What it actually does
Chatbase is a DIY custom GPT. You train an agent on your website, PDFs, Notion, and Q&A, then embed a widget. Email, WhatsApp, Slack, Instagram, and Messenger are channels. Voice launched April 8, 2026: inbound Twilio or SIP on Standard and up. That is the same CX agent on a phone number, not a receptionist SKU. Chatbase Inc. is bootstrapped. No 2021–2026 sale. Live at chatbase.co. The .com address redirects there.
It is not Tidio. Capterra does not even rate live chat as a Chatbase feature. It is not missed-call text-back. There is no Jobber, Housecall Pro, Dentrix, Mindbody, or Clio page. HIPAA is Enterprise only. The DPA forbids special-category data on self-serve. Do not dump patient or case files into Hobby.
Who should buy it
Buy it
Buy it if you will write the FAQs, upload the PDFs, and test the answers every month. A salon or plumber with a brochure site can put Hobby on the contact page for hours and pricing. Free is 50 credits, one member, 1 MB; agents get deleted after 14 days idle. Hobby is $40 a month, 700 credits, two seats. Standard is $150, 4,000 credits, and that is where Helpdesk, Voice, Telephony, and API start. Pro is $500. Enterprise is Custom.
Skip it
Do not buy it if you wanted a human in the widget. That is Tidio. Do not buy it if a missed call is a missed job. That is Smith.ai. Do not buy Standard for voice thinking you got Ruby.
The catch
The reason not to buy is the meter plus the answers. Credits are not messages. A model request is 1 to 6 credits. Actions can double it. Voice is 6 credits a minute plus the model. Subscription credits reset on the first of the month and do not roll. Hit zero and the public agent stops unless auto-recharge is on ($40 per 1,000, those credits do not expire). Fees are non-refundable; cancel stops the next renewal. Capterra 2023 five-stars already mention fake URLs and the bot forgetting training. Trustpilot, March 31, 2026: a three-year user, costs tripled, features pulled, still cannot book. Capterra customer service sub-score is 3.8. Directories still list Hobby at $19. Stale.
The verdict
Capterra and Software Advice are 4.3 from 73 (live HTML, one Gartner pool, mostly September 2023). Trustpilot about 3.9 from 41 (indexed; live page blocked). Product Hunt 3.33 from 24. AppSumo 3.95 from 114 lifetime-deal buyers. G2 reviews list blocked; do not invent a score. Reddit: none retrieved. BBB: no profile. Zero plumber, dentist, salon, HVAC, or law-firm review bodies.
Official list August 25, 2026: Hobby $40 a month. Free is real and tiny. $19 / $99 / $399 is a fossil.
Situational. If you needed a live widget with a person behind it, Tidio. If you needed the phone, Smith.ai. Pay Chatbase only if you will train the bot and watch the credit counter, on monthly, and treat Voice as a Twilio experiment, not a front desk.