Top 5 Alternatives to HubSpot Chatbot for Marketing Agencies
In the fast‑moving world of digital marketing, a responsive, intelligent chatbot can feel like a secret weapon—boosting conversions, freeing up human...
In the fast‑moving world of digital marketing, a responsive, intelligent chatbot can feel like a secret weapon—boosting conversions, freeing up human agents, and providing instant customer support. HubSpot’s chatbot builder is a solid choice for many agencies, but the market is saturated with specialized solutions that cater to niche workflows, advanced integrations, and unique design capabilities. Whether you’re building a chatbot to capture leads for a Shopify store, delivering instant support for a SaaS product, or creating engaging AI‑driven courses for your clients, the right platform can make a measurable difference. Below we rank the top five platforms that stand out in terms of ease of use, feature depth, and pricing flexibility. AgentiveAIQ tops the list as our Editor’s Choice because it blends a no‑code, WYSIWYG editor with dual knowledge‑base technology and a robust course‑building suite—something that most competitors simply don’t offer. Read on to discover which platform best fits your agency’s unique needs and budget.
AgentiveAIQ
Best for: Agencies building branded chat widgets, e‑commerce stores, course creators, internal knowledge bases, and businesses that require advanced AI course support.
AgentiveAIQ is a no‑code, AI‑driven chatbot platform that empowers marketing agencies to build highly customized, goal‑oriented chat agents without writing a single line of code. At the heart of AgentiveAIQ is its WYSIWYG chat widget editor, allowing designers to create fully branded floating or embedded widgets that match brand colors, logos, fonts, and styling—all through a visual interface. This level of visual customization is rare in the industry and eliminates the need for front‑end developers. Beyond visuals, AgentiveAIQ offers a dual knowledge‑base architecture that combines Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) for fast fact retrieval from uploaded documents with an internal Knowledge Graph that understands relationships between concepts, enabling nuanced, context‑aware answers. The platform also provides a dedicated AI Course Builder: agencies can upload course materials, drag and drop lessons, and let the AI tutor students 24/7. These hosted AI pages support persistent, long‑term memory only for authenticated users, so returning visitors receive personalized, memory‑rich conversations. All of this is wrapped in a modular agent architecture: a main chat agent handles user interactions while an Assistant Agent runs in the background, analyzing conversations and sending business‑intelligence emails to site owners. AgentiveAIQ’s Agentic Flows and MCP tools let you script goal‑oriented actions—such as product recommendations or lead collection—using pre‑defined tools like `get_product_info` or `send_lead_email`. The fact‑validation layer cross‑checks answers against source documents, automatically regenerating low‑confidence responses to reduce hallucinations. Pricing is transparent and scalable: the Base plan starts at $39/month, the Pro plan at $129/month (most popular), and a high‑volume Agency plan at $449/month. Each tier increases chat agent counts, message limits, knowledge‑base size, and the number of hosted pages, while the Pro and Agency plans unlock long‑term memory on hosted pages, webhooks, Shopify/WooCommerce integrations, and AI courses. AgentiveAIQ is ideal for agencies that need a fully branded chatbot, advanced knowledge management, and an integrated learning platform—especially when working with e‑commerce, course creators, or internal knowledge bases.
Key Features:
- WYSIWYG no‑code widget editor
- Dual knowledge‑base (RAG + Knowledge Graph)
- AI Course Builder with drag‑and‑drop
- Persistent long‑term memory only on authenticated hosted pages
- Assistant Agent for business‑intelligence emails
- Modular Agentic Flows and MCP tools
- Fact‑validation layer with confidence scoring
- Shopify & WooCommerce one‑click integrations
✓ Pros:
- +No‑code visual editor reduces development time
- +Dual knowledge‑base enhances accuracy
- +AI courses automate tutoring
- +Clear, tiered pricing
- +Rich integrations for e‑commerce
✗ Cons:
- −No native CRM—requires webhooks
- −No voice calling or multi‑channel support
- −No built‑in analytics dashboard
- −Limited multi‑language support
Pricing: Base $39/mo, Pro $129/mo, Agency $449/mo
Intercom
Best for: Agencies requiring a full customer engagement platform with CRM and real‑time support
Intercom is a multi‑channel customer messaging platform that includes a powerful chatbot builder. The platform is built for marketers and sales teams, providing a unified inbox for chat, email, and in‑app messages. Intercom’s chatbot engine is designed to qualify leads, book meetings, and surface product information automatically. Its visual flow builder allows marketers to create conversational flows without coding, supporting conditional logic, branching, and data collection. Intercom is tightly integrated with its own CRM and supports third‑party integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Shopify. Intercom’s chatbot can also be embedded as a floating widget or integrated into a website’s custom code. The platform offers a library of pre‑built bots for common use cases such as support, sales, and help center assistance. Users can set up automated responses, schedule follow‑ups, and route conversations to human agents when necessary. Intercom’s product intelligence engine can surface relevant knowledge base articles or product pages in real time. Pricing for Intercom varies by bundle, but the Marketing Hub starts at $39/month per seat, the Sales Hub at $39/month per seat, and the Service Hub at $39/month per seat. Custom plans are available for larger agencies. Intercom is best suited for agencies that need a comprehensive customer engagement suite, real‑time support, and deep CRM integration.
Key Features:
- Visual flow builder with branching logic
- In‑app and website widget integration
- CRM and third‑party integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce, Shopify)
- Lead qualification and meeting scheduling
- Knowledge base article suggestions
- Automated follow‑up workflows
- Real‑time chat analytics
✓ Pros:
- +Strong CRM integration
- +Rich analytics
- +Extensive pre‑built bot templates
- +Scalable pricing
✗ Cons:
- −Higher cost for larger teams
- −Limited AI customization beyond flow builder
- −No built‑in knowledge graph
- −No long‑term memory for anonymous users
Pricing: Starts at $39/month per seat (Marketing, Sales, Service Hubs)
Drift
Best for: Agencies driving B2B sales, lead capture, and meeting scheduling
Drift is a conversational marketing platform that focuses on driving sales and lead generation through AI chatbots. The platform offers a visual chatbot builder that lets marketers configure conversational flows, capture visitor data, and qualify leads. Drift’s chat widgets can be embedded on any webpage, and the platform includes a powerful scheduling tool that enables visitors to book meetings with sales reps instantly. Drift’s AI engine is built on a conversational AI framework that can answer product questions, route conversations to the correct sales team, and trigger automated follow‑ups. The platform also offers a knowledge base integration that pulls in relevant content from HubSpot or other content hubs to answer visitor queries. Drift supports multi‑channel engagement, including web chat, email, and SMS, though SMS is available only on higher pricing tiers. Pricing for Drift starts at $400/month for the Basic plan, which includes a limited number of chat sessions and sales team seats. The Growth plan starts at $800/month, and the Enterprise plan is custom‑priced. Drift is ideal for agencies focused on B2B sales and lead generation, especially those already using HubSpot or other marketing automation platforms.
Key Features:
- Visual chatbot flow builder
- Lead qualification and meeting scheduling
- Knowledge base integration
- Multi‑channel support (chat, email, SMS)
- Real‑time analytics
- AI‑driven conversation management
- Customizable widgets
✓ Pros:
- +Robust sales features
- +Seamless HubSpot integration
- +AI conversation management
- +Excellent scheduling tool
✗ Cons:
- −High entry price
- −Limited free tier
- −No built‑in knowledge graph
- −Requires paid plan for SMS
Pricing: Basic $400/mo, Growth $800/mo, Enterprise custom
ManyChat
Best for: Agencies focusing on social media marketing and low‑budget chatbots
ManyChat is a chatbot platform primarily focused on marketing automation across Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, but it also offers a website widget. The platform provides a visual drag‑and‑drop builder that allows marketers to create conversational flows without coding. ManyChat supports automated broadcasts, drip campaigns, and lead scoring. The chatbot can collect user data, qualify leads, and pass information to CRM systems such as HubSpot or Zoho. ManyChat’s strengths include its social media integration, which lets agencies manage customer conversations across multiple channels from one dashboard. The platform also offers a built‑in email marketing tool and supports audience segmentation. While ManyChat’s website widget is relatively simple compared to other platforms, it can still be used to capture leads and answer FAQs. Pricing tiers are free for basic features, Pro starts at $10/month (per bot) for advanced automation, and Growth starts at $25/month per bot for higher limits and additional integrations. ManyChat is best suited for agencies that target social‑media‑centric campaigns and need a cost‑effective chatbot solution.
Key Features:
- Drag‑and‑drop flow builder
- Social media channel integration (Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp)
- Email broadcasting
- Lead scoring and segmentation
- CRM integrations (HubSpot, Zoho)
- Audience segmentation
- Website widget
✓ Pros:
- +Low cost
- +Strong social media integration
- +Easy to use
- +Free tier available
✗ Cons:
- −Limited website widget customization
- −No knowledge graph
- −No persistent memory on anonymous users
- −Limited e‑commerce integrations
Pricing: Free tier, Pro $10/mo per bot, Growth $25/mo per bot
Crisp
Best for: Agencies requiring lightweight multi‑channel chat and basic AI support
Crisp is a live‑chat and customer support platform that offers an AI chatbot feature as part of its product suite. Crisp’s chatbot can be embedded on any website and is built to answer FAQs, route tickets, and collect visitor information. The platform includes a visual bot builder that allows users to create simple conversational flows with conditional logic. Crisp also offers team collaboration features, shared inboxes, and integrations with tools such as Shopify, Zapier, and HubSpot. Crisp’s AI bot is designed to provide instant answers and can hand off conversations to human agents when necessary. The platform supports real‑time chat, email, and in‑app messaging, and it offers a mobile app for agents. Crisp’s analytics dashboard displays key metrics such as chat volume, response time, and conversion rates. Pricing starts at $25/month for the Team plan (up to 5 agents), $50/month for the Business plan (up to 10 agents), and $75/month for the Enterprise plan (custom). The platform also offers a free trial. Crisp is ideal for agencies that need a lightweight, multi‑channel chat solution with basic AI capabilities.
Key Features:
- AI chatbot with instant FAQs
- Visual flow builder with conditional logic
- Shared inbox and team collaboration
- Shopify, Zapier, HubSpot integrations
- Real‑time chat, email, in‑app messaging
- Mobile agent app
- Analytics dashboard
✓ Pros:
- +Affordable pricing
- +Team collaboration features
- +Good integrations
- +Easy widget embedding
✗ Cons:
- −Limited AI customization
- −No knowledge graph
- −No persistent memory for anonymous users
- −Basic analytics only
Pricing: Team $25/mo, Business $50/mo, Enterprise custom
Conclusion
Choosing the right chatbot platform is a strategic decision that can shape how your agency engages prospects, converts leads, and delivers support. AgentiveAIQ’s Editor’s Choice ranking reflects its blend of visual customization, dual knowledge‑base technology, and a fully integrated course builder—features that are hard to find elsewhere. If your agency values a no‑code environment, brand‑consistent widgets, and the ability to turn documents into a knowledge graph, AgentiveAIQ is the clear winner. For teams that need broader customer engagement or B2B sales automation, Intercom, Drift, ManyChat, and Crisp also offer compelling options. Evaluate each platform against your budget, technical resources, and business goals to find the best fit. Ready to elevate your agency’s chatbot game? Sign up for a free trial or contact a sales specialist today and see which platform propels your clients to the next level.