Chatling vs Stonly

Make an informed decision with our comprehensive comparison. Discover which RAG solution perfectly fits your needs.

Priyansh Khodiyar's avatar
Priyansh KhodiyarDevRel at CustomGPT.ai

Fact checked and reviewed by Bill Cava

Published: 01.04.2025Updated: 25.04.2025

In this comprehensive guide, we compare Chatling and Stonly across various parameters including features, pricing, performance, and customer support to help you make the best decision for your business needs.

Overview

When choosing between Chatling and Stonly, understanding their unique strengths and architectural differences is crucial for making an informed decision. Both platforms serve the RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) space but cater to different use cases and organizational needs.

Quick Decision Guide

  • Choose Chatling if: you value broadest ai model selection (32 models) among no-code platforms - includes gpt-5, claude 4.5, gemini 2.5 with per-block flexibility
  • Choose Stonly if: you value exceptional ease of use - 4.8/5 g2 rating with intuitive visual editor praised in 32 reviews

About Chatling

Chatling Landing Page Screenshot

Chatling is no-code ai chatbot platform with 32-model llm selection. No-code AI chatbot platform with 32-model LLM selection and SMB-focused pricing starting at $25/month. Developed by Envision Labs Inc. (Ontario, Canada), Chatling balances visual builder simplicity with REST API v2 access and native WhatsApp integration. 4.8/5 G2 rating (53-63 reviews). Critical gaps: NO SOC 2/HIPAA certifications, NO native human handoff, NO official SDKs, NO source citations. Founded in Year not disclosed, headquartered in Ontario, Canada, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.

Overall Rating
85/100
Starting Price
$25/mo

About Stonly

Stonly Landing Page Screenshot

Stonly is interactive knowledge base platform with enterprise ai-powered answers. Stonly is a customer support knowledge management platform with embedded AI capabilities focused on interactive step-by-step guides and help desk agent assistance. Its AI Answers feature (Enterprise-only add-on) achieves 71% self-serve success rates, but it's fundamentally a knowledge base platform with AI features—not a pure RAG-as-a-Service solution. Founded in 2017, headquartered in San Francisco, CA, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.

Overall Rating
96/100
Starting Price
$249/mo

Key Differences at a Glance

In terms of user ratings, Stonly in overall satisfaction. From a cost perspective, Chatling starts at a lower price point. The platforms also differ in their primary focus: Chatbot Platform versus Knowledge Management. These differences make each platform better suited for specific use cases and organizational requirements.

⚠️ What This Comparison Covers

We'll analyze features, pricing, performance benchmarks, security compliance, integration capabilities, and real-world use cases to help you determine which platform best fits your organization's needs. All data is independently verified from official documentation and third-party review platforms.

Detailed Feature Comparison

logo of chatling
Chatling
logo of stonly
Stonly
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CustomGPTRECOMMENDED
Data Ingestion & Knowledge Sources
  • File Formats: PDF, DOCX, plain text ONLY
  • CRITICAL LIMITATION: NO CSV, Excel, or structured data format support
  • Website Crawler: Up to 1,000 pages per domain with automatic content extraction
  • Sitemap Ingestion: Required for sites larger than 1,000 pages
  • Help Desk Integration: Zendesk and Zoho for importing help articles
  • Manual Upload: Files, text snippets, FAQs via dashboard interface
  • NO Cloud Storage: Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, OneDrive require manual downloads before upload - significant workflow friction
  • NO YouTube Transcripts: Video content ingestion not supported
  • Knowledge Base Limits: 500K chars (Free), 20M chars (Pro ~3.2M words), 90M chars (Ultimate ~14.4M words)
  • Automatic Syncing: Daily, weekly, or monthly schedules on paid plans - NO real-time continuous sync
  • API Resync: /resync endpoint for programmatic knowledge base updates
  • PDF uploads confirmed
  • Public website crawling: Pages not requiring authentication
  • Zendesk help center content indexing
  • Proprietary interactive guide format as primary content model
  • Note: No Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, or SharePoint integrations for data ingestion
  • Note: No YouTube transcript extraction (videos can be embedded but not processed)
  • Note: No direct Word document (.docx) or HTML file imports confirmed
  • Note: No automatic content syncing from external sources - updates are manual through Stonly's visual editor
  • Content limits by tier: Basic (5 guides, 400 views/mo), Small Business (unlimited guides, 4K views/mo), Enterprise (custom)
  • Content versioning: Side-by-side comparison and instant restore on Business and Enterprise plans
  • Lets you ingest more than 1,400 file formats—PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown, HTML, and many more—via simple drag-and-drop or API.
  • Crawls entire sites through sitemaps and URLs, automatically indexing public help-desk articles, FAQs, and docs.
  • Turns multimedia into text on the fly: YouTube videos, podcasts, and other media are auto-transcribed with built-in OCR and speech-to-text. View Transcription Guide
  • Connects to Google Drive, SharePoint, Notion, Confluence, HubSpot, and more through API connectors or Zapier. See Zapier Connectors
  • Supports both manual uploads and auto-sync retraining, so your knowledge base always stays up to date.
Integrations & Channels
  • WhatsApp Business API: Native robust integration with full chatbot functionality, media sharing, automated responses
  • Website Embedding: Floating chat bubble (bottom-left/right), inline iframe, full-page deployment with custom domain support
  • Zapier Integration: 7,000+ apps with triggers (new contacts/conversations) and actions (send messages)
  • CMS Plugins: WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, PrestaShop via JavaScript embed codes
  • HTTP Request Actions: Custom API calls within visual builder for order lookups, CRM updates, external automations
  • CRITICAL GAPS: NO native Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Telegram integrations - significant B2B messaging gap
  • NO Mobile SDKs: App integration requires webview embedding
  • Custom Domains: Branded chatbot URLs available
  • Domain Whitelisting: Embedding control for security
  • Deep help desk integrations: Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, Freshdesk, ServiceNow
  • Zendesk features: Update tickets from guides, preserve guide progress in tickets, launch Zendesk Chat from widget
  • Zapier integration: Webhook triggers for form submissions and guide completions
  • Analytics integrations: Segment, Google Analytics
  • Embedding options: JavaScript widget, iframe, API deployment
  • Note: No native Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Microsoft Teams integrations (confirmed by multiple user reviews)
  • Note: No omnichannel messaging support
  • Website embedding: All plans support JS widget and iframe embedding
  • Embeds easily—a lightweight script or iframe drops the chat widget into any website or mobile app.
  • Offers ready-made hooks for Slack, Zendesk, Confluence, YouTube, Sharepoint, 100+ more. Explore API Integrations
  • Connects with 5,000+ apps via Zapier and webhooks to automate your workflows.
  • Supports secure deployments with domain allowlisting and a ChatGPT Plugin for private use cases.
  • Hosted CustomGPT.ai offers hosted MCP Server with support for Claude Web, Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT, Windsurf, Trae, etc. Read more here.
  • Supports OpenAI API Endpoint compatibility. Read more here.
Core Agent Features
  • AI Intents: Train on example phrases for intent recognition without exact keyword matching
  • Visual Flow Builder: No-code interface with drag-and-drop conversation design
  • HTTP Request Blocks: Real-time API integrations within chatbot flows (e.g., order confirmations, CRM lookups)
  • Lead Capture: Built-in system variables for name, email, phone collection with embedded forms
  • Multi-language Detection: 85+ languages with automatic browser-based preference detection
  • Satisfaction Surveys: Helpful/unhelpful tracking at conversation end with analytics integration
  • CRITICAL LIMITATION: NO native human handoff - fallback collects contact info for follow-up vs live agent transfer
  • Third-Party Escalation: Requires Zapier integration to Zendesk, Freshdesk, or similar platforms - adds complexity and latency
  • AI Agents (Beta): Task-oriented assistants with intent detection, decision-making, API execution beyond simple chatbots
  • Conversational AI Bot: Delivers confident answers backed by verified structured knowledge unlike generic LLMs that can hallucinate or invent answers
  • Knowledge-grounded responses: Provides answers backed by verified structured knowledge from guides you create preventing fabricated information
  • AI Agent Assist: Automatically summarizes tickets, suggests right path to resolution, and generates responses for support agents
  • Three core automation functions: Automatically analyzes and summarizes support ticket content, recommends most relevant Stonly guide/knowledge path to resolve issues, drafts complete responses for agents to review/edit/send
  • Process automation: Define processes to be followed and link them to different back-office tools to resolve customer requests before they reach support
  • Personalized knowledge: AI-powered solutions and process automation allow creation of guides, walkthroughs, checklists, knowledge bases adapting to each customer's needs
  • 71% self-serve success rate: With AI Answers feature documented in company data
  • Hallucination reduction: Knowledge-grounding approach vs generic chatbots reduces off-topic responses
  • Custom AI Agents: Build autonomous agents powered by GPT-4 and Claude that can perform tasks independently and make real-time decisions based on business knowledge
  • Decision-Support Capabilities: AI agents analyze proprietary data to provide insights, recommendations, and actionable responses specific to your business domain
  • Multi-Agent Systems: Deploy multiple specialized AI agents that can collaborate and optimize workflows in areas like customer support, sales, and internal knowledge management
  • Memory & Context Management: Agents maintain conversation history and persistent context for coherent multi-turn interactions View Agent Documentation
  • Tool Integration: Agents can trigger actions, integrate with external APIs via webhooks, and connect to 5,000+ apps through Zapier for automated workflows
  • Hyper-Accurate Responses: Leverages advanced RAG technology and retrieval mechanisms to deliver context-aware, citation-backed responses grounded in your knowledge base
  • Continuous Learning: Agents improve over time through automatic re-indexing of knowledge sources and integration of new data without manual retraining
Customization & Branding
  • Visual Customization: Primary/secondary colors, chat window width, custom bot/bubble icons, header titles
  • Interface Language: Configurable across 85+ supported languages
  • Custom Instructions: System prompt configuration for persona, tone, behavior rules (e.g., "Your name is Joanne", "Keep answers short", "NEVER break character")
  • Temperature Control: 0-1 scale for creativity adjustment at global or per-block level
  • Max Length Settings: Token limit configuration to control response verbosity
  • Streaming: Real-time response rendering for improved UX
  • Response Formatting: Store outputs in variables, configure 'Not Found' fallback paths
  • White-Labeling: Ultimate tier ($99/month) removes 'Powered by Chatling' branding
  • Domain Restrictions: Control where widgets can be embedded via whitelisting
  • CRITICAL LIMITATION: NO custom CSS injection - prioritizes no-code simplicity over pixel-perfect brand matching
  • Visual editor: Intuitive no-code interface for creating guides, decision trees, checklists, forms
  • CSS customization: Available on all paid plans
  • White-labeling: Enterprise plan only - complete branding removal
  • Pre-built templates: Common support scenarios covered
  • Role-based access control: Advanced permissions on Enterprise plan
  • Learning curve: Described as "small" - users can create guides in under 30 minutes
  • Note: No formal content approval workflows documented
  • Note: Cannot edit guides on mobile devices
  • Note: Angular framework compatibility issues reported - "Stonly onboarding will work randomly" with dynamic code
  • Fully white-labels the widget—colors, logos, icons, CSS, everything can match your brand. White-label Options
  • Provides a no-code dashboard to set welcome messages, bot names, and visual themes.
  • Lets you shape the AI’s persona and tone using pre-prompts and system instructions.
  • Uses domain allowlisting to ensure the chatbot appears only on approved sites.
L L M Model Options
  • Free Tier (8 Models): GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, GPT-4o Mini, GPT-4, Claude 4 Sonnet, Claude 3.5 Haiku
  • Paid Tiers (32 Total - Broadest Selection): GPT-5, GPT-5 Mini, GPT-5 Nano, GPT-4.5, o4 Mini, o3 Mini, Claude 4.5 Sonnet, Claude 4.5 Haiku, Claude 4 Opus, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.0 Flash
  • Model Selection Flexibility: Configure globally per chatbot OR per individual AI response block for hybrid deployments
  • Temperature & Max Tokens: Exposed at both global and per-block levels for fine-tuned control
  • NO Automatic Routing: Model selection is manual - no query complexity-based automatic model switching
  • Credit System: 1 credit per AI response on GPT-4o, consumption varies by model
  • Credit Reset: Monthly with no carryover - 100% usage stops AI responses until next billing cycle
  • Competitive Advantage: 32-model roster exceeds most no-code platforms in LLM flexibility
  • Note: Undisclosed proprietary LLM - Stonly does not disclose the specific model powering AI Answers
  • Note: No model selection - users cannot choose between GPT-3.5, GPT-4, Claude, or other models
  • Note: No temperature controls, fine-tuning, or model routing
  • AI Profiles: Up to 20 per team for tone and behavior customization
  • Custom Instructions: Up to 100 per team defining boundaries and style
  • Guided AI Answers: Define specific questions that trigger predetermined answers, bypassing AI generation for sensitive scenarios
  • Automatic fallback: When AI confidence is low, system falls back to ML-powered search rather than forcing an answer
  • Knowledge-grounded approach: AI responses anchored in Stonly guides, external websites, and selected PDFs to reduce hallucinations
  • Taps into top models—OpenAI’s GPT-4, GPT-3.5 Turbo, and even Anthropic’s Claude for enterprise needs.
  • Automatically balances cost and performance by picking the right model for each request. Model Selection Details
  • Uses proprietary prompt engineering and retrieval tweaks to return high-quality, citation-backed answers.
  • Handles all model management behind the scenes—no extra API keys or fine-tuning steps for you.
Developer Experience ( A P I & S D Ks)
  • REST API v2: https://api.chatling.ai/v2/ with Bearer token authentication
  • Rate Limit: 300 requests/minute across all endpoints
  • Chatbots Endpoint: Create, duplicate, list, retrieve, update chatbot settings programmatically
  • AI Endpoint: List models, list languages, chat with knowledge base (/v2/chatbots/{chatbotId}/ai/kb/chat)
  • Knowledge Base Endpoint: Add links/text/FAQs, resync, delete sources via API
  • Conversations Endpoint: List, retrieve, update conversations; access message history; rate answers
  • Contacts Endpoint: List, retrieve, delete contact records
  • Conversation Context Persistence: conversation_id parameters enable multi-turn programmatic dialogues
  • Documentation: docs.chatling.ai with organized sections, curl examples, response schemas
  • Action Tutorials: Practical HTTP request examples (e.g., "Fetch and Email Order Confirmation")
  • CRITICAL GAPS: NO official JavaScript or Python SDKs, NO Postman collections, NO OpenAPI specifications
  • Developer Burden: Must build own HTTP clients or rely on community implementations
  • REST API: Supports user provisioning, content management, widget control
  • Mobile SDKs (Enterprise only): iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter
  • Note: No Python SDK or server-side Node.js SDK
  • Note: No GraphQL API or OpenAPI/Swagger specification
  • Note: Rate limits not publicly documented
  • Note: No API Explorer, sandbox environment, or Postman collections
  • Note: REST API versioning strategy unclear
  • Widget API: Programmatic control including opening specific content, listening for events, user identification
  • CSP whitelisting: Instructions documented for Content Security Policy compliance
  • Widget versioning documented
  • Ships a well-documented REST API for creating agents, managing projects, ingesting data, and querying chat. API Documentation
  • Offers open-source SDKs—like the Python customgpt-client—plus Postman collections to speed integration. Open-Source SDK
  • Backs you up with cookbooks, code samples, and step-by-step guides for every skill level.
Performance & Accuracy
  • Customer Testimonial: One user reported 45% of support questions resolved with email reduction from 1,500+ monthly inquiries
  • Reliability Praised: G2 reviews highlight "chatbots have never gone down" - strong uptime performance
  • Large-Scale Deployment: User reported uploading 4,000+ website URLs with "reliable answers in real time"
  • 5-Minute Setup Time: Consistently praised rapid deployment for non-technical users
  • RAG Grounding: Responses grounded in uploaded content vs general model knowledge
  • AI Intent Recognition: Handles natural language variation without exact keyword matching
  • NO Source Citations: Responses don't show which specific documents or URLs informed each answer - reduces transparency vs competitors
  • NO Confidence Scoring: No hallucination detection mechanisms documented - only indirect temperature control
  • NO Published Benchmarks: Performance claims rely on customer testimonials vs quantitative metrics
  • 71% self-serve success rate with AI Answers feature (company data)
  • 70-76% support ticket reduction documented in case studies
  • 99.9% uptime claimed but no published SLA details or response time data
  • Note: No published latency metrics or performance benchmarks
  • Note: No real-time analytics - Flow reports update every 15 minutes
  • Hallucination controls: Strong grounding in structured content reduces off-topic responses
  • Widget lazy loading: Minimizes impact on host website performance
  • Delivers sub-second replies with an optimized pipeline—efficient vector search, smart chunking, and caching.
  • Independent tests rate median answer accuracy at 5/5—outpacing many alternatives. Benchmark Results
  • Always cites sources so users can verify facts on the spot.
  • Maintains speed and accuracy even for massive knowledge bases with tens of millions of words.
Customization & Flexibility ( Behavior & Knowledge)
  • Custom Instructions (System Prompts): Define persona, tone, behavior rules globally or per-block
  • Temperature Control: 0-1 scale for creativity adjustment to balance factual accuracy vs creative responses
  • Max Length Settings: Token limits to control response verbosity and credit consumption
  • Streaming Responses: Real-time token rendering for improved user experience
  • Knowledge Base Autosync: Daily, weekly, or monthly schedules on paid plans - NO real-time sync
  • Manual Resync: Dashboard or API triggers for immediate knowledge base updates
  • Fallback Paths: Configure "Not Found" responses when AI cannot answer from knowledge base
  • Variables & Context: Store outputs for use in subsequent conversation blocks
  • Per-Block Model Selection: Hybrid deployments using different models for different conversation stages
  • AI Intents Training: Example phrase training for improved intent recognition without exact matches
  • CSS and HTML customization: Change layout and look of knowledge base with custom code capabilities
  • Intuitive customization tools: Easy-to-use tools that don't require code for basic customization
  • Layout customization: Decide how content is structured and presented with flexible options
  • Design controls: Manage visual components like colors, logo, or cover image for brand alignment
  • Personalized content: Use customer data to show personalized content from knowledge base for targeted experiences
  • Data-driven personalization: Customers see what they need right away when first accessing knowledge base
  • Analytics insights: Guide usage analytics provide insight into customer behavior for continuous improvement
  • Highly flexible platform: Users appreciate ability to use Stonly for knowledge bases and guided tours with target properties based on specific user needs
  • Rich media support: Add images, GIFs, videos, and annotations to bring knowledge base content to life
  • Third-party scripts: Install scripts from other tools like Google Analytics for extended functionality
  • Lets you add, remove, or tweak content on the fly—automatic re-indexing keeps everything current.
  • Shapes agent behavior through system prompts and sample Q&A, ensuring a consistent voice and focus. Learn How to Update Sources
  • Supports multiple agents per account, so different teams can have their own bots.
  • Balances hands-on control with smart defaults—no deep ML expertise required to get tailored behavior.
Pricing & Scalability
  • Free Tier: $0 - 100 AI credits, 2 chatbots, 1 seat, 500K KB characters, 8 models, unlimited non-AI chats
  • Pro Tier: $25/month - 3,000 credits, 5 chatbots, 2 seats, 20M characters (~3.2M words), 32 models, voice input, autosync
  • Ultimate Tier: $99/month - 12K-20K credits, 35 chatbots, 6 seats, 90M characters (~14.4M words), white-labeling, advanced analytics
  • Unlimited Non-AI Chats: All tiers include unlimited non-AI conversations - only AI-powered responses consume credits
  • Add-Ons Available: Extra credits, characters, seats, and chatbots purchasable separately
  • 14-Day Money-Back Guarantee: Applies to initial purchases for risk-free testing
  • Enterprise Pricing: Requires contacting sales - no public tier documented
  • Competitive SMB Positioning: $25/month entry vs $700/month (Progress), $30K+/year (Drift, Yellow.ai)
  • Credit System: Monthly reset with no carryover - usage planning required to avoid service interruption
  • Basic (Free): 5 guides, 400 views/month, 1 seat, single language
  • Small Business ($249/mo, $199/mo annual): Unlimited guides, 4,000 views/month, 5 seats, 3 knowledge bases, CSS customization, Zapier, NPS surveys
  • Enterprise (Custom, ~$39K/year avg): Custom views, unlimited seats, AI Answers add-on, Mobile SDKs, SAML SSO, white-label, auto-translation, CSAT/CES surveys
  • Overage pricing escalates quickly: +15K views = $200/month, +30K views = $400/month
  • Automatic tier upgrades: Exceeding limits for 2 consecutive months triggers upgrade
  • Note: AI Answers, Mobile SDK, SAML SSO, white-labeling all Enterprise-gated
  • Average enterprise contract: ~$39,000 annually according to Vendr procurement data
  • Runs on straightforward subscriptions: Standard (~$99/mo), Premium (~$449/mo), and customizable Enterprise plans.
  • Gives generous limits—Standard covers up to 60 million words per bot, Premium up to 300 million—all at flat monthly rates. View Pricing
  • Handles scaling for you: the managed cloud infra auto-scales with demand, keeping things fast and available.
Security & Privacy
  • GDPR Compliant: EU data residency (DigitalOcean Amsterdam data center)
  • Data Processing Agreement: Available with Standard Contractual Clauses for international transfers
  • NO Training on Customer Data: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google agreements explicitly prohibit using Chatling customer content for model training
  • Trust Center: trust.chatling.ai with security documentation and sub-processor lists
  • Data Retention: Continues while accounts remain active, permanent deletion available upon request
  • CRITICAL: CRITICAL GAPS FOR ENTERPRISE:
  • NO SOC 2 Certification: Independent security audit not found - blocks many enterprise procurement processes
  • NO HIPAA Compliance: Healthcare organizations processing PHI cannot use platform
  • NO ISO 27001: Information security management certification absent
  • NO SSO/SAML Support: Enterprise identity provider integration not documented
  • NO IP Restriction Capabilities: Cannot limit access to specific IP ranges for security
  • NO Audit Logs: Beyond basic analytics - compliance tracking limited
  • Disqualifying for Regulated Industries: Finance, healthcare, government use cases blocked by certification gaps
  • Yes SOC 2 Type 2
  • Yes GDPR compliant
  • Yes HIPAA compliant
  • Yes ISO 27001
  • Yes PCI compliant
  • Yes CSA Star Level 1
  • Trust Center: trust.stonly.com with security documentation, subprocessor lists, controls information
  • SAML 2.0 SSO: Enterprise plan
  • IP allowlisting: Enterprise plan
  • Advanced RBAC: Enterprise plan
  • Two-factor authentication: SMS, email, hardware tokens, TOTP, U2F
  • Note: Data residency options not documented
  • Note: No explicit documentation on customer data usage for AI model training
  • International data transfers: Standard Contractual Clauses for EU compliance
  • Protects data in transit with SSL/TLS and at rest with 256-bit AES encryption.
  • Holds SOC 2 Type II certification and complies with GDPR, so your data stays isolated and private. Security Certifications
  • Offers fine-grained access controls—RBAC, two-factor auth, and SSO integration—so only the right people get in.
Observability & Monitoring
  • Dashboard Metrics: Conversation counts, new leads, peak chat times via heatmap visualization
  • User Satisfaction Ratings: Helpful/unhelpful tracking with analytics percentages
  • Real-Time Monitoring: Live chatbot interaction visibility
  • Conversation Logs: Message history viewable in dashboard with full context
  • Popular Question Identification: Analytics highlight common queries for knowledge base optimization
  • Satisfaction Surveys: Enable at conversation end with aggregated helpful/unhelpful metrics
  • API Data Extraction: Conversations and contacts accessible via REST API for programmatic analysis
  • CRITICAL LIMITATIONS: Export functionality appears limited - dashboard-based export minimal or in development
  • NO Custom Report Builder: Users work with built-in dashboard views only
  • NO Advanced Analytics: Ultimate tier includes "advanced analytics" but specifics undocumented
  • Insights Dashboard: Guide views, unique visitors, bounce rates, step-by-step progression, drop-off analysis
  • NPS surveys: All plans
  • CSAT and CES surveys: Enterprise only
  • Flow reports: Update every 15 minutes (not real-time)
  • Data export: Integration with Segment, Zapier, Google Analytics
  • Note: No real-time visitor tracking
  • Note: No predictive analytics
  • Note: Basic compared to dedicated product analytics tools
  • Note: No heatmaps or A/B testing capabilities
  • Agent performance tracking: Relies on external help desk platform integration rather than native dashboards
  • Comes with a real-time analytics dashboard tracking query volumes, token usage, and indexing status.
  • Lets you export logs and metrics via API to plug into third-party monitoring or BI tools. Analytics API
  • Provides detailed insights for troubleshooting and ongoing optimization.
Support & Ecosystem
  • Email-Only Support: support@chatling.ai - NO live chat, phone support, or published SLAs
  • G2 Support Rating: 9.2/10 quality despite response time concerns cited in reviews
  • Comprehensive Documentation: docs.chatling.ai with getting started guides, API reference, integration tutorials, flow builder instructions
  • Video Tutorials: Supplement written documentation for visual learners
  • Action Tutorial Library: Practical HTTP request examples for common integrations
  • Trust Center: trust.chatling.ai for security documentation and compliance details
  • MISSING ECOSYSTEM: NO community forum, Discord, Slack workspace, or public status page
  • NO Public Roadmap: Feature development transparency limited
  • Enterprise Support: Requires contacting sales - no dedicated tiers publicly documented
  • Market Presence Gaps: Absent from Product Hunt, AppSumo limiting growth marketing exposure
  • 4.8/5 G2 rating (132 reviews)
  • Ease of use praised in 32 G2 reviews
  • Help Center documentation
  • Email and chat support
  • Dedicated support: Enterprise plan
  • Learning resources: Pre-built templates, tutorials
  • Quick onboarding: Users report creating guides in under 30 minutes
  • Supplies rich docs, tutorials, cookbooks, and FAQs to get you started fast. Developer Docs
  • Offers quick email and in-app chat support—Premium and Enterprise plans add dedicated managers and faster SLAs. Enterprise Solutions
  • Benefits from an active user community plus integrations through Zapier and GitHub resources.
No- Code Interface & Usability
  • 5-Minute Setup Time: Consistently praised by G2 reviewers - genuine rapid deployment capability
  • Visual Flow Builder: Drag-and-drop conversation design without coding requirements
  • AI Intents Training: Example phrase interface for intent recognition configuration
  • Custom Instructions UI: Text field for system prompt configuration accessible to non-technical users
  • HTTP Request Blocks: Visual interface for API integration without coding (action tutorials guide setup)
  • Lead Capture Forms: Built-in form builder for embedding within conversation flows
  • Knowledge Base Management: Upload files, add text, import help articles via simple dashboard interface
  • Widget Customization: Visual color picker, icon uploader, settings toggles for branding
  • Analytics Dashboard: Visual metrics with heatmaps and trend graphs accessible to business users
  • G2 CRITICISM: Single flow architecture becomes unwieldy for complex bots with many branches
  • MISSING FEATURES: Cannot import/export flows for version control or reuse across chatbots
  • NO Screen Reader Support: Accessibility limitation cited in reviews
  • 4.8/5 ease of use rating on G2
  • "Ease of use" mentioned 32 times in G2 reviews
  • Visual drag-and-drop editor requires no coding
  • Small learning curve - non-technical teams productive quickly
  • Guide creation in under 30 minutes reported by users
  • Pre-built templates for common scenarios
  • Intuitive interface for support teams
  • Note: Some navigation confusion reported in admin interface
  • Note: Cannot edit on mobile devices
  • Offers a wizard-style web dashboard so non-devs can upload content, brand the widget, and monitor performance.
  • Supports drag-and-drop uploads, visual theme editing, and in-browser chatbot testing. User Experience Review
  • Uses role-based access so business users and devs can collaborate smoothly.
32- Model L L M Selection ( Core Differentiator)
  • Broadest Selection Among No-Code Platforms: 32 total models vs typical 3-5 model offerings from competitors
  • Latest Models Included: GPT-5, GPT-4.5, o4/o3 Mini, Claude 4.5 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Flash/Pro
  • Free Tier Access: 8 models available without payment (GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, GPT-4o Mini, Claude 4 Sonnet, etc.)
  • Hybrid Deployment Capability: Per-block model selection enables using GPT-4o for complex queries, GPT-4o Mini for simple FAQs within same chatbot
  • Cost Optimization: Model flexibility allows balancing quality vs credit consumption per conversation stage
  • Temperature & Token Control: Exposed at both global and per-block levels for fine-tuned model behavior
  • Competitive Advantage: Exceeds CustomGPT, Drift, Yellow.ai, Lindy.ai in sheer model variety and flexibility
  • Manual Selection Required: NO automatic routing based on query complexity - users must configure model per use case
  • Credit System Integration: Different models consume different credit amounts - documented per model for budgeting
N/A
N/A
Whats App Native Integration ( Differentiator)
  • WhatsApp Business API: Native robust integration vs third-party workarounds required by many competitors
  • Full Chatbot Functionality: All chatbot features work on WhatsApp including AI responses, knowledge base queries, lead capture
  • Media Sharing: Images, documents, voice messages supported in WhatsApp conversations
  • Automated Responses: 24/7 WhatsApp availability with AI-powered replies
  • Consumer-Facing Strength: Strong for e-commerce, SMBs, global markets where WhatsApp dominates customer communication
  • Competitive Gap: Progress, CustomGPT, many RAG platforms lack native WhatsApp - Chatling advantage for consumer use cases
  • B2B Messaging Gap: WhatsApp strength doesn't offset missing Slack/Teams integrations for enterprise internal use
N/A
N/A
Multi- Lingual Support
  • 85+ Languages Supported: Broad coverage for global deployments
  • Automatic Browser-Based Detection: Chatbot detects user language preference from browser settings and responds accordingly
  • NO Manual Configuration Required: Language switching happens automatically without admin setup
  • Interface Language: Configurable for chatbot UI elements (buttons, prompts, system messages)
  • Multi-Language Model Support: All 32 AI models support multilingual conversations
  • Knowledge Base Processing: Supports multi-language content ingestion and retrieval
  • Global Customer Base: Valuable for international businesses serving diverse markets without language barriers
N/A
N/A
R A G-as-a- Service Assessment
  • Platform Type: NO-CODE CHATBOT PLATFORM with RAG capabilities - NOT pure RAG-as-a-Service like CustomGPT or Progress
  • RAG Implementation: Knowledge base grounding embedded within visual chatbot builder vs API-first RAG backend
  • Developer Access: REST API v2 provides programmatic knowledge base queries (/ai/kb/chat endpoint) but NO official SDKs
  • Transparency Limitation: NO source citations displayed to end users - responses don't show which documents informed answers
  • NO Confidence Scoring: Hallucination detection mechanisms not documented - only temperature control
  • Target Market: SMBs and non-technical teams prioritizing rapid chatbot deployment vs developers needing deep RAG customization
  • Comparison Validity: Architectural comparison to CustomGPT.ai is partially valid - both offer RAG but Chatling emphasizes no-code chatbot vs developer-first RAG API
  • Use Case Fit: Organizations prioritizing customer-facing chatbots with simple knowledge retrieval over complex RAG pipelines, embeddings control, or advanced retrieval strategies
  • Note: NOT a RAG-as-a-Service platform - fundamentally a knowledge base tool with embedded AI
  • Data source flexibility: Limited (PDF, public web, Zendesk only) vs comprehensive RAG platforms
  • LLM model options: None (undisclosed proprietary model, no user selection)
  • API-first architecture: Weak (widget-focused, limited SDKs, no server-side SDKs)
  • Performance benchmarks: Not published
  • Self-service AI pricing: Not available (Enterprise-gated, ~$39K/year)
  • Help desk integration depth: Excellent (best-in-class Zendesk, Salesforce, Freshdesk)
  • Hallucination controls: Strong (grounded in structured content)
  • Best for: Customer support ticket deflection, not flexible RAG backends
  • Not ideal for: Developers seeking pure RAG API, multi-tenant SaaS RAG backends, use cases needing model selection/fine-tuning
  • Platform Type: TRUE RAG-AS-A-SERVICE PLATFORM - all-in-one managed solution combining developer APIs with no-code deployment capabilities
  • Core Architecture: Serverless RAG infrastructure with automatic embedding generation, vector search optimization, and LLM orchestration fully managed behind API endpoints
  • API-First Design: Comprehensive REST API with well-documented endpoints for creating agents, managing projects, ingesting data (1,400+ formats), and querying chat API Documentation
  • Developer Experience: Open-source Python SDK (customgpt-client), Postman collections, OpenAI API endpoint compatibility, and extensive cookbooks for rapid integration
  • No-Code Alternative: Wizard-style web dashboard enables non-developers to upload content, brand widgets, and deploy chatbots without touching code
  • Hybrid Target Market: Serves both developer teams wanting robust APIs AND business users seeking no-code RAG deployment - unique positioning vs pure API platforms (Cohere) or pure no-code tools (Jotform)
  • RAG Technology Leadership: Industry-leading answer accuracy (median 5/5 benchmarked), 1,400+ file format support with auto-transcription, proprietary anti-hallucination mechanisms, and citation-backed responses Benchmark Details
  • Deployment Flexibility: Cloud-hosted SaaS with auto-scaling, API integrations, embedded chat widgets, ChatGPT Plugin support, and hosted MCP Server for Claude/Cursor/ChatGPT
  • Enterprise Readiness: SOC 2 Type II + GDPR compliance, full white-labeling, domain allowlisting, RBAC with 2FA/SSO, and flat-rate pricing without per-query charges
  • Use Case Fit: Ideal for organizations needing both rapid no-code deployment AND robust API capabilities, teams handling diverse content types (1,400+ formats, multimedia transcription), and businesses requiring production-ready RAG without building ML infrastructure from scratch
  • Competitive Positioning: Bridges the gap between developer-first platforms (Cohere, Deepset) requiring heavy coding and no-code chatbot builders (Jotform, Kommunicate) lacking API depth - offers best of both worlds
Competitive Positioning
  • Market Position: SMB-focused no-code chatbot platform with strongest appeal to non-technical teams and budget-conscious startups
  • Pricing Advantage: $25/month entry vs $700/month (Progress), $30K+/year (Drift, Yellow.ai) - 10-100x cheaper
  • 32-Model Differentiator: Broadest LLM selection among no-code platforms - exceeds competitors in model flexibility
  • Free Tier Generosity: 100 AI credits, 2 chatbots, 8 models without credit card - strongest trial experience for evaluation
  • WhatsApp Strength: Native integration vs third-party workarounds - competitive advantage for consumer-facing businesses
  • G2 Validation: 4.8/5 rating from 53-63 reviews with reliability praised ("chatbots have never gone down")
  • vs. CustomGPT: Chatling offers no-code simplicity + WhatsApp vs CustomGPT developer-first RAG with deeper API/SDK access
  • vs. Progress: Chatling $25/month + visual builder vs Progress $700/month + REMi quality monitoring + enterprise compliance
  • vs. Drift: Chatling customer support automation vs Drift B2B sales engagement - different use case focus
  • vs. Lindy.ai: Chatling has REST API v2 vs Lindy NO public API - developer accessibility advantage
  • Enterprise Gaps: NO SOC 2/HIPAA/ISO 27001, NO SSO, NO human handoff - disqualifies for regulated industries and large enterprises
  • B2B Messaging Gaps: NO native Slack/Teams/Telegram - limits enterprise internal use cases vs omnichannel competitors
  • Developer Limitations: NO official SDKs, NO source citations, NO confidence scoring - gaps vs developer-focused RAG platforms
  • Market Presence: Absent from Product Hunt, AppSumo vs competitors - limited growth marketing exposure
  • Unique strength: Interactive guide format for structured support content
  • vs CustomGPT: Not comparable - different product categories (knowledge base vs RAG-as-a-Service)
  • vs Zendesk: Lighter-weight alternative focused on self-service guides vs full customer service platform
  • vs traditional chatbots: Interactive guides provide structured paths vs free-form conversation
  • Target audience: Support teams using Zendesk/Salesforce, not developers building RAG applications
  • 70-76% ticket reduction documented in case studies
  • 71% self-serve success rate with AI Answers
  • Enterprise compliance suitable for regulated industries
  • Market position: Leading all-in-one RAG platform balancing enterprise-grade accuracy with developer-friendly APIs and no-code usability for rapid deployment
  • Target customers: Mid-market to enterprise organizations needing production-ready AI assistants, development teams wanting robust APIs without building RAG infrastructure, and businesses requiring 1,400+ file format support with auto-transcription (YouTube, podcasts)
  • Key competitors: OpenAI Assistants API, Botsonic, Chatbase.co, Azure AI, and custom RAG implementations using LangChain
  • Competitive advantages: Industry-leading answer accuracy (median 5/5 benchmarked), 1,400+ file format support with auto-transcription, SOC 2 Type II + GDPR compliance, full white-labeling included, OpenAI API endpoint compatibility, hosted MCP Server support (Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT), generous data limits (60M words Standard, 300M Premium), and flat monthly pricing without per-query charges
  • Pricing advantage: Transparent flat-rate pricing at $99/month (Standard) and $449/month (Premium) with generous included limits; no hidden costs for API access, branding removal, or basic features; best value for teams needing both no-code dashboard and developer APIs in one platform
  • Use case fit: Ideal for businesses needing both rapid no-code deployment and robust API capabilities, organizations handling diverse content types (1,400+ formats, multimedia transcription), teams requiring white-label chatbots with source citations for customer-facing or internal knowledge projects, and companies wanting all-in-one RAG without managing ML infrastructure
Deployment & Infrastructure
  • Cloud-Only SaaS: NO on-premise or hybrid deployment options - cloud-only hosted on DigitalOcean
  • Data Center: Amsterdam (DigitalOcean) for GDPR compliance with EU data residency
  • Website Embedding: Three modes - floating chat bubble (customizable position), inline iframe for page sections, full-page deployment
  • Custom Domain Support: Branded chatbot URLs available for white-labeled deployments
  • Domain Whitelisting: Security control limiting widget embedding to authorized domains
  • JavaScript Embed Codes: Platform-specific plugins for WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, PrestaShop
  • Mobile Deployment: NO native SDKs - app integration requires webview embedding
  • NO Multi-Region: Single data center (Amsterdam) - no US, Asia-Pacific, or other regional options documented
  • NO On-Premise: Cannot deploy on private infrastructure or air-gapped environments
N/A
N/A
Customer Feedback & Case Studies
  • G2 Rating: 4.8/5 from 53-63 reviews with strong reliability scores
  • Trustpilot Rating: 4.3/5 from 8 reviews
  • Support Quality (G2): 9.2/10 despite email-only channel and response time concerns
  • Setup Time Praise: "5-minute setup" consistently highlighted by users as genuine rapid deployment
  • Reliability Testimonial: "Chatbots have never gone down" - uptime performance praised
  • Support Deflection: One user reported 45% of support questions resolved, reducing email inquiries from 1,500+ monthly
  • Large-Scale Deployment: User uploaded 4,000+ website URLs with "reliable answers in real time"
  • Fine-Tuning from Traffic: "Game changer" - ability to improve from live conversation data
  • Recurring Criticism: Single flow architecture unwieldy for complex bots, NO import/export flows, NO screen reader accessibility, email support can be slow
  • NO Named Enterprise Customers: Public case studies limited to G2/Trustpilot testimonials vs named Fortune 500 deployments
N/A
N/A
A I Models
  • Free Tier (8 Models): GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, GPT-4o Mini, GPT-4, Claude 4 Sonnet, Claude 3.5 Haiku without payment
  • Paid Tiers (32 Total): GPT-5, GPT-5 Mini, GPT-5 Nano, GPT-4.5, o4 Mini, o3 Mini, Claude 4.5 Sonnet, Claude 4.5 Haiku, Claude 4 Opus, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.0 Flash - broadest selection among no-code platforms
  • Model Flexibility: Configure globally per chatbot OR per individual AI response block for hybrid deployments optimizing cost-quality balance
  • Temperature & Max Tokens: Exposed at both global and per-block levels for fine-tuned control over creativity and verbosity
  • Manual Selection Only: No query complexity-based automatic model routing - users manually configure model per use case
  • Credit Consumption: 1 credit per AI response on GPT-4o, consumption varies by model with monthly reset (no carryover)
  • Competitive Advantage: 32-model roster exceeds most no-code platforms (Botsonic, Chatbase, SiteGPT) in LLM flexibility
  • Undisclosed Proprietary LLM: Stonly does not publicly disclose the specific model powering AI Answers feature
  • No Model Selection: Users cannot choose between GPT-3.5, GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, or other LLM providers
  • No Temperature Controls: No user-facing controls for adjusting response creativity, randomness, or formatting
  • No Fine-Tuning or Model Routing: Cannot customize model behavior beyond predefined AI Profiles and Custom Instructions
  • AI Profiles (Up to 20): Define tone, boundaries, and behavior for different use cases or audiences
  • Custom Instructions (Up to 100): Set specific rules and style guidelines for AI response generation
  • Guided AI Answers: Predefined responses for specific questions bypassing AI generation for sensitive scenarios
  • Automatic Fallback: Low-confidence scenarios trigger fallback to ML-powered search rather than forcing unreliable AI answer
  • Knowledge-Grounded Approach: AI responses anchored in Stonly guides, external websites, and PDFs to reduce hallucinations
  • Primary models: GPT-4, GPT-3.5 Turbo from OpenAI, and Anthropic's Claude for enterprise needs
  • Automatic model selection: Balances cost and performance by automatically selecting the appropriate model for each request Model Selection Details
  • Proprietary optimizations: Custom prompt engineering and retrieval enhancements for high-quality, citation-backed answers
  • Managed infrastructure: All model management handled behind the scenes - no API keys or fine-tuning required from users
  • Anti-hallucination technology: Advanced mechanisms ensure chatbot only answers based on provided content, improving trust and factual accuracy
R A G Capabilities
  • Knowledge Base Training: Upload documents (PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV) and website URLs to train chatbot on custom content
  • Retrieval-Augmented Responses: Grounds answers in uploaded knowledge base for factual accuracy and reduced hallucinations compared to pure LLM responses
  • Auto-Retraining: Daily, weekly, or monthly schedules on paid plans - NO real-time continuous sync with cloud storage
  • Simple RAG Workflow: No advanced features like semantic chunking controls, confidence scoring, or source citations - basic upload-and-query model
  • Manual Updates: Knowledge base updates require manual re-upload or retraining via dashboard or API /resync endpoint
  • NO Source Citations: Responses don't show which specific documents or URLs informed each answer - reduces transparency vs competitors (CustomGPT, Progress)
  • NO Confidence Scoring: No hallucination detection mechanisms documented - only indirect temperature control
  • Best for Simple Bots: Works well for small to medium-sized knowledge bases (500K-90M characters) - not designed for massive enterprise deployments
  • Performance Claims: 45% support question resolution, 4,000+ URLs processed with "reliable answers in real time" per user testimonials
  • AI Answers (Enterprise Add-On): Generative AI responses grounded in Stonly guides, external websites, and selected PDFs
  • Knowledge-Grounding: Responses anchored to structured content (interactive guides, decision trees, checklists) reducing hallucinations vs generic chatbots
  • Confidence-Based Fallback: Automatic switch to ML-powered search when AI confidence is low preventing unreliable answers
  • Multi-Source Ingestion: PDF uploads, public website crawling, Zendesk help center content indexing
  • Interactive Guide Format: Proprietary content model combining structured workflows with AI-generated answers
  • Limited Data Sources: No Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, SharePoint, or YouTube transcript extraction
  • Manual Content Updates: Updates through Stonly's visual editor—no automatic syncing from external sources
  • 71% Self-Serve Success Rate: Documented effectiveness of AI Answers in reducing support escalations
  • Hallucination Controls: Strong grounding in structured content vs open-ended conversational AI
  • Core architecture: GPT-4 combined with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, outperforming OpenAI in RAG benchmarks RAG Performance
  • Anti-hallucination technology: Advanced mechanisms reduce hallucinations and ensure responses are grounded in provided content Benchmark Details
  • Automatic citations: Each response includes clickable citations pointing to original source documents for transparency and verification
  • Optimized pipeline: Efficient vector search, smart chunking, and caching for sub-second reply times
  • Scalability: Maintains speed and accuracy for massive knowledge bases with tens of millions of words
  • Context-aware conversations: Multi-turn conversations with persistent history and comprehensive conversation management
  • Source verification: Always cites sources so users can verify facts on the spot
Use Cases
  • Website Chatbots: Quick embedding on websites for customer support and lead generation with simple JavaScript widget
  • WhatsApp Business: Native WhatsApp integration for conversational commerce and customer engagement on mobile-first platforms
  • Customer Support Automation: FAQ automation and basic support ticket routing reducing email inquiries by 45% (user testimonial: 1,500+ monthly inquiries)
  • Lead Generation: Built-in lead capture with system variables (name, email, phone) and qualification flows for sales pipeline building
  • Multi-Language Support: Automatic browser-based language detection across 85+ languages for global SMB audiences
  • Zapier Workflows: Connect to 7,000+ apps through Zapier for sales/marketing automation without coding
  • HTTP Request Actions: Custom API calls within visual builder for order lookups, CRM updates, external automations
  • E-commerce Support: Product information, order status, customer inquiry automation for online stores
  • SMB-Focused: Designed for small to mid-size businesses with straightforward chatbot needs and limited technical resources (5-minute setup time)
  • Customer Support Ticket Deflection: 70-76% ticket reduction through interactive self-service guides and AI Answers
  • Help Desk Integration: Deep Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, Freshdesk, ServiceNow integration for unified support workflows
  • Interactive Onboarding: Step-by-step guides, decision trees, and checklists for product onboarding and user education
  • Knowledge Base Enhancement: Augment traditional help centers with interactive guides and AI-powered search
  • Agent Assistance: Provide support agents with guided workflows and AI answers during live interactions
  • Multi-Language Support: Auto-translation on Enterprise plan for global support teams and multilingual customers
  • Complex Troubleshooting: Decision tree logic guides users through multi-step troubleshooting processes
  • Compliance & Training: Structured guides ensuring consistent information delivery for regulated industries
  • Customer support automation: AI assistants handling common queries, reducing support ticket volume, providing 24/7 instant responses with source citations
  • Internal knowledge management: Employee self-service for HR policies, technical documentation, onboarding materials, company procedures across 1,400+ file formats
  • Sales enablement: Product information chatbots, lead qualification, customer education with white-labeled widgets on websites and apps
  • Documentation assistance: Technical docs, help centers, FAQs with automatic website crawling and sitemap indexing
  • Educational platforms: Course materials, research assistance, student support with multimedia content (YouTube transcriptions, podcasts)
  • Healthcare information: Patient education, medical knowledge bases (SOC 2 Type II compliant for sensitive data)
  • Financial services: Product guides, compliance documentation, customer education with GDPR compliance
  • E-commerce: Product recommendations, order assistance, customer inquiries with API integration to 5,000+ apps via Zapier
  • SaaS onboarding: User guides, feature explanations, troubleshooting with multi-agent support for different teams
Security & Compliance
  • GDPR Compliant: EU data residency (DigitalOcean Amsterdam data center) with Data Processing Agreement and Standard Contractual Clauses
  • NO Training on Customer Data: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google agreements explicitly prohibit using Chatling customer content for model training
  • Trust Center: trust.chatling.ai with security documentation, sub-processor lists, and compliance details
  • Data Retention: Continues while accounts remain active, permanent deletion available upon request for GDPR compliance
  • Cloud Security: Data encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest following security best practices
  • Domain Whitelisting: Security control limiting widget embedding to authorized domains
  • CRITICAL GAPS FOR ENTERPRISE: NO SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO 27001 certifications - blocks regulated industry adoption (healthcare, finance, government)
  • NO SSO/SAML Support: Enterprise identity provider integration not documented - limits large enterprise adoption
  • NO IP Restrictions: Cannot limit access to specific IP ranges for security compliance
  • NO Audit Logs: Beyond basic analytics - compliance tracking and forensic capabilities limited
  • Single Data Center: Amsterdam only - no US, Asia-Pacific, or other regional data residency options for compliance
  • SOC 2 Type 2: Service Organization Control certification for security, availability, and confidentiality
  • GDPR Compliant: European data protection regulation compliance with data processing agreements
  • HIPAA Compliant: Healthcare data protection requirements for medical organizations and patient information
  • ISO 27001: International information security management system standard
  • PCI Compliant: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard for handling payment information
  • CSA Star Level 1: Cloud Security Alliance STAR self-assessment certification
  • Trust Center: Public trust.stonly.com with security documentation, subprocessor lists, and controls information
  • SAML 2.0 SSO (Enterprise): Single sign-on integration with enterprise identity providers
  • IP Allowlisting (Enterprise): Restrict access to specific IP ranges for enhanced security
  • Advanced RBAC (Enterprise): Role-based access control with granular permissions and activity tracking
  • Two-Factor Authentication: SMS, email, hardware tokens, TOTP, U2F for account security
  • International Data Transfers: Standard Contractual Clauses for EU compliance and data protection
  • Data Residency: Options not publicly documented—may limit deployment in certain jurisdictions
  • Encryption: SSL/TLS for data in transit, 256-bit AES encryption for data at rest
  • SOC 2 Type II certification: Industry-leading security standards with regular third-party audits Security Certifications
  • GDPR compliance: Full compliance with European data protection regulations, ensuring data privacy and user rights
  • Access controls: Role-based access control (RBAC), two-factor authentication (2FA), SSO integration for enterprise security
  • Data isolation: Customer data stays isolated and private - platform never trains on user data
  • Domain allowlisting: Ensures chatbot appears only on approved sites for security and brand protection
  • Secure deployments: ChatGPT Plugin support for private use cases with controlled access
Pricing & Plans
  • Free Tier: $0 - 100 AI credits, 2 chatbots, 1 seat, 500K KB characters, 8 models, unlimited non-AI chats without credit card
  • Pro Tier: $25/month - 3,000 credits, 5 chatbots, 2 seats, 20M characters (~3.2M words), 32 models, voice input, autosync
  • Ultimate Tier: $99/month - 12K-20K credits, 35 chatbots, 6 seats, 90M characters (~14.4M words), white-labeling, advanced analytics
  • Unlimited Non-AI Chats: All tiers include unlimited non-AI conversations - only AI-powered responses consume credits
  • 14-Day Money-Back Guarantee: Applies to initial purchases for risk-free testing
  • Add-Ons Available: Extra credits, characters, seats, and chatbots purchasable separately when plan limits exceeded
  • Credit System: Monthly reset with no carryover - usage planning required to avoid service interruption at 100% consumption
  • Competitive SMB Positioning: $25/month entry vs $700/month (Progress), $30K+/year (Drift, Yellow.ai) - 10-100x cheaper for small businesses
  • Transparent Pricing: No hidden fees, confusing tier jumps, or expensive add-on stacking costs
  • Basic (Free): 5 guides, 400 views/month, 1 seat, single language, Stonly branding
  • Small Business ($249/mo or $199/mo annual): Unlimited guides, 4,000 views/month, 5 seats, 3 knowledge bases, CSS customization, Zapier, NPS surveys
  • Enterprise (Custom, ~$39K/year avg): Custom views, unlimited seats, white-label, SAML SSO, auto-translation, CSAT/CES surveys, Mobile SDKs
  • AI Answers (Enterprise Add-On): Available only as paid add-on to Enterprise plan—not included in Small Business tier
  • Overage Pricing: +15K views = $200/month, +30K views = $400/month (escalates quickly)
  • Automatic Tier Upgrades: Exceeding limits for 2 consecutive months triggers automatic upgrade and billing adjustment
  • Enterprise-Gated Features: AI Answers, Mobile SDKs, SAML SSO, white-labeling all require Enterprise plan
  • Average Enterprise Contract: ~$39,000 annually according to Vendr procurement data
  • Standard Plan: $99/month or $89/month annual - 10 custom chatbots, 5,000 items per chatbot, 60 million words per bot, basic helpdesk support, standard security View Pricing
  • Premium Plan: $499/month or $449/month annual - 100 custom chatbots, 20,000 items per chatbot, 300 million words per bot, advanced support, enhanced security, additional customization
  • Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing - Comprehensive AI solutions, highest security and compliance, dedicated account managers, custom SSO, token authentication, priority support with faster SLAs Enterprise Solutions
  • 7-Day Free Trial: Full access to Standard features without charges - available to all users
  • Annual billing discount: Save 10% by paying upfront annually ($89/mo Standard, $449/mo Premium)
  • Flat monthly rates: No per-query charges, no hidden costs for API access or white-labeling (included in all plans)
  • Managed infrastructure: Auto-scaling cloud infrastructure included - no additional hosting or scaling fees
Support & Documentation
  • Email-Only Support: support@chatling.ai - NO live chat, phone support, or published SLAs (email support can be slow per reviews)
  • G2 Support Rating: 9.2/10 quality despite email-only channel and response time concerns
  • Comprehensive Documentation: docs.chatling.ai with getting started guides, API reference, integration tutorials, flow builder instructions
  • Video Tutorials: Supplement written documentation for visual learners
  • Action Tutorial Library: Practical HTTP request examples for common integrations (e.g., "Fetch and Email Order Confirmation")
  • Trust Center: trust.chatling.ai for security documentation and compliance details
  • REST API v2: https://api.chatling.ai/v2/ with Bearer token authentication and 300 requests/minute rate limit
  • MISSING ECOSYSTEM: NO community forum, Discord, Slack workspace, or public status page for peer support
  • NO Public Roadmap: Feature development transparency limited compared to competitors
  • Enterprise Support: Requires contacting sales - no dedicated support tiers publicly documented
  • 4.8/5 G2 Rating: 132 reviews with consistently high satisfaction scores
  • Ease of Use Praised: "Ease of use" mentioned 32 times in G2 reviews indicating intuitive platform
  • Help Center Documentation: Comprehensive guides and tutorials for platform features
  • Email and Chat Support: Standard support channels for all paid plans
  • Dedicated Support (Enterprise): Priority support with dedicated account team and faster response times
  • Pre-Built Templates: Common support scenario templates accelerating guide creation
  • Quick Onboarding: Users report creating guides in under 30 minutes with small learning curve
  • REST API Documentation: API reference for user provisioning, content management, and widget control
  • Mobile SDKs (Enterprise): iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter for native app integration
  • Limited Developer Resources: No Python/Node.js SDKs, GraphQL, OpenAPI specs, or API Explorer/sandbox
  • Documentation hub: Rich docs, tutorials, cookbooks, FAQs, API references for rapid onboarding Developer Docs
  • Email and in-app support: Quick support via email and in-app chat for all users
  • Premium support: Premium and Enterprise plans include dedicated account managers and faster SLAs
  • Code samples: Cookbooks, step-by-step guides, and examples for every skill level API Documentation
  • Open-source resources: Python SDK (customgpt-client), Postman collections, GitHub integrations Open-Source SDK
  • Active community: User community plus 5,000+ app integrations through Zapier ecosystem
  • Regular updates: Platform stays current with ongoing GPT and retrieval improvements automatically
Limitations & Considerations
  • Single Flow Management: Larger bots get unwieldy because everything lives inside single flow - no folder organization like ManyChat for complex conversation trees
  • NO Live Chat Support: Doesn't include live chat feature - blended human-AI support approach unavailable without Zapier workarounds
  • Separate Bots Per Channel: Need to build separate chatbot for website vs WhatsApp - no unified multi-channel bot creation
  • Limited Advanced Features: Once you need fallback behavior, confidence scoring, or content indexing control, limitations appear
  • Barebones Analytics: Analytics pretty barebones compared to enterprise platforms with detailed conversation intelligence and custom report builders
  • Knowledge Base Management Challenges: For e-shop or site with lots of pages, nightmare to sort which pages to add - no Excel import for bulk management
  • Data Quality Dependency: If data isn't clean, bot might pull irrelevant answers - heavily dependent on training data quality and curation
  • NO Flow Import/Export: Cannot import or export flows, no option to copy or duplicate full group of blocks for version control
  • Screen Reader Accessibility: Does not support accessibility for blind users using screen readers - inclusivity limitation cited in reviews
  • Analytics Behind Paywall: Analytics locked behind paid plans - free tier lacks conversation insights for optimization
  • Setup Time Investment: Configuring chatbot tone takes manual effort, assembling strong knowledge base not plug-and-play despite 5-minute claims
  • Learning Curve: Takes while to learn how to use builder and tools despite drag-and-drop interface and visual design
  • Integration Gaps: Heavy reliance on Zapier might limit functionality if service experiences downtime - not all third-party platforms supported natively
  • Interface Overwhelm: Drag-and-drop can be overwhelming for new users unfamiliar with chatbot design principles and flow logic
  • Best for Small-to-Medium Bots: Works best for small to medium-sized bots rather than massive enterprise-level projects with complex requirements
  • B2B Messaging Gaps: NO native Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Telegram integrations - limits enterprise internal use cases
  • NO Official SDKs: Must build own HTTP clients or rely on community implementations - no official JavaScript or Python SDKs
  • Enterprise Compliance Gaps: NO SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001 certifications disqualifies platform for regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government)
  • NOT a RAG-as-a-Service Platform: Fundamentally a knowledge base tool with embedded AI—not a flexible RAG backend
  • AI Answers Enterprise-Gated: Core AI capabilities require expensive Enterprise plan (~$39K/year)—not available on $249/month Small Business tier
  • Undisclosed AI Model: No transparency on LLM provider—users cannot select or customize models
  • Limited Data Source Flexibility: PDF, public web, Zendesk only—missing Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, SharePoint, YouTube
  • No Automatic Content Syncing: Manual updates through visual editor—no real-time integration with external knowledge sources
  • Missing Consumer Messaging: No Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, Microsoft Teams native integrations (confirmed by user reviews)
  • No Omnichannel Messaging: Primarily website embedding and help desk integration—limited multi-channel support
  • Cannot Edit on Mobile: Guide creation and editing restricted to desktop—mobile limitation for on-the-go teams
  • Angular Compatibility Issues: Reported "random" behavior with Angular framework dynamic code
  • No Real-Time Analytics: Flow reports update every 15 minutes—not true real-time monitoring
  • Limited Developer API: No Python/Node.js SDKs, GraphQL, Swagger specs, or API sandbox for testing
  • Overage Pricing Escalation: View limits can trigger expensive automatic upgrades after 2 consecutive months
  • Not Ideal For: Developers seeking pure RAG API, multi-tenant SaaS RAG backends, use cases needing model selection/fine-tuning, or flexible data source integration
  • Managed service approach: Less control over underlying RAG pipeline configuration compared to build-your-own solutions like LangChain
  • Vendor lock-in: Proprietary platform - migration to alternative RAG solutions requires rebuilding knowledge bases
  • Model selection: Limited to OpenAI (GPT-4, GPT-3.5) and Anthropic (Claude) - no support for other LLM providers (Cohere, AI21, open-source models)
  • Pricing at scale: Flat-rate pricing may become expensive for very high-volume use cases (millions of queries/month) compared to pay-per-use models
  • Customization limits: While highly configurable, some advanced RAG techniques (custom reranking, hybrid search strategies) may not be exposed
  • Language support: Supports 90+ languages but performance may vary for less common languages or specialized domains
  • Real-time data: Knowledge bases require re-indexing for updates - not ideal for real-time data requirements (stock prices, live inventory)
  • Enterprise features: Some advanced features (custom SSO, token authentication) only available on Enterprise plan with custom pricing
Additional Considerations
  • Simplicity as Strength: Platform strongest feature is simplicity designed so anyone regardless of technical background can build powerful GPT-enabled chatbot quickly
  • No-Code Accessibility: Drag-and-drop interface makes creating AI chatbots accessible to non-technical users with minimal learning curve
  • Multilingual Versatility: Supports over 85 languages ensuring chatbot can communicate with diverse linguistic backgrounds automatically
  • Integration Flexibility: Seamless integration with HubSpot, Zendesk, Zoho, Google Sheets, Cal.com, and Zapier for workflow automation
  • Cost-Effective Free Plan: Unique free plan doesn't cap conversations - if you don't need AI-powered replies, stay free forever making it most cost-effective for SMBs
  • Latest AI Models: Powered by latest large language models including GPT, Gemini, and Claude ensuring cutting-edge performance
  • WhatsApp Native Integration: Works seamlessly on websites and WhatsApp providing mobile-first customer engagement capabilities
  • Proven Reliability: G2 reviews praise "chatbots have never gone down" with 4.8/5 rating from 53-63 reviews demonstrating strong uptime
  • Support Deflection Success: User reported 45% of support questions resolved reducing email inquiries from 1,500+ monthly for efficiency gains
  • Security & Privacy: Industry-standard security with data encryption in transit and at rest, GDPR compliant with regular security audits
  • Training Flexibility: Upload documents, add websites, connect data sources to train AI chatbot automatically on custom content
  • Trade-Off: Simplicity vs Advanced Features: Exceptional usability and ease comes at cost of advanced features like custom flows, live chat, enterprise compliance
  • Best Fit: Small to mid-size businesses prioritizing rapid deployment, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness over enterprise-grade features and compliance
  • Limited UI customization: Limited ability to customize user interface and workflows to match specific brand requirements is primary user concern
  • Basic collaboration tools: Without real-time editing or advanced team management features can hinder team productivity when multiple people need to work together
  • No offline access: Guides unavailable without internet connectivity reducing usability in areas with unreliable internet
  • Performance degradation: Can degrade with very large or complex guides causing slower responsiveness indicating scalability concerns
  • Restricted language options: Limit efficient creation of multilingual content which may be barrier for global organizations
  • Mixed media support missing: Users find missing features wishing for mixed media support and enhanced reporting tools
  • Step ordering difficulties: Users report limitations in feature usability and difficulties with step ordering though support offers helpful workarounds
  • Requires coding knowledge: Unlike most competitors, doesn't advertise as no-code platform - need coding knowledge to track events, target users, stream data, and style content
  • Image workflow limitations: Inability to use images in base offering limits utility in some workflows with some advanced features requiring extra costs
  • View-based pricing: Charges additional fees based on guide views - customers exceeding 4,000 guide views/month pay extra $250-500 monthly depending on volume
  • Integration reliability: Users find lack of integrations limits ability to fully connect Stonly with other tools - Stonly/Zendesk integration isn't as reliable as desired (stops working every few weeks)
  • Slashes engineering overhead with an all-in-one RAG platform—no in-house ML team required.
  • Gets you to value quickly: launch a functional AI assistant in minutes.
  • Stays current with ongoing GPT and retrieval improvements, so you’re always on the latest tech.
  • Balances top-tier accuracy with ease of use, perfect for customer-facing or internal knowledge projects.
Core Chatbot Features
  • AI-Powered Responses: Accurate, round-the-clock customer support trained on business data from URLs, FAQs, knowledge bases, documents, text inputs
  • No-Code Visual Builder: Intuitive drag-and-drop builder requiring no coding expertise - heart of Chatling 2.0 update and game-changer for non-technical users
  • Multi-Turn Conversations: Maintains conversation history and context for natural, flowing dialogues rather than treating each query independently
  • Multi-Language Support: 85+ languages with automatic browser-based language detection - bot responds in user's detected language without manual configuration
  • 24/7 Availability: Operates around the clock ensuring customers receive feedback when needed without human intervention
  • Lead Capture Forms: Built-in form builder for embedding within conversation flows to collect customer information seamlessly
  • Analytics & Insights: Tracks customer conversations to identify gaps in support resources with visual metrics, heatmaps, and trend graphs
  • Customization Options: Tailor every aspect from chat interface to conversational logic matching brand tone and style with color picker, icon uploader, settings toggles
  • Integration Capabilities: Easily integrates with websites (WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify) and platforms like HubSpot, Zendesk, Zoho, Zapier
  • Multiple Chatbots: Create multiple chatbots per account (1 on Free, 2 on Pro, 5 on Pro, 35 on Ultimate) for different use cases
  • Conversation Management: Real-time monitoring, message history viewing, popular question identification for knowledge base optimization
  • 45% Resolution Rate: User testimonial reports 45% of support questions successfully resolved with email reduction from 1,500+ monthly inquiries
  • Interactive step-by-step guides: Visual flow builder for creating structured content paths
  • Decision trees and branching logic: Guide users through complex troubleshooting with intelligent path selection
  • Checklists and task management: Help users complete multi-step processes with progress tracking
  • Contact forms and lead capture: Integrated forms for collecting customer information during interactions
  • Content versioning: Side-by-side comparison and instant restore on Business and Enterprise plans for content management
  • Multi-language support: Auto-translation on Enterprise plan for global deployments
  • Knowledge bases: 3 on Small Business plan, unlimited on Enterprise for organizing content
  • Guide views tracking: 400 (Free), 4,000 (Small Business), custom (Enterprise) for monitoring usage
  • NPS surveys: Available on all plans for measuring customer satisfaction
  • CSAT and CES surveys: Enterprise only for comprehensive satisfaction and effort measurement
  • Reduces hallucinations by grounding replies in your data and adding source citations for transparency. Benchmark Details
  • Handles multi-turn, context-aware chats with persistent history and solid conversation management.
  • Speaks 90+ languages, making global rollouts straightforward.
  • Includes extras like lead capture (email collection) and smooth handoff to a human when needed.
Core Knowledge Base Features
N/A
  • Interactive step-by-step guides with visual flow builder
  • Decision trees and branching logic
  • Checklists and task management
  • Contact forms and lead capture
  • Content versioning: Side-by-side comparison, instant restore
  • Multi-language support: Auto-translation on Enterprise plan
  • Knowledge bases: 3 on Small Business, unlimited on Enterprise
  • Guide views tracking: 400 (Free), 4,000 (Small Business), custom (Enterprise)
  • NPS surveys: All plans
  • CSAT and CES surveys: Enterprise only
N/A
A I Answers Feature ( Enterprise Only)
N/A
  • Note: Available only as paid Enterprise add-on - not included in Small Business plan
  • Generative AI responses grounded in Stonly guides, external websites, and selected PDFs
  • 20 AI Profiles per team: Define tone, boundaries, and behavior
  • 100 Custom Instructions per team: Detailed response rules
  • Guided AI Answers: Predefined responses for specific questions
  • Confidence-based fallback: Automatically switches to ML-powered search when AI confidence is low
  • 71% self-serve success rate achieved with AI Answers
  • Hallucination reduction: Knowledge-grounding approach vs generic chatbots
N/A

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Final Thoughts

Final Verdict: Chatling vs Stonly

After analyzing features, pricing, performance, and user feedback, both Chatling and Stonly are capable platforms that serve different market segments and use cases effectively.

When to Choose Chatling

  • You value broadest ai model selection (32 models) among no-code platforms - includes gpt-5, claude 4.5, gemini 2.5 with per-block flexibility
  • Generous free tier: 100 AI credits, 2 chatbots, 8 models, 500K characters - meaningful testing capacity without credit card
  • Unlimited non-AI chats across all tiers reduces usage anxiety and cost unpredictability

Best For: Broadest AI model selection (32 models) among no-code platforms - includes GPT-5, Claude 4.5, Gemini 2.5 with per-block flexibility

When to Choose Stonly

  • You value exceptional ease of use - 4.8/5 g2 rating with intuitive visual editor praised in 32 reviews
  • Deep help desk integrations - bidirectional Zendesk, Salesforce, Freshdesk, ServiceNow connections
  • Strong compliance - SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI, CSA Star Level 1

Best For: Exceptional ease of use - 4.8/5 G2 rating with intuitive visual editor praised in 32 reviews

Migration & Switching Considerations

Switching between Chatling and Stonly requires careful planning. Consider data export capabilities, API compatibility, and integration complexity. Both platforms offer migration support, but expect 2-4 weeks for complete transition including testing and team training.

Pricing Comparison Summary

Chatling starts at $25/month, while Stonly begins at $249/month. Total cost of ownership should factor in implementation time, training requirements, API usage fees, and ongoing support. Enterprise deployments typically see annual costs ranging from $10,000 to $500,000+ depending on scale and requirements.

Our Recommendation Process

  1. Start with a free trial - Both platforms offer trial periods to test with your actual data
  2. Define success metrics - Response accuracy, latency, user satisfaction, cost per query
  3. Test with real use cases - Don't rely on generic demos; use your production data
  4. Evaluate total cost - Factor in implementation time, training, and ongoing maintenance
  5. Check vendor stability - Review roadmap transparency, update frequency, and support quality

For most organizations, the decision between Chatling and Stonly comes down to specific requirements rather than overall superiority. Evaluate both platforms with your actual data during trial periods, focusing on accuracy, latency, ease of integration, and total cost of ownership.

📚 Next Steps

Ready to make your decision? We recommend starting with a hands-on evaluation of both platforms using your specific use case and data.

  • Review: Check the detailed feature comparison table above
  • Test: Sign up for free trials and test with real queries
  • Calculate: Estimate your monthly costs based on expected usage
  • Decide: Choose the platform that best aligns with your requirements

Last updated: December 4, 2025 | This comparison is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the latest platform capabilities, pricing, and user feedback.

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Priyansh Khodiyar's avatar

Priyansh Khodiyar

DevRel at CustomGPT.ai. Passionate about AI and its applications. Here to help you navigate the world of AI tools and make informed decisions for your business.

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