# Maxbound vs Chatbase (2026 comparison)

> Maxbound vs Chatbase: a support agent for one brand's chat, email and phone, or a workspace per client that answers and moderates social inboxes.

Canonical: https://maxbound.ai/vs/chatbase

## The short answer

Chatbase is an AI support agent built from your docs, with a helpdesk for human takeover. Maxbound is the AI operating system for agencies, with a workspace per client that answers DMs, comments and WhatsApp. Pick Chatbase for one brand's support desk, and Maxbound to run many clients' social inboxes.

## What Chatbase is

Chatbase builds no-code AI support agents. Train one on your docs and website, then deploy it to web chat, email, phone and Meta messaging. It acts in Shopify and Stripe, hands off to its helpdesk and bills by message credits.

## Where they differ

Of these 7, Chatbase is stronger on 3, Maxbound on 2 and 2 depend on the work.

| Question | Chatbase | Maxbound | Stronger |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Comments on posts | Tickets for a person to answer. Its docs describe no AI replies or moderation for Instagram and Facebook comments. | Answered, moderated and moved to DMs. Spam, abuse and competitor links on posts and ads are hidden with a logged reason. | Maxbound |
| DMs and WhatsApp | Yes, on every paid plan. Instagram and Messenger DMs and WhatsApp, with human takeover per conversation. | Yes, one agent across them. Instagram DMs and story replies, Messenger, WhatsApp, website chat and in-app chat. | Depends on the work |
| Email and phone | Yes, both. It answers support email and inbound calls, with voice on Standard and up. | Not offered. Maxbound has no email, phone or voice. | Chatbase |
| Human handover | A full helpdesk, from Standard. Tickets, live takeover, routing rules, macros, customer satisfaction scores and AI draft replies. | Handover with full history. There is no ticketing and no response-time targets. | Chatbase |
| Shop and billing actions | Shopify and Stripe actions. It finds and creates Shopify orders, handles exchanges with approval, and shows or changes Stripe subscriptions. | None offered. No Shopify order actions such as refunds or edits. | Chatbase |
| Leads and follow-up | No built-in CRM. Form or chat capture sends leads via webhook, email or Zapier, with WhatsApp campaigns from Standard. | A built-in CRM. It qualifies leads, follows up until a booking or a no, and answers broadcast replies. | Maxbound |
| Pricing for many clients | Message credits, a plan per workspace. Hobby is $40 a month for 700 credits and one agent. | Per workspace, with 100 AI credits. $30 each for 1–3, $20 for 4–9, $14 for 10–19 and $8 for 20–50. | Depends on the work |

Chatbase is a trademark of its owner. Compared as of 23 October 2026 from public information; this describes product shape, not quality. Work at Chatbase and see something wrong? Write to info@trisof.com and we'll fix it.

## What each costs

**How Chatbase is billed.** Monthly message credits per workspace, one AI agent per plan. Each AI reply costs 1 to 5 credits, by model.

| Plan | Price | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hobby | $40 / mo | Or $32/mo yearly. 700 credits, 1 agent, 2 seats. No API or helpdesk |
| Standard | $150 / mo | Or $120/mo yearly. 4,000 credits, 1 agent. Adds helpdesk, voice, API |
| Pro | $500 / mo | Or $400/mo yearly. 15,000 credits, 1 agent, 5 seats |
| Enterprise | Custom | Commit on credits, chats or resolutions. White-labelling only here |

No free plan on the pricing page. There is a 7-day trial.

Beyond the plan: Extra credits: $40 per 1,000. Extra agent: $300 a year. Removing 'Powered by Chatbase': $1,188 a year. Extra storage: $300 per 10 MB a year.

Chatbase pricing checked 23 October 2026 from [their own pricing page](https://www.chatbase.co/pricing). Prices change — check theirs before deciding.

**Maxbound.** Maxbound is priced per workspace, one per client, a month: $30 for 1–3, $20 for 4–9, $14 for 10–19, $8 for 20–50 workspaces. Each workspace includes 100 AI credits a month, shared. There is no free tier; the trial runs 7 days. Past 50 workspaces there is no self-serve price — [talk to us](https://maxbound.ai/pricing).

## Chatbase, in its users’ words

From review sites and independent reviewers.

| Review site | Score | Reviews |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/chatbase.co) | 4.1 | 72 |
| [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/10012414/Chatbase/reviews/) | 4.3 | 73 |
| [Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/chatbase/reviews) | 4.9 | 39 |

### What they praise

- **Quick no-code setup** — Reviewers say an agent trained on your docs or website can go live in minutes. Capterra rates ease of use 4.6 out of 5. ([Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/10012414/Chatbase/reviews/), [Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/chatbase/reviews), [G2](https://www.g2.com/products/chatbase-chatbase/reviews), [Chatimize](https://chatimize.com/reviews/chatbase/))
- **Accurate answers from your content** — Shopify and Trustpilot reviewers say the agent gives correct, relevant answers quickly. Some Capterra reviewers praise its accuracy in customer service. ([Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/chatbase/reviews), [Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/chatbase.co), [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/10012414/Chatbase/reviews/))
- **Lighter support workload** — Shopify merchants say the agent cuts repetitive support work and answers customers around the clock. They report faster responses as a result. ([Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/chatbase/reviews))
- **Responsive support team** — Many positive Trustpilot reviews describe the support team as quick, helpful and attentive. G2 reviewers also call support responsive. ([Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/chatbase.co), [G2](https://www.g2.com/products/chatbase-chatbase/reviews))

### What they complain about

- **Credits get expensive at volume** — Credits do not map one to one to messages, and use varies by AI model. Capterra reviewers say this makes budgeting hard. ([Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/10012414/Chatbase/reviews/), [Myaskai](https://myaskai.com/blog/chatbase-pricing-explained))
- **Billing and refund disputes** — About a quarter of Trustpilot reviews are 1-star. They cite charges after cancelling, refused refunds, and price or feature changes for long-time customers. ([Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/chatbase.co))
- **Uneven support responsiveness** — Capterra rates customer service 3.8 out of 5, and some reviewers report unanswered tickets. But many recent Trustpilot reviews praise the support team. ([Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/10012414/Chatbase/reviews/), [Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/chatbase.co))
- **Guardrails depend on your prompt** — An independent 26-test benchmark found one invented policy detail. Jailbreak resistance held only with a custom prompt, and the bot kept replying after escalation. ([Aidemos](https://aidemos.com/tools/chatbase))

## Choose Chatbase when

- You support one brand and want one agent across website chat, email and phone calls.
- You want the agent to find or create Shopify orders and change Stripe subscriptions.
- You want helpdesk tickets, routing, macros and satisfaction scores, or handoff into Zendesk or Intercom.
- You build agents for clients who pay Chatbase directly, and want its Experts Program commission.

## Choose Maxbound when

- You run many clients' social and want a clonable workspace each, at $8 to $30 monthly.
- You want the agent to answer and moderate Instagram and Facebook comments, including on ads.
- You want built-in CRM lead qualification, with follow-ups that stop on a booking or a no.
- You want past chats replayed before launch, and human approval for as long as you like.

## Questions

### Is Maxbound just a chatbot builder?

No. The agent is only one part. Around it sit the channels, comment moderation, comment-to-DM, a CRM with follow-ups, scheduled posts and analytics per client. For one brand needing web chat, email or phone answered, Chatbase is a strong, focused choice.

### Can I train Maxbound on my own documents?

Yes, from your client's own sources. It learns from the client's website, files, FAQs and past chats. It answers in the customer's language, including Iraqi Arabic and Sorani Kurdish. You can replay real past conversations before launch, with nothing sent.

### Does Chatbase work on Instagram and WhatsApp?

Yes, for DMs and WhatsApp. Instagram and Messenger DMs and WhatsApp are built into every paid plan, with human takeover. Post comments can become tickets for a person, with no AI replies or moderation in its docs. Maxbound's agent answers and moderates comments, including on ads.

### Can Chatbase answer email and phone calls?

Yes, both. Chatbase answers support email, and its voice agent takes inbound calls on Standard and up. Maxbound does not handle email, phone or voice. If those channels matter most, Chatbase covers them.

### How does pricing compare for an agency?

Credits for Chatbase, workspaces for Maxbound. Chatbase Hobby is $40 a month, or $32 a month billed yearly, for 700 credits and one agent. Each client workspace has its own plan. Maxbound is $30 per workspace for 1–3 clients, falling to $8 each for 20–50, with 100 AI credits each.

### Is there a free plan?

No, neither has one. Chatbase shows no free plan on its pricing page, and each paid plan has a 7-day trial. Maxbound offers a 7-day free trial, with every feature in every workspace.

## Sources

Checked 23 October 2026.

- [Chatbase pricing](https://www.chatbase.co/pricing)
- [Chatbase llm-info (official summary, updated 7 Sep 2026)](https://www.chatbase.co/llm-info)
- [Chatbase llms.txt](https://www.chatbase.co/llms.txt)
- [Chatbase Helpdesk feature page](https://www.chatbase.co/features/helpdesk)
- [Chatbase changelog](https://www.chatbase.co/changelog)
- [Docs: Channels](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/chatbot/channels.md)
- [Docs: Instagram (DMs, takeover, comment monitoring)](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/integrations/instagram.md)
- [Docs: Messenger](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/integrations/messenger.md)
- [Docs: WhatsApp](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/integrations/whatsapp.md)
- [Docs: Takeover](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/chatbot/help-desk/takeover.md)
- [Docs: Collect Leads](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/chatbot/actions/collect-leads.md)
- [Docs: Tests](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/chatbot/tests.md)
- [Docs: Workspace manage](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/workspace/manage.md)
- [Docs: MCP server](https://chatbase.co/docs/developer-guides/mcp.md)
- [Docs: Models comparison (credit costs)](https://chatbase.co/docs/user-guides/chatbot/models-comparison.md)
- [Docs full text (Experts Program / Agency workspace)](https://www.chatbase.co/docs/llms-full.txt)
- [Chatbase Experts Program](https://www.chatbase.co/experts)
- [Changelog: Help Desk (5 May 2026)](https://www.chatbase.co/changelog/chatbase-help-desk)
- [Changelog: Agent-level permissions (21 Sep 2026)](https://www.chatbase.co/changelog/agent-level-permissions-here)
- [Changelog: MCP (23 Sep 2026)](https://www.chatbase.co/changelog/connect-chatbase-to-claude-and-chatgpt-via-mcp)
- [Trustpilot: Chatbase](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/chatbase.co)
- [Capterra: Chatbase reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/10012414/Chatbase/reviews/)
- [Shopify App Store: Chatbase reviews](https://apps.shopify.com/chatbase/reviews)
- [G2: Chatbase](https://www.g2.com/products/chatbase-chatbase/reviews)

## Related

- [Knowledge Training](https://maxbound.ai/platform/knowledge) — the feature this comparison turns on
- [AI Agents](https://maxbound.ai/platform/ai-agents) — the feature this comparison turns on
- [Simulations](https://maxbound.ai/platform/simulations) — the feature this comparison turns on
- [Maxbound vs Intercom](https://maxbound.ai/vs/intercom)
- [Maxbound vs Tidio](https://maxbound.ai/vs/tidio)
- [All comparisons](https://maxbound.ai/compare)
- [Pricing](https://maxbound.ai/pricing)