N8NChatUI vs Chatbase
A chat widget that stays in front of the n8n workflow you already built — your logic, your model choices, your existing automations — instead of asking you to rebuild that logic inside a new platform. Credit-based messaging, with a free 100-credit start and 25,000-message packs from $70.
A hosted AI chatbot platform that trains its own agent on your uploaded content and answers using its own LLM backend. n8n can be bolted on as an optional "Custom Action" webhook call, but Chatbase's own engine — not your n8n workflow — runs the conversation. Plans start at $40/mo for 700 message credits.
Chatbase and N8N Chat UI solve adjacent but different problems. Chatbase is a full chatbot-building platform: upload your content, it trains an agent on its own backend, and that agent answers using Chatbase's own model access and credit system. n8n only enters the picture if you wire in a Custom Action to call an external API — n8n becomes one tool the agent can reach for, not the thing running the conversation.
N8N Chat UI works the other way around: the n8n workflow behind your Chat Trigger node is the entire brain. There's no re-platforming your logic, no separate agent to train, and no credit system layered on top of whatever LLM calls your workflow already makes — the only thing this widget owns is the front end, the proxy, and the dashboard.
Chatbase is the more mature product in a few real ways — deeper analytics (sentiment, topic detection, geographic breakdowns), native voice/telephony via Twilio, and UI chrome localized into 40+ languages. Those aren't spin; if you want a hosted agent that also picks up the phone, Chatbase does things this widget doesn't attempt.
Feature-by-feature
| Feature | N8N Chat UI (Managed Widgets) | Chatbase |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $70 / 25,000 messages (Professional tier), 100 free credits to start | Hobby $40/mo (700 credits), Standard $150/mo (4,000 credits), Pro $500/mo (15,000 credits); extra credits $40/1,000 |
| Conversation engine | Your own n8n workflow — any logic or model you've already built | Chatbase's own hosted agent, trained on your uploaded sources |
| Role of n8n | n8n workflow is the entire backend | Optional "Custom Action" webhook callout (20KB response cap) — n8n is one action, not the engine |
| Additional widgets / agents | Unlimited, included | 1 agent per plan; extra agents $25/agent/month |
| Webhook / endpoint exposure | Hidden — routed through a proxy | Not publicly documented; JWT-based identity verification suggests backend-routed conversations |
| Domain restrictions | Domain restrictions + geofencing | Domain allowlist + per-user/IP rate limiting |
| Rate limiting | Built in | Built in |
| Analytics | Real-time dashboard — usage, sessions, performance | Chats, messages, DAU/WAU, sentiment, auto-detected topics, geographic map (deeper on paid tiers) |
| Voice | Voice input supported | Native Voice AI Agents (phone/Twilio), Standard tier and up |
| Screen recording | Not offered | Not offered |
| Programmatic JS API | open()/close(), sendMessage() with metadata, live updateTheme(), updatePrompts() mid-conversation | open()/close()/resetChat() documented — no confirmed sendMessage or live theme-update call |
| RTL / language support | Yes (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and others) | UI chrome localized to 40+ languages including RTL (agent replies are separately multilingual) |
| Free tier | 100 free credits to start | 50 credits/mo, 1 agent, deleted after 14 days of inactivity |
Three rows favor Chatbase and are left as genuine advantages: analytics depth, native voice/telephony, and UI localization breadth.
If you want a chatbot that answers from your own content without wiring up an n8n workflow at all — or you need native phone/voice support and deep conversation analytics out of the box — Chatbase is built for that, and it's a genuinely stronger product on those specific fronts.
Managed Widgets is the better fit if you've already built (or want to build) your logic in n8n and don't want to duplicate it inside a second platform's proprietary agent — you keep full control of the model, the data, and the automation, and pay per message rather than layering a second platform's credit system on top of whatever your workflow already costs to run.
Skip the trade-offs — build with N8N Chat UI
Start free with 100 credits, no card required. A secure, branded chat widget for your n8n workflow, live in minutes.