Which one is better? ManyChat vs Chatfuel
By Joren Wouters • Updated on
ManyChat and Chatfuel are both in the top 3 for most searched chatbot software on Google.
They are both used for building Facebook Messenger chatbots and require zero coding experience, which means anyone can build a chatbot!
But which platform should you use? What are the differences between them? And which platform is better?
Let’s find out!
The used criteria
1. Interface
ManyChat
The ManyChat interface of ManyChat is one of the best interfaces I have ever seen in chatbot software. And this is because of the flexibility.
In ManyChat you can choose between two interfaces: The Basic builder (kind of like the “Block” structure in Chatfuel) and the Flow builder (which is a visual flow builder):
Moreover, you can test the chatbot in Facebook Messenger, before it actually goes live.
- Visual Flow Builder
- Test chatbot
- Interface easy to use?
- Easy to setup a chatbot?
Chatfuel
Just like ManyChat, Chatfuel also provides two kinds of builders: a Visual Flow Builder and a Block Builder:
So this gives you enough flexibility to build your chatbot flows.
One important thing to mention is that you cannot use the builders interchangeably. This means that the flows you build in the Visual Flow Builder are not visible in the Block builder and vice versa.
Besides, you can test the chatbot in the interface.
- Visual Flow Builder
- Test chatbot
- Interface easy to use?
- Easy to setup a chatbot?
No winner
There is no winner on this category.
They both provide two kinds of interfaces to build your chatbot.
ManyChat has one small advantage over Chatfuel, because with them you can use the two builders interchangeably. But I think that’s not enough to actually win this category.
2. Chatbot Elements
ManyChat
ManyChat has all the chatbot elements you need in order to build a chatbot. The only thing that they don’t provide is Vertical Lists, which is logical, because Facebook Messenger doesn’t allow this anymore.
- Delays
- Images
- Video
- Audio
- Attachments
- Gallery (Horizontal list)
- Vertical list
- Emojis
- Persistent Menu
- Quick Replies
- Buttons
- Free text input
- Location sharing
- Email validation
- Phone number validation
- Date validation
Chatfuel
Chatfuel has also all the chatbot elements you need. They only don’t provide Files, Vertical lists and Location sharing. But as said before, Vertical Lists are not possible with Messenger and Files are no deal-breaker.
- Delays
- Images
- Video
- Audio
- Attachments
- Gallery (Horizontal list)
- Vertical list
- Emojis
- Persistent Menu
- Quick Replies
- Buttons
- Free text input
- Location sharing
- Email validation
- Phone number validation
- Date validation
The winner: ManyChat
This is a small win for ManyChat.
They both do great on the number of chatbot elements they provide, but ManyChat has just two more: Attachments and location sharing.
3. Users
ManyChat
With ManyChat you can add custom fields and tags to specific users. Based on those custom fields and tags, you can send messages to specific user segments.
In ManyChat you can view all the users of your chatbot in the “Audience” tab, which gives you a good overview:
In this overview you can click on each individual user and get all the information of that user, which is extremely useful:
Chatfuel
With Chatfuel it is really easy to add custom fields to specific users. Based on those custom fields, you can send messages to specific user segments.
In Chatfuel you can see all your users of your chatbot in the “People” tab:
When you click on one of the users, you can see all the information related to a user in a pop-up:
A disadvantage of Chatfuel is that you cannot add tags to users. This, however, can be solved by using custom fields as tags. You can just make a custom field and set the value to “Yes” or “No”, so this isn’t a really big deal.
The winner: ManyChat
This is a small win for ManyChat.
With ManyChat ticking off all the boxes, Chatfuel misses one.
The reason why I think of it as a small win is because the Tags feature can easily be solved by using custom fields as tags.
4. Messages
ManyChat
Manychat provides broadcasts, sequences and also subscribing/unsubscribing from sequences.
What I really like about the sequences in ManyChat is that they are really organized. You can see the complete sequence in one overview and you also see which message is sent at which time, a really good feature.
Also, with ManyChat you can use a feature called “Conditions”, in which you can use logic to send users through a certain flow.
With ManyChat it is possible to make a chatbot in any language, but it is not possible to easily translate this chatbot to different languages (because you need to do this manually and copy your complete chatbot).
- Broadcasts
- Sequences
- Conditions
- Multiple languages
- Easy to translate
Chatfuel
Chatfuel provides broadcasts, sequences, and even the subscribing/unsubscribing from sequences.
It is really easy to make a sequence of messages in Chatfuel. You can see the complete sequence of all the messages you want to send in one overview:
Just as ManyChat, you can create conditions in your chatbot flows to make a more personalized experience for your users.
Moreover, it is possible to make a chatbot in any language, but it is not easy to translate the chatbot to different languages. Just like with ManyChat, this comes with a lot of copy-pasting.
- Broadcasts
- Sequences
- Conditions
- Multiple languages
- Easy to translate
No winner
They are equally well on this category.
With both, you can send broadcasts & sequences, use conditions and make a chatbot in multiple languages.
5. AI & NLP
ManyChat
With ManyChat it is only possible to recognize keywords with your chatbot. Based on a keyword (or a group of keywords) your chatbot gives a certain response.
How it looks in ManyChat:
It is no possible to grab the intent of the user, use synonyms or use entities.
ManyChat also doesn’t have a direct integration with DialogFlow. But, you can connect with DialogFlow, but you need Janis for this.
- Keywords
- Intents
- Entities
- Dialogflow integration
Chatfuel
With Chatfuel it is really the same as with ManyChat. Your chatbot can only recognize keywords and based on those keywords, give a certain response.
This is how it looks in Chatfuel:
Also, Chatfuel doesn’t have a direct integration with DialogFlow. It is, however, possible to connect with DialogFlow, but you need Janis for it.
- Keywords
- Intents
- Entities
- Dialogflow integration
No Winner
Both platforms don’t have AI built-in, and they both need third-party software to connect with DialogFlow, which allows you to use AI in your chatbot.
6. Channels
ManyChat
With ManyChat it is possible to make a chatbot on Facebook Messenger, SMS and Email.
This allows you to make an omnichannel chatbot experience for your users. So for example, when someone gives a certain response on Facebook Messenger, you could send an email based on that response.
For a long time, they only focused on Facebook Messenger, but recently they extended to SMS and Email. Because of that recent shift, there are still certain flaws in their SMS and Email channels.
With SMS, it is only possible to send text messages to users in 9 countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico and Brazil.
With Email, the delivery rates are not that good (if you compare it with other email marketing software).
- Website
- Facebook
- SMS
- Slack
- Whatsapp
- Telegram
- Skype
- Email
Chatfuel
With Chatfuel it is only possible to make a chatbot on Facebook Messenger.
This is a drawback. Because in a world where omnichannel marketing becomes more important every day, it is not possible to provide an omnichannel chatbot experience to your users.
Moreover, it is possible to add a Facebook Messenger widget to your website.
- Website
- Facebook
- SMS
- Slack
- Whatsapp
- Telegram
- Skype
- Email
The winner: ManyChat
ManyChat wins on this one, but it is a small win.
They win because they offer Email and SMS channels out of the box (next to Facebook Messenger and website). But it is a small win because these new channels still have some flaws. SMS is only supported in the 9 countries and with Email, the delivery rates could be better.
7. Integrations
ManyChat
ManyChat has a built-in live chat integration. Really good, because this is the most important integration a chatbot software needs. They also provide integrations for:
- Zapier
- Integromat
- Google Sheets
- ActiveCampaign
- MailChimp
- ConvertKit
- HubSpot
By the way, what I really like about the live chat integration of ManyChat is that they also have an iOS app and Android app, so you can respond to user inquiries on the go.
Chatfuel
Chatfuel has a built-in livechat integration, just like ManyChat. They also provide integrations for:
- Zapier
- Integromat
- Google Sheets
- Webhooks.
- Livechat
- Zapier
- Integromat
- Google Sheets
- Webhooks
The winner: ManyChat (small win)
ManyChat wins on this subject, but it is a small win.
They both provide all the integrations you need. But ManyChat also has an iOS and Android app for their live chat feature, so you can respond to chatbot users on the go.
8. Marketing
ManyChat
With ManyChat, is possible to put a Facebook Messenger widget on your website, create a landing page, connect to Facebook ads, use the One-Time Notification, automatically reply to Facebook comments, create buttons and create custom URLs to your chatbot.
Chatfuel
With Chatfuel it is possible to do all of the same things as with ManyChat. There are literally no differences.
- Facebook website widget
- Native website widget
- Landing pages
- Facebook Ads
- Facebook comments auto-reply
- Button creator
- Custom URLs for your chatbot
No winner
And again: No Winner!
They both provide exactly the same features for Marketing.
Let’s move on to the next subject: Pricing!
9. Pricing
ManyChat
ManyChat provides a free plan that stays free forever. This plan is free regardless of the number of subscribers, but does not have all the features that ManyChat provides (but still enough to make a good chatbot).
If you want more features, you can upgrade to the Pro package, which costs 10$ per month, which is a really low price. The price of the Pro package goes up with the number of subscribers your chatbot has. 1K subscribers result in $15 per month and 2.5K subscribers is $25 per month.
The only possible drawback is that you cannot have a trial for the Pro package, but this does not matter, because there is a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.
Chatfuel
Chatfuel provides a free plan that gives you access to all the features as long as you stay under 50 subscribers.
The next plan is 15 dollars per month for 500 subscribers and goes up with the number of subscribers you have. 1K subscribers is 20$ per month and 2K subscribers is 30$ per month.
- Free trial
- Free plan
- Price per month15
- Monthly pricing available?
- Money back guarantee
The winner: ManyChat (small win)
This is a small win for ManyChat, because they have a better free plan.
With ManyChat you can use their platform up to 1000 subscribers, while Chatfuel only provides their free plan up to 50 subscribers (which is a bit low).
On the other hand, Chatfuel provides all the features in their free plan, while ManyChat provides limited features. So I think it depends on what you want, but I would rather want more subscribers.
But both ManyChat and Chatfuel are really cheap for the value they provide.
10. Analytics
ManyChat
ManyChat provides a basic dashboard for your chatbot analytics, showing you the total subscribers, unsubscribes and net subscribes:
Furthermore, they also provide analytics for each block in your chatbot. For each block, they provide the number of people the message is delivered to, the open rate and the click rate.
And this also holds for sequences:
There are only two drawbacks about the analytics in ManyChat:
- The analytics are all over the place. There is no one clear, in-depth dashboard with all relevant analytics, but this is distributed over multiple sections (Broadcasts, Sequences, etc.)
- There is no overview of unmatched keywords. If a user filled in a word that did not get a response, you cannot get this information in your ManyChat dashboard. This is a big disadvantage because it does not allow you to easily improve your chatbot. But I have made a solution for this: the ManyChat User Input Dashboard.
What ManyChat also has, is the ManyChat Pixel. This is a pixel you can put on your website to track conversions coming from your chatbot, really useful feature!
Chatfuel
Chatfuel provides a clear dashboard showing you the number of users, user retention, user activity, popular blocks, popular buttons and popular messages:
Moreover, it can also show the user input the chatbot did not know an answer to, which allows you to easily improve the answer of your chatbot.
Next to this, you can also see particular statistics of your sequences:
There are only three things it does not have: Conversion rate (but still possible to track certain actions), Fall Back Rate (could be a good improvement) and custom dashboards/reports (not always necessary).
- Dashboard
- User input
- User retention
- Sent messages
- Open rate
- Click rate
- Conversion rate
- Fall back rate
- Volunteer users
- Custom dashboards/reports
The Winner: Chatfuel
Chatfuel wins on this subject!
The analytics of Chatfuel are much clearer than the analytics of ManyChat. Also, with Chatfuel you can see the keywords your chatbot didn’t know an answer to, which allows you to easily improve your chatbot (not possible with ManyChat, unless you use my template).
11. eCommerce
ManyChat
ManyChat has a direct integration with Shopify that allows you to:
- Recover abandoned carts
- Notify customers about orders and shipment updates
- Collect reviews and feedback after purchase
- Generate repeated purchases
It is, however, not possible to buy a product from your Shopify store within the chatbot.
But, you can receive payments through your chatbot by using the Stripe or Paypal integration.
The only drawback is that ManyChat doesn’t have a WooCommerce integration.
Chatfuel
Chatfuel provides an abandoned cart integration with Shopify. This allows you to send a message to users who put a product in their cart, but didn’t finish their order.
Moreover, it is possible to let users buy products directly within the chatbot, using their Stripe integration.
Just like ManyChat, Chatfuel also doesn’t have a WooCommerce integration.
The Winner: ManyChat (small win)
This is a small win for ManyChat.
With ManyChat you can do four things with their Shopify integration, while with Chatfuel you can only recover abandoned carts.
I must say that you can also notify customers about orders and shipment updates within Chatfuel, but you need Recart for this.
12. Templates & Cloning
ManyChat
ManyChat provides 19 templates which you can directly install to make your chatbot. These include free templates and templates only available for Pro users.
With ManyChat it is possible to make a chatbot template and share it with others. This is really useful when you are making multiple chatbots who do the same thing (for example, Lead generation).
Furthermore, it is possible to duplicate your chatbot flows and chatbot elements to make your chatbot faster.
Chatfuel
Chatfuel provides 83 templates which you can directly install to make your chatbot. These include free and paid templates.
Furthermore, it is possible to duplicate your chatbot flows and chatbot elements to make your chatbot faster.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to make templates yourself and share them with others.
- Templates83
- Make template
- Share template
- Duplicate chatbot flows
- Duplicate chatbot elements
The Winner: It depends
The winner depends on what you want.
Do you want to easily share your chatbot flows with others? Then you should go with ManyChat.
But if you want a lot of inspiration and examples, you could better go with Chatfuel, because they provide 83 templates out of the box (versus the 19 templates of ManyChat).
13. Optimization
ManyChat
It is possible to do A/B testing in ManyChat, but it is not available in the free plan. So you need to upgrade to a “Pro” plan if you want to unlock this feature.
Chatfuel
It is possible to do A/B testing in Chatfuel, but it is not in the free plan. So you need to upgrade to a “Pro” plan if you want to unlock this feature.
- A/B Testing
The winner: No Winner
Also, No Winner!
They both provide A/B testing in their softwre, so they are equally good.
14. Support
ManyChat
ManyChat provides extensive tutorials on how to make a chatbot and all of the features on their platform.
They also have proper documentation and good customer support.
What I also love about ManyChat is that they have a large Facebook community (75.000 members) in which you can ask all kinds of questions and learn more about the platform.
Chatfuel
Just as ManyChat, Chatfuel provides tutorials on how to make chatbots with their platform.
Also, they have good documentation and customer support.
Just like ManyChat, they also have a large Facebook community (75.000 members) in which all people are willing to help you when you get stuck.
- Tutorials
- Documentation
- Customer support
No Winner
And again, No Winner.
They do equally good on this one by providing extensive information about their platform and having a huge community of members willing to help each other.
Which one is the winner?
ManyChat has a more flexible interface, is slightly better regarding users (they have tags and location sharing) and provides more channels for your chatbot (but this is a small win).
But this doesn’t mean that Chatfuel is bad software. Chatfuel and ManyChat are on most subjects equally good, and on the subject of Analytics, Chatfuel is better.