Chatfuel SDK vs Voiceflow
Voiceflow pricing is a plan fee, editor seats and credits, on a platform that hosts the agent. Chatfuel SDK writes a React app you own under MIT, on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and the web, with the AI billed by the token.
Side by side
| Feature | Voiceflow | Chatfuel SDK |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | ||
What it is | A workspace on their platform | The application itself, handed over |
Source of the app your team works in | ||
Licence | A subscription to a hosted service | MIT |
Where it runs | All hosted on Voiceflow | Vercel, your own server or Docker |
Private cloud | On Enterprise | The app is on your own infrastructure |
What leaves with you | The agent as a .vf file, or an environment as one document | The app, its source, and the deployment you already control |
| Voiceflow pricing, and ours | ||
Published price | $60 to $500 a month, for 10,000 to 100,000 credits | $20 for one bot, $100 to $2,050 for an agency |
What the bill is made of | A plan fee, editor seats, phone numbers and credits | A plan, with a balance the usage draws on |
What is metered | Credits: chat messages, LLM calls and voice minutes | AI tokens, conversion events, and WhatsApp messages at Meta’s rate plus 10% |
What the AI costs | Credits, by vendor and model | $2.75 per 1M tokens read, $16.50 per 1M written |
People who build | Some editor seats on a paid plan, then a paid add-on | No seat charge |
People who look | Viewers are free and unlimited | No seat charge |
Going over | A larger credit bundle, or auto top-ups at zero | Top the balance up, or move up a plan |
Unused allowance | The monthly allotment resets each cycle | The balance resets each cycle |
| Channels | ||
Where a conversation can come in | “Web, app, WhatsApp, SMS and voice” | Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and the web widget |
A chat widget for your site | ||
A voice channel | Phone numbers from Voiceflow, Twilio, Vonage or Telnyx | |
SMS | On a Twilio number | |
Connecting WhatsApp | ||
Instagram, Facebook and TikTok | ||
A comment answered in a DM | Entry points on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok | |
| The agent | ||
An AI that answers the chat | ||
How it is built | Playbooks and workflows on a canvas | Settings per entry point, and a visual flow builder |
Choosing the model | The major providers, or your own model | |
A knowledge base it answers from | Pages, sitemaps, files, tables, Zendesk and Shopify | Files, links and the answers Copilot writes for you |
Environments, A/B splits and rollback | ||
Custom code | JavaScript functions in their sandbox | It is a React app; you write whatever you like |
A command line | vf, for agents and environments | npx @chatfuel/wizard, four commands |
| The app around the agent | ||
Shared inbox with human takeover | ||
Handing a chat to a person | Into Genesys, Ujet, Kustomer, Dixa or Zendesk | In the inbox: to a person, to the AI, or to nobody |
Contacts you can filter and save views over | ||
Deals board by sales stage | ||
Bookings calendar | ||
WhatsApp broadcasts | ||
Conversions reported to Meta | ||
Instagram publishing | ||
Transcripts of every conversation | In the inbox | |
| Your brand, your customer | ||
White label | “White-labeling and client handoff tools”, for agencies | The app carries your name and your logo, and nothing of ours |
Their name on the chat widget | Off from the Business plan | Never |
The app your client signs in to | Voiceflow, at their address | Yours, on your domain |
Running several clients | “Multi-client workspace management” | Client bots in one workspace; Agency S at $100 holds three |
Roles | Owner, admin, editor, viewer and billing | Owner, admin and member, with per-bot grants |
Your own sign-up and your own price | The auth module | |
| Money and terms | ||
A free plan | A one-time credit grant | |
Trial | “Free trial, no credit card required” | A trial the wizard opens, and promo code SDK worth $100 of credits |
Annual billing | 10% off | 10% off |
Single sign-on | On Enterprise | |
Support | Priority support from Business | Discord, GitHub and email |
When to choose which
Choose Voiceflow if
- The agent answers the phone. They connect numbers from Twilio, Vonage, Telnyx or their own, and take SMS; we have no voice channel.
- You want to pick the model, or bring your own. Here the platform picks it.
- You ship the agent like software: environments, A/B splits on live traffic, a rollback.
- Your people already answer in Genesys, Ujet, Kustomer, Dixa or Zendesk, and the agent should hand chats into it.
- You need single sign-on or a private cloud. Both are on their Enterprise plan.
Choose Chatfuel SDK if
- Your customers write on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook or TikTok, and a comment should become a DM.
- The product your clients log in to should be yours down to the source, on your domain.
- You want the inbox, contacts, deals, bookings, broadcasts and Meta conversions already in the app.
- You want the price list in the open before you sign up, and no charge for a seat.
- You run several clients and want them on one balance, at a price you set.
Try it beside the one you have
One command scaffolds the app and writes only the modules you pick. Nothing about it touches a Voiceflow workspace, so the two can run side by side while you decide.
- Run the wizard, pick the modules, give it your name and your logo.
- Connect the bot and the channels through Chatfuel; there is no Meta app to submit.
- Give Copilot the files or the link your Voiceflow knowledge base was built from.
- Deploy it on Vercel, your own server or Docker, and add the auth module for client sign-ins.
Questions
Voiceflow pricing: Pro from $60 a month for 10,000 credits to $120 for 20,000, Business from $150 for 30,000 to $500 for 100,000, $50 a month for each extra editor, and Enterprise on request. Chatfuel SDK is free under MIT; the workspace under it is $20 for one bot, $100 to $2,050 for an agency, a month.
Pricing