What "Free" Usually Means in a WordPress Chatbot Plugin
Almost every chatbot plugin on WordPress.org can be downloaded at no cost. That is not the same as a chatbot that costs nothing to run. When you search for a free AI chatbot for WordPress, you will mostly find one of three models.
Free plugin, paid service
The plugin is a small connector. The AI, the training on your content and the lead inbox run on the vendor's servers, which costs them money per conversation, so the service is paid after a trial. Bitsa AI works this way.
Free tier with limits
A forever-free plan that caps something: conversations per month, number of AI replies, seats, or branding removal. Fine for low traffic, but check what happens when you cross the cap.
Free rule-based bot
A button-and-menu bot you script yourself, often fully free because it calls no AI model. It only answers the paths you build and cannot understand a question typed in the visitor's own words.
None of these is dishonest; they are different trade-offs. A genuinely AI chatbot has a running cost per message, so a WordPress chatbot plugin free of charge with unlimited AI replies is rare. For a fuller breakdown, see our free vs paid chatbot software comparison and the guide to rule-based vs AI chatbots.
| Model | What costs nothing | What you pay for | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plugin + paid AI service | Plugin, trial period | Monthly plan for the AI service | Businesses that want real enquiries handled |
| Freemium tier | Usage up to a cap | Higher limits, removing branding, extra features | Very low-traffic sites and testing |
| Rule-based bot | Often everything | Your time building and updating flows | A handful of fixed questions |
What You Get Free With Bitsa AI, and What Is Paid
- Free: the Bitsa AI Chatbot plugin on WordPress.org (version 1.0.1, GPLv2, needs WordPress 5.0+ and PHP 7.4+, tested up to WordPress 7.1).
- Free for 7 days: the full AI service on a new Bitsa AI account, with no credit card. You can train the bot, put it live on your site and see real visitor conversations before paying anything.
- Paid after the trial: plans start at ₹299/month. The current plans are on the chatbot pricing page for India.
- Included in the service: answers from your own approved content (website pages, sitemaps, PDFs, text documents, FAQs), lead capture of name, phone, email and requirement inside the chat, a lead list in the dashboard, 50+ languages including Hindi and Hinglish, and WooCommerce product help and add-to-cart.
- Not required: coding, a developer, or your own AI API key. The AI runs on Bitsa AI's cloud, which can use OpenAI GPT models among other large language models.
Because the plugin is a lightweight connector, it adds one loader of about 16 KB gzipped, loaded asynchronously in the footer. The chat window loads after the page or when a visitor reaches for the chat, so it does not block rendering.
Bitsa AI Chatbot for WordPress at a Glance
- Price
- The plugin is free on WordPress.org. It connects to a Bitsa AI account, which runs the AI: every new account gets a 7-day free trial with no credit card, and paid plans start at ₹299/month. See plans.
- Setup
- No code. Install the plugin, train the bot in your Bitsa AI dashboard, add your domain, then paste your Client ID into the plugin settings.
- What it learns from
- Your website URLs, sitemaps, PDFs, text documents and FAQs. It answers from that content, not from the open internet.
- Languages
- 50+ languages, including English, Hindi and Hinglish. It replies in the language the visitor writes in.
- Lead capture
- Collects names, phone numbers, email addresses and requirements inside the chat and records them in your dashboard.
- WooCommerce
- Answers product questions, helps shoppers find items and adds products to the cart through WooCommerce's own Store API.
- Speed
- One loader of about 16 KB gzipped, loaded asynchronously in the footer. The chat window loads after the page has finished loading.
- Requirements
- WordPress 5.0 or later and PHP 7.4 or later. Tested up to WordPress 7.1.
How to Set Up the Free Plugin and Start Your Trial
The whole setup is done from WordPress admin and the Bitsa AI dashboard. There is no code to paste into your theme. The full walkthrough is in how to add a chatbot to WordPress.
Install the plugin
WP admin → Plugins → Add New. Search "Bitsa AI Chatbot", click Install Now, then Activate.
Create your account
Sign up at bitsaai.com to start the 7-day free trial (no card), then open Knowledge Base and add your website URLs, sitemap, PDFs, documents or FAQs. Training takes minutes.
Authorise your domain
In Domain Access, add your domain without https://. It covers www and subdomains, and the bot will not run on any site you have not authorised.
Paste the Client ID
Copy the Client ID from Branding → Embed code. In WordPress, open Bitsa AI Chatbot, paste it (or the whole embed script) and click Save Changes. The bot is live.
If the chat bubble does not appear, the usual reason is that the domain is not added in Domain Access. Clearing your caching or optimisation plugin's cache fixes most of the rest. The plugin works with Cloudflare Rocket Loader.
What to Check Before You Pick a Free Chatbot
- Where the answers come from. Does it answer from your pages and documents, or only from flows you script by hand? A bot that answers from general internet knowledge can give wrong prices or policies. See a chatbot trained on your website content.
- What the free limit is. Conversations, AI replies, days, or features. Find out what happens to the bot when the trial or cap ends.
- Whether it captures leads. A chat that answers but never collects a phone number rarely turns into business. Check where leads are stored and who can see them.
- Languages your customers use. Many Indian visitors type in Hindi or Hinglish. Test a few real questions in the language your customers write in.
- Page speed impact. Look at the script size and whether it loads asynchronously, especially on mobile.
- Privacy and data. Know what is sent to the vendor. The Bitsa AI plugin adds suggested privacy-policy text under Settings → Privacy → Policy Guide.
Install the free plugin, train it on your website and watch real conversations for 7 days. Decide on a paid plan only after you have seen the leads it collects.
Start Your Free TrialWhen a ₹299 Plan Is Worth It, and When to Stay Free
The simplest test: if the chatbot brings in even one real enquiry a month that you would otherwise have missed, ₹299 is usually covered. If it would not, a free option is the sensible choice.
Pay when enquiries arrive after hours
Coaching institutes, clinics, real estate, travel and service businesses often get questions at night and on Sundays. An AI bot that answers and takes the phone number keeps those leads from going cold.
Pay when the same questions repeat
Fees, timings, delivery, sizes, eligibility. If your team answers the same WhatsApp messages every day, an AI bot trained on your FAQs takes that load off.
Stay free when traffic is tiny
A new site with a few visitors a day, or a brochure site where people simply call, may not need AI yet. A WhatsApp button or a free rule-based bot is enough for now.
Stay free when you have five fixed questions
If every visitor asks one of a few fixed things, a scripted menu bot can handle it. Move to AI when questions become varied or need answers from long documents.
A common mistake is judging a chatbot in the first hour. Use the full 7 days: train it on your real pages, ask it the awkward questions your customers ask, and count the leads in the dashboard before you decide.
Frequently Asked Questions
The plugin itself is free on WordPress.org under GPLv2. It connects your site to Bitsa AI's cloud, where the AI answers, knowledge-base training and lead management run. That service is free for 7 days on every new account with no credit card, and after the trial paid plans start at ₹299/month.
No. You install the plugin from WP admin, train the bot in the Bitsa AI dashboard on your website URLs, sitemap, PDFs or FAQs, and paste a Client ID into the plugin settings. The AI runs on Bitsa AI's backend, which uses large language models from several providers including OpenAI's GPT models, so you do not add any API key yourself.
It depends on your questions. A free rule-based bot works when visitors pick from a few fixed options, but it cannot understand a question typed in the visitor's own words. An AI chatbot understands natural language, context and intent, answers from your own content in 50+ languages including Hindi and Hinglish, and captures leads, which is why it carries a running cost.
The Bitsa AI Chatbot plugin itself is free to download from WordPress.org. It connects your site to a Bitsa AI account, which runs the AI. Every new account includes a 7-day free trial with no credit card required, and paid plans start at ₹299 a month. Check the Bitsa AI pricing page for the current plans and what each one includes.
Setup needs no code. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New, search for Bitsa AI Chatbot, then install and activate it. Create an account at bitsaai.com, open Knowledge Base and train the bot on your website pages, sitemap, PDFs or FAQs. Add your domain under Domain Access, copy your Client ID from Branding → Embed code, and paste it into the plugin settings. Before launch, ask it the questions customers ask you most and check the answers. If the chat collects names, phone numbers or emails, update your privacy policy: the plugin adds suggested text under Settings → Privacy → Policy Guide.
Bitsa AI understands and replies in 50+ languages, including English, Hindi and Hinglish (Hindi written in Latin script). It detects the language a visitor writes in and answers in the same language. If many of your customers write in another language, such as Marathi, test a few real questions during the free trial. Leads captured in the chat are recorded in your Bitsa AI dashboard, and on WooCommerce stores cart actions go through your own Store API. For any other tool you need connected, ask the Bitsa AI team before you rely on it.
Start Free, Pay Only If It Brings You Leads
The Bitsa AI Chatbot plugin is a free chatbot plugin for WordPress that connects to a paid AI service, and you can try that service for 7 days without a card. Install it, train it on your own pages, and keep it only if the conversations and leads justify a plan from ₹299/month.
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