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AI · head to head

Chatbase vs Seldon

Chatbase logo

Chatbase

AI

Build AI chatbots trained on your data

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Seldon logo

Seldon

Machine Learning

Kubernetes model serving whose current version is licensed under the Business Source Licence

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Chatbase enterprise plan requires custom pricing with sales contact; Seldon seldon Core v2 is under the Business Source Licence rather than Apache 2.0, so production use requires a commercial agreement, and a team that evaluated it believing it was open source discovers the licence is the blocker exactly when the project is ready to ship.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chatbase and Seldon actually diverge.

Attributes where Chatbase and Seldon differ
AttributeChatbaseSeldon
PlatformsWebLinux
CategoryAIMachine Learning
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Chatbase

Nothing recorded that Seldon does not also cover.

Only in Seldon

  • Kubernetes custom resources
  • Inference graphs
  • Traffic strategies
  • Open Inference Protocol
  • Alibi Explain
  • Alibi Detect
  • Kafka-backed pipelines in v2
  • Commercial control plane

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Chatbase

  • Automating customer support for returnsnot Seldon
  • Answering product questions 24/7 across channelsnot Seldon
  • Routing conversations to sales teamsnot Seldon
  • Escalating complex issues to human agentsnot Seldon

Seldon

  • Serving an ensemble or a multi-stage inference path as one versioned deployment rather than as a chain of separate servicesnot Chatbase
  • Running genuine production experiments where a share of live traffic goes to a candidate model and the results are comparednot Chatbase
  • Regulated environments needing explanations and drift monitoring attached to the served model rather than bolted on laternot Chatbase
  • Organisations with an established Kubernetes platform team who want serving expressed as manifests under existing deployment controlsnot Chatbase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Chatbase

  • Enterprise plan requires custom pricing with sales contact
  • Message credits are consumption-based; exceeding monthly allocation requires additional purchase

Seldon

  • Seldon Core v2 is under the Business Source Licence rather than Apache 2.0, so production use requires a commercial agreement, and a team that evaluated it believing it was open source discovers the licence is the blocker exactly when the project is ready to ship.
  • Core v1 remains Apache 2.0 but is in maintenance, so taking the free route means running software that receives no new development while the architecture it belongs to moves on without it.
  • Version 2 is a different system rather than a newer release, with different custom resources, a scheduler component and a Kafka-based pipeline model, so migrating from v1 is a re-implementation of every deployment manifest rather than an upgrade.
  • Kafka is a dependency for v2 pipelines, so an organisation that does not already operate it takes on a distributed log with its own storage, retention, rebalancing and failure modes purely in order to serve models.
  • Everything assumes Kubernetes fluency and the failure modes are Kubernetes failure modes, custom resource version mismatches, an operator that will not reconcile, admission webhooks and resource limits terminating an inference pod mid-request, so it needs a platform engineer rather than a data scientist.

Pricing, plan by plan

Chatbase

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 50 message credits monthly
    • 1 member
    • Limited model access
  • Hobby$40/month
    • 700 message credits
    • 2 members
    • Advanced models
  • Standard$150/month
    • 4,000 message credits
    • 3 members
    • Voice
  • Pro$500/month
    • 15,000 message credits
    • 5 members
    • Advanced analytics

Seldon

Free
  • Seldon CoreFree
    • Open source
    • Kubernetes deployment
    • Model serving
  • Seldon DeployFree
    • Enterprise features
    • GUI
    • Monitoring

Which should you pick?

Choose Chatbase if

  • You want to start without paying.
Chatbase review

Choose Seldon if

  • You need kubernetes custom resources.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want inference graphs.
Seldon review

Questions people ask

Is Chatbase or Seldon better?
Neither clearly leads. Chatbase starts at Free and Seldon at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chatbase or Seldon?
Chatbase starts at Free and Seldon at Free.
Does Chatbase or Seldon run on more platforms?
Chatbase runs on Web. Seldon runs on Linux.
Can I use Chatbase for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Chatbase best used for?
Chatbase is most often used for automating customer support for returns, answering product questions 24/7 across channels, routing conversations to sales teams, escalating complex issues to human agents. Of those, automating customer support for returns and answering product questions 24/7 across channels are not what Seldon is typically brought in for.
What can Chatbase do that Seldon cannot?
Seldon covers Kubernetes custom resources, Inference graphs, Traffic strategies, Open Inference Protocol.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chatbase: Is there a free tier for Chatbase?

Yes, Chatbase offers a free plan with 50 message credits per month, 1 team member, and limited access to AI models. Agents created on the free plan automatically delete after 14 days of inactivity.

Source
Seldon: Is Seldon open source?

Partly, and this is the thing to check before you build on it. Core v1 is Apache 2.0 but in maintenance. Core v2 was moved to the Business Source Licence in 2024, which allows evaluation but not unlicensed production use. Verify the current licence of each component you intend to run, including MLServer and the Alibi libraries.

Chatbase: What are the differences between Standard and Pro plans?

Standard ($150/month) includes 4,000 message credits and 3 team members with voice, telephony, and API access. Pro ($500/month) includes 15,000 message credits, 5 team members, and advanced analytics with ticket support.

Source
Seldon: What is the difference between v1 and v2?

Architecture, not just version number. v2 introduces a scheduler, a different set of custom resources and Kafka-backed pipelines. Manifests, mental model and operations all change, so treat a move as a project.

Chatbase: How much does it cost to add extra team members beyond the plan limit?

Chatbase's pricing page does not specify the cost for adding extra team members beyond the included count in each plan. Contact sales for custom member add-on pricing.

Source
Seldon: Do I need Kubernetes?

Yes. It is a Kubernetes-native system and there is no meaningful deployment without a cluster and someone competent to run it.

Chatbase: Do annual plans offer a discount?

Yes, yearly plans save 20% compared to monthly billing across all tiers.

Source
Seldon: What is MLServer?

Seldon's Python inference server implementing the Open Inference Protocol, usable inside Seldon deployments or on its own. Check its current licence alongside Core's, since the company has moved projects onto the Business Source Licence.

Seldon: Do I have to run Kafka?

For v2 pipelines, yes. If you only need single models served, that dependency is a large amount of infrastructure for the benefit, and a simpler serving layer may be the better answer.

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