In short. A chatbot for business is not “artificial intelligence that sells on its own” but an administrator who works to a script around the clock and forgets nothing. The simplest bot with a menu and a request form costs from 3 000 ₴, a booking bot 6 000–14 000 ₴, a bot with a catalogue and orders 7 000–15 000 ₴. Start with the one task that eats up most of your time right now.
“We need a chatbot” is how many conversations begin — and then silence: what exactly should it do? A bot is not a separate product but a set of typical actions a person does today: answers the same questions, books clients, takes orders, sends reminders. Below are seven such scenarios with ranges from our price list, an honest list of what a bot cannot do, and a plan for where to start.
Seven tasks a bot takes off the administrator's hands
- Takes requests around the clock. A menu with sections, information about services, a request form and a notification to you or to a work group. That is a business-card bot: 3 000–6 000 ₴, from 1 day.
- Books clients. A service, a specialist, a free slot from the schedule, a confirmation and a reminder before the visit. A booking bot: 6 000–14 000 ₴. How it works — in the article on a booking bot for clients.
- Takes orders. A catalogue by category, a cart, an address and a phone number — and the order is already in the administrator's Telegram. A catalogue bot: 7 000–15 000 ₴.
- Takes payment. A catalogue or bookings plus a payment provider — LiqPay, Monobank or WayForPay. A bot with online payment: 12 000–30 000 ₴. Details — in the article on a shop bot with payments.
- Sends requests to a CRM or a spreadsheet. A request does not stay in the chat; it lands right where a manager works with it. A bot with an integration: 5 000–20 000 ₴.
- Answers questions from a knowledge base. An AI bot answers in its own words from your price list, services and terms, and hands complex cases to a person. The range is 10 000–30 000 ₴; the AI model's API bill is separate and on your side.
- Sends broadcasts. A module for a bot that already works: announcements and reminders by segment, scheduling, statistics. The range is 3 000–7 000 ₴; we do not send broadcasts to other people's lists — that is on the stop list.
The full table with timelines and what the price of each kind depends on is in the article how much a Telegram bot costs.
Which scenarios fit your business
The format is chosen not by budget but by where your clients are and what they have to do: book, order, pay or just ask.
- A coffee shop, food delivery. A bot with a menu, a cart and an order to the administrator. When the menu grows and photos matter, a storefront in a Mini App is added.
- A salon, a clinic, a car service, a tutor. A booking bot covers the evening and night requests when the administrator no longer answers.
- A shop. A small catalogue — a bot; a large catalogue with card payment and order history — a Mini App; buyers come from search — an online shop website.
- Services and B2B. A website for search and ads plus a business-card bot for those who write in Telegram, with requests from both going into a CRM.
- Courses and online schools. A bot with sign-ups for the next intake and answers to common questions, broadcasts with announcements, and a student account in a Mini App as a second stage.
If you are torn between a bot and a website, there is a separate breakdown: a Telegram bot or a website.
What a bot cannot do — honestly
- Sell for you. A bot takes over the routine — requests, bookings, orders — but sales depend on traffic and the offer. That is why we guarantee work to the spec and a 7-day warranty on fixes after delivery, not a number of orders.
- Replace a website for search. Someone searching for a service on Google lands on a website, not in a bot. If clients come from search or ads, you need a website or a website-plus-bot combination.
- Broadcast to other people's lists. Spam, fake engagement and collecting personal data without consent are on the stop list; we do not take such tasks for any money.
- Work without your materials. Section texts, services, prices and product photos are prepared by you: a bot shows what has been loaded into it.
Where to start: one task, not everything at once
The most expensive mistake is trying to automate everything in the first version. What works instead:
- Pick one task that eats up most of your time right now: answering the same questions, bookings, orders in direct messages.
- Describe it in your own words — in the brief or as a voice message in Telegram. A finished spec is not needed: we write it together, and that is part of the project.
- Get a range. The calculator gives it straight away; the exact amount and timeline are fixed after the spec.
- Launch a basic version. A minimum version usually fits into 3 000–5 000 ₴: the main scenario and nothing else.
- Add in stages. Payment, a CRM, broadcasts — in later stages, once it is clear what works. Each stage is estimated separately.
Want to see first how a bot works on your own clients? There is a paid mini-pilot from 5 000 ₴, credited towards the project.
What the price of a bot includes
Every project of ours includes testing, deployment, a launch guide, a 7-day warranty and the source code after full payment — no exceptions. The bot is created in your account through BotFather, so it is yours from day one.
Not included: hosting — your server, or ours at $15 a month or $150 a year; texts and content; payment provider fees; the API bill of the model for an AI bot. Payment: a 50 % prepayment before the start and the rest after delivery, while projects from 20 000 ₴ are split into stages paid 40/30/30, with a demo at each. More about bots — on the Telegram bots page.
FAQ: common questions about chatbots
Will a bot replace the administrator?
No, it takes over the routine: typical questions, bookings, orders and reminders. Decisions, non-standard requests and complaints stay with people: the bot only collects the details and passes the case to you or a manager.
How much does the simplest bot cost?
A business-card bot with a menu, sections and a request form is 3 000–6 000 ₴, and it takes from 1 day after the start. That is also the entry point: 3 000 ₴ is our minimum project.
Can the bot be connected to a CRM?
Yes. A bot integrated with a CRM, spreadsheets or an external API is 5 000–20 000 ₴; the spread depends on the complexity of the API and the number of systems. A paid CRM plan with API access is on you.
What do I need to prepare to start?
A bot created in BotFather in your own account, a clear idea of where requests should go, and the section texts. For bookings — services, specialists and the schedule; for a catalogue — a table of items with photos. You hand over the token after the start, not in chat.
The figures in this article come from our price list: they are filled in automatically and match the calculator. It will work out the range for your task in 30 seconds.