Chatbots can be very costly to build, but there are alternatives that are vastly cheaper and can give you the same results so long as you’re willing to put in the time! Open-source chatbots can allow companies to have professional and articulate AI agents without the setbacks and burdens from corporations.

If you’d like to know more about open-source chatbots and where to look to find the best open-source chatbot on the web, you’ve come to the right place! Let us at Voiceflow fill you in on what it takes to get a chatbot running without a subscription model.

What is an Open-Source Chatbot?

An open-source chatbot is a chatbot that primarily contains a source code that’s available to anyone. When you download this code, you have access to your own chatbot, with modifications made by making changes to the code. A code editor, such as Visual Basic or NetBeans is required to access the code and edit it.

Some open-source chatbots are free to use, while others are not, but they usually come with more features and easy-to-use resources.

Top Features of Open-Source Chatbots

With developing an open-source chatbot, you’re not bound to the rules and restrictions imposed by the developer, so you’re free to build the chatbot as you see fit. Here are the most notable features from most open-source chatbots available:

Versatile integrations: An open-source chatbot is capable of being used for websites, email inboxes, text messengers, and other communication platforms where you might send messages to customers.
Security: Using an open-source chatbot is actually safer than using a proprietary one, as developers are able to audit the source code and make changes to it in order to seal up vulnerabilities.
Evolution: Because of eager developers and community members, open-source chatbots will continue to become more capable in the future with new updates, add-ons, and other additions you can also apply to yours.

Benefits of Using Open-Source Chatbots

Open-source chat bots are sought-after by business owners for many reasons. Here are the most glaring benefits of building your chatbot open-source:

Opposed to using closed-source chatbots, open-source chatbots are an economical way to put together an AI customer service bot.
Open-source chatbots are more customizable than closed-source chatbots. Typically, you have access to master code that you can modify to your liking. You can have total control over how the chatbot looks, performs, and behaves with very little restrictions.
Open-source chatbots are also backed by helpful developers and communities. Should you encounter bugs or need help, there should certainly be an expert in the chatbot you’re using to help you get past obstacles as you develop your own bot.

How Can I Build My Own Open Source Chatbot?

Thanks to technological breakthroughs, creating a chatbot isn’t as hard as it was years ago. However, there are many things to take into account when building your chatbot, as it can be a make-or-break scenario when your chatbot is first used by the public.

Here’s what you should consider before getting started on building your chatbot:

1	Establish the purpose of your chatbot.	Think about why you want a chatbot to begin with and how you expect it to help out your bottom line.
2	Establish your chatbot platforms.	From the web to your mobile app to many kinds of text messengers, decide what would be the best places to install your chatbot.
3	Choose a tech stack.	To create your chatbot, you’ll need a cloud infrastructure, machine learning software, and an NLP platform. All kinds of tech companies create these assets from Google to IBM.
4	Write up your knowledge base.	A knowledge base is a series of documents your chatbot will take knowledge from and use to provide answers to consumers. All kinds of information can be part of knowledge bases from policies and manuals to product descriptions.
5	Decide how you want to train the chatbot.	Chatbots can either be rule-based or intent-based. Rule-based chatbots consist of mostly pre-written scripts that trigger messages based on a user’s words or actions. With intent-based chatbots, you’ll have to manually teach your chatbot how to communicate with users, with more time invested equating to more capabilities.

Top Open-Source Chatbot Platforms in 2026

Voiceflow

Voiceflow is one of the best open-source chatbot platforms due to its robust features, user-friendly editor, and abundant support for its chatbots’ functionalities. Voiceflow offers a wide array of ple-built templates and integrations, making it a breeze to finish and deploy a chatbot to a website, with no tech stacks necessary!

Botkit

Botkit is an open-source chatbot platform with a hefty set of features and backed by its strong, active community. While you may need some coding prowess to use Botkit, you can get your chatbot to run on Slack, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, and Twilio SMS in addition to on your own website.

Tock

Tock harnesses the capabilities of the Python language to give conversational skills to AI bots on Slack and other messaging platforms. Tock is full of helpful and easy-to-follow guides for how to create an open-source chatbot and how to train the bot to solve problems, tell stories, and more. Unlike Botkit, Tock doesn’t require coding skills.

Voiceflow is the clear winner of open-source chatbots, as you can write conversations with the visual drag-and-drop editor right from your web browser. Get signed up for a free trial to see for yourself how easy you can load a template and get started with Voiceflow!

Top 3 Open-Source Chatbots In 2026 [Tried & Tested]