People checking out a church for the first time want service times, parking and what to expect with their kids. Our AI answers from your own website at any hour, and our AI receptionist answers the calls your office misses and emails the church administrator the details.
First-time visitors decide quickly. A family looking for a church this Sunday will not wait for a Tuesday callback to learn what time the service starts or whether there is a nursery.
Anchor Co AI trains a chatbot on your own website so it answers service times and location, children's and youth programs you list, what to expect on a first visit, how to reach the church office or request pastoral contact at any hour. It is free to start ($0, 20 messages a month), paid chatbot plans start at $29 a month, and the Front Office bundle (website, AI chat and an AI phone receptionist that answers calls when the church office is closed or busy and emails the administrator the caller's name, number and reason for calling) is $249 a month plus a one-time $297 setup, month to month.
| Feature | Anchor Co AI | Chatbase | Tidio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | $29/mo, billed monthly | $40/mo billed monthly, $32/mo billed yearly (Hobby) | $24.17/mo billed annually (Starter) |
| Usage on that plan | 1,000 messages/mo | 700 message credits/mo | 100 billable conversations/mo |
| Free trial | Free plan $0 (20 messages/mo); paid plans add a 14-day trial | 7-day trial | Free plan $0 (50 billable conversations/mo) |
| Built for local service businesses | Yes | General-purpose | General-purpose |
Competitor figures are public list prices from chatbase.co/pricing and tidio.com/pricing, read 2026-10-20. Plans change; check the vendor before you buy. Full breakdowns: Anchor Co AI vs Chatbase, Anchor Co AI vs Tidio.
Published by Anchor Co AI. Last updated .
Why churches miss people who are ready to visit
People plan on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings, when the church office is closed. A question that goes unanswered until Tuesday is often a visit that did not happen.
Service times, where to park, what to wear, whether there is a children's program, how to find the nursery. The answers are usually on the website but hard for a stranger to find quickly.
Many churches have one administrator who is also managing the building, the bulletin and the calendar. Calls during a meeting or a funeral planning visit go to voicemail.
Someone reaching out in a hard week needs a human reply. The first step is making sure the request is received and reaches the right staff member promptly.
How it works
Someone opens the chat on your site on a Saturday night, or calls while the office is closed.
It says it is an AI, answers from what you have published (service times, location, programs), and takes a name and number for anything else.
A summary is emailed to the office so a staff member or pastor can call or write back.
Front Office plans
Every plan is $297 to set up, then monthly. Month-to-month, cancel any time. Buy online, fill out one form, and see your preview within 5 business days. No sales call.
What the receptionist doesn't do: it doesn't book appointments, quote prices or connect to calendars or CRMs. It takes the caller's details so you can call back.
Cancelling and refunds:cancel any time and you aren't billed again; there are no partial-month refunds. The setup fee is returned only if you cancel before you submit the intake form. If we don't deliver what the terms describe, tell us within 30 days of the charge and we fix it, or refund the affected charge if we can't. Read the refund policy and plan terms before you buy.
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No. It shares practical information from your website and takes a message. It does not counsel, pray with or advise anyone. A person in crisis is told to contact the church office, call 911 in an emergency, or call or text 988 for a mental-health crisis.
No. It can point visitors to the giving page on your website if you have one. It does not process payments.
Only what you have published. It repeats the wording on your own pages and does not add to it, so keep those pages the way you want your church described.
One plan, Front Office: $297 one-time setup, then $99/month for the website, $179 with the AI chat, or $249 with the AI receptionist too (300 answered minutes a month, no overage fees). Month-to-month, cancel any time.
No contract. Month-to-month, cancel any time. There are no partial-month refunds.
Preview within 5 business days of your completed intake form. Month-to-month. Cancel any time.
Matt Henry · Anchor Co AI · Pacific, MO
See it before you buy it
No slideshow, no actor. A screen recording of our own assistant handling the two questions every owner asks: what happens to the 9pm call I miss, and will it invent things about my business.
Real answers from our live demo bot — unscripted, recorded on this site.
Visitor: I run an HVAC company. A customer calls at 9pm and I can't pick up — what happens?
Anchor Co AI: Right now? They hit voicemail and you've lost them to whoever picks up first. With our chatbot, they hit your website at 9pm, ask “Do you do emergency service?” or “Are you licensed in my county?” — and get an instant answer. The bot captures their name, number, and address. You wake up to a lead instead of a missed call. That's the whole thing: your customers get answers 24/7, you only deal with the calls that actually need you, and you're not losing jobs to competitors who answer faster. Since you're in HVAC, the bot can handle all the common questions — licensing by county, service area, whether you do emergency calls, minimum job size, how long estimates take. You train it on your website in about 10 minutes, and it goes live in an afternoon. Want to try it? You can start free at anchorcoai.com/signup — no credit card required. Test it on your actual website for 14 days and see if it captures leads you would've missed.
Visitor: Will it make stuff up about my business?
Anchor Co AI: No. The bot only answers from what you've given it — your website content, your FAQs, pricing, service areas, whatever you add. If a question falls outside that (something the bot doesn't know), it's honest about it. Instead of guessing, it says “I don't have that info” and asks for their name and contact details so you can follow up personally. It won't make up licensing claims, pricing, or service details. That's the safeguard. Your bot is only as smart as the information you feed it — which means you stay in control of what it says about your business. Honestly the easiest way to see if it works for your business is to just try it. Free plan, no card. anchorcoai.com/signup
Not ready to buy? Run a free 15-second audit of your site — no email required.
Every customer who hits voicemail is a missed job. Your bot answers them in 60 seconds.
Try it free →No credit card required