Chatbots have rapidly grown in popularity over the past few years. According to Statista, over 25% of customer service organizations have already deployed chatbots, with that number expected to double by 2023. With artificial intelligence and natural language processing capabilities improving all the time, chatbots are becoming smarter, more useful and more human-like in their conversations.
But developing a chatbot from scratch requires specialized knowledge and significant development effort. That‘s where chatbot frameworks come in handy. Chatbot frameworks provide the tools to more easily build, train, deploy and manage bots across a variety of platforms.
In this post, we‘ll dive into the top 10 chatbot development frameworks available in 2023 based on capabilities, integrations, ease of use and more.
What Exactly is a Chatbot Development Framework?
Before jumping into the top chatbot frameworks, let‘s briefly explain what a chatbot development framework actually is.
A chatbot platform allows you to build basic bots through a graphical interface without needing to write any code. Examples include ManyChat, Chatfuel and MobileMonkey. These are great for simple bots, but are quite limited in terms of functionality.
A chatbot framework, on the other hand, provides the core infrastructure to develop custom bots programmatically and manage the full bot lifecycle. Frameworks give developers more control to build complex conversational experiences across a wider array of platforms.
Popular platforms chatbot frameworks integrate with include:
- Facebook Messenger
- Slack
- Telegram
- SMS/Text
- Websites
- Mobile Apps
- Voice Assistants (Alexa etc)
Now that we‘re clear on chatbot frameworks, let‘s explore the top options available today.
Top 10 Chatbot Development Frameworks for 2023
1. Dialogflow
Owned by Google, Dialogflow is arguably the most popular chatbot development framework currently available. Key highlights include:
- Integrations: Google Assistant, Slack, Facebook Messenger, telephony services and more
- NLU: Natural language processing powered by Google‘s machine learning
- Development: Node.js, Java, Python, Go, C# SDKs
- Pricing: Free tier. Paid tiers start at $0.002 per request.
Notable Dialogflow customers include Paypal, Domino‘s and Glassdoor. While very powerful, a downside is being tied into the Google ecosystem.
2. Amazon Lex
Part of the Amazon Alexa platform, Amazon Lex makes it easy to build sophisticated text or voice-based chatbots.
- Integrations: Alexa, Facebook Messenger, Slack, SMS
- NLU: Powered by the same deep learning tech as Alexa
- Development: Java, JavaScript, Python, C# SDKs
- Pricing: Pay only for what you use starting at $0.0004 per transaction
Top brands using Amazon Lex include Capital One, Kayak and ESPN. It‘s a great choice for developing voice-driven chatbots on Alexa.
3. Watson Assistant
Developed by IBM, Watson Assistant leverages machine learning and NLP to understand conversations and respond appropriately to users.
- Integrations: Slack, Facebook Messenger, mobile apps, SMS, Alexa + more
- NLU: Powered by advanced AI from IBM Research
- Development: Java, Node.js, Python SDKs
- Pricing: Free tier. Paid plans start at $0.0025 per API call.
Watson powers chatbots at companies like Autodesk, GM Financial and Air France/KLM Delta. It‘s best suited for enterprise-scale deployments.
4. Microsoft Bot Framework
Part of Microsoft Azure, the Bot Framework helps developers create smart bots for text/voice conversations.
- Integrations: Skype, Teams, Facebook Messenger, Slack, SMS + more
- NLU: LUIS cognitive service for natural language capabilities
- Development: .NET SDK but multiple languages supported
- Pricing: Free with pay-as-you go model for underlying Azure services utilized.
As you‘d expect, Microsoft-centric companies like HP, Trek Bikes and Progressive Insurance use this framework. It seamlessly integrates bots with Microsoft products.
5. Pandorabots
An industry leader since 2002, Pandorabots provides cloud-based AI and development tools to build conversational interfaces.
- Integrations: Messenger, Telegram, Slack, SMS, Alexa and more
- NLU: Proprietary NLP engine with 900+ linguistic patterns
- Development: Java, Python, Node.js, C++, Ruby, PHP SDKs
- Pricing: Free developer account. Paid plans start around $30/mo. Enterprise options too.
Pandorabots serves a client roster of over 350,000 developers and companies like Compose.ai and ADP use it as their core platform.
6. Chatfuel
Chatfuel simplifies creating bots through its intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
- Integrations: Messenger, Telegram, SMS, WhatsApp, website + more
- NLU: Built-in natural language capabilities
- Development: No-code graphical bot builder
- Pricing: Free for limited usage. Paid plans from $15/mo.
Although technically a bot platform, I‘ve included it here given Chatfuel connects to 11 platforms and is used by major brands like Adidas and TechCrunch. It‘s great for marketers with no coding skills.
7. Botkit
Created by Howdy.ai, Botkit is an open source developer tool for building chatbots.
- Integrations: Slack, Facebook Messenger, Webex, SMS + more
- NLU: Optionally integrate with LUIS, Dialogflow etc
- Development: JavaScript/Node.js SDK
- Pricing: Free & open source. Fully managed hosting starts at $49/mo.
Botkit is used by major brands like Microsoft, Cisco and T-Mobile to power their bots. With over 500 contributors it‘s also one of the largest open source bot projects.
8. MobileMonkey
MobileMonkey markets itself as "chat marketing automation made easy".
- Integrations: Messenger, SMS/Text, Web Chat, WhatsApp, Email + more
- NLU: Built-in NLP with no coding required
- Development: Drag-and-drop chatflow builder
- Pricing: Starts at $49/mo. Enterprise options too.
I‘ve included it here as MobileMonkey makes it easy for non-coders to orchestrate complex conversational journeys across multiple platforms. Their customer list includes several Fortune 500 companies.
9. Motion.ai
Motion.ai is an enterprise-grade platform for developers to build advanced chatbots and voice assistants.
- Integrations: Web, Mobile, Messenger, Alexa, Google Home + more
- NLU: Natural language engine built on machine learning
- Development: Node.js, Python, Java, .NET SDKs
- Pricing: Custom pricing for enterprise services.
Although less known than some competitors, Motion.ai powers ultra complex bots for clients like ADP, Aramark and Purina. Think high-volume critical business applications.
10. Rasa
Rasa is a popular open source machine learning framework for building AI assistants and chatbots.
- Integrations: Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, web + more
- NLU: Built-in natural language understanding
- Development: Python, REST API
- Pricing: Free & open source. Paid managed cloud offering too.
Backed by a strong community, Rasa is designed to handle complex production-ready bots. Customers include Deutsche Telekom, Airbus and Udemy.
Choosing the Right Chatbot Framework
When evaluating chatbot frameworks, consider factors like:
- Integrations with your preferred conversational platforms
- Available SDKs and languages for development
- Overall capabilities around NLP, dialog management etc
- Scalability for number of users
- Pricing and total cost of ownership
- Ease of bot prototyping/iteration
While this post highlighted 10 leading options, there are dozens of chatbot frameworks to evaluate. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.
Often the best approach is building a prototype bot on 2-3 platforms to determine the right fit for your needs before committing fully.
Over to You
Hopefully this overview gave you a better understanding of some of the top chatbot development frameworks available today.
Bots are revolutionizing the customer experience and offering new ways to engage audiences. And with the rise of conversational AI, they‘re only going to get better!
The frameworks discussed here should give you a solid foundation to build remarkable bots tailored to your business goals. Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions.
