Which one is better? ManyChat vs Chatfuel

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By Joren Wouters • Updated on

ManyChat and Chatfuel are both in the top 3 of most popular chatbot builders on Google. 

They are both used for creating chatbots on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and websites. And they 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!

1. Interface

ManyChat

When you log in at Manychat, you will see a dashboard with on the left side a menu with different options and on the right side the content of each section. It is a really straightforward dashboard and easy to understand:

manychat-dashboard

When creating your chatbot, ManyChat uses a Visual Flow builder.

Inside the flow builder, each flow starts with a trigger (an event that activates the flow), and from there you can connect blocks to each other by simply dragging and dropping:

manychat-flow-builder

Moreover, you can test your chatbot flows directly inside the Manychat interface or on the channel that you are building the flow for (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc).

Furthermore, your chatbot flows can be divided over folders, which allows you to keep a good overview of all the chatbot flows in your Manychat account.

  • Visual Flow Builder
    Create chatbot dialogs with a visual flow builder.
  • Test chatbot
    Is it possible to test the chatbot before putting your new flows or changes live?
  • Interface easy to use?
    Is the chatbot platform easy-to-use?
  • Easy to setup a chatbot?
    Is it easy to set up your chatbot with this chatbot platform?

Chatfuel

Chatfuel provides two types of builders: a Visual Flow Builder and a Block Builder:

chatfuel-visual-flow-builder
Visual Flow Builder
chatfuel-blocks
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.

And as with Manychat, you can also divide your flows over folders.

  • Visual Flow Builder
    Create chatbot dialogs with a visual flow builder.
  • Test chatbot
    Is it possible to test the chatbot before putting your new flows or changes live?
  • Interface easy to use?
    Is the chatbot platform easy-to-use?
  • Easy to setup a chatbot?
    Is it easy to set up your chatbot with this chatbot platform?

No winner

There is no winner on this category.

They both provides great interfaces to build your chatbot.

2. Chatbot Elements

ManyChat

Manychat provides all the chatbot elements you need to create your chatbot.

There are just two chatbot elements that I would like to point out.

The first one is the Conditions element. By using a condition, you can use logic inside your chatbot flows and create personalized conversations for your contacts:

Also, you have the Start flow element. With this element, you can start another flow within your Manychat account. This allows you to create a scalable chatbot, because you can just refer to other flows, instead of copy-and-pasting the same flow multiple times.

  • Delays
    Use delays between messages in your chatbot
  • Images
    Can you send images via your chatbot?
  • Video
    Can you send video via your chatbot?
  • Audio
    Can you send audio via your chatbot?
  • Attachments
    Can you send attachments via your chatbot?
  • Gallery (Horizontal list)
    Show a gallery of cards inside your chatbot. A card consists of an image, title, subtitle and button.
  • Vertical list
    Show a vertical list of items inside your chatbot
  • Emojis
    Can you use emojis inside your chatbot?
  • Persistent Menu
    Can you add a persistent menu to your chatbot?
  • Quick Replies
    Can you add quick replies to your chatbot where users can click on?
  • Buttons
    Can you add buttons to your chatbot where users can click on?
  • Free text input
    Can chatbot users freely type text to your chatbot whenever they want to?
  • Location sharing
    Can users share their location inside the chatbot?
  • Email validation
    When a chatbot user gives their email, can the platform validate it’s a correct email address?
  • Phone number validation
    When a chatbot user gives their phone number, can the platform validate it’s a correct phone number?
  • Date validation
    When a chatbot user gives a date, can the platform validate it’s a correct date?

Chatfuel

Chatfuel has also all the chatbot elements you need. They only don’t provide Files, Vertical lists and Location sharing, but these are no deal-breakers.

Just as Manychat, they also provide Conditions and starting other flows in your chatbot.

  • Delays
    Use delays between messages in your chatbot
  • Images
    Can you send images via your chatbot?
  • Video
    Can you send video via your chatbot?
  • Audio
    Can you send audio via your chatbot?
  • Attachments
    Can you send attachments via your chatbot?
  • Gallery (Horizontal list)
    Show a gallery of cards inside your chatbot. A card consists of an image, title, subtitle and button.
  • Vertical list
    Show a vertical list of items inside your chatbot
  • Emojis
    Can you use emojis inside your chatbot?
  • Persistent Menu
    Can you add a persistent menu to your chatbot?
  • Quick Replies
    Can you add quick replies to your chatbot where users can click on?
  • Buttons
    Can you add buttons to your chatbot where users can click on?
  • Free text input
    Can chatbot users freely type text to your chatbot whenever they want to?
  • Location sharing
    Can users share their location inside the chatbot?
  • Email validation
    When a chatbot user gives their email, can the platform validate it’s a correct email address?
  • Phone number validation
    When a chatbot user gives their phone number, can the platform validate it’s a correct phone number?
  • Date validation
    When a chatbot user gives a date, can the platform validate it’s a correct date?

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

Within Manychat, you can add custom fields and tags to users. You can simply ask questions and save the answer of the user to a custom field or add a specific tag. With those custom fields and tags, you can create specific user segments (that you can use inside your chatbot flows).

In Manychat you can view all the contacts that talked to your chatbot in the “Contacts” tab. Within this tab, you can also filter on specific custom fields or tags or see all users from a specific segment (by clicking on that segment on the left):

manychat-contacts-overview

When you click on one of the individual contacts, you can see all the information stored for that user and by clicking on “Start chat” you can also see the chat history of that user:

manychat-contact-information

  • Custom fields
    Store information from your chatbot users inside fields. For example, you can ask for someone’s email and store it inside the “email” custom field.
  • Tags
    Add tags to users in your chatbot flows to organize and categorize contacts.
  • User segments
    Can you create user segments based on custom fields and tags?

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:

Overview of all contacts in Chatfuel

When you click on one of the users, you can see all the information related to a user in a pop-up:

Contact information in Chatfuel

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. 

  • Custom fields
    Store information from your chatbot users inside fields. For example, you can ask for someone’s email and store it inside the “email” custom field.
  • Tags
    Add tags to users in your chatbot flows to organize and categorize contacts.
  • User segments
    Can you create user segments based on custom fields and tags?

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.

manychat-sequence
An example sequence in ManyChat

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
    Send a message to all or a part of your chatbot users at a specific date and time
  • Sequences
    Send messages on a pre-defined schedule with a certain time interval between those messages
  • Conditions
    Make checks in your chatbot flow based on if-then logic. For example, if the user has not given their email, ask for their email.
  • Multiple languages
    Is it possible to create a chatbot in multiple languages?
  • Easy to translate
    Can you translate text to other languages without using a third-party platform and without creating duplicate flows?

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:

chatfuel-sequences
An example sequence in Chatfuel

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
    Send a message to all or a part of your chatbot users at a specific date and time
  • Sequences
    Send messages on a pre-defined schedule with a certain time interval between those messages
  • Conditions
    Make checks in your chatbot flow based on if-then logic. For example, if the user has not given their email, ask for their email.
  • Multiple languages
    Is it possible to create a chatbot in multiple languages?
  • Easy to translate
    Can you translate text to other languages without using a third-party platform and without creating duplicate flows?

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:

manychat-keywords

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 I created a tutorial on how you can connect ManyChat to Dialogflow.

  • Keywords
    Trigger chatbot flow based on certain words or phrases a user says to the chatbot.
  • Intents
    Trigger a chatbot flow by understanding the intent of the user.
  • Entities
    Capture specific information from sentences. For example, if a user says “veggie pizza”, the chatbot can understand it’s not a regular pizza, but a veggie pizza.
  • Dialogflow integration
    Does the chatbot platform provide a direct integration with Google’s AI Platform?

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:

chatfuel-keywords

Also, Chatfuel doesn’t have a direct integration with DialogFlow. But I created a tutorial on how you can connect Chatfuel to Dialogflow yourself. 

  • Keywords
    Trigger chatbot flow based on certain words or phrases a user says to the chatbot.
  • Intents
    Trigger a chatbot flow by understanding the intent of the user.
  • Entities
    Capture specific information from sentences. For example, if a user says “veggie pizza”, the chatbot can understand it’s not a regular pizza, but a veggie pizza.
  • Dialogflow integration
    Does the chatbot platform provide a direct integration with Google’s AI Platform?

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 you can publish your chatbot on your website, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, 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.

With SMS, you need to connect your ManyChat account to a Twilio account. Then, ManyChat will handle the chatbot part and all the chat logic, and Twilio will take care of receiving and sending the text messages (additional costs for Twilio apply).

Moreover, you can also merge contacts across channels (based on their email or phone number). For example, if someone contacts you via Facebook Messenger and later on via Instagram, Manychat can understand that is the same person and merge that contact into one.

  • Website
    Can you publish your chatbot on your website?
  • Facebook
    Can you publish your chatbot on Facebook?
  • Instagram
    Can you publish your chatbot on Instagram?
  • Whatsapp
    Can you publish your chatbot on WhatsApp?
  • Telegram
    Can you publish your chatbot on Telegram?
  • SMS
    Can you publish your chatbot on SMS?
  • Slack
    Can you publish your chatbot on Slack?
  • Skype
    Can you publish your chatbot on Skype?
  • Email
    Can you publish your chatbot on email?

Chatfuel

With Chatfuel, you can create a chatbot on your website, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Unfortunately, you cannot merge contacts across channels.

  • Website
    Can you publish your chatbot on your website?
  • Facebook
    Can you publish your chatbot on Facebook?
  • Instagram
    Can you publish your chatbot on Instagram?
  • Whatsapp
    Can you publish your chatbot on WhatsApp?
  • Telegram
    Can you publish your chatbot on Telegram?
  • SMS
    Can you publish your chatbot on SMS?
  • Slack
    Can you publish your chatbot on Slack?
  • Skype
    Can you publish your chatbot on Skype?
  • Email
    Can you publish your chatbot on email?

The winner: ManyChat

ManyChat wins on this subject.

They win because they offer three channels more: Telegram, SMS and Email. Also, you can merge contacts across channels, which is not possible with Chatfuel.

7. Integrations

ManyChat

ManyChat has a built-in live chat, which is called the Inbox. By using the Inbox, you can hand over the conversation from your chatbot to one of your customer support agents.

By the way, what I really like about Manychat’s Inbox is that they also provide an iOS app and Android app, so you can respond to user inquiries on the go.

Manychat also provides Manychat Inbox Pro, which is a more advanced live chat and comes with agent chat analytics, groups of live chat agents and auto-assignment rules.

Furthermore, Manychat provides direct integrations with:

Moreover, ManyChat has its own App store which allows third-party developers to create their own integrations with ManyChat. Currently, the App Store has 38 apps, but I think this will grow over the years:

manychat-app-store

  • Livechat
    Direct integration with live chat, either via a built-in live chat functionality or a third-party live chat platform.
  • Zapier
    Direct integration with Zapier, one of the largest integration platforms in the world.
  • Make (formerly Integromat)
    Direct integration with Make (formerly Integromat), one of the largest integration platforms in the world.
  • Google Sheets
    Direct integration with Google Sheets, to store or retrieve data from sheets.
  • Webhooks
    Can you call an API inside your chatbot flow to send or get data from other applications?

Chatfuel

Chatfuel has a built-in live chat, just like Manychat.

In addition to this, they also provide direct integrations with:

  • Zapier
  • Make (formerly known as Integromat)
  • Google Sheets
  • Calendly
  • ChatGPT
  • Stripe

If that’s not enough, you can also create your own API calls inside their flow builder and get or send data to other applications.

  • Livechat
    Direct integration with live chat, either via a built-in live chat functionality or a third-party live chat platform.
  • Zapier
    Direct integration with Zapier, one of the largest integration platforms in the world.
  • Make (formerly Integromat)
    Direct integration with Make (formerly Integromat), one of the largest integration platforms in the world.
  • Google Sheets
    Direct integration with Google Sheets, to store or retrieve data from sheets.
  • Webhooks
    Can you call an API inside your chatbot flow to send or get data from other applications?

The winner: ManyChat 

ManyChat wins on this subject.

They both provide all the integrations you need. But ManyChat also has an iOS and Android app for their built-in livechat, so you can respond to chatbot users on the go.

Also, ManyChat has its own App Store that allows third-party integrations more easily.

8. Marketing

ManyChat

When it comes to Marketing for chatbots, Manychat is one of the best chatbot platforms out there.

You can add a Facebook Messenger widget to your website and send pro-active messages based on the URL that users are on. Moreover, you can also create your own landing pages with your Facebook Messenger chatbot.

Moreover, on Facebook you can:

  • Create Ref URLs that go to a specific chatbot flow
  • Automatically reply to Facebook Comments
  • Send one-time notifications
  • Send Recurring Notifications
  • Connect a Facebook ad to your Messenger chatbot
  • Send Sponsored Messages via Facebook Messenger

On Instagram, you can:

  • Automatically reply to Instagram comments

  • Send replies to Instagram users who mention your Instagram handle in their Instagram Stories

And via WhatsApp, you can send Message Templates.

Basically, ManyChat provides almost all marketing possibilities you need for your chatbot.

The only drawback is that Manychat doesn’t provide a native website widget.

  • Facebook website widget
    Embed your chatbot as a Facebook Widget on your website.
  • Native website widget
    Embed your chatbot as a native widget (your own branding & colors) on your website.
  • Landing pages
    Can you create a simple landing page to drive users to your chatbot?
  • Facebook Ads
    Start a conversation with your chatbot when someone clicks on a Facebook Ad
  • One-Time Notification
    Send one-time notifications via Facebook Messenger for a topic that a chatbot user has opted-in for
  • Facebook comments auto-reply
    Automatically reply with your chatbot to users who comment on your Facebook Posts
  • Button creator
    Add a button to your website to drive users to your chatbot
  • Custom URLs for your chatbot
    Generate a simple URL that can be shared anywhere to send users to your chatbot

Chatfuel

Just like Manychat, Chatfuel provides all the marketing possibilities you need.

You can add a Facebook Messenger widget to your website and send pro-active messages based on the URL that users are on. Moreover, you can also create your own landing pages with your Facebook Messenger chatbot.

On Facebook, you can:

  • Create Ref URLs that go to a specific chatbot flow
  • Automatically reply to Facebook Comments
  • Send one-time notifications
  • Send Recurring Notifications
  • Connect a Facebook ad to your Messenger chatbot
  • Send Sponsored Messages via Facebook Messenger

With Instagram, you can:

  • Automatically reply to Instagram comments
  • Send replies to Instagram users who mentioned your Instagram handle in their Instagram story

And with WhatsApp, you can send WhatsApp message templates.

The only drawback is that Chatfuel doesn’t provide a native website widget.

  • Facebook website widget
    Embed your chatbot as a Facebook Widget on your website.
  • Native website widget
    Embed your chatbot as a native widget (your own branding & colors) on your website.
  • Landing pages
    Can you create a simple landing page to drive users to your chatbot?
  • Facebook Ads
    Start a conversation with your chatbot when someone clicks on a Facebook Ad
  • One-Time Notification
    Send one-time notifications via Facebook Messenger for a topic that a chatbot user has opted-in for
  • Facebook comments auto-reply
    Automatically reply with your chatbot to users who comment on your Facebook Posts
  • Button creator
    Add a button to your website to drive users to your chatbot
  • Custom URLs for your chatbot
    Generate a simple URL that can be shared anywhere to send users to your chatbot

No winner

With both chatbot builders, you can do exactly the same.

So, no winner on this one.

9. Pricing

ManyChat

Manychat provides a free plan that stays free forever. This plan comes with 1000 contacts and has the basic features of ManyChat (enough to make a good chatbot).

If you want more features or have more than 1000 contacts, you can upgrade to the Pro plan, which costs 15$ per month (a really low price):

manychat-pricing

The price of the Pro plan goes up with the number of contacts your chatbot has. 1K contacts result in $25 per month and 5K contacts is $45 per month.

This plan also comes with a 7-day free trial that you can use to test out the Pro features of ManyChat. Besides that, there is also a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.

Moreover, Manychat also provides Manychat Inbox Pro and that costs $99 per month. This comes with 3 live chat seats:

manychat-inbox-pro-pricing

If that’s not enough, you can add one extra live chat seat for $39 per month.

  • Free trial
    Does the chatbot platform provide a free trial?
  • Free plan
    Does the chatbot platform provide a free plan?
  • Price per month
    What is the lowest price per month for creating a chatbot on this platform?
    15
  • Monthly pricing available?
    Is it possible to pay monthly?
  • Money back guarantee
    Is there a money-back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the platform?

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.

prijzen-chatfuel

  • Free trial
    Does the chatbot platform provide a free trial?
  • Free plan
    Does the chatbot platform provide a free plan?
  • Price per month
    What is the lowest price per month for creating a chatbot on this platform?
    15
  • Monthly pricing available?
    Is it possible to pay monthly?
  • Money back guarantee
    Is there a money-back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the platform?

No winner

No winner, on this one.

Both chatbot builders provide a free plan that allows you to test out their platform.

Also, both chatbot builders are really cheap for the value they provide. 

10. Analytics

ManyChat

Manychat provides an Insights dashboard where you can see how many contacts you have per channel:

manychat-contacts-analytics

Furthermore, you can see how these contacts have evolved over time:

manychat-active-contacts-analytics

Likewise, you can determine your own conversion events inside your chatbot flows and then see how many people reached those conversion events:

manychat-conversion-event-analytics

And these conversion events are not limited to your chatbot funnels. You can also install the Manychat Pixel (similar to a Facebook Pixel) on your website and track conversions on your website of people coming from your chatbot. For example, when someone clicks on a button in Messenger and then converts on your website, this pixel will track that conversion back to your Manychat account.

Moreover, Manychat also provides flow analytics. For each block inside your flows, you can track to how many contacts this message was delivered, how many contacts opened it and how many contacts clicked on it (if the message contains a button / quick reply):

manychat-flow-analytics

By using these flow analytics, you can easily improve your Manychat flows for better conversion.

There are only two drawbacks about the analytics in Manychat:

  1. There is no overview of unmatched user input. If a user filled in a phrase that did not get a response, you cannot get this information in your ManyChat dashboard. This is a disadvantage because it does not allow you to improve the automatic answers of your chatbot.
  2. It’s not possible to see the flow analytics for a specific time period

But in general: by using Manychat’s analytics you can definitely analyze how well your chatbot is doing and how you can improve your chatbot funnels!

  • Dashboard
    Dashboard that provides general analytics of your chatbot.
  • User input
    Get the input from users that your chatbot didn’t understand.
  • Sent messages
    The number of messages that were sent by your chatbot.
  • Open rate
    The percentage of chatbot users that opened a message inside your chatbot.
  • Click rate
    The percentage of chatbot users that click on a button inside your chatbot.
  • Conversion rate
    The percentage of users that converted through your chatbot. For example, the percentage of users that gave their email address
  • Fall back rate
    The percentage of interactions where the chatbot did not know an answer to a question.
  • Custom dashboards/reports
    Can you create your own dashboard or reports?

Chatfuel

Chatfuel provides a clear dashboard showing you the number of users, user retention, user activity, popular blocks, popular buttons and popular messages:

chatfuel-analytics

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:

Unrecognized messages overview in Chatfuel

Next to this, you can also see particular statistics of your sequences:

chatfuel-sequence-analytics

And just as with ManyChat, you can see the delivered rate, seen rate and click rate of elements in your chatbot flow:

chatfuel-flow-analytics

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
    Dashboard that provides general analytics of your chatbot.
  • User input
    Get the input from users that your chatbot didn’t understand.
  • Sent messages
    The number of messages that were sent by your chatbot.
  • Open rate
    The percentage of chatbot users that opened a message inside your chatbot.
  • Click rate
    The percentage of chatbot users that click on a button inside your chatbot.
  • Conversion rate
    The percentage of users that converted through your chatbot. For example, the percentage of users that gave their email address
  • Fall back rate
    The percentage of interactions where the chatbot did not know an answer to a question.
  • Custom dashboards/reports
    Can you create your own dashboard or reports?

No winner

There is no winner on this subject. Both platforms provide good analytics that you can use to improve your chatbot.

While Manychat is more marketing focused, with conversion events and the Manychat pixel, Chatfuel analyzes all the phrases your chatbot didn’t know an answer to (useful for automating customer support).

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.

  • Payments
    Collect payments inside your chatbot
  • Shopify
    Direct integration with Shopify to get products, order information and cart data.
  • WooCommerce
    Direct integration with WooCommerce to get products, order information and cart data.
  • Buy directly within the chatbot
    Ability for chatbot users to buy products or services directly from a chatbot
  • Cart abandonment
    Trigger messages in the chatbot when a user abandons their cart on a website or inside the chatbot

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.

  • Payments
    Collect payments inside your chatbot
  • Shopify
    Direct integration with Shopify to get products, order information and cart data.
  • WooCommerce
    Direct integration with WooCommerce to get products, order information and cart data.
  • Buy directly within the chatbot
    Ability for chatbot users to buy products or services directly from a chatbot
  • Cart abandonment
    Trigger messages in the chatbot when a user abandons their cart on a website or inside the chatbot

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.

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.

  • Templates
    How many pre-built templates does the chatbot platform provide?
    19
  • Make template
    Can you make templates yourself?
  • Share template
    Can you share self-created templates with others?
  • Duplicate chatbot flows
    Is it possible to duplicate chatbot flows, so you can easily reuse them?
  • Duplicate chatbot elements
    Is it possible to duplicate chatbot elements, so you can easily reuse them?

Chatfuel

Chatfuel provides 21 free templates which you can directly install to make your chatbot.

You can also create these templates yourself and easily share them with others using the Share Flow feature in Chatfuel.

Moreover, it is possible to duplicate your chatbot flows and chatbot elements to make your chatbot faster.

  • Templates
    How many pre-built templates does the chatbot platform provide?
    21
  • Make template
    Can you make templates yourself?
  • Share template
    Can you share self-created templates with others?
  • Duplicate chatbot flows
    Is it possible to duplicate chatbot flows, so you can easily reuse them?
  • Duplicate chatbot elements
    Is it possible to duplicate chatbot elements, so you can easily reuse them?

No winner

No winner for this category.

With both chatbot builders, you can use pre-built templates, create templates yourself and duplicate your chatbot flows and elements.

13. Optimization

ManyChat

In Manychat, you can do A/B testing by using the Randomizer element. This element allows you to split the traffic inside a chatbot flow up to 6 different variations:

manychat-randomizer-element

  • A/B Testing
    Can you optimize your chatbot flows by performing A/B tests?

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
    Can you optimize your chatbot flows by performing A/B tests?

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 (100K+ members) in which you can ask all kinds of questions and learn more about the platform.

  • Tutorials
    Does the chatbot platform provide tutorials on how to use its platform?
  • Documentation
    Does the chatbot platform provide documentation on how to use its platform?
  • Customer support
    Does the chatbot platform provide customer support?

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
    Does the chatbot platform provide tutorials on how to use its platform?
  • Documentation
    Does the chatbot platform provide documentation on how to use its platform?
  • Customer support
    Does the chatbot platform provide 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.

ManyChat has a more flexible interface, is slightly better regarding users (they have tags and location sharing) and provides more channels for your chatbot:

Go to ManyChat

But this doesn’t mean that Chatfuel is bad software. Chatfuel and ManyChat are on most subjects equally good, but on some aspects Manychat is just a little bit better.

Comments (10)

  1. rasheedo February 13, 2021 Reply

    Thanks

    1. Joren Wouters February 15, 2021 Reply

      Glad that I could help!

  2. Jorge March 30, 2021 Reply

    Good, Inwill use manychat

    1. Joren Wouters April 1, 2021 Reply

      Great!

  3. Pedro Benevides September 19, 2021 Reply

    What a great study, thank for sharing.

    1. Joren Wouters September 20, 2021 Reply

      Thank you, Pedro!

  4. pedro November 10, 2021 Reply

    I don’t understand, why Manychat is better? It doesn’t even got AI ????

    1. Joren Wouters November 15, 2021 Reply

      Hey Pedro! Because ManyChat has slightly better features than Chatfuel. It is true that they do not have AI, but Chatfuel also does not provide AI.

  5. Ces February 28, 2022 Reply

    In Chatfuel, it is mentioned that free trial can only have 50 users, does that mean only 50 subscribers can subscribe to the bot? thank

    1. Joren Wouters March 2, 2022 Reply

      Yes, with the free plan of Chatfuel, only 50 users can subscribe to the bot.

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