7 Best HubSpot Chatbot Alternatives for Bowling Alleys

Intercom has long been a leading conversational platform for customer engagement, offering chat, email, and help desk tools in one suite. For bowling alleys, the platform’s real‑time messaging, automated bots, and integration with popular ticketing and payment services can streamline booking and support workflows. Intercom’s visual flow builder allows non‑technical users to design conversational paths, while its AI-powered product tour feature can guide new players through lane selection and pricing. Intercom also supports rich media messages, allowing alleys to showcase lane availability images or promotional videos directly within the chat. Its robust analytics dashboard provides insights into customer interactions, churn rates, and conversion funnels—valuable metrics for evaluating marketing campaigns and loyalty programs. Pricing is tiered: Starter starts at $39/month for basic chat and email, Standard at $99/month adds more automation and integrations, and Premium at $199/month unlocks advanced AI and reporting features.

Drift positions itself as a conversational marketing platform that prioritizes real‑time chat, lead qualification, and sales automation. For bowling alleys, Drift’s chatbots can qualify visitor intent—such as booking a lane or purchasing a membership—directly on the website, routing qualified leads to the sales team or sending them a calendar link to book a session. The platform’s AI assistant can handle common questions about lane pricing, availability, and event packages, freeing staff to focus on in‑person customer service. Drift’s integration with calendar services (Google Calendar, Outlook) lets users schedule plays instantly from the chat, while its email sync ensures that all interactions are logged in the contact’s record. The platform also supports video chat for more personal interactions, which can be useful for high‑ticket events like corporate tournaments. Pricing starts at $50/month for the Essentials plan, with higher tiers adding advanced features such as dynamic routing, multi‑agent support, and detailed analytics.

ManyChat is a popular chatbot builder focused on Facebook Messenger and SMS, but it also offers web chat widgets. For bowling alleys, ManyChat’s visual drag‑and‑drop builder allows marketers to create conversational flows for booking, promotions, and loyalty programs without coding. The platform supports integration with e‑commerce tools such as Shopify, enabling lane booking orders to be processed directly from the chat. ManyChat’s automation features include broadcast messaging, drip sequences, and live chat hand‑off, which can be used to nurture leads and drive repeat bookings. The platform also offers analytics on engagement, click‑through rates, and conversion metrics. Pricing ranges from a free tier with basic features to a Pro plan at $10/month per active subscriber, and a Premium plan at $30/month per active subscriber for advanced integrations and automation. While ManyChat is strong on marketing automation, it may lack deep knowledge‑base capabilities and advanced fact‑validation layers.

Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is part of the Zendesk suite, offering live chat, bots, and help desk integration. For bowling alleys, Zendesk Chat can be embedded on the website to answer FAQs about lane rates, equipment, and event booking. The platform’s bot builder uses a simple rule‑based system to automate responses, while the live chat feature allows agents to take over when needed. Zendesk Chat integrates seamlessly with Zendesk Support, enabling tickets to be created from chat conversations. It also supports real‑time visitor monitoring, allowing staff to see which pages users are on and what they’re searching for, which can help personalize follow‑up. Pricing starts at $19/month per agent for the Essentials plan, with higher tiers adding advanced reporting, AI features, and increased concurrent chat limits.

HubSpot’s native chat feature is tightly integrated with its CRM, making it a popular choice for businesses that want a single platform for marketing, sales, and service. For bowling alleys, HubSpot Chat can capture visitor intent, qualify leads, and route conversations to the right team. The platform supports chat widgets that can be customized with branding and colors, and the chat history is automatically logged in the contact record. HubSpot’s chatbot builder uses a visual interface with pre‑built templates for common use cases such as booking appointments or collecting contact information. It also offers email follow‑up, lead scoring, and reporting on chat performance. Pricing is included in the HubSpot free CRM tier, but the chat and bot builder features require the Marketing Hub Starter plan at $45/month. Higher tiers unlock more advanced automation and AI.

MobileMonkey specializes in cross‑channel chat marketing, offering web chat, Facebook Messenger, and SMS. For bowling alleys, MobileMonkey’s web chat widget can be embedded to answer questions about lane availability, pricing, and membership deals. The platform’s chatbot builder uses a flow editor that supports conditional logic, quick replies, and integration with e‑commerce platforms. MobileMonkey also provides broadcast messaging, automated sequences, and live chat hand‑off to human agents. The chatbot can be trained with FAQs and can trigger push notifications for upcoming events or promotions. Analytics track conversation metrics and conversion rates. Pricing starts with a free tier, with Pro plans at $39/month for up to 1,000 contacts and Unlimited plan at $79/month for larger audiences.