Businesses use conversational AI to manage customer interactions and handle high inquiry volumes, reducing long wait times in queues. IBM’s watsonx assistant is one of the most popular options in the field, but with over 200 platforms available, choosing the right one can be overwhelming, as no tool is perfect.
We evaluated IBM watsonx’s features and explored five alternatives that may be better suited to your business needs.
IBM Watsonx assistant
IBM watsonx Assistant is a conversational AI platform within the IBM watsonx suite, created to assist enterprises in developing AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots. It combines large language models (LLMs) with business logic to provide support across multiple channels and specific domains.
IBM watsonx Assistant is a part of IBM’s wider watsonx ecosystem, which also includes watsonx.ai for AI development, watsonx.data for data management, and watsonx.governance for managing the AI lifecycle.
Key features
- Generative AI conversational search: Without the need for human script generation, generative AI conversational search uses LLMs to respond to user inquiries from enterprise content.
- Omnichannel deployment: Facilitates Slack, messaging apps, voice, mobile, and web chat.
- Low-Code Action Builder: A low-code/no-code interface enables the creation of conversation flows, control of intents, and interaction with APIs.
- Contextual answers with grounding: For increased accuracy, responses can be grounded in specific knowledge bases or vector databases.
- Analytics & testing tools: Web inspector debugging, deeper conversation analytics, and an infinite number of tests per run.
- Security & compliance: Watsonx.governance integration, data encryption, and role-based access control.
- Language support: Conversational search is now available in Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, German, and French.
Pricing
Version | Pricing/month | Users/month | Bots offered | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lite | Free | 100 | 3 | 7 days |
Plus | $140 | 1000 | 10 | 30 days |
Enterprise | Custom | 50000 | 30 | 90 days |
Why look for IBM Watson alternatives?
You should explore alternatives to watsonx Assistant if you:
- Find IBM’s pricing too costly for your budget.
- Need a simpler solution that avoids enterprise-level complexity.
- Do not require advanced analytics to be included in your current plans.
- Want quicker deployment with less technical complexity.
We have identified solutions that align with watsonx Assistant’s features (enterprise-grade, flexible, and integrable) while also addressing its possible limitations. Our recommended options are:
- Zoho SalesIQ
- Google Dialogflow
- Tidio
- Kore.ai
- Microsoft Azure Bot Service
1. Zoho SalesIQ
Zoho SalesIQ is a platform designed specifically for sales and customer interaction. With the help of this integrated live chat and analytics tool, companies may communicate with clients more actively.
Pricing
Plan | Price*
(per month per operator) | Visitors per month | Chat sessions per month | Chatbots | Extra Capabilities Offered** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | 0 | 10K | 100 | 0 | -Basic visitor information -Voice note – Mobile SDK -Integration with Zoho apps |
Basic | €10 | 50K | 1000 | 1 | -Messaging channels -FAQ & Articles -Email signature chat -Third-party integrations |
Professional | €17 | 100K | Unlimited | 5 | -Custom widgets -Block IP -Weekly and monthly reports -TV app |
Enterprise | €25 | 200K | Unlimited | 10 | -Chat translation -NLP driven Answer Bot -Integrations with Cloud Telephony and PBX systems |
*Pricing is for monthly payments; you can also receive discounted rates for annual billing.
**The higher plans include all features of the lower plans, along with the new features offered.
Key features
- Real-time visitor tracking: Businesses can access detailed tracking data for visitors, including page views, location, and referral sources, helping them better understand and personalize the customer journey.
- Easy integration: SalesIQ offers plug-and-play integration with over 30 apps, including Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, and various third-party tools, enabling businesses to consolidate and analyze customer data on a single platform.
- Resource library: Built-in articles and FAQ management.
- Contact management: Comprehensive B2C and B2B contact handling.
2. Google Cloud Dialogflow
Google Dialogflow allows the development of chatbots, voice assistants, and virtual assistants that connect with multiple conversational platforms such as Google Assistant, Slack, and Telegram.
Pricing
Google Dialogflow provides two packages:
- ES Agent: $0.002 per text request (ideal for small businesses)
- CX Agent: $0.007 per text request (designed for larger companies)
For 16,000 requests per month:
- ES Agent: $384 annually
- CX Agent: $1344 annually
Key Features
- No-code development: An easy-to-use interface that requires no programming experience to define intent, train models, and construct conversation flows.
- Advanced training: Streamlined chatbot training in which generative AI generates intelligent responses based on input.
- Comprehensive analytics: An in-depth dashboard that offers data and insights for managing bots on their own.
- Google ecosystem integration: Smooth interaction between Google services, such as Google Assistant, BigQuery, and Cloud Functions.
3. Tidio
Tidio is a comprehensive customer support platform that combines multichannel messaging, AI chatbots, and live chat. Due to its extensive automation features and user-friendly interface, it is especially popular among small and medium-sized businesses.
Pricing
Plan | Price (per month) | Conversations | Lyro AI Conversations | Other capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | 50 | 50 | Live chat |
Starter | $29 | 100 | 50 | Basic analytics and live visitors list |
Growth | $59 | 2000 | 50 | Advanced analytics and Tidio power features |
Plus | $749 | Custom quota | 5000 | Dedicated success manager, multilanguage choice and OpenAPI |
Premium | Custom | Custom quota | 5000+ | Guaranteed 50% Lyro AI resolution rate and priority service |
Key features
- Lyro AI Agent: Supporting 12 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, Tidio’s conversational AI can automate up to 90% of client inquiries.
- Visual chatbot builder: A drag-and-drop interface with ready-made templates and automated triggers that lets users create chatbot flows without coding knowledge.
- Multi-channel integration: Easily manage interactions from websites, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and email through a single dashboard.
- Real-time visitor tracking: Provides detailed information about website visitors, including the pages they’ve viewed, their location, and their browsing patterns.
- Lead generation tools: Pre-chat surveys, automated workflows, and proactive messaging to effectively capture and nurture leads.
4.Kore.ai
Kore.ai is another alternative to IBM Watson. Their chatbots and virtual assistants run on a no-code, flexible platform accessible to both citizen developers and professional programmers.
Pricing
Kore.ai doesn’t publicly display its pricing for its plans.
Key features
- Data efficiency: Can be tailored for various use cases with minimal training data.
- Comprehensive documentation: Comes with detailed training resources and user guides for easy adoption.
- Advanced analytics: Features a detailed dashboard providing insights such as user sentiment analysis.
- Enterprise scalability: Built on a strong architecture capable of supporting large-scale deployments.
5. Microsoft Azure Bot Service
The Azure Bot Service provides cloud-based tools for creating, testing, deploying, and managing intelligent bots across multiple channels, such as web chat, email, and SMS.
Pricing
Pricing Component | Cost | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
Standard Channels | Free | Microsoft Teams, Skype, Facebook, Slack, and other publicly available Bot APIs |
Premium Channels | Free for first 10,000 messages/month, then $0.50/1,000 messages | DirectLine, Web Chat with custom applications and websites and other premium channels |
There are some additional costs for services such as:
- App Service hosting costs vary depending on the selected plan, typically ranging from $10 to over $50 per month for production.
- Application Insights is provisioned at the basic tier automatically.
Key features
- Multi-channel deployment: Use bots on social media, Microsoft Teams, mobile apps, and websites.
- Bot Framework SDK: A complete development kit for building and modifying bot logic.
- Azure AI integration: Language Understanding (LUIS) and other Azure cognitive services are integrated.
- Scalable infrastructure: Cloud infrastructure of enterprise caliber that can manage large volumes of interactions
FAQ
Furter Reading
Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE and NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and resources that referenced AIMultiple.
Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised enterprises on their technology decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.
He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.
Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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