# ibl.ai vs Botpress

> Source: https://ibl.ai/resources/comparisons/self-hosted-ai-vs-botpress
> Last updated: 2026-10-20


*A managed agent builder with the widest set of messaging channels, or an owned platform you run on your own infrastructure — and why the open-source Botpress many teams remember is no longer an option*

**On ibl.ai you own all the code and the data, run it model-agnostic across any LLM, and pay with no per-seat pricing — so you can deploy anywhere, from your own cloud to a fully air-gapped network.**

## What's the difference between ibl.ai and Botpress?

On ownership, Botpress and ibl.ai now point in opposite directions. With ibl.ai you own all the code and the data, deployed inside your perimeter. Botpress today is Botpress Cloud, a managed service; its docs say v12 and all self-hosted versions are sunset.

The Botpress GitHub repository is still MIT-licensed, but it holds the integrations, CLI, SDK and example bots for Botpress Cloud — not a runtime you can install. Existing v12 subscribers remain supported.

Where Botpress leads is reach. Its hub connects agents to WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Twilio SMS and more, and its Studio is a polished visual builder. Plans run from free to $750 a month billed annually, plus AI usage.

ibl.ai is model-agnostic, has no per-seat pricing, and deploys anywhere: your cloud, a VPC, on-premise or air-gapped. Its channels are web, embeds, LTI, voice and native apps, not consumer messaging. ibl.ai is family-owned and operated from New York, NY.

## How do ibl.ai and Botpress compare feature by feature?

### Ownership & Deployment

| Criteria | ibl.ai | Botpress |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Self-hosting today | Your AWS or GCP account via infra-cli, any existing server, on-premise or air-gapped. | Botpress Cloud only for new builds; v12 and all self-hosted versions are sunset. |
| Source code you receive | Platform source under license; the OS frontend and infra-cli are MIT on GitHub. | MIT code for integrations, CLI, SDK and example bots; the Cloud runtime is not distributed. |
| Where conversations live | In the database you operate, under your retention policy. | In Botpress Cloud, under Botpress's policies and your plan. |
| Pricing shape | Usage-based with no per-seat pricing, against caps you set. | Plan tiers ($150/mo Plus, $750/mo Team, billed annually) plus AI usage; Plus has 3 seats, Team unlimited. |

### Building & Reaching Users

| Criteria | ibl.ai | Botpress |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Messaging channel coverage | Web chat, embeds, LTI 1.3, live voice calls and native apps; no native WhatsApp or Teams channel. | The broadest coverage here: WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Slack, Teams, Twilio SMS, Viber, LINE and more. |
| Visual conversation builder | Workflow canvas with Agent, File search, Guardrails, MCP, If/else, While and User approval nodes. | Botpress Studio is a mature, polished builder designed for conversation designers. |
| Integration catalog | MCP connectors to any server, with featured ones such as GitHub, Atlassian, Asana and Figma. | A hub of 130+ integrations across channels, CRMs and LLM providers. |
| Operational burden | You operate it, or forward-deployed engineers help; that is the price of owning it. | Fully managed — no servers, upgrades or patching. |

### Governance & Data

| Criteria | ibl.ai | Botpress |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Model choice | Provider cards include Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI and xAI; switch per agent. | Several LLM providers through hub integrations, billed as AI usage. |
| Guardrails & PII | Moderation and safety prompts, PII redact/mask/block across 13 entity types. | Policy is configured inside the managed service. |
| Air-gapped or residency-bound deployments | Installs inside the network that holds the data, with no outbound dependency. | Not possible for new builds without a self-hosted edition. |

## Where does Botpress win, and where does ibl.ai?

### Can you still self-host Botpress?

**ibl.ai:** ibl.ai installs on your cloud account, an existing server or an air-gapped network, and you receive the platform source.

**Botpress:** Not for new deployments. Botpress's docs say v12 and all self-hosted versions are no longer available to download or purchase; the archived v12 code is AGPL-3.0.

**Verdict:** If self-hosting is a requirement, today's Botpress is out of scope, and an old v12 fork has the maintenance problem of any unmaintained runtime.

### Which reaches more messaging channels?

**ibl.ai:** ibl.ai focuses on web, embeds, LTI, voice and native apps. Reaching WhatsApp or Teams means bridging the agent session API yourself.

**Botpress:** Botpress connects one agent to more than a dozen consumer and workplace messaging channels out of the box.

**Verdict:** Botpress wins on channels, clearly. For a consumer support bot on WhatsApp and Messenger, that may decide it.

### What does each cost as usage grows?

**ibl.ai:** ibl.ai bills by usage against caps you set, with no per-seat pricing for builders or end users.

**Botpress:** Botpress charges a plan fee — $150 a month for Plus, $750 for Team, billed annually — plus AI usage, the cost of calling an LLM.

**Verdict:** Both price mostly on usage. The difference is who runs the infrastructure and whose cloud the conversation data sits in.

## Should my team choose Botpress or ibl.ai?

### Consumer support on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram — Botpress

Botpress's channel integrations and managed hosting get a multichannel bot live fastest.

### Former Botpress v12 self-hosters — ibl.ai

If the reason you chose v12 was running it yourself, ibl.ai keeps that property and adds a maintained roadmap.

### Regulated, government or air-gapped environments — ibl.ai

A managed cloud cannot be installed inside the network that holds the data; an owned platform can.

### Internal agents for employees — Either

Botpress covers Slack and Teams natively; ibl.ai covers SSO, RBAC, memory and data on your infrastructure. Weigh channel against control.

## How do I migrate from Botpress to ibl.ai?

### Botpress → ibl.ai (medium difficulty)

Timeline: Four to eight weeks, longer when several messaging channels need bridging

- Agents: each bot's instructions and model become an ibl.ai agent; multi-step Studio workflows become Workflows with Agent, If/else and User approval nodes.
- Knowledge: re-ingest knowledge-base sources as agent datasets — files, URLs, crawls, Drive, OneDrive, GitHub — retrained on a schedule.
- Tools & integrations: replace hub actions with MCP connectors to the same systems over WebSocket or Streamable HTTP.
- Memory & user data: bot variables become per-user metadata, and durable facts become global or agent-specific memories.
- Channels: webchat maps to ibl.ai's embed widget; for WhatsApp or Teams, bridge the agent session API (REST, SSE or WebSocket) from your channel gateway.
- Eval & deployment: turn real transcripts into a benchmark CSV, score with LLM-as-Judge, then deploy with infra-cli.

Docs and skills for this move:

- [Workflows: the graph builder](/docs/os/chat-canvas/workflows)
- [Skill: iblai-api-agent-dataset](/developer/skills/iblai-api-agent-dataset)
- [Skill: iblai-api-agent-mcp](/developer/skills/iblai-api-agent-mcp)
- [Skill: iblai-api-profile-metadata](/developer/skills/iblai-api-profile-metadata)
- [Embed an agent](/docs/os/agent-settings/embed)
- [Skill: iblai-api-agent-session](/developer/skills/iblai-api-agent-session)
- [Evaluations](/developer/platform/agents/evaluations)
- [Deploy with infra-cli](/developer/infra-cli)

### ibl.ai → Botpress (medium difficulty)

Timeline: Two to six weeks

- Prompts and settings read out over the REST API; chat history and evaluation results export as files.
- Accept that conversations move into Botpress Cloud rather than your infrastructure.
- Rebuild datasets as Botpress knowledge bases and tools as hub integrations.
- Reasonable when consumer messaging reach matters more than where the data lives.

## FAQ

**Q: Is Botpress open source?**

Partly. The GitHub repository is MIT-licensed, but it contains integrations, the CLI, the SDK and example bots for Botpress Cloud. The legacy self-hostable v12 lives in a separate AGPL-3.0 repository and is sunset.

**Q: Can I self-host Botpress in 2026?**

Not for new deployments. Botpress's documentation states that v12 and all self-hosted versions are no longer available for download, purchase or new deployments, and recommends Botpress Cloud.

**Q: Does ibl.ai support WhatsApp or Microsoft Teams?**

Not as native channels. ibl.ai serves web chat, embeds, LTI 1.3, live voice calls and native apps, and exposes REST, SSE and WebSocket APIs you can bridge to a messaging gateway.

**Q: How is Botpress priced?**

By plan plus usage: Free, Plus at $150 a month and Team at $750 a month (billed annually), each with an AI usage allowance, then Enterprise. Plus includes three seats; Team is unlimited.

**Q: Does ibl.ai charge per seat?**

No. ibl.ai has no per-seat pricing; you pay by usage against caps you set per organization, agent or user.

**Q: How does ibl.ai fit for teams leaving Botpress?**

On ibl.ai you own all the code and the data, run any model and deploy anywhere, including air-gapped — the self-hosting option Botpress no longer offers to new deployments.


## Where do these facts come from?

1. Botpress v12 and all self-hosted versions are sunset and no longer available for download, purchase or new deployments; existing v12 customers remain supported; Botpress Cloud is recommended. [Botpress docs: v12 and self-hosted versions](https://botpress.com/docs/studio/guides/advanced/v12/)
2. The MIT-licensed botpress/botpress repository contains public integrations, Botpress Cloud dev tools (CLI, SDK, API client), example bots and plugins. [botpress/botpress on GitHub](https://github.com/botpress/botpress)
3. The legacy self-hostable runtime lives in botpress/v12 under AGPL-3.0, last updated April 2025. [botpress/v12 on GitHub](https://github.com/botpress/v12)
4. Plus is $150/month and Team $750/month billed annually, with $25 and $150 of AI usage included; Plus has 3 seats and Team unlimited. [Botpress pricing](https://botpress.com/pricing)
5. The Botpress Hub lists channel integrations including WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Twilio, Viber, LINE and webchat. [Botpress integrations hub](https://botpress.com/integrations)


## Where does ibl.ai fit alongside Botpress?

**ibl.ai is the agentic AI platform where you own all the code and the data. You self-host the entire stack inside your own perimeter, run it model-agnostic across any LLM and switch anytime, and pay by usage with no per-seat pricing — so you can deploy anywhere: your cloud, on-premise, GovCloud, or fully air-gapped.**

ibl.ai is for teams that need what a managed builder cannot give: the platform running inside their own perimeter, with the source code and the conversation data in their hands.

Agentic OS carries agents, workflows, datasets, memory, guardrails and evals; Agentic Vibe gives coding agents 157 skills to build apps on it. You own all the code and the data, and where consumer messaging reach matters most, Botpress remains a reasonable choice.

- **You own all the code and the data.** Full source code under a perpetual license, running on your infrastructure. Not API access to someone else's platform — the stack itself is yours.
- **Model-agnostic.** Run any LLM — Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama, Command, or your own fine-tune — and switch providers without rewriting the platform.
- **No per-seat pricing.** Usage-based billing against a budget cap you set. Cost tracks what your organization actually uses, not how many people you employ.
- **Deploy anywhere.** Your cloud, your VPC, on-premise, GovCloud, or a fully air-gapped network with no outbound connectivity.

1.6M+ users across 400+ organizations run the platform this way, including NVIDIA, MIT, and Syracuse University.

ibl.ai is family-owned and operated from New York, NY — a U.S.-headquartered, domestically-owned long-term partner, not a vendor that sells licenses and moves on.