Noetava vs Chatbase
Chatbase is one of the best-known "chatbot from your data" tools, and to be fair to it: setup is quick, the widget is polished, and for a simple FAQ bot it does the job.
The structural difference is what happens underneath. Tools in that category, Chatbase included, work by sending each visitor question — along with chunks of your documents — to a third-party model provider such as OpenAI, and relaying the answer back. You are renting prompts on someone else's shared model. Noetava trains a model of your own and runs it ourselves.
The short version
- Chatbase forwards each question to a third-party AI provider; Noetava runs your own fine-tuned model on our own machines.
- With Noetava, your documents are trained into a model no other customer can touch — not just stuffed into someone else's prompt.
- Both embed on your website; Noetava also lets you white-label fully and even charge your own customers for access.
Side by side
| Chatbase & similar tools | Noetava | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Retrieval over your docs, answered by a third-party model API (e.g. OpenAI) | A model fine-tuned on your material, plus retrieval with citations — served on Noetava's own infrastructure |
| Where questions go | To the upstream AI provider, on every single message | Nowhere. No third-party AI provider is involved, at training time or at answer time |
| Who owns the intelligence | The model belongs to the provider; cancel and nothing was ever yours | The fine-tuned model exists for you alone and is used for no one else |
| Staying on-message | Prompt instructions over a general model | Strict mode with your exact fallback wording, plus a trained-in voice |
| White-label & resale | Branding removal on higher tiers | Business plan: your brand only, custom domain, and a built-in paywall to charge for access |
| Jurisdiction | Typically US companies on US AI providers | UK company (MRD Assets Limited), ICO-registered, UK GDPR by default |
| Price | Tiered by message credits; model quality often gated by tier | £49–£299/month, flat — publishing & embedding from the £99 plan. Every plan runs the same private-model architecture |
When a tool like Chatbase is the right choice
You need a throwaway FAQ widget in the next ten minutes, you don't mind visitor questions transiting a third-party AI provider, and ownership doesn't matter to you. In that case a wrapper tool is cheap and quick, and honestly fine.
When Noetava is the right choice
Your answers involve client, financial or otherwise sensitive material; you sell trust; or you simply want the asset. A trained model that belongs to your business — and a straight answer to "where do my customers' questions go?" — is the difference customers can feel.
Common questions
Training a Noetava AI typically takes minutes. You upload documents, press train, and it's answering the same morning — with retraining whenever your material changes.
Yes. Your AI combines its training with live retrieval over your knowledge, and cites the documents it drew from, so you can check any answer's source.
Yes — the embed is one script tag, so you can run it on a single page first, watch the conversation insights, and roll it out when you're happy.
You can export your documents and data at any time from your Account page, and deleting your account permanently removes your data and your trained models.
Train your own private AI
Upload your documents, train in minutes, and see it answer. 7-day free trial on Starter — no card needed.
Written to be accurate as of August 2026; the other product will evolve, and so will we. Spotted something out of date? Email support@noetava.com and we’ll fix it. Chatbase is a trademark of its owner; Noetava is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. See all comparisons.