8 Best Chatbot Alternatives in 2026 (Open Source)
Chatbot — A full-featured, hackable Next.js AI chatbot built by Vercel. Vercel's official AI chatbot template — the most polished and production-ready Next.js chatbot starter with AI SDK, unlike generic templates it includes auth, persistence, multi-provider routing, and one-click Vercel deployment
These 8 open-source tools do the same job. They are ordered by how closely they match Chatbot, with live GitHub data so you can see which projects are actively maintained.
| Tool | GitHub stars | Stars / 30d | Last commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatbot(original) | 21.0k | +159 | 2026-07-08 |
| Chatbot UI | 33.4k | +34 | 2024-06-22 |
| Dialoqbase | 1.8k | +1 | 2026-06-29 |
| Hexabot | 1.3k | +55 | 2026-08-20 |
| OpenChat | 5.2k | +-5 | 2024-02-27 |
| langchain-chat-nextjs | 1.0k | +-0 | 2023-01-27 |
| Autonomous HR Chatbot | 460 | +3 | 2026-04-29 |
| CodeFuse-ChatBot | 1.3k | +1 | 2024-07-01 |
| DB-GPT | 20.1k | +270 | 2026-09-28 |
1. Chatbot UI
AI chat for any model.
What sets it apart: vs ChatGPT web app: open-source, self-hosted with Supabase backend for full data ownership — the most popular open-source ChatGPT UI clone with 28k+ stars
Best for: Developers wanting a self-hosted ChatGPT-like UI with data persistence; Teams needing an open-source chat interface they can customize; Organizations wanting full control over their AI chat data
2. Dialoqbase
Create chatbots with ease
What sets it apart: vs Botpress/Rasa: open-source no-code chatbot builder with multi-LLM provider flexibility + multi-platform deployment (web, Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp) + PostgreSQL vector search — all self-hosted
Best for: Quickly building custom chatbots from proprietary knowledge bases; Teams wanting multi-platform chatbot deployment (Telegram, Discord, web); Experimenting with different LLM providers for chatbot use cases
3. Hexabot
Hexabot is an open-source AI chatbot / agent builder. It allows you to create and manage multi-channel and multilingual chatbots / agents with ease.
What sets it apart: vs Botpress/Rasa: open-source visual chatbot builder with built-in multi-LLM support, multi-channel deployment, and knowledge base — complete platform not just a framework
Best for: Teams building multi-channel AI chatbots with visual flow editor; Organizations needing self-hosted chatbot with human handover
4. OpenChat
LLMs custom-chatbots console ⚡
What sets it apart: vs Chatbase/CustomGPT: self-hosted open-source chatbot platform with unlimited memory, codebase ingestion for pair programming, and embeddable website widgets — own your data without SaaS vendor lock-in
Best for: Building knowledge-base chatbots from company documents; Website customer support widgets with custom data; Pair programming assistance using codebase context
5. langchain-chat-nextjs
Next.js frontend for LangChain Chat.
What sets it apart: vs other LangChain UIs: minimal Next.js reference implementation by LangChain community — the simplest way to connect LangChain's chat backend to a web UI
Best for: JavaScript developers wanting a simple LangChain + Next.js chat reference; Quick prototyping of LangChain chat interfaces; Learning how to connect LangChain backend to a web frontend
6. Autonomous HR Chatbot
An autonomous HR agent that can answer user queries using tools
What sets it apart: vs generic chatbot templates: demonstrates multi-tool LangChain agent composition (vector search + DataFrame + calculator) in an HR context — clear reference architecture for enterprise domain chatbots
Best for: Learning how to build LangChain agents with multiple tool types; Prototyping enterprise HR chatbot concepts; Demonstrating vector search + DataFrame + calculator agent composition
7. CodeFuse-ChatBot
An intelligent assistant serving the entire software development lifecycle, powered by a Multi-Agent Framework, working with DevOps Toolkits, Code&Doc Repo RAG, etc.
What sets it apart: vs GitHub Copilot/Cursor: multi-agent DevOps assistant from Ant Group with repository-level code analysis, knowledge graphs, and sandboxed execution — designed for enterprise private deployment
Best for: DevOps teams needing AI-assisted code analysis and generation; Enterprise teams wanting private, self-hosted coding assistant with RAG
8. DB-GPT
open-source agentic AI data assistant for the next generation of AI + Data products.
What sets it apart: Full-stack AI data assistant combining autonomous SQL generation, sandboxed code execution, and reusable skills in a single platform — not just a chatbot
Best for: Data teams needing natural language database querying; Organizations wanting AI-powered data analysis assistants; Teams building data-driven agent workflows