Comparisons
AI customer service / chatbot platforms compared
Five platforms for AI customer service, scored on the same seven criteria - with a source link and date on every entry. Two things up front that vendor comparisons usually gloss over: first, every vendor bills differently, and each model has a catch - the advertised price says little about the actual cost per resolved case. Second, for the German market data protection decides more than anything, and since the recent acquisitions it's not just "where is it hosted" that matters but also "who owns the vendor". The switch above the table toggles between the solo/small-business and the enterprise perspective. And because they all ground the AI in your own knowledge base, answer quality ultimately depends more on your content than on the vendor.
An AI customer-service/chatbot platform automates customer support with AI - over web chat, WhatsApp, email or phone, grounded in your own company knowledge - well-known examples are Intercom Fin, Tidio (Lyro), Chatbase, Cognigy and Sierra.
How we score →Last data review: 07/16/2026, 08:00 AM
| Tool | Price | Price/performance & billing model | Privacy & GDPR | Answer quality & grounding | German quality | Integrations & channels | Usability & rollout | Escalation & governance | Ideal for | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intercom Fin Fin AI (formerly Intercom) | 14-day trial · $0.99 per resolved case (qualification $9.99) · from ~$49/mo (50 resolutions) · plus Intercom seat costs | 2 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | Small support teams with an existing helpdesk +1 | |
Tidio (Lyro) Tidio | Free tier (50 Lyro chats free) · Base from ~$29/mo · Lyro AI separate from ~$32.50/mo (50 chats) · Premium on request | 4 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 3 of 5 | Small shops and websites that want to start fast and cheap +1 | |
Chatbase Chatbase | Free (50 credits) · Hobby ~$40 · Standard ~$150 · Pro ~$500/mo · billed in message credits · 1 agent per self-service tier | 3 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 3 of 5 | Anyone wanting to quickly build a bot on FAQ/docs, without developers +1 | |
Cognigy Cognigy (NICE) | No public pricing · Enterprise, sales-led · no SMB self-service · on-premises available | 2 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 5 of 5 | Practically inaccessible for solo/small businesses (enterprise platform) | |
Sierra Sierra Technologies | No public pricing · outcome-based, sales-led · no free tier/trial · enterprise (large customers) | 1 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 5 of 5 | Inaccessible for solo/small businesses (large-enterprise offering) | |
Which tool fits you?
Small shop/website, live fast & cheap
Tidio (Lyro)
A real free tier, embedded in minutes without developers, a strong Shopify/e-commerce focus and German with Sie/Du.
Your own bot on your documents, no code
Chatbase
Upload data → bot in minutes, free LLM choice and many integrations - ideal for a custom knowledge bot without developers.
Key takeaways
- Every vendor bills differently - and each has a catch: Intercom Fin per "outcome" ($0.99, but an "assumed resolution" counts as soon as the customer simply leaves the chat), Chatbase in message credits (a credit ≠ an answer - premium models burn 2-6x), Tidio's Lyro AI is a separate add-on on top of the base price, Cognigy and Sierra bill opaquely per enterprise contract. Compare cost per resolved case, not the headline price.
- Two of the strongest options are being absorbed by US giants: Cognigy has belonged to NICE since September 2025, Intercom/Fin is being acquired by Salesforce (announced June 2026, not yet closed). This shifts the data-sovereignty question from "where is it hosted" to "who owns the vendor" (think US CLOUD Act) - a new checkpoint for GDPR-sensitive buyers.
- On data protection, the field separates sharply: Cognigy (German company, EU/Frankfurt hosting, on-premises, BSI C5) is the strongest GDPR case. Intercom Fin offers top certifications and EU hosting (Dublin), but only from the Advanced plan - and uses anonymized data for fine-tuning unless you actively opt out. Chatbase and Sierra process in the US by default.
- The advertised "resolution rates" are marketing - and depend mostly on your own content: Fin advertises 76%, Tidio 67%; independent assessments land closer to 40-60%. All vendors ground the AI in your knowledge base - if it's thin or outdated, the rate drops regardless of vendor.
- Two classes: no-code SMB tools (Tidio, Chatbase - live in minutes, cheap, self-service) and enterprise platforms (Cognigy, Sierra, Fin at enterprise scale - sales-led, more powerful, but weeks to months to roll out). Which class fits depends more on size and integration depth than on the AI itself.
→ Integrate AI support into your systems: Custom Applications
Frequently asked questions
What does an AI customer-service bot really cost?
It depends heavily on the billing model, and each has a catch. Intercom Fin bills per "outcome" ($0.99) - where an "assumed resolution" counts as soon as the customer leaves the chat - plus seat costs. Chatbase bills in message credits, where a credit is not one answer (premium models consume 2-6x). With Tidio, the Lyro AI is a separate add-on on top of the base price. Cognigy and Sierra name no public prices at all (enterprise, sales-led). For a fair comparison, compute the cost per actually resolved case over a realistic monthly volume - not the headline price.
Which chatbot platform is GDPR-compliant and suitable for German companies?
Cognigy offers the strongest case: a German company, EU/Frankfurt hosting, an on-premises option and BSI C5 - though Cognigy has belonged to the US group NICE since September 2025, which creates a new ownership checkpoint. Intercom Fin has top certifications and EU hosting (Dublin), but only from the Advanced plan, and uses anonymized data for fine-tuning unless you object. Tidio commits to "primarily EEA + standard contractual clauses" (US contracting party, Polish subprocessor). Chatbase and Sierra process in the US by default. One point applies everywhere: EU platform hosting doesn't automatically mean an EU LLM - the connected language model must also run in an EU region. Always clarify the DPA and processing path specifically.
How high is the "resolution rate" realistically?
Lower than the vendors advertise. Intercom Fin cites 76%, Tidio 67% - independent assessments and earlier figures land closer to 40-60%. More importantly, the rate is structurally a function of your own knowledge base. All platforms ground the AI in your content (help center, FAQ, documents) and escalate to a human on gaps. If the stored content is thin, outdated or contradictory, the resolution rate drops regardless of vendor. The biggest lever is almost always preparing your own content.
Is a standard platform enough, or do we need a custom solution?
For a clearly bounded use case (an FAQ bot on the website, order status, simple support cases), a standard platform works well. Its limit is reached when the bot needs to reach deep into your systems (inventory, CRM, internal databases in real time), when strict GDPR/data-sovereignty requirements apply, or when it should know your specific domain and process logic. Then the answer isn't the next-more-expensive license but a tailored integration on your data and systems - often with one of the tools above as a building block. That integration is exactly where our Custom Applications service comes in.