Bots at Work vs ChatGenie vs Building Custom: What a Filipino SME Actually Pays

If you are comparing Bots at Work, ChatGenie, and building something custom for your business, you are at the decision stage — and most comparisons you will find are written by one of the three trying to win you. So let me be upfront: I build custom AI chatbots, so I am one of the three options here. I have skin in the game. That is exactly why I am going to be scrupulously fair about where the other two genuinely win, and then show you my real, audited numbers instead of a range — because a rigged comparison helps nobody, and fairness is the only version of this worth reading.

First: These Are Not Three of the Same Thing

The most useful thing I can tell you is that these three are not interchangeable. Picking by price alone will lead you wrong, because they are built for different jobs.

• ChatGenie is a social-commerce platform. It turns Messenger, Instagram, Viber, GCash, and TikTok into online stores — ordering, shipping integration with Grab Express, Pandago, and Ninja Van, a merchant dashboard, and AI auto-replies. It is built for selling products through chat.
• Bots at Work is a done-for-you chatbot agency. It builds bots for Messenger, WhatsApp, and website chat that capture leads, answer FAQs, and qualify buyers. Its published client list includes large brands like Kia, Honda, Volkswagen, and Aboitiz Power.
• A custom build (what I do) is a chatbot or full AI receptionist tailored to one business and handed to that owner — built on Node.js and LangGraph with Claude Code, running on a low-cost model.

So the real question is not "which is cheapest." It is "which job am I hiring this for" — selling products, an enterprise agency engagement, or a tailored system I own.

ChatGenie — Best if You Sell Products Through Chat

ChatGenie is a genuinely strong platform for what it does, and I will give it full credit. If your business is selling products — a store, a food brand taking orders with delivery — ChatGenie gives you online ordering, shipping integration, promo codes, customer segments, and a dashboard out of the box, with no developer. Publicly, as of June 2026, it prices at ₱10 per transaction with no commissions, which is transparent and easy to understand. It is a VC-backed company (Techstars 2023), so it is not going anywhere.

The honest trade-offs: ₱10 per transaction is a per-order model, so the cost scales forever with your sales volume — you never stop paying per transaction. And it is a platform built around selling and templates, not a receptionist tailored to your exact booking flow or escalation rules. If you sell products, that is a fair trade. If you mostly need to answer inquiries, qualify, and book, it is more platform than you need.

Bots at Work — Best if You Want a Proven Agency for a Bigger Brand

Bots at Work is the option most similar to me — a done-for-you chatbot service — and they have a real strength I do not: they are an established company with a team and an enterprise track record. When your published clients include Kia, Honda, Volkswagen, and Aboitiz Power, a big brand can hire you with confidence. If you are a larger company that wants a vendor with staff and a proven name, that is a legitimate reason to pick them.

The honest trade-off is pricing visibility. Publicly, as of June 2026, their pricing is quote-based — it depends on channels, complexity, and integrations, with a typical deployment of two to four weeks — so you will not know what you pay until you contact them. That is normal for agencies, but it is the opposite of being able to compare a number on a page. For a small business that just wants to know the cost before booking a sales call, that uncertainty is friction.

Building Custom (With Me) — Best if You Want It Tailored, Transparent, and Owned

Here is my side, with the numbers I promised — the part the other two do not put on a page. I build a custom AI chatbot or receptionist for your specific business, and I publish my books. Running cost: I handle around 20,000 messages for about $4 a month on a low-cost model (DeepSeek V4 Flash), built with Claude Code on the strongest Claude model so the software itself is sharp. My service price is on my pricing page, not behind a sales call: a ₱3,000 per month bundle with setup from ₱10,000. The monthly is not a hidden markup — it covers real ongoing work: hosting, maintenance, daily updates, model upgrades, and new features as your business grows.

And the honest trade-offs, because fairness cuts both ways. I am one person, not a company with a support team — so the real question a careful buyer should ask is "what if Oliver is unavailable?" My honest answer: I configure every system myself, which is also why it is truly tailored, and Claude Code makes me fast enough to keep up, but you are right that it is a one-person operation, and you should weigh that. The build also runs from day one but takes roughly 30 days to perfect for your business. What you get for those trade-offs is a system tailored to exactly how you operate, the ability to add any feature later, the lowest running cost of the three, and a system you own rather than rent.

What a Filipino SME Actually Pays — Side by Side

Here is the comparison in one place. Again, the Bots at Work and ChatGenie columns reflect public information as of June 2026 — verify before you decide.

The One Honest Edge: A Number on a Page

Notice the difference in the pricing rows, because it is the whole point. ChatGenie is transparent but on a per-transaction model that grows with your success. Bots at Work is a custom quote you get only after a sales call. I publish a flat price and my actual running cost — about $4 for 20,000 messages — so you can do the math before you ever message me. That is not me being cheaper for its own sake; it is me believing you deserve to know exactly what you pay and exactly what you own before you decide. A range protects the seller. A published number respects the buyer.

Which One Should You Actually Pick?

Here is the honest decision rule, and I will send you to a competitor if that is the right call:

• Pick ChatGenie if your business is selling products through chat and you want online ordering, shipping, and a dashboard out of the box.
• Pick Bots at Work if you are a larger brand that wants an established agency with a team and an enterprise track record, and you are fine getting pricing by quote.
• Pick a custom build if you are an SME that wants the system tailored exactly to how you operate, the lowest running cost, full price transparency, and to own it — and you are comfortable that it takes about 30 days to perfect and is built by one hands-on operator.