Building apps for Facebook Messenger is quite a hot topic right now. Of course, this leads to an increasing amount of so-called “chatbot builders” or “chatbot makers” that claim to help you create bots without having to write any code.
Since there are tons of builders popping up right now, we compiled a list that should help you find the right one for your purposes. This list will be updated frequently.
Chatbot Builders Overview
We try to make this list as comprehensive as possible. If we missed a bot builder or have inaccurate information, please hit us up at team[at]chatbot-academy.com or send us a message on Facebook.
Chatfuel
Chatfuel offers several templates like tutorial bots or bots for publishers and claims to make it as easy as possible to integrate AI to make understanding conversational input as easy as possible. The startup first focused on Telegram bots and was part of the famous accelerator Y Combinator.
Platforms: Facebook Messenger, Telegram
Examples: TechCrunch (see analysis here)
Status: Available
ManyChat
ManyChat offers a very quick setup for people who want to play around with Facebook Messenger, collect subscribers, and distribute content manually or automatically. While also offering automated answers on keywords, they put a little less focus on the AI part of conversational design.
Platforms: Facebook Messenger
Examples: ChatbotAcademy (yup, our bot)
Status: Available
Spectrm
Spectrm is a German startup that has been quite successful with international clients and funding from the Google Digital News Initiative. While still being quite mysterious about the functionality of the product, Spectrm strives to build artificial intelligence to enable 1-on-1 conversations between publishers and consumers. The startup first focused on WhatsApp bots and was part of the Next Media Accelerator in Hamburg, Germany.
Platforms: Facebook Messenger
Examples: BILD
Status: Private Beta
Sequel
Sequel specializes in “media & entertainment bots” that can be built with a visual drag-and-drop editor and then be published to any messaging platform available. The platform seems to focus on the storytelling and editorial part of conversational design.
Platforms: Facebook Messenger, Kik, Telegram, LINE, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, …
Examples: Miss Match, Probable Cause
Status: Available
Massively
If you have a look at this explainer video, Massively seems to have transitioned from a storytelling messaging app for writers to engage with their readers, to a customer engagement platform for brands (across messaging apps).
Platforms: Facebook Messenger, Kik, Telegram, LINE, SMS, Slack, …
Examples: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Kik, Demo)
Status: Available
PandoraBots
PandoraBots call themselves “the world’s leading chatbot platform.” Formerly known as Chatbots.io, Pandorabots offers Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) that helps develop templates and patterns for natural language processing.
Platforms: Deploy anywhere by using their API
Examples: –
Status: Available
Motion.ai
Motion.ai follows an simple rule: “If you can draw a flowchat, you can create a chatbot.” The platform offers a visual drag-and-drop builder and further analytics tools.
Platforms: Facebook Messenger, Slack, SMS, Email, Web
Examples: –
Status: Available
Microsoft Bot Framework
The Microsoft Bot Framework offers software development kits (SDKs) for Node.js, .NET or REST to build bots and connect them to various messaging apps (channels, as they call it).
Platforms: Facebook Messenger, Skype, Kik, Telegram, Slack,
Examples: Bot Directory
Reply.ai
Reply.ai call themselves “enterprise bot solution with a human touch” and claim to offer a broad range of features, including all major messaging apps, a visual bot builder, human conversation take-over, analytics, and natural language processing. They also curate the popular newsletter ChatbotsWeekly.
Platforms: Facebook Messenger, Kik, Telegram, SMS, Line
Examples: –
Status: Private Beta
