6 Best Open Source Chatbot Builders For 2024.

XPNDAI
8 min readDec 17, 2023

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Open-source chatbot builders offer flexibility and transparency with public access to source code, while non-open-source alternatives limit customization and rely on proprietary resources, potentially restricting adaptability for businesses.

What Is Open Source Chatbot Builder?

An open-source chatbot builder is like a toolbox that lets you create your own chatbot without having to start from scratch or pay for a pre-built solution. “Open source” means that the underlying code of the chatbot builder is freely available for anyone to view, use, and modify. It’s like getting a recipe for a dish and being able to tweak it to suit your taste.

  1. Chatbot: Imagine a virtual assistant that can chat with people, answer questions, or help them with tasks.
  2. Builder: Now, think of a toolkit or a set of tools that you can use to create your own unique chatbot. This toolkit provides you with the necessary components and instructions.
  3. Open Source: This means the toolkit is open for everyone. You can see how it’s made, make changes to it, and even share those changes with others. It’s like a collaborative cooking club where everyone can contribute their own spice to the recipe.

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Botpress

Botpress stands out as a fully open-source conversational AI software, offering robust support for various Natural Language Understanding (NLU) libraries.

Tailored for efficiency, Botpress enables the creation of chatbots through intuitive visual flows, requiring only minimal training data in the form of intents, entities, and slots. This not only significantly lowers the development costs associated with chatbots but also diminishes the entry barrier often posed by extensive data requirements.

Equipped with a user-friendly visual conversation builder and an emulator for testing, Botpress streamlines the development process. The integrated JavaScript code editor empowers users to define actions for specific tasks. The NLU module allows for the precise definition of intents, entities, and slots, ensuring your conversational assistant comprehends user inputs effectively.

Botpress actively maintains integrations with major messaging services such as Facebook Messenger, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Telegram, fostering seamless connectivity.

While Botpress primarily caters to developers seeking an open system with maximum control, its accessibility extends to conversation designers. The visual conversation builder facilitates collaboration between designers and developers, making it easy to work on projects collectively.

Botpress, by fostering collaboration among specialists with diverse skill sets, serves as a platform that empowers teams to construct superior conversational assistants.

Github : https://github.com/botpress/botpress

Rasa

Rasa stands out as a trailblazer in the realm of open-source bot-building frameworks, taking a unique and effective story-centric approach to the development of chatbots. Unlike traditional platforms that rely on predefined visual flows and intents, Rasa empowers developers to craft compelling narratives, referred to as stories, to train their bots.

At the core of Rasa’s philosophy is a commitment to artificial intelligence, providing developers with a flexible framework that facilitates the continuous enhancement of AI assistants. Unlike many other platforms, Rasa is on-premises, and its standard Natural Language Understanding (NLU) engine is entirely open source. To further streamline the development process, Rasa offers Rasa X, a suite of tools designed to enable developers to review and refine conversations, thereby improving the overall performance of the assistant.

Rasa’s versatility extends beyond its open-source roots with the introduction of Rasa X. This companion tool enriches the development experience by offering a set of features that aid developers in the critical task of conversation analysis. Additionally, Rasa provides a range of premium features, accessible through an enterprise license, ensuring that developers have access to advanced capabilities to meet their project requirements.

In the realm of training data, Rasa distinguishes itself by excelling when provided with substantial datasets, particularly in the form of customer service chat logs. Leveraging these logs, Rasa meticulously parses, organizes, and classifies the data, employing it to train the NLU engine effectively. This emphasis on comprehensive training data sets Rasa apart, enabling developers to build chatbots that demonstrate a nuanced understanding of user interactions and deliver superior performance in customer service scenarios.

Github : https://github.com/RasaHQ/rasa

Wit.ai

Wit.ai stands out as an open-source chatbot framework that entered the Facebook ecosystem through acquisition in 2015. The platform’s open-source nature allows users to explore a myriad of existing bots and applications developed with Wit.ai, serving as a valuable source of inspiration for those embarking on their own projects.

For newcomers, Wit.ai provides a well-documented open-source chatbot API, facilitating a swift initiation into the platform’s development environment. Its affiliation with Facebook positions Wit.ai as an excellent choice for deploying chatbots on the widely-used Facebook Messenger, benefitting from seamless integration and deployment processes.

Distinguishing itself from competitors such as Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM, Wit.ai boasts a robust and capable Natural Language Processing (NLP) engine within its chatbot framework. Developers can leverage this advanced functionality to create highly responsive and intelligent conversational agents.

The flexibility of Wit.ai is evident in its Software Development Kits (SDKs) available in multiple languages, including Python, Ruby, and NodeJS, accommodating diverse developer preferences and skill sets.

Wit.ai further excels in its broad compatibility with various platforms, extending beyond social media to encompass communication channels like Slack, wearable devices, home automation systems, and more. This versatility empowers developers to craft chatbots that seamlessly integrate into different environments and user interfaces.

However, it’s worth noting that Wit.ai does have a notable drawback. The training process can be labor-intensive, with limitations on the number of slots and parameters available. To address this, developers may need to implement business logic to manage unstated information effectively. Despite this challenge, the overall capabilities and integrative features make Wit.ai a compelling choice for those seeking a dynamic and versatile chatbot development framework.

Github Link : https://github.com/wit-ai

Microsoft Bot Framework‍

The Microsoft Bot Framework (MBF) serves as a robust open-source platform tailored for the creation of bots. Geared primarily towards developers, Microsoft adopts a code-driven approach to empower developers with intricate control over the chatbot development process. The MBF offers an extensive array of functions and connectors right out of the box, facilitating a seamless development experience.

One of the notable strengths of MBF lies in its diverse toolkit, providing developers with a comprehensive set of tools to streamline the chatbot creation journey. Integration with Luis, Microsoft’s proprietary natural language understanding engine, further enhances the capabilities of MBF.

In addition to MBF, Microsoft has expanded its capabilities by acquiring Botkit, another open-source platform. Botkit differentiates itself by offering a visual conversation builder, prioritizing user interface actions for a more intuitive experience.

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However, it’s essential to note that while MBF is open-source, a key component, the Luis NLU engine, is proprietary software. This may pose a concern for those seeking maximum control over their projects. The non-open-source nature of the NLU engine means it cannot be installed on-premises, aligning with Microsoft’s strategy to promote the use of its Azure platform.

A potential drawback arises from the proprietary nature of Luis, as users are billed for each API call, contributing to a potentially significant monthly cost. It’s crucial to evaluate this aspect based on your specific needs and budget considerations when deciding whether MBF aligns with your project requirements.

Github link : https://github.com/microsoft/botframework-sdk

Botonic

Botonic is a cutting-edge React framework designed to elevate the creation of conversational applications beyond mere text-based chatbots. Tailored for developers, it provides a comprehensive serverless solution, enabling the seamless development of chatbots and modern conversational apps compatible with diverse platforms such as web, mobile, and messaging apps like Messenger, Whatsapp, and Telegram.

Unlike conventional chatbots that rely solely on text and natural language processing (NLP), Botonic empowers developers to craft applications that harness the strengths of both text interfaces (offering simplicity and natural language interaction) and graphical interfaces (providing multimedia support, visual context, and rich interaction). This dynamic fusion results in a superior user experience compared to traditional chatbots.

Botonic boasts an array of features, including a versatile set of plugins that facilitate the effortless integration of popular services into your project, enhancing its functionality and scope.

Developed in TypeScript and JavaScript and built on top of React, Serverless, and Tensorflow, Botonic ensures compatibility across operating systems, working seamlessly on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Licensed under the MIT License, Botonic not only exemplifies innovation in the realm of conversational app development but also embraces an open-source ethos, inviting developers to explore its capabilities and contribute to its ongoing evolution.

Github Link : https://github.com/hubtype/botonic

Tock

Tock An open-source conversational AI platform, offering a comprehensive solution for crafting dynamic conversational agents and bots. What sets Tock apart is its autonomy from 3rd-party APIs, ensuring a self-contained and versatile system.

This platform boasts a rich set of features, including the capacity to construct engaging narratives and robust analytics. Tock supports a conversational DSL for multiple programming languages, such as Kotlin, Node.js, Python, and REST APIs. Its versatility extends to connecting seamlessly with various text and voice channels, encompassing popular platforms like Messenger, WhatsApp, Google Assistant, Alexa, Twitter, and more.

Tock facilitates integration into custom web and mobile applications through dedicated toolkits for React and Flutter. Moreover, its deployment options are flexible, enabling usage in the cloud or on-premise with Docker. As a testament to its openness, Tock operates under the Apache License, Version 2.0, ensuring that users have the freedom to adapt and innovate within the bounds of this permissive license.

Github Link : https://github.com/theopenconversationkit/tock

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