is in how to add an AI chatbot to WordPress.

1. 01

   Test on a staging copy if you can

   Many hosts offer one-click staging. Otherwise install on your live site at a quiet time and check a few pages on a phone.

2. 02

   Ask 10 real questions

   Use what customers actually ask: a plumber's "Do you cover my town?", a clinic's "Do you take new patients?", a shop's "How long does delivery to Canada take?".

3. 03

   Ask one it can't know

   A price you never published, for example. A good chatbot says it doesn't know and points to your phone or email; a weak one invents an answer.

4. 04

   Check the cost at your traffic

   For own-key plugins, look at your AI provider's usage after a week. For hosted tools, compare your monthly chats with the plan's allowance.

5. 05

   Check page speed and the mobile view

   Make sure the chat button doesn't cover your menu or cookie banner on phones, and that pages still load quickly.

If your WordPress site belongs to a small business and you want it to answer visitors on its own without managing an AI key, create a free account, import your website, ask your own questions on a test page, then paste the code with WPCode. The step-by-step WordPress guide covers both install methods. For tools beyond WordPress, see the best AI chatbots for websites.