- From
- A$210/mo · ex-GST · billed in USD
The gate: Five stars need 21+ and Australian Fit of at least 4/5.
Skip to the verdictPricing figures updated 6 September 2026: USD prices are converted at the current rate (1 USD ≈ 1.40 AUD, verified 5 September 2026) and shown ex-GST, replacing the retired 1.55 + GST basis. A GST-registered Australian business that supplies its ABN is not charged GST on an imported digital service; other buyers should allow ~10% on top (Methodology).
Archived edition: our verdict as at 26 Jun 2026. Kept unchanged as the record of what we said then. Read the current edition: Botpress Review Australia 2026: Powerful AI Agent Platform — But Not for Everyone · Why we keep every edition
Verdict (TL;DR): Botpress is a well-engineered AI agent platform for teams with developer resources. It has the deepest customisation options in this category — multi-LLM support, a visual flow builder with JavaScript execution, broad channel deployment, and a free tier for testing, though it now allows only 25 conversations a month. Pricing was restructured again by September 2026, still bundling AI spend into plans. The honest limitation: non-technical users will struggle with the learning curve, and the paid tiers jump from free to USD $150/month (billed annually) without an affordable middle step. For Australian SMBs without developer support, there are simpler options.
Score: 14/25 — ⭐⭐⭐ Good
Last reviewed: 26 June 2026 by Adam.
What Botpress is
Botpress is an open-source conversational AI platform for building AI agents and chatbots. Founded in 2017 in Quebec City, Canada, it has grown from a developer-focused chatbot framework into a full Platform-as-a-Service with cloud hosting, a visual agent builder, and enterprise security features.
In May 2025, Botpress raised a USD $25 million Series B led by Deloitte, HubSpot, and Inovia Capital. In May 2026, the company overhauled its pricing model — moving from per-message billing to per-conversation billing and bundling AI spend directly into plans rather than charging separately.
The platform targets development teams and technically capable businesses. You build agents on a drag-and-drop canvas, but you can also write JavaScript inside individual nodes, call external APIs directly, and manage complex branching logic that simpler chatbot tools cannot handle.
What it costs in Australia
Botpress prices in USD. There is no AUD billing option. All figures below are converted at USD 1 = AUD 1.40. Figures are ex-GST: a GST-registered business that supplies its ABN is not charged GST on an imported digital service; other buyers add ~10%. business subscribers — the vendor does not publish Australia-specific tax information; confirm with Botpress before subscribing.
Prices below were re-read on botpress.com/pricing on 30 September 2026; the plans have changed again since the May 2026 update this review was first written on.
| Plan | USD/month | AUD/month (approx, ex-GST) | Included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 25 conversations/month, no top-ups or overages, 3 seats, 3 AI agents, 100 MB vector storage, community support |
| Plus | $150 billed annually ($189 monthly) | ~$210 (~$265 monthly) | 250 conversations/month, extra packs of 100 for $65, $25 AI usage included, unlimited AI agents, white-label webchat, 1 GB vector storage, live-chat technical support |
| Team | $750 billed annually ($939 monthly) | ~$1,050 (~$1,315 monthly) | 1,500 conversations/month, packs of 100 for $50, $150 AI usage included, unlimited seats, teams, routing and RBAC, 5 GB vector storage |
| Enterprise | Custom | — | Custom volume, dedicated support, uptime SLA, security review, voice channel |
Source: botpress.com/pricing, re-read 30 September 2026 (first checked 26 June 2026 with botpress.com/blog/pricing-update-may-2026). The US$1,495 Managed plan is no longer on the price list; a custom "built and managed for you" service sits below the plans instead.
Key change in May 2026: Botpress moved from per-message to per-conversation billing. A conversation is any exchange with at least two end-user messages. AI spend is now bundled into plans rather than billed separately as a pass-through. Unlimited bots are now included in all paid plans — previously each additional bot cost USD $10/month.
The pricing gap matters. There is no paid tier between the free 25-conversation cap and the Plus plan at USD $150/month billed annually (~AUD $210), or USD $189 month to month. If you exceed 25 conversations a month — which a live customer-facing bot will do in days — your only option is Plus.
How it works in practice
The Botpress Studio is a visual flow builder where you design your agent's conversation logic on a canvas. Each node can send messages, call APIs, execute JavaScript, query a knowledge base, or hand off to a human agent. Nodes connect to form the conversation path.
Knowledge base integration is native: you upload documents, connect URLs, or sync FAQs, and the agent retrieves relevant content using RAG when a question matches. The platform supports multi-LLM switching — you can choose different models for different agent steps based on cost and capability requirements.
Once built, you deploy to web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, and phone (via third-party telephony integrations). Each channel adapts the agent's output to the platform's format.
The learning curve is real. The interface is functional rather than polished. Someone who has not used a visual conversation builder before will need a few hours to understand the node model before they build something reliable.
What it does well
A free tier for testing. 25 conversations a month on the free plan (down from 100 in June) is enough for a short test against real user queries. It is a brief evaluation window, but still one — you learn whether your knowledge base returns accurate answers before spending anything.
Customisation depth. You can write JavaScript inside nodes, call external APIs directly from the canvas, manage user-defined variables, and implement complex conditional branching. No other tool in this review gives you this level of control without requiring full code deployment.
Multi-LLM support. Switch between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others within a single agent. Run cheaper models for simple queries and more capable models for complex ones.
May 2026 pricing simplification. Bundled AI spend removes the unpredictability of pass-through token costs. Unlimited bots on paid plans removes the per-bot fee that made earlier pricing hard to budget.
Human handoff built in. The Plus plan and above include native live agent handoff. You do not need to integrate a separate platform for escalation.
What it doesn't do well
Steep jump from free to paid. 25 conversations per month is a hard cap, with no top-ups on the free plan. For a business with modest but real support volume — say 300 conversations per month — the minimum paid spend is Plus at USD $150/month billed annually (~AUD $210), plus a USD $65 pack for the 50 conversations over its 250. There is no USD $20 or USD $30 middle tier.
Not beginner-friendly. The Botpress documentation is good, but the platform assumes you can think in conversation flow terms. A business owner who has never built a chatbot will likely need at least a few hours of learning before producing something useful.
Analytics gaps. Funnel analysis, A/B testing between flows, and granular user segmentation are absent or limited. Teams wanting to optimise based on data will likely need to export to an external analytics tool.
UI feels utilitarian. The canvas works well, but the overall interface lacks the polish of platforms like Tidio or Chatbase. This is a real gap for non-technical stakeholders who need to review or approve agent behaviour.
Data stored in the US. Despite being a Canadian company, Botpress stores customer conversation data in the United States. No Australian or APAC data centre.
Australian fit
Data residency: Botpress is incorporated in Canada but stores conversation data (End-User data) on servers in the United States or other locations as specified in customer agreements. There is no Australian or APAC data centre. For Australian businesses handling personal information, the Privacy Act 1988 cross-border transfer obligations apply. Botpress provides a DPA and is GDPR compliant. Confirm your data storage location in the Botpress DPA before deploying.
Pricing: USD-only. No AUD billing. GST treatment is not documented publicly.
Local support: No Australian office. Support is via the Botpress community (Discord), documentation, and email. Enterprise customers get dedicated support.
Self-hosting: Botpress's cloud platform does not support self-hosting at standard tiers. Enterprise agreements may allow alternative hosting arrangements — verify directly.
Alternatives
- Chatbase — Simpler setup for teams without developer resources; trades customisation depth for ease of use.
- Microsoft Copilot Studio — Enterprise-grade agent builder with Microsoft's Australian data centre infrastructure. Better data residency story for AU businesses.
- Relevance AI — Australian-founded AI agent builder; better local fit and AU data options.
- Best AI Customer Service Chatbots for Australian Businesses 2026 — Full category comparison.
Bottom line
Botpress earns its reputation among developers and technically capable teams. The customisation depth is genuine, AI spend is bundled into the plans, and the free tier still gives you a short evaluation window. If you have a developer on your team or are comfortable building flow logic, Botpress is one of the most capable platforms at this price point.
For Australian businesses without technical resources, or those needing simple FAQ automation with minimal setup, the learning curve and the gap between the free cap and the first paid tier are real barriers. Start with the free tier to evaluate answer quality and builder experience before committing to Plus.
Data residency is a genuine concern for any business handling sensitive Australian personal data. Resolve the DPA before deploying in a customer-facing context.
Score
| Criterion | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Value for Money | 3/5 | Free tier cut to 25 conversations (30 Sep 2026); sharp jump to Plus at ~AUD $210/month billed annually; Team at ~AUD $1,050 is hard to justify for SMBs |
| Ease of Use | 2/5 | Powerful but requires technical confidence; beginners will struggle |
| Feature Depth | 5/5 | Best-in-class customisation; multi-LLM, multi-channel, native human handoff |
| Australian Fit | 2/5 | USD only, US data storage, no local entity or timezone support |
| Reliability & Support | 2/5 | GDPR compliant; community support on Free, live-chat technical support from Plus, dedicated support on Enterprise |
| Total | 14/25 | ⭐⭐⭐ Good |
Update history
- 30 Sep 2026 — re-verified by browser; negative confirmed, and every plan has changed.
botpress.com/pricingon an Australian connection: the free plan now includes 25 conversations a month (was 100) with no top-ups; Plus is $150 a month billed annually or $189 monthly (was $89) with 250 conversations; Team is $750 annually or $939 monthly (was $495) with 1,500; the $1,495 Managed plan is gone from the price list; Enterprise by quote. Table, verdict, excerpt, meta description, the free-tier pro, both pricing cons, the Value for Money and Reliability notes, the free-plan FAQ (body and schema) and reviewBody corrected (the Team figure in the score table was also still on the retired 1.55 basis). Bare$, noA$.aud_native: falsealready set. Score held at 14/25; [RS10] (Value for Money, downward) filed. Capture:Dossiers/captures/botpress-pricing-2026-09-30.txt; Wayback 30 Sep 2026. - 24 Sep 2026 — The grossed-up AUD column removed from the pricing table. The table carried a second Australian column adding 10% GST to every converted figure, so each plan had two Australian prices and the higher one asserted a tax most of our readers do not pay: a GST-registered Australian business that supplies its ABN is not charged GST on an imported digital service. The ex-GST column is unchanged and is the price. Removed, and kept visible here per our price-history rule — the column headed “AUD/month (approx, if GST charged, +10%)”: Pay-as-you-go (Free) $0; Plus ~$138; Team ~$762; Managed ~$2,302.
reviewed:untouched per our dating rule.
Frequently asked questions
Is Botpress free?
Botpress has a free plan with 25 conversations a month and no top-ups or overages. That is enough for a short test of your agent, not for a live customer-facing chatbot. The first paid plan (Plus) is USD $150/month billed annually or USD $189 month to month (about AUD $210 or $265 ex-GST), with 250 conversations included (checked 30 September 2026).
Where does Botpress store data?
Botpress is based in Canada but stores End-User conversation data on servers in the United States. There is no Australian or APAC data centre. Australian businesses handling personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 need to review Botpress's Data Processing Agreement and ensure appropriate cross-border transfer arrangements are in place.
What changed with Botpress pricing in May 2026?
Botpress moved from per-message to per-conversation billing in May 2026. AI spend is now bundled into plan costs rather than charged as a separate pass-through. Unlimited bots are now included in all paid plans — previously each additional bot cost USD $10/month. These changes apply to workspaces created after 14 May 2026.
Sources
- Botpress pricing page — Primary — botpress.com/pricing — checked 26 June 2026 — Wayback 28 June 2026
- Botpress May 2026 pricing update blog post — Primary — botpress.com/blog/pricing-update-may-2026 — contemporaneous snapshot still owed — checked 26 June 2026 — Wayback 3 September 2026
- Botpress privacy statement — Primary — botpress.com/legal/privacy-statement — Wayback: [snapshot queued] — checked 26 June 2026 — Wayback 21 June 2026
- Botpress Data Processing Agreement — Primary — botpress.com/legal/data-processing-agreement — Wayback: [snapshot queued] — checked 26 June 2026 — Wayback 9 May 2026
- USD/AUD exchange rate: approximately 1.40 as of September 2026 (indicative only). GST treatment (at vendor level — confirm with Botpress).
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