7 Best ManyChat Alternatives for Ice Cream Shops

Intercom is a comprehensive customer messaging platform that blends live chat, bots, and marketing automation into a single suite. For ice‑cream shops, Intercom’s chatbot can greet visitors on the website, recommend seasonal flavors, and capture contact information for future promotions. The bot is built on Intercom’s robust Knowledge Base, allowing you to store FAQs, allergen information, and store policies that the bot can reference in real time. Intercom’s flow editor is a visual, drag‑and‑drop tool that enables non‑technical users to create multi‑step conversation paths without coding. When a customer asks about a new flavor, the bot can trigger a product recommendation email or a push notification about a limited‑time offer. Intercom also supports integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Mailchimp, enabling seamless order tracking and email marketing. The platform’s automation features let you set up triggers based on user actions—such as visiting the ‘Toppings’ page—to send personalized offers or run loyalty campaigns. Pricing starts at $39/month for the Essential plan, which includes basic chat and bot features. The Standard plan adds advanced automation and email marketing for $79/month, while the Premium plan offers unlimited integrations and advanced reporting for $139/month. Intercom is ideal for shops that prioritize a unified customer support inbox, proactive messaging, and deep e‑commerce integration.

Botpress is an open‑source chatbot platform that offers a modular, developer‑friendly architecture for building conversational AI. For ice‑cream shops, Botpress can be used to create a custom chatbot that recommends flavors, answers allergen questions, and guides customers through the checkout process. The platform’s core features include an Agent Studio for rapid bot development, an Autonomous Engine that uses LLMs to drive conversations, Knowledge Bases that allow you to train the bot on custom documents, and Human Handoff for seamless transition to a live agent when needed. Botpress supports multiple communication channels—including web, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Slack—giving shops flexibility to engage customers wherever they are. The platform also offers tables for storing conversation data and a robust API for integrating with external systems such as Shopify or WooCommerce. Botpress is free to use in a self‑hosted environment, with paid enterprise plans available for additional support, advanced analytics, and dedicated hosting. It is ideal for shops that have in‑house technical resources or are willing to invest in a custom solution that can scale as the business grows.

MobileMonkey is a conversational marketing platform that focuses on multi‑channel engagement across web, Facebook Messenger, SMS, and Instagram. For ice‑cream shops, MobileMonkey’s chatbot builder can create interactive experiences that showcase seasonal flavors, run contests, and collect email addresses for loyalty programs. The platform’s visual drag‑and‑drop builder allows you to design chatbot flows without coding, while its audience segmentation tools let you target customers based on their browsing behavior or purchase history. MobileMonkey integrates with Shopify, allowing the bot to pull product information and facilitate orders directly from the chat interface. Additionally, the platform offers automated email sequences, live chat, and analytics dashboards to track engagement metrics. Pricing includes a free tier with limited features, a Pro plan at $49/month that adds advanced automation and multi‑channel support, and an Enterprise tier for larger businesses.

Landbot is a no‑code chatbot builder that emphasizes conversational design and lead capture. Its drag‑and‑drop interface lets ice‑cream shop owners create chat flows that can guide customers through flavor selection, provide nutritional information, and collect feedback. Landbot supports web embedding, WhatsApp, and Messenger, allowing customers to interact on their preferred platform. The platform offers dynamic variables and conditional logic to personalize conversations, as well as integration with Zapier, Google Sheets, and Shopify for seamless data flow. Landbot’s analytics provide insights into conversation paths, drop‑off rates, and overall engagement. Pricing starts at $30/month for the Starter plan, which includes basic flows and integrations, with higher tiers offering more advanced features and increased usage limits.

Dialogflow, part of Google Cloud, is a natural language understanding platform that enables developers to build conversational agents for websites, mobile apps, and messaging platforms. For ice‑cream shops, Dialogflow can interpret customer queries about flavors, store hours, and order status, and can trigger fulfillment actions such as adding items to a cart or sending order confirmations. The platform offers Contexts to maintain conversation state, Entities to extract specific information, and Integration with Google Assistant, Facebook Messenger, and webhooks for custom fulfillment logic. Dialogflow’s pricing structure includes a free tier with basic usage limits and a Essentials plan that charges per text or voice request, making it cost‑effective for low‑volume shops. It is best suited for businesses with development resources that want granular control over the chatbot’s behavior.

Chatfuel is a no‑code chatbot platform primarily focused on Facebook Messenger and Instagram. For ice‑cream shops, Chatfuel allows owners to create conversational flows that can showcase menu items, run promotions, and handle FAQs about ingredients or store policies. The drag‑and‑drop interface supports quick setup, while built‑in templates help get started. Chatfuel also offers broadcast messaging for promotions, automated responses to common questions, and integration with Shopify for product data. The platform’s analytics dashboard tracks reach, engagement, and funnel performance. Pricing includes a free plan with basic features, a Pro plan at $15/month for additional broadcasts and integrations, and a Premium plan at $50/month for advanced automation.