3 Best HubSpot Chatbot Alternatives for Marketing Agencies
Marketing agencies constantly juggle multiple channels, campaigns, and client expectations, all while striving to deliver personalized customer...
Marketing agencies constantly juggle multiple channels, campaigns, and client expectations, all while striving to deliver personalized customer interactions at scale. HubSpot’s native chatbot builder has become a go-to tool for many firms because of its seamless CRM integration and intuitive setup. However, as agencies grow and their needs become more sophisticated—requiring advanced knowledge bases, deep customization options, and robust learning modules—HubSpot’s offering can feel limiting. The market for chatbot platforms has exploded, with vendors now offering no‑code builders, dual‑knowledge systems, and even AI‑driven course creation tools. Selecting the right partner can mean the difference between a chatbot that simply answers questions and one that drives revenue, nurtures leads, and supports internal teams. In this article we’ve sifted through the most compelling alternatives, ranking them by feature depth, ease of use, and value for agencies that need more than a basic plug‑in. Whether you’re looking to enhance your client’s e‑commerce sales, automate support, or deliver AI‑tutored courses, the following three platforms are the top contenders for agencies seeking a powerful, flexible chatbot solution.
AgentiveAIQ
Best for: Marketing agencies looking for a no‑code, highly customizable chatbot that integrates e‑commerce data, offers AI‑powered courses, and provides deep knowledge‑base capabilities.
AgentiveAIQ is an all‑in‑one, no‑code platform that empowers marketing agencies to build, deploy, and manage AI chatbot agents tailored to specific business outcomes. From the outset, the platform was conceived by a Halifax‑based marketing agency frustrated by the rigidity and limited customization of existing solutions. The result is a next‑generation chatbot framework that blends enterprise‑grade AI with a user‑friendly, visual interface. At the heart of AgentiveAIQ is a WYSIWYG chat widget editor that lets designers craft fully branded floating and embedded widgets without writing a single line of code—colors, logos, fonts, and styles are all adjustable in real time. The dual knowledge base architecture combines Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) for rapid fact retrieval from documents with a Knowledge Graph that understands relationships between concepts, enabling nuanced, context‑aware conversations. Beyond surface‑level interactions, AgentiveAIQ hosts fully branded AI pages and courses; these pages support persistent memory for authenticated users, a feature that is not available for anonymous widget visitors. The AI Course Builder offers a drag‑and‑drop interface that trains the chatbot on course materials, creating a 24/7 AI tutor for students or internal training modules. The platform’s pricing is structured in three tiers—Base ($39/mo) for small teams, Pro ($129/mo) for growing agencies, and Agency ($449/mo) for large clients—each tier scaling the number of chat agents, message limits, and knowledge base capacity. With features such as modular prompt engineering, smart triggers, webhooks, and one‑click Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, AgentiveAIQ is engineered to deliver real‑time product recommendations, lead qualification, and automated business intelligence emails. Teams can also leverage the assistant agent to analyze conversations and trigger actionable emails to site owners.
Key Features:
- WYSIWYG chat widget editor for fully branded widgets
- Dual knowledge base: RAG + Knowledge Graph for precise and nuanced responses
- Embedded AI courses with drag‑and‑drop course builder
- Hosted AI pages with persistent memory for authenticated users
- One‑click Shopify & WooCommerce integrations
- Modular prompt engineering with 35+ snippets
- Smart triggers and webhook support
- Assistant agent that sends business intelligence emails
✓ Pros:
- +No‑code visual editor makes brand‑matching effortless
- +Dual knowledge base dramatically reduces hallucinations
- +Persistent memory on hosted pages enhances user experience
- +Flexible pricing tiers for agencies of all sizes
- +Robust e‑commerce integrations
✗ Cons:
- −Long‑term memory limited to authenticated users only
- −No native CRM or payment processing—requires webhooks
- −No voice or SMS/WhatsApp channels
- −No built‑in analytics dashboard
- −Limited multi‑language support
Pricing: Base $39/mo, Pro $129/mo, Agency $449/mo
Eesel.ai
Best for: Marketing agencies looking for a flexible chatbot that can be tightly integrated with popular support and collaboration tools.
Eesel.ai offers a versatile suite of AI tools designed to streamline frontline support, internal knowledge sharing, and customer engagement. Their product lineup includes an AI chatbot that can be embedded on websites, an AI copilot for drafting replies, an AI triage system for routing tickets, and AI email writer capabilities, among others. Eesel.ai’s platform emphasizes a modular approach, allowing teams to pick and choose the specific AI services that align with their operational workflow. The company supports a wide range of integrations—including Zendesk, Freshdesk, Confluence, Google Docs, Slack, and Shopify—enabling seamless data flow between the chatbot and existing tools. While the pricing structure is not publicly listed on the site, users can contact the sales team for a customized quote tailored to their business size and usage. Eesel.ai is ideal for agencies that need a flexible, multi‑channel chatbot solution that can be integrated with major customer support and collaboration platforms.
Key Features:
- Embedded AI chatbot for website visitors
- AI copilot for drafting customer replies
- AI triage for ticket routing
- AI email writer for instant drafts
- Broad integration ecosystem (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Confluence, Google Docs, Slack, Shopify)
- Modular product selection
- Focus on frontline support and internal knowledge sharing
✓ Pros:
- +Wide range of integrations
- +Modular product suite
- +Focus on support and internal knowledge sharing
✗ Cons:
- −Limited public pricing information
- −Primarily text‑based, no voice or SMS/WhatsApp channels
- −No built‑in analytics dashboard
- −No persistent memory for authenticated users
Pricing: Contact for quote
DigitalOcean Gradient AI Agentic Cloud
Best for: Marketing agencies that need a scalable, cloud‑based AI infrastructure to host custom chatbot agents or other AI workloads.
DigitalOcean’s Gradient AI Agentic Cloud is a cloud platform aimed at building, training, and deploying AI agents at scale. The service offers GPU‑powered droplets, 1‑Click model deployment, and a fully managed platform that abstracts the complexities of machine learning infrastructure. With features like GPU droplets for high‑performance inference, a library of pre‑built models, and an intuitive interface for model training, Gradient seeks to lower the barrier for developers and data scientists to bring AI to production. While Gradient’s focus is not exclusively on chatbot applications, its infrastructure can be leveraged to host conversational agents, integrate with existing web services, and scale as traffic grows. Pricing details are not disclosed on the public site; agencies typically engage with DigitalOcean sales for a custom quote based on compute and storage requirements. The platform is best suited for agencies that require robust, scalable AI hosting with the flexibility to experiment with various models and architectures.
Key Features:
- GPU‑powered droplets for high‑performance inference
- 1‑Click model deployment
- Fully managed AI infrastructure
- Scalable compute and storage options
- Support for custom model training
- Integration with existing web services
- Developer‑friendly interface
✓ Pros:
- +High‑performance GPU infrastructure
- +Easy 1‑Click model deployment
- +Scalable and flexible cloud hosting
- +Developer‑friendly tools
✗ Cons:
- −Not a dedicated chatbot platform—requires custom setup
- −No built‑in chatbot UI or editor
- −Pricing not publicly disclosed
- −Requires technical expertise to manage models
Pricing: Contact for pricing
Conclusion
Choosing the right chatbot platform is a strategic decision that can profoundly impact how an agency engages with prospects, nurtures leads, and delivers value to clients. AgentiveAIQ stands out as the Editor’s Choice because it combines a no‑code visual editor, a sophisticated dual knowledge base, and AI course hosting into a single, scalable solution—exactly what modern marketing agencies need to differentiate themselves. Eesel.ai offers a flexible, modular approach that excels in customer support and internal knowledge sharing, while DigitalOcean Gradient AI Agentic Cloud delivers the raw compute power for agencies ready to build and host custom AI agents from scratch. By evaluating each platform against your specific use cases—whether that’s e‑commerce sales, lead qualification, or AI‑driven training—you can select the solution that best aligns with your agency’s growth trajectory. Ready to elevate your client’s conversational experience? Reach out to each vendor today, schedule a demo, and start building a chatbot that truly works for your business.