Free AI chatbot builder: how to build a chatbot for free, and what it really costs
Updated: · 7 min read
In short
You can build a chatbot for free in Ravano: adding your content, approving what the bot learned and testing it in the panel costs nothing and needs no card. Money enters only when the bot answers real customers: 650 Toman per request from a prepaid wallet (minimum top-up 100,000 Toman), plus a one-time 1,490,000 Toman for the website widget. No subscription.
Put "free" next to "chatbot" and it usually means one of three different things, and only one of them is good for you. Some tools give you a short trial and then ask for money. Some stay free but cap your messages. Some make building free and charge only for real use. This guide explains exactly what is free in Ravano, what is not, what the real monthly cost works out to with simple arithmetic, and gives you a checklist for judging any "free" chatbot builder before you invest hours in it.
What does "free" mean for a chatbot builder?
Before signing up, work out which of these three patterns you are dealing with:
- Free trial: everything is open for a few days, then you must subscribe. You have built your bot and now face a decision under time pressure.
- Free plan with caps: the tool stays free, but messages, sources or bots are limited, and lifting the limit means a monthly plan.
- Free to build, paid per use: building and testing cost nothing, and you pay in proportion to usage only once the bot serves real customers.
Which one is Ravano?
The third. Money is charged only for answers the bot gives to real customers through the widget or the API. There is no trial clock and no monthly subscription.
What is actually free in Ravano
Everything you do before the bot meets a customer happens inside the panel, with no card:
- Building the bot: signing up and creating the project.
- Training it on your own content: your website address, PDF, Word, Excel and CSV files, a Telegram channel, Instagram or plain text.
- Review and approval: going through the five sections of what the bot understood and fixing mistakes.
- Setting the persona and tone.
- Testing in the panel: ask any question you like, see the source behind each answer, and judge the quality before you spend anything.
What costs money
Cost starts with the first answer to a real customer. There are two items, and both are on the pricing page:
- 650 Toman per request: each time the bot answers through the widget or the API, this amount is deducted from your prepaid wallet. The minimum top-up is 100,000 Toman, which covers about 150 requests.
- The website widget, a one-time 1,490,000 Toman: the price of installing the widget on your site. It is not repeated.
What does not cost anything because it does not exist
There is no monthly subscription, no separate set-up fee and no hidden fee. All prices are in Toman. The pricing page always has the current details.
A worked example: what it really costs
Monthly cost is simple: number of requests times 650 Toman. The table shows a few sample volumes. The figures count requests, not visitors, and one conversation can use more than one request.
| Requests per month | Monthly cost (Toman) |
|---|---|
| 150 | 97,500 |
| 500 | 325,000 |
| 1,000 | 650,000 |
| 3,000 | 1,950,000 |
Example: a shop with 500 requests a month
The shop builds and tests the bot for free, then decides to put the widget on its site. Month one costs 1,490,000 (widget) plus 325,000 (500 requests), which is 1,815,000 Toman. From month two only the 325,000 Toman remains.
If volume stays the same, twelve months add up to 1,490,000 plus 3,900,000, a total of 5,390,000 Toman. In a quiet month of 150 requests the bill is about 97,500 Toman. Whatever the number, it reflects real usage with no monthly commitment behind it. The example only shows the arithmetic; nobody can predict your exact request count in advance.
A checklist for judging a free chatbot builder
Run any tool through these eight questions before you sign up:
- Is a card required just to build and test?
- Is testing in the panel really free of time limits? If there is a limit, where is it written?
- What exactly is paid, and what is the unit: a message, a conversation or a request?
- Where are the price per unit and the minimum top-up or plan stated plainly?
- Is a monthly subscription mandatory, or do you pay for real usage only?
- Does the bot answer only from information you approved and show a source for each answer, or can it guess?
- Can you restrict the widget to your own domains and set its look?
- If you decide not to continue, does any commitment remain?
Step by step: build a chatbot for free in Ravano
No money is needed from sign-up to testing. The full path:
- Sign up; no card is asked.
- Add your sources: website address, files, Telegram channel, Instagram or plain text. You do not need to tidy anything first.
- Read the five sections of what the bot understood, fix mistakes and approve. The bot answers only from this information.
- Choose the tone and persona, and decide when the bot should refer a customer to a person.
- Ask a few dozen real questions, including ones whose answers are not in your information. Check that the bot honestly says it does not know.
- When you are happy, decide: put the widget on your site with one line of code or use the API, and top up the wallet.
Where to go next
For more detail on each step, read the guide to building a chatbot for your website, and for how pricing models differ, how much a chatbot costs.
Who this model suits, and who it does not
Free to build and paid per use suits people who want to be sure the bot answers correctly before paying, and businesses whose monthly question volume is uneven.
If you expect a bot to serve real customers forever at no cost, Ravano will not give you that: every real answer is 650 Toman. If you only want to try it once and never put it on your site, you pay nothing.
A prepaid wallet also means you control spending: you see the balance and top up when it runs low. How data is handled is described on the security and privacy pages.
Start free today
The cheapest way to learn whether a chatbot fits your business is to build one from your own content. Create a free account, build and test the bot, and pay only when it answers real customers. For a wider view, see the guide to an AI chatbot builder, or go straight to pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is building a chatbot in Ravano really free, with no card?
Yes. Building the bot, training it on your content, reviewing it and testing it in the panel is free and needs no card. Money is needed only when the bot answers real customers through the widget or the API.
When exactly do I start paying?
When the bot answers real customers. Each request takes 650 Toman from your prepaid wallet, and the minimum top-up is 100,000 Toman. The website widget is a one-time 1,490,000 Toman.
How many answers does 100,000 Toman buy?
About 150 requests, because 100,000 divided by 650 is roughly 154. One customer conversation can use more than one request, so the number of conversations is lower than the number of requests.
Is there a monthly subscription or a hidden fee?
No. Only real usage is charged: 650 Toman per request and a one-time 1,490,000 Toman for the widget. All prices are in Toman and listed on the pricing page.
How can I tell whether a free chatbot builder is really free?
Check whether it asks for a card, has a message cap or a trial deadline, where the billing unit and its price are written, and whether removing branding or adding sources needs a monthly plan. Keep the eight-question checklist in this guide next to every tool you compare.
