7 Must-Have Lead Generation Chatbots for Consulting Firms

Intercom is a comprehensive customer messaging platform that has evolved into a leader in conversational marketing and sales. It offers a chat widget that can be embedded on any website, as well as a robust back‑office system for managing conversations, automating responses, and routing leads to the appropriate sales or support teams. Intercom’s strengths lie in its highly customizable automation flows, which let you build targeted lead‑generation sequences that trigger based on user behavior, page views, or custom attributes. The platform also integrates seamlessly with popular CRMs such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho, ensuring that every conversation can be logged and followed up within your existing workflow. Intercom’s pricing tiers reflect the breadth of its feature set: the Essential plan starts at $39 per month and includes basic chat, automated messages, and limited automation. The Standard plan, priced at $99/month, adds features like product tours, advanced segmentation, and richer automation. The Premium tier, at $159/month, unlocks additional capabilities such as advanced reporting, higher user limits, and priority support. While the platform offers a free trial, the paid plans are subscription-based and do not include a separate chatbot module; instead, the chat widget is part of the overall messaging suite. For consulting firms, Intercom’s ability to create highly targeted, behavior‑based lead‑generation campaigns and integrate with existing CRMs can accelerate the qualification process. However, the platform is primarily focused on customer support and sales outreach rather than specialized AI conversation, and building complex AI‑driven flows may require additional configuration or integration with third‑party AI services.

Drift positions itself as a conversational marketing platform built for sales teams. Its core offering is a chat widget that can be placed on any web page, combined with powerful intent‑based routing and real‑time lead qualification. Drift’s “Chatbot” feature uses AI to answer common questions, while its “Conversational Marketing” suite allows marketers to set up automated campaigns that trigger based on visitor behavior, location, or content consumption. One of Drift’s standout features is its ability to schedule meetings directly within the chat, which streamlines the lead‑generation process for consulting firms that rely on appointments for initial consultations. Drift offers a free trial and a paid “Starter” plan that starts at $400/month (billed annually). Additional plans such as “Growth” and “Enterprise” are available on request and include higher user limits, advanced integrations, and dedicated support. The pricing is tiered primarily around the number of seats rather than feature count, so consulting teams should evaluate the cost based on their expected volume of interactions. While Drift excels at converting website visitors into qualified leads through its AI chat and meeting‑scheduling capabilities, it is heavily oriented toward B2B sales. The platform does not provide a dedicated knowledge‑base feature or a no‑code visual editor, and it relies on third‑party integrations for advanced AI processing. Consulting firms that need a fully branded chatbot with customizable knowledge sources may find Drift’s offerings somewhat limited in comparison.

HubSpot’s chatbot builder is part of its comprehensive inbound marketing suite, offering a free chatbot solution that can be embedded on any website. Built on the HubSpot CRM platform, the chatbot can ask qualifying questions, capture contact information, and route leads to the appropriate sales pipeline. The conversational flows are created via a visual, drag‑and‑drop interface, allowing marketers to design custom questions without coding. HubSpot also offers a “Chatflows” feature that can be triggered by page visits, time on site, or specific page interactions, making it useful for lead‑generation campaigns. HubSpot offers a free tier that includes basic chatbot functionality, but more advanced features such as multi‑language support, automated lead routing, and better analytics are available in the Marketing Hub Starter plan at $45/month (billed annually) and higher in the Professional and Enterprise tiers. Pricing scales with contact database size and feature set. While HubSpot’s chatbot is tightly coupled with its CRM, it lacks a dedicated knowledge‑base or advanced AI training features outside of the built‑in templates. For consulting firms already using HubSpot’s CRM, the chatbot provides a low‑friction way to capture leads directly into the system. However, firms that need a standalone chatbot solution with advanced AI or multi‑page integration may need to supplement HubSpot with third‑party tools.

ManyChat is a popular chatbot builder originally focused on Facebook Messenger but has expanded to support website chat widgets, SMS, and email integrations. The platform offers a visual drag‑and‑drop flow builder, allowing marketers to create conversational experiences without code. ManyChat’s strengths include its ability to automate marketing sequences, send broadcast messages, and integrate with e‑commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce. The platform also provides a “Growth Tools” feature set that includes lead‑generation widgets, opt‑in forms, and a virtual assistant that can answer common questions. Pricing for ManyChat includes a free tier that offers basic chatbot functionality, and a Pro plan at $10/month (billed annually) that unlocks advanced automation, SMS, and multi‑channel capabilities. ManyChat’s focus on marketing automation means it also offers tools for segmenting contacts, sending broadcasts, and measuring engagement. However, the platform’s AI capabilities are limited to pre‑built templates and conditional logic; it does not provide a dedicated knowledge‑base or advanced natural‑language understanding beyond the built‑in AI. Consulting firms that need a lightweight chatbot to capture leads and nurture prospects via automated sequences can benefit from ManyChat’s ease of use and integration with e‑commerce. Firms requiring deeper AI or knowledge‑base features may need to supplement ManyChat with additional tools.

Tidio combines live chat and chatbot functionalities into a single platform that can be embedded on any website. The chat widget is fully customizable and can be triggered by visitor behavior such as scrolling or time spent on a page. Tidio’s chatbot builder uses a visual editor that lets users create conversational flows, integrate with e‑commerce platforms, and set up automated responses to common inquiries. Tidio’s pricing starts with a free plan that includes basic chat and chatbot features. The paid plans begin at $18/month (billed annually) for the Basic plan, which adds more chatbot templates, email integration, and advanced automation. The Premium plan at $25/month expands on these with additional bots, priority support, and advanced reporting. Tidio also offers a “Growth” plan for larger teams, but pricing details require direct contact. For consulting firms, Tidio provides a straightforward way to engage website visitors, capture contact information, and route leads to the sales team. The platform’s integration with Shopify and WooCommerce is useful for firms that offer product‑based consulting services. However, Tidio’s AI capabilities are limited to rule‑based flows, and it does not include a knowledge‑base or advanced natural‑language processing beyond the basic chatbot features.

Crisp is a lightweight live‑chat platform that also offers chatbot functionality. It can be embedded on any website and provides real‑time support, knowledge‑base integration, and automated chat responses. Crisp’s visual editor allows users to design chat widgets with custom colors and branding. The chatbot feature uses AI to answer frequently asked questions and can be configured to forward complex queries to live agents. Crisp’s pricing model includes a free tier that offers basic live chat and chatbot features. Paid plans start at $32/month (billed annually) for the Professional plan, which adds more agents, advanced reporting, and priority support. The Enterprise plan is available on request and includes additional customization and dedicated support. Consulting firms can use Crisp to capture leads via chat, provide instant answers to common questions, and route inquiries to the appropriate team member. While Crisp offers a knowledge‑base integration that can pull answers from FAQs, it does not provide a full RAG or knowledge‑graph system, and its AI capabilities are limited to pre‑built algorithms. For firms that need a simple, cost‑effective chat solution with basic automation, Crisp is a viable option.