CrawlBot AI vs. Botpress (Open Source)
Botpress is flexible and open source, which makes it attractive for teams that want full control. CrawlBot focuses on delivering a crawl-first, grounded assistant with enterprise security and analytics already wired. Here is how to decide between them.
Build vs. buy
- Botpress: Maximum flexibility with code and flows, but you own crawling, embeddings, vector storage, CSP, and monitoring.
- CrawlBot: Sitemap-first crawl, adaptive retrieval, hardened widget, and per-embed analytics out of the box.
Comparison
| Dimension | CrawlBot AI | Botpress |
|---|---|---|
| Grounding | Hybrid RAG with citations and refusal logic | Depends on your implementation |
| Freshness | Sitemap-first crawl, IndexNow, incremental recrawl | You must build crawling and refresh logic |
| Security | SRI, strict widget CSP, origin checks, formal threat model | You configure headers and isolation yourself |
| Analytics | Per-embed impressions, opens, chats, messages, fallback reasons | Custom instrumentation required |
| Multi-tenant | White label and quotas per tenant for agencies | Requires custom multi-tenant design |
| SSO | OIDC and SAML ready at launch | Build integration or use plugins |
When CrawlBot is easier
- You want fast time to value without owning the plumbing of crawling, chunking, and retrieval tuning.
- Security teams want a documented threat model and hardened embed by default.
- Agencies need isolated tenants, styling, and quotas without bespoke code.
When Botpress still shines
- Highly custom flows and channel integrations that go beyond web embeds.
- Internal bots where you control the environment and can manage the infra.
- Teams with engineering bandwidth to own the full stack and SLA.
Practical path
- Launch CrawlBot on public pages for grounded answers and citations.
- Keep Botpress for internal or highly customized flows.
- Share unanswered intents between both systems to guide content and flow updates.
Open source flexibility is powerful, but production AI assistants demand discipline around freshness, security, and observability. CrawlBot ships those defaults so teams can focus on content and outcomes.