HubSpot Chatbot: What It Does, What It Costs, and the Alternatives
Short answer: HubSpot has a built-in chatbot, and if you already run HubSpot it is the obvious starting point — it is free on the entry tier and it writes straight into your CRM. The catches are that the free version carries HubSpot branding, and the AI agent bills in credits at 50 credits per resolved conversation, which adds up faster than the credit balance suggests.
This page covers what HubSpot’s chatbot does, what it really costs, and when a separate tool makes more sense.
Pricing checked 15 August 2026. All figures are taken from each provider’s own published pricing page on that date and are quoted in the currency they publish in. Prices change — check the source before making a decision.
What HubSpot’s chatbot does
Two related things, and it is worth keeping them apart:
- Live chat and conversational bots — rule-based flows you build, plus a human inbox. Available from the free tier.
- Customer Agent — the AI agent that answers from your content. Billed in HubSpot Credits.
The genuine advantage is the CRM. A conversation becomes a contact record, with the chat attached, and your sales team sees it alongside everything else. If you already live in HubSpot, that is hard to beat with a bolt-on tool.
What it costs
| Plan | Price per seat/month | Included credits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (up to 2 users) | — |
| Starter | $20 (annual) / $7 monthly-billed entry | 500 |
| Professional | $100 (annual), plus $1,500 one-off onboarding | 3,000 |
| Enterprise | $150, plus $3,500 one-off onboarding | 5,000 |
Customer Agent consumes 50 credits per conversation resolved. Additional credits cost $9 per 1,000 when paid annually. Checked 15 August 2026 against HubSpot’s published Service Hub pricing.
What the credits actually buy
This is the number worth translating. At 50 credits per resolution:
- Starter’s 500 credits = 10 resolved conversations a month
- Professional’s 3,000 credits = 60 resolved conversations a month
- Enterprise’s 5,000 credits = 100 resolved conversations a month
Those are small numbers against real website traffic. Beyond them, $9 per 1,000 credits works out at roughly $0.45 per resolved conversation. A thousand conversations a month is about $450 in credits on top of your seats.
To be fair, $0.45 is cheaper per resolution than Intercom or Zendesk. The thing to watch is the included allowance, not the marginal rate.
The branding question
HubSpot’s free live chat carries HubSpot branding. Removing it requires Starter or above. Worth knowing if you are planning to run the free tier on a customer-facing site.
When HubSpot’s chatbot is the right call
- You already pay for HubSpot and use the CRM properly
- You want chat conversations attached to contact records automatically
- Your sales team works in HubSpot daily
- Your resolution volume is modest enough to sit inside your credit allowance
When a separate tool makes more sense
- You are not on HubSpot. Buying Service Hub to get a chatbot is an expensive route to an answer engine.
- Your volume is high. Credits run out quickly at 50 per resolution.
- You need more than two people to have access and do not want to pay per seat.
- Your questions are website questions, not sales questions. Opening times, delivery, eligibility and returns do not need a CRM to answer.
Using Holp on a HubSpot-era website
Holp is an AI assistant that reads your website and answers visitors’ questions from your own content. It is one snippet, so it works on any site regardless of what CRM sits behind it.
| Holp | HubSpot Customer Agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | £25/month, 150 conversations | Free tier (branded), then $20+/seat |
| AI billing | Included in the plan | 50 credits per resolution, $9/1,000 credits |
| Team members | Unlimited on every plan | Per seat, 2 on free |
| Onboarding fee | None | $1,500 on Professional, $3,500 on Enterprise |
| CRM | No | Yes, and it is the main reason to choose it |
| Setup | An afternoon | Depends on your HubSpot configuration |
| Company and hosting | UK company, UK-hosted | US |
To be straight about it: Holp does not integrate with HubSpot today. A HubSpot integration is listed as coming in the product, and until it ships, leads captured in Holp arrive by email rather than landing in your CRM automatically. If automatic CRM sync is essential, HubSpot’s own tools are the better answer right now and we would rather say so.
Check what your website can already answer
Whichever route you take, the answers have to exist somewhere. Our free Site Answerability Check reads your pages and reports which of the questions visitors typically ask are covered and which are not. A minute, no account needed.
Frequently asked questions
Does HubSpot have a free chatbot?
Yes. Live chat and conversational bots are available on the free tier for up to two users, carrying HubSpot branding. The AI Customer Agent is billed separately in credits.
How much does HubSpot’s AI chatbot cost?
Customer Agent uses 50 credits per resolved conversation. Starter includes 500 credits, Professional 3,000 and Enterprise 5,000, with extra credits at $9 per 1,000 paid annually — about $0.45 per resolution. Checked 15 August 2026.
How many conversations do HubSpot credits cover?
At 50 credits each: 10 a month on Starter, 60 on Professional, 100 on Enterprise. Beyond that you buy more credits.
Can I use a different chatbot with HubSpot?
Yes. Any widget that installs by snippet works on a site running HubSpot. What you lose without an integration is automatic contact-record creation.
Does Holp integrate with HubSpot?
Not today. It is listed as coming in the product. Until then, captured leads arrive by email.
Related reading
Sources and pricing checks
We checked the provider-owned sources below on 16 August 2026. Plans, prices and product capabilities can change, so confirm the details that matter to you before buying.