Chatbase

Builds AI agents from your data for support, sales, and product guidance across chat, email, and voice

KINDA · partial replacement
price $150/mosubscription / year $1,800estimated build time multi-day for one web agent; multi-week for the platformreplaced by 0 people

A useful web version is a serious multi-day build, not magic: crawl or upload sources, retrieve tenant-scoped passages, stream cited answers, run one guarded business action, and hand uncertain requests to a person. Rebuilding Chatbase itself is a different project. Its paid surface combines source management and retraining, procedures and custom UI actions, a polished widget, helpdesk, identity, analytics, voice, email, social and CRM channels, plus the reliability and security work that keeps an agent safe in front of customers.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • the no-code agent lifecycle: many managed source connectors, background retraining, source suggestions, and production ingestion diagnostics
  • the channel network: website chat, email, voice and telephony, Slack, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Shopify, WordPress, Zapier, Zendesk, Salesforce, and other integrations
  • the support operation around the agent: a team helpdesk, tickets, assignment, contact identity, authenticated personalization, escalation, and access controls
  • the action and procedure builder: server, client, button, and custom widget actions with testing, permissions, and integration-specific behavior
  • the production layer: topic and sentiment analytics, review workflows, abuse controls, delivery retries, observability, data governance, compliance, and support

Why people still pay

The chat bubble and one RAG route are only the visible edge. The subscription buys the control plane around them: continuously managed sources, safe actions, customer identity, channel adapters, a human inbox, analytics, and someone else owning delivery and model regressions. Building is reasonable when one web agent and full data control are enough; paying is reasonable when the agent is part of a real support operation.

Your build guide

The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.

Before you start

  • A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions.
  • Implementation components: Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
  • Scope boundary: Broad autonomous actions, enterprise connectors and guaranteed answer accuracy are outside scope.
01
Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations.
02
PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
03
Domain model: approved knowledge sources, source revisions, chunks, conversations, citations and human handoff tickets
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1

Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Ingest a bounded set of permitted documents, review extraction and expose a support widget that retrieves relevant passages. Add one allowlisted read-only account lookup and a human handoff when evidence is insufficient. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Broad autonomous actions, enterprise connectors and guaranteed answer accuracy are outside scope.

2

Phase 2

Durable model. Model approved knowledge sources, source revisions, chunks, conversations, citations and human handoff tickets Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Knowledge text cannot change system/tool policy; every source citation belongs to the active knowledge revision and private documents stay tenant-scoped.

3

Phase 3

Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.

4

Phase 4

Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.

5

Phase 5

Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.

6

Phase 6

Acceptance scenarios. A document containing prompt-injection text cannot trigger a tool; an unsupported question creates a handoff with the selected transcript rather than an invented answer. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.

the pro prompt
download AGENTS.md
WORKING SLICE
Ingest a bounded set of permitted documents, review extraction and expose a support widget that retrieves relevant passages. Add one allowlisted read-only account lookup and a human handoff when evidence is insufficient.

Build this scoped Chatbase-inspired workflow with a documented data model and visible failure states.

Architecture
- Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations.
- PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.

Prerequisites and limits
A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions.
Outside this release: Broad autonomous actions, enterprise connectors and guaranteed answer accuracy are outside scope.

Data model and correctness
approved knowledge sources, source revisions, chunks, conversations, citations and human handoff tickets
Invariant: Knowledge text cannot change system/tool policy; every source citation belongs to the active knowledge revision and private documents stay tenant-scoped.
Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.

Security and privacy
Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML.

Recovery and export
Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching.

Implementation order
1. Phase 1 — Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Ingest a bounded set of permitted documents, review extraction and expose a support widget that retrieves relevant passages. Add one allowlisted read-only account lookup and a human handoff when evidence is insufficient. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Broad autonomous actions, enterprise connectors and guaranteed answer accuracy are outside scope.
2. Phase 2 — Durable model. Model approved knowledge sources, source revisions, chunks, conversations, citations and human handoff tickets Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Knowledge text cannot change system/tool policy; every source citation belongs to the active knowledge revision and private documents stay tenant-scoped.
3. Phase 3 — Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.
4. Phase 4 — Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.
5. Phase 5 — Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.
6. Phase 6 — Acceptance scenarios. A document containing prompt-injection text cannot trigger a tool; an unsupported question creates a handoff with the selected transcript rather than an invented answer. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.

Acceptance
A document containing prompt-injection text cannot trigger a tool; an unsupported question creates a handoff with the selected transcript rather than an invented answer.
Use real source data or clearly labeled fixtures. Explain unsupported input and provider failures; do not fabricate analytics, delivery receipts, accuracy claims or security guarantees.

Optional agent guidance
Optional external skill: [vercel-react-best-practices](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/react-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: [supabase-postgres-best-practices](https://github.com/supabase/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: [web-design-guidelines](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md) — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Project rule — data model: approved knowledge sources, source revisions, chunks, conversations, citations and human handoff tickets
Project rule — preserve this invariant: Knowledge text cannot change system/tool policy; every source citation belongs to the active knowledge revision and private documents stay tenant-scoped.
Project rule — acceptance evidence: A document containing prompt-injection text cannot trigger a tool; an unsupported question creates a handoff with the selected transcript rather than an invented answer.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md

share on X ↗

Alternatives to building your own

TiledeskA self-hosted RAG support agent across chat, email and voice; the free software arrives as an infrastructure diagram.316jul 2026open source↗

no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

Chatbase pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
free$0/workspace$0/workspace1 agent, 50 message credits/month, 1 MB training content, 1 member and 0 AI actions/agentAI agents are deleted after 14 days of inactivity.
hobby$40/workspace$32/workspace1 agent, 700 message credits/month, 5 AI actions/agent, 10 MB training content and 2 membersAnnual charge $384; month-to-month price follows the page's exact 20% annual discount.
standard$150/workspace$120/workspace1 agent, 4,000 message credits/month, 8 AI actions/agent, 20 MB training content, 3 members and 10 concurrent voice callsAnnual charge $1,440; month-to-month price follows the page's exact 20% annual discount.
pro$500/workspace$400/workspace1 agent, 15,000 message credits/month, 12 AI actions/agent, 40 MB training content, 5 members and 20 concurrent voice callsAnnual charge $4,800; month-to-month price follows the page's exact 20% annual discount.
enterprise——Custom higher limits, roles, SSO, white-labeling, audit logs, SLA and zero-data-retention optionsFlexible custom billing.

free tier1 agent; 50 message credits/month; 1 MB training data; 1 member; agents deleted after 14 inactive days

billingmonthly + annual (-20%); paid plans have a 7-day trial

hidden costsAuto-recharge message credits cost $40 per 1,000 and do not expire; each extra agent costs $300/year; removing Chatbase branding costs $1,188/year.

pricing sources checked 2026-08-12 · pricing source ↗

Questions about Chatbase

Can you build your own Chatbase with AI?

Partly. A useful web version is a serious multi-day build, not magic: crawl or upload sources, retrieve tenant-scoped passages, stream cited answers, run one guarded business action, and hand uncertain requests to a person. Rebuilding Chatbase itself is a different project. Its paid surface combines source management and retraining, procedures and custom UI actions, a polished widget, helpdesk, identity, analytics, voice, email, social and CRM channels, plus the reliability and security work that keeps an agent safe in front of customers.

What does the Chatbase build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Ingest a bounded set of permitted documents, review extraction and expose a support widget that retrieves relevant passages. Add one allowlisted read-only account lookup and a human handoff when evidence is insufficient. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: the no-code agent lifecycle: many managed source connectors, background retraining, source suggestions, and production ingestion diagnostics; the channel network: website chat, email, voice and telephony, Slack, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Shopify, WordPress, Zapier, Zendesk, Salesforce, and other integrations; the support operation around the agent: a team helpdesk, tickets, assignment, contact identity, authenticated personalization, escalation, and access controls. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.

How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?

Start with the Chatbase prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.

How long will this Chatbase project take?

The catalogue estimate is multi-day for one web agent; multi-week for the platform for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.

What would I give up by replacing Chatbase?

the no-code agent lifecycle: many managed source connectors, background retraining, source suggestions, and production ingestion diagnostics; the channel network: website chat, email, voice and telephony, Slack, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Shopify, WordPress, Zapier, Zendesk, Salesforce, and other integrations; the support operation around the agent: a team helpdesk, tickets, assignment, contact identity, authenticated personalization, escalation, and access controls; the action and procedure builder: server, client, button, and custom widget actions with testing, permissions, and integration-specific behavior; the production layer: topic and sentiment analytics, review workflows, abuse controls, delivery retries, observability, data governance, compliance, and support. The chat bubble and one RAG route are only the visible edge. The subscription buys the control plane around them: continuously managed sources, safe actions, customer identity, channel adapters, a human inbox, analytics, and someone else owning delivery and model regressions. Building is reasonable when one web agent and full data control are enough; paying is reasonable when the agent is part of a real support operation.

What price is this guide comparing against?

The recorded Standard plan is $150/mo (monthly), checked 2026-08-01. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.

What can I use instead of building Chatbase?

Tiledesk: A self-hosted RAG support agent across chat, email and voice; the free software arrives as an infrastructure diagram. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.

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