Desku AI Chatbot Builder vs Microsoft Bot Framework
Desku AI Chatbot Builder
desku.ioMicrosoft Bot Framework
dev.botframework.comSide by side
| Figure | Desku AI Chatbot Builder | Microsoft Bot Framework |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $39/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 3 |
| Spec score · Chatbot Builders | 9.1 (#10) | 8.9 (#21) |
| Company legal name | The terms identify the contracting company using an unresolved placeholder for its legal entity name, so the legal name could not be verified from that page. | Microsoft Corporation is identified as the company behind the product and is a public company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. |
| Company size | LinkedIn lists Desku as having 11–50 employees. | Microsoft reports approximately 228,000 full-time employees as of June 30, 2025. |
| Deployment channels | multichannel | multichannel |
| Documentation | The help center organizes guides for setup, notifications, features, ticket automation, Eva AI, integrations, custom apps and JavaScript SDK/public API. | Microsoft Learn organizes Bot Service documentation around building, testing, deploying and managing chatbots, with language-specific developer options. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Human handoff | The chatbot can escalate conversations to human agents and transfer them to live chat. | Yes |
| Knowledge-base answers | Yes | Yes |
| Languages | The chatbot product page advertises multilingual support, while G2 lists German, English, French, Spanish and Swedish as supported languages. | The Bot Framework provides client libraries for C#, JavaScript, Python, and Java. |
| License | Desku is a cloud subscription service with a limited, revocable business-use license; the terms prohibit resale and reverse engineering, and no open-source license is stated. | The Bot Framework SDK repository is distributed under the MIT License. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.8 out of 5 from 31 reviews. | 4.0 out of 5 from 16 reviews |
| Security | Desku says its controls include encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access, monitoring, logging and intrusion detection. | Bot Service channels require HTTPS and TLS 1.2, and the SDK automates basic bot-to-channel authentication. |
| Support | GetApp lists email/help desk, knowledge base, phone, chat and 24/7 live representative support for Desku. | Microsoft says support tickets for the Bot Framework SDK will no longer be serviced as of December 31, 2025. |
| Visual flow builder | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Desku AI Chatbot Builder
- FreeFree
- Growth$39 a month
- Advance$79 a month
- Business$179 a month
- FreeFree
- Growth$39 a month
- Advance$79 a month
- Business$179 a month
In their own words
Desku AI Chatbot Builder
Desku AI Chatbot Builder combines chatbot creation with a multichannel inbox for customer conversations. A visual flow builder and AI bot generation support bot setup, while knowledge-base answers help automate responses. Conversations can be handed off to a human. Its unified social inbox includes comment management, reply automation, and team assignment.
The service runs on the web, iOS, and Android, and a mobile app is available. Pricing is freemium. The Free plan costs nothing, billed monthly, and includes 2 agents and 1 inbox. Growth costs $39 a month, billed monthly, for 6 agents. Advance costs $79 a month for 12 agents, and Business costs $179 a month for 25 agents. A 14-day trial is listed. The maker is based in Wilmington, Delaware, United States.
Microsoft Bot Framework
Microsoft Bot Framework and Azure AI Bot Service provide tools to build, test, deploy and manage intelligent bots. The modular SDK includes tools and templates for bots that can use speech, understand natural language and handle questions and answers. Development tools work with a Connector service for messages and events, alongside Azure deployment and channel configuration. Client libraries are available for C#, JavaScript, Python and Java. Bots can connect to channels such as Microsoft Teams, Facebook and Slack, using Azure AI Bot Service channels or channel adapters; a visual flow builder, knowledge-base answers and human handoff are listed capabilities. The Free plan costs nothing and includes unlimited standard-channel messages and 10,000 premium-channel messages per month. S1 includes unlimited standard-channel messages, with no price listed. Microsoft says the SDK is no longer maintained and recommends the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK for new agent development. It also says Bot Framework SDK support tickets will no longer be serviced as of December 31, 2025.