The others answer the question. Kairos books the job.
Every option below can say hello to a visitor. Only one is built around the moment that pays: a real appointment, on your calendar, with the source that sent it.
About $0.20
a conversation on Core (500 for $99 a month)
$0.99
per outcome at Intercom Fin, plus seats (vendor's site, Nov 2026)
$0
monthly until your widget is live. You pay the build, then the plan starts at go-live
Kairos compared with off-the-shelf AI chat, live chat or answering services, and a contact form alone
What matters
Built to bookKairosCustom AI chat and booking
Off-the-shelf AI chatTidio, Intercom Fin and the like
Live chat or answering servicePeople on the other end
Contact form onlyWhat most sites have
Answers at 2 a.m.
Every visitor, in seconds, all night and all weekend
Yes, within what you have loaded into it
~Staffed hours, or paid by the minute or chat
The visitor waits for someone to reply
Books a real appointment in the chat
Offers real open times and books one while they are still on the page
~Depends on the tool's integrations and your setup
~A person books by hand, if they have access
A callback request, at best
Knows your services, area and prices
DataCram trains it on your own pages and published prices
You load the content and keep it current
~Staff learn scripts, and scripts drift
Nothing to know
Won't make things up
Answers only from your content; emergencies, complaints and billing go to a person
~You write the rules in the tool's builder
~Depends on training and the script
A form says nothing at all
Where the booking lands
Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 today, plus email and webhook to anything; ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber and more rolling out
~Wherever its integrations reach
~Wherever the agent types it
An inbox someone has to check
Shows which pages and ads booked
Clio: conversations, contacts, bookings and booking rate by page, source and campaign
~Reports built around support tickets
Call or chat logs
Whatever your analytics catches
Set up and installed for you
Built, themed and installed on WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy, Squarespace or any site
You set it up
~Their script, your onboarding
Already on your site
Tuning after launch
Included on every plan
Yours to do
~They tune their own staff
Nothing to tune
What you pay for
$99 a month for 500 conversations, about $0.20 each; $0.35 past the cap
~Per conversation, per outcome or per seat (Intercom Fin: $0.99 per outcome)
~Per minute or per chat (Ruby chat: from $143 a month for 10 chats)
Free, and slow
Contract
Month to month. The monthly plan starts only when your widget is live
~Varies by vendor
~Varies by service
None
Vendor figures as published on each vendor’s pricing page, November 2026; see the full buyer’s comparison. “Rolling out” means announced, not yet available. A contact form is still worth keeping beside Kairos.