What does it cost to run?

The software is free to download and use. Your only costs are the services you use to run it: your server, the AI provider whose models answer questions, and any service that reads PDF and Word files. You pay those companies directly, and Online Tech Support never sees your bills.

Where does my data and my clients' data live?

All data lives in your own database on your own server, so your information never leaves your hands. The app only communicates with the services you set up: your AI provider, your PDF reading service, and your email server. Each customer's data is locked away from every other customer by the database using forced row-level security, not just by the app code.

Can I host several clients on one installation?

Yes. Each client account gets its own users, chatbots, API keys, branding, timezone and audit log. The database uses forced row-level security with separate owner and app accounts to keep one client's data away from the others.

What models can I use?

Any model that uses the OpenAI-compatible API format: OpenAI, Claude through OpenRouter, DeepSeek, OpenRouter's catalog, GLM, MiniMax, Nvidia NIM, and local models you run on your own hardware like Ollama, LM Studio or vLLM. Each chatbot picks one model, and if the main model fails the bot automatically retries on your backup model.

How do I put the chatbot on a website?

Paste the generated script tag before the closing body tag on your site, then add that site's domain to the chatbot's allowed-domain list. The widget runs in a Shadow DOM, so it cannot break your page's CSS and your page's CSS cannot break the widget.

PHP Chatbot Assistant

A free chatbot you run on your own server

AI Chatbots & Assistants
United States

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Upvotes: 0
DR: 1 no change since last check
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Since: 2023

Open source chatbot software that runs on your server. Upload documents, train a bot to answer questions from them, and embed it on your website with one line

About PHP Chatbot Assistant

Screenshot of the PHP Chatbot Assistant homepage — The PHP Chatbot Assistant homepage

PHP Chatbot Assistant is free, open source software you download and run on your own server. Upload PDF, Word, text or Markdown files, and the system indexes them so your chatbot can answer visitor questions using your documents. The bot can use vector search or PageIndex to find answers. You choose your own AI provider (OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek, or local models) and manage everything through a dashboard with built-in support for multiple client accounts, lead capture, analytics, and security features including two-factor authentication and row-level security.

The software includes a website widget that embeds with one script tag, styled in light or dark mode with your custom colors. It comes with 101 prompt presets across 27 industries, quick-answer buttons for instant replies, visitor ratings, and an audit log. Installation takes about half an hour and requires PHP 8.2+, PostgreSQL 16+ with pgvector, and Composer.

rag
ai
chatbot
open-source
document search
self-hosted

Features worth knowing

Support for multiple AI providers
Website widget with customizable colors and positioning
Data stays on your own server and database

Pricing

Pricing model: Open source

Free. You only pay for the services you use to run it: your server, the AI provider's models, and any third-party service for reading PDF and Word files.

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