FastBots vs Pickaxe
Pickaxe Alternative For A Trained Customer Chatbot, Not A Tool Builder
Pickaxe is built for agencies and builders who want to create many AI agents and sell access to them through branded, billed portals. FastBots is built for businesses that want one chatbot trained on their content, live on their site and social channels in minutes, with a real person able to take over the conversation when it matters.
Choose FastBots if
- You want one chatbot trained on your website and documents, not a platform for building many different AI tools
- You need native WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Telegram in the same bot
- You want a real team member able to take over the same conversation through Live Chat
- You'd rather see a flat message-and-chatbot limit than manage a credit balance across workspaces
- You want to try the real product on a free plan before paying anything
Stick with Pickaxe if
- You're building and packaging several different AI agents to sell access to, with Stripe billing built in
- You want to switch between 50+ AI models per agent and compare cost, speed and quality
- Your workflows need 500+ connected actions across many tools, beyond lead capture and support
- You're comfortable managing usage against a credit balance instead of a fixed message count
Providing AI Chatbots to Trusted Brands Around The World
The 30-Second Answer
Pickaxe and FastBots solve different problems. Pickaxe is an AI agent builder: you create agents in a workspace, connect actions from a library of 500+ integrations, choose from 50+ models, and package the finished agents into branded portals with Stripe billing so you can sell access to them. FastBots is a trained chatbot product: point it at your website and documents, and it answers as your business across your site, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram and inbound email, with a free plan and a real person able to take over through Live Chat. If you're an agency or builder assembling and reselling a suite of AI tools, Pickaxe fits that job. If you want a chatbot that answers for your business across the channels your customers actually use, FastBots is the more direct fit, and it's free to start.
Side-By-Side
FastBots vs Pickaxe, feature by feature
Verified against Pickaxe's own published documentation on 2026-07-03. Pricing changes, so see their site for current numbers.
Pricing
What you actually pay
Pickaxe has no free plan; the cheapest tier is $37/mo and usage draws down a monthly credit balance. FastBots Business is $89/mo for 5 chatbots and 5,000 messages with no credit system to manage, and the free plan is a real chatbot you can test before paying anything.
- Free1 chatbot · 50 msgs/mo · no card · 14-day idle expiry$0/mo
- Essential2 chatbots · 2,000 msgs/mo · all major LLMs (GPT, Claude, Gemini)$39/mo
- Business5 chatbots · 5,000 msgs/mo · Live Chat handover + Email Replies + Auto Retrain$89/mo
- Premium10 chatbots · 10,000 msgs/mo · remove FastBots branding$199/mo
- Reseller30 chatbots · 30,000 msgs/mo · white-label + multi-brand$399/mo
- EnterpriseCustom limits · security review · SLA · onboarding managerCustom
- Gold$15/mo credits · up to 3 workspaces · 3 connected actions per agent · 1 collaborator per workspace$37/mo
- Pro$50/mo credits · unlimited workspaces · unlimited actions · Slack + WhatsApp deployment$147/mo
- BusinessCustom credit package · minimum 6-month commitment · dedicated support · advanced SSO$597/mo
Try It Free
See if FastBots fits where Pickaxe doesn't.
Free plan, no credit card. Build your first chatbot in minutes.
Where Each Tool Wins
The honest answer
Both tools are competent. The right pick depends on your team and use case. Here's where each one is genuinely the better choice.
FastBots is the better choice if…
- Businesses that want one customer-facing chatbot trained on their content, live in minutes, without configuring workspaces or actions first
- Teams that need native WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Telegram in the same bot as the website widget
- Anyone who wants a real person able to take over the same conversation through Live Chat
- Teams that want flat, predictable pricing instead of a monthly credit balance to track
- Free-plan evaluators who want to fully test a real chatbot before paying
Pickaxe is the better choice if…
- Agencies and builders creating several different AI agents and selling access to them through branded, billed portals
- Teams that want to switch between 50+ AI models and compare cost, speed and quality per agent
- Workflows that need very deep action coverage, 500+ integrations, beyond lead capture and support
- Builders comfortable managing usage against a credit system across multiple workspaces
Switching From Pickaxe
Move over in around 30 minutes
Most teams looking at Pickaxe for a straightforward customer chatbot find it's built for a different job, packaging and selling several AI agents. If what you actually need is one trained chatbot for your own business, switching to FastBots is quick because there's no workspace or credit system to migrate.
- 1
Sign up for the FastBots free plan, no card needed.
- 2
Point FastBots at your website URL or upload the documents you'd otherwise train an agent on.
- 3
Add the embed snippet to your site (one line of HTML).
- 4
Connect WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger or Telegram if you use them, and upgrade to Business when you want Live Chat handover.
Common Worries
- Will I lose the agents I already built in Pickaxe?
- They stay in your Pickaxe workspace. If you're using Pickaxe for internal tools or agents you sell to clients, you can keep those running and use FastBots specifically for your own customer-facing support and lead chatbot.
- Does FastBots have the same range of AI models?
- Not the same breadth. FastBots lets you choose between OpenAI's GPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini per chatbot, which covers what most support and lead-gen bots need. Pickaxe's 50+ model selection is aimed at builders comparing models across many different agent types, which is a wider use case than a single trained chatbot.
- What happens to unused Pickaxe credits if I switch?
- That depends on Pickaxe's own billing terms, check your account or their support before cancelling. FastBots doesn't use a credit system, so there's nothing to carry over: the free plan and paid tiers are flat message and chatbot limits.
Got Questions?
Common Questions About FastBots vs Pickaxe
The ones we hear most before teams sign up. If yours isn’t here, our support team replies within hours during business days.
Is FastBots really something businesses outgrow, as Pickaxe suggests?
For the job FastBots is built for, a chatbot trained on your content that answers customers across your website and messaging channels, no. That's the core product, not a limitation you grow past. Pickaxe is a different kind of platform: a workspace for building and packaging several AI agents to sell access to. If that's what you need, you were never really comparing the same product in the first place.
Does Pickaxe have a free plan like FastBots?
No. Pickaxe's cheapest plan is Gold at $37/month with $15/month of usage credits included. FastBots has a genuine free plan: 1 chatbot and 50 messages a month, no credit card required, and the bot doesn't expire from inactivity for 14 days.
What does Pickaxe have that FastBots doesn't?
A wider AI model selection (50+ models, switchable per agent), a much larger connected-action library (500+ integrations) with a native action builder, and the ability to package multiple agents into branded portals with Stripe billing so you can sell access to them. If you're building and reselling several AI tools, those are real advantages.
What does FastBots have that Pickaxe doesn't?
A free plan you can actually test with. Native Instagram, Messenger and Telegram channels, which aren't documented on Pickaxe's site. Native inbound email handling that reads attachments and drafts replies. Live Chat, where a real team member takes over the same conversation mid-chat. And flat, predictable pricing instead of a monthly credit balance.
Can FastBots take actions during a conversation like Pickaxe's agents can?
Yes, through Zapier MCP. Connect the apps you want (Zapier exposes 8,000+) and the bot can book an appointment, create or update a CRM contact, raise a support ticket or take other actions right in the chat. The action set depends on what you connect, the same way Pickaxe's agents depend on which of their 500+ integrations you wire up.
Is FastBots cheaper than Pickaxe?
For a single customer-facing chatbot, yes. FastBots Business is $89/month flat for 5 chatbots and 5,000 messages. Pickaxe Pro, the tier that adds WhatsApp and Slack deployment and unlimited actions, is $147/month plus whatever you spend beyond the included $50/month in credits. Pickaxe's Business tier is $597/month with a minimum six-month commitment.
Can I try FastBots before switching from Pickaxe?
Yes. Sign up for the free plan, no card required, and train a chatbot on your website or documents to see how it answers before you commit to anything.
Ready to try the Pickaxe alternative?
Free plan, no credit card. Build a chatbot in 5 minutes and run it side-by-side with what you have.
- Same trained-on-your-content AI
- Live Chat human takeover on Business
- WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger included