Rapls AI Chatbot – Self-Hosted RAG & MCP Server vs Storebird AI Chat for WooCommerce

Add an AI chatbot that answers visitors from your own content — and admits when it doesn’t know. Rapls AI Chatbot searches your posts, pages, and knowledge base first, then replies in natural language, in the visitor’s own language. With Grounded Answers Only mode, if your content has no answer, the bot says so instead of making something up. You can be live in about five minutes, for free, with no credit card. On first setup a guided “Start for free” panel hands you a free key from OpenRouter or the Google Gemini free tier, tests it, auto-selects a working model, and switches the chatbot on — no AI or API experience needed. Watch the setup, start to finish: No monthly SaaS fee — and no runaway bill. It runs on your own API key with no markup, and built-in Usage Control caps daily usage per visitor, so you can open the bot to the public without worrying about your API spend. A Monthly Cost Guard lets you set a hard budget, and Model Fallback keeps the bot answering on a lightweight model when your main model hits its quota. Conversations and keys stay on your own server. Built for site owners, agencies, and developers who want control over the model, the data, and the cost. Connect OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, or OpenRouter, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as Alibaba Tongyi Qwen (DashScope) — useful where OpenAI and Gemini are hard to reach — and switch anytime. Why site owners pick Rapls Free to try, fast to launch. Guided onboarding gets you from install to a working chatbot in minutes, with a no-credit-card OpenRouter or Gemini key. Grounded answers, or an honest “I don’t know.” RAG hybrid search grounds replies in your actual posts, pages, and knowledge base — and Grounded Answers Only mode keeps the bot from inventing answers your site doesn’t contain. Your bill can’t run away. Self-hosted and BYOK with no markup, plus per-visitor daily caps (Usage Control) so public traffic can’t drain your API budget. Replies that don’t sound like a robot. An optional AI-smell score reviews the bot’s Japanese replies for machine-sounding wording, so you can tune the tone. (Detection only — replies are never altered.) No lock-in. Switch between OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, and OpenRouter whenever you want. Speaks your visitors’ language. Automatic multi-language replies, so one bot serves an international audience. What it does Bring your own key: OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (Alibaba Qwen/DashScope, DeepSeek, Zhipu), switchable per site. Site learning: indexes your posts and pages so the bot answers from your content. Knowledge base: add Q&A or upload TXT/MD/PDF/DOCX files (large documents are split into parts automatically so they embed reliably), with priority over general answers. RAG hybrid search: combines keyword and semantic retrieval for grounded replies. Grounded Answers Only: an optional mode that makes the bot reply “I couldn’t find that” instead of inventing an answer your content doesn’t support. Web search: lets the bot pull current information when configured. MCP tools: exposes 5 Model Context Protocol tools, so agents such as Claude or ChatGPT can read and act on your site through conversation. Usage dashboard: tracks conversations, messages, and API cost. Usage Control: optional per-visitor daily caps so public traffic can’t run up your API bill. Unanswered Questions: records what the bot could not answer, with one-click “Add to knowledge” and an AI-drafted FAQ page. AI-smell score: an optional read-only score that flags machine-sounding wording in Japanese replies (detection only — replies are never altered). Industry starter templates: one click applies a ready-made system prompt and preset questions for hotels, shops, clinics, professional services, or company sites. Gutenberg block: drop the chatbot into any page or post. Deep-link auto-send: a ?raplsaich_q= URL opens the chatbot and sends the question automatically, so end-of-article “suggested questions” become one-click conversations. Turns visitor questions into content The bot doesn’t just answer — it tells you what your site is missing. Questions it could not answer from your content are recorded on the dashboard, one click turns them into a knowledge entry, and another click drafts an FAQ page from the last 30 days of real visitor questions. Answer gaps become content, content improves the bot, and the same pages work for SEO and AI search (LLMO). Self-hosted and private Conversations and keys stay on your own WordPress install. You are billed by your AI provider directly, so cost is transparent and there is no markup. Visitors can delete their own chat history from the widget (optional), and retention is configurable — GDPR-friendly by design. Free and Pro Free — not a trial. The free version is the full product: chatbot, site learning, knowledge base, RAG hybrid search, Grounded Answers Only, MCP server (5 tools), a usage dashboard (conversations, messages, and cost), and per-visitor daily caps. Run it forever at no cost on a free-tier key. Pro — for sites that run the bot as a business tool: Lead capture automation — collect contacts from conversations, with Google Sheets and Slack sync. Analytics — conversation, cost, and quality metrics at a glance. Usage Control suite — role-based limits, per-user monthly credits with auto-reset, and a usage-control dashboard to grant and track credits, so members and guests each get a fair share of your API budget. Extra MCP tools — product-search and analytics tools for AI agents, on top of the five in Free. Context & embedding controls — reprocess embeddings and shape the context retrieved for each reply. LINE integration (add-on) — connect the chatbot to LINE messaging, the dominant messenger in Japan. Up and running in about 5 minutes (free, no credit card) You do not need an API key or any AI experience to start. On first setup the plugin shows a “Start for free” panel with two no-credit-card paths: an OpenRouter free key or a Google Gemini free-tier key. Pick OpenRouter or Gemini. Click through to get a free key (about a minute) and paste it in. Press Test Connection — the key is validated and saved, a working free model is auto-selected, and the chatbot is switched on. That’s it. Each option states its data-handling trade-off up front (the Gemini free tier may use submitted content to improve Google’s models), so you choose with eyes open. You can switch to your own OpenAI, Claude, or Gemini key at any time. Learn more: Plugin details | Source code (GitHub) See it in action Watch the full setup — from install to first reply — in about 5 minutes, no credit card required: See it answer from your own content, and how that differs from plain ChatGPT: External Services This plugin connects to the following external third-party services. No data is sent to any service until you configure an API key and enable the feature in the plugin settings. Each service requires the site administrator to create an account and obtain API credentials. By using these services, you agree to their respective terms and privacy policies listed below. 1. OpenAI (GPT models): AI Provider Used when you select OpenAI as your AI provider. User messages and optionally site content are sent to generate AI responses. Service URL: https://api.openai.com/ Terms of Use: https://openai.com/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://openai.com/privacy/ 2. Anthropic (Claude models): AI Provider Used when you select Anthropic Claude as your AI provider. User messages and optionally site content are sent to generate AI responses. Service URL: https://api.anthropic.com/ Terms of Use: https://www.anthropic.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.anthropic.com/privacy 3. Google (Gemini models): AI Provider Used when you select Google Gemini as your AI provider. User messages and optionally site content are sent to generate AI responses. Service URL: https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/ Terms of Use: https://policies.google.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy 4. OpenRouter: AI Provider Used when you select OpenRouter as your AI provider. OpenRouter is a unified API gateway that routes requests to various AI models. Service URL: https://openrouter.ai/api/ Terms of Use: https://openrouter.ai/terms Privacy Policy: https://openrouter.ai/privacy 5. OpenAI-compatible endpoints (e.g. Alibaba Qwen/DashScope, DeepSeek, Zhipu): AI Provider Used only if you select the “OpenAI-compatible” provider and enter a base URL. User messages, and optionally your site content (including indexed content for RAG embeddings), are sent to the endpoint you configure to generate responses or embeddings. Because the endpoint is chosen by you, please review the terms and privacy policy of the specific provider you connect to. For example, Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (DashScope), which powers Tongyi Qwen: Service URL: https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/ Terms of Use: https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/legal/ Privacy Policy: https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/legal/latest/alibaba-cloud-privacy-policy/ 6. Google reCAPTCHA v3 (Optional) Used only if you enable reCAPTCHA in the plugin settings for spam protection. The visitor’s IP address and interaction data are sent to Google for verification. Service URL: https://www.google.com/recaptcha/ Terms of Use: https://policies.google.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy 7. LINE Messaging API (Pro Add-on, Optional) Used only if you enable the LINE integration via the Pro add-on. Connects to the LINE Messaging API for chatbot-to-LINE messaging. Service URL: https://api.line.me/ Terms of Use: https://terms.line.me/ Privacy Policy: https://line.me/en/terms/policy/ Cross-Site Embed The plugin includes an optional embed loader script (embed-loader.js) for embedding the chatbot on external websites via an iframe. This script does not load any external CDN resources or third-party scripts. It creates an iframe pointing back to your own WordPress site, and all data processing occurs on your server. Data Transmitted to External Services User messages: Chat messages entered by visitors (sent to the configured AI provider only) Site content (if Site Learning is enabled): Excerpts from your published posts/pages (sent to the configured AI provider) Knowledge base (if configured): Custom Q&A entries you create (sent to the configured AI provider) IP address (reCAPTCHA only): Sent to Google for spam verification Data Storage Conversation history: Stored locally in your WordPress database (can be disabled) Visitor IP: Stored as SHA-256 hash (not plain text) for rate limiting Retention: Configurable auto-deletion period (default 90 days) User Controls You can disable these features in the plugin settings: * Conversation history saving * Site content crawling/learning * Google reCAPTCHA verification * Web search

Questions cost sales before checkout—and time after it. Storebird answers both. A shopper is ready to buy, but has one last question. Is it the right size? Is it in stock? Will it arrive in time? Another customer just wants to know where their order is. If nobody answers, the first shopper may leave. The second question lands in your inbox. Storebird is the AI chatbot that knows your WooCommerce store. It turns live products, stock, variations, orders and store information into useful answers. Before the sale, it helps shoppers find the right product and move forward. After the sale, it answers order, delivery and policy questions—without making you type the same reply again. Less chasing. Less hesitation. More customers who know what to do next. Real Questions. Real Store. Real Results. On one real WooCommerce store, Storebird handled 534 customer chats and captured 72 leads. 82% of those conversations were freely typed product questions—not preset buttons. That is the job Storebird is built for: being there at the exact moment a customer needs an answer. Not Another Chatbot That Guesses Generic chatbots read a few pages and hope for the best. Storebird connects directly to WooCommerce, so it can work with the data your store already runs on: Products and variations — help shoppers compare options, sizes, colours and specifications Live prices and stock — show what is available now Product recommendations — turn natural-language questions into matching products with direct links Orders and tracking — let customers securely check order status and delivery information Coupons and policies — explain discounts, shipping, returns and the store information you add When you update a product in WooCommerce, Storebird syncs the change automatically. No scripts to maintain. No chatbot flowcharts to rebuild. No OpenAI API key required. Train Storebird on What Makes Your Store Different Your store is more than product titles and prices. The best answers often live in your shipping rules, return policy, sizing advice, buying guides and the details your team knows by heart. Storebird gives your AI its own knowledge base. You can: Import pages from your website and turn existing store content into answers Add and edit knowledge manually for FAQs, policies, product advice or anything unique to your business Teach product-specific details with notes and corrections attached to individual products Control what the AI uses by activating, updating or removing knowledge whenever you want See which knowledge gets used in customer answers Storebird automatically enriches and reprocesses the knowledge you add. Update a page, correct a product or change your WooCommerce data, and future answers can use the latest version. The more useful knowledge you give Storebird, the more useful Storebird becomes—without rebuilding scripts or chatbot flows. Your own knowledge base is included on every plan: up to 100 pages on Essential and unlimited pages on Pro and Scale. One WooCommerce Brain, Before and After the Sale Storebird does more than answer FAQs. It understands where the customer is in the buying journey. Before checkout, Storebird can answer questions such as: “Which of these products fits what I need?” “Do you have this in my size?” “What is the difference between these two?” “Can this arrive before Saturday?” After checkout, the same assistant can help with: “Where is my order?” “Has my package shipped?” “Can I return this?” “How do I use the product I bought?” Your customer gets a clear next step. You get fewer repetitive questions competing for your attention. AI When It Can. You When It Should. Some conversations need a person. Storebird can hand over the full conversation history and notify you, so the customer does not have to start again. When you are ready to bring more customer communication together, Storebird also supports AI email drafts using live WooCommerce data, two-way WhatsApp conversations, lead capture and one inbox across connected stores and channels. You stay in control of the assistant’s tone, instructions, welcome message and knowledge. Match the widget to your brand, review conversations in the dashboard and let Storebird respond in your customer’s language, with WPML support for multilingual catalogs. Your Store in Your Pocket. Free iOS and Android App. A handoff only helps if you notice it. The Storebird app for iOS and Android sends you a push notification the moment a shopper asks for a human, so you can read the whole conversation, take over from the AI and answer from wherever you are — then resolve the chat or hand it back to the assistant. The app is included with your Storebird account: same login, no extra subscription, no per-seat fee. Get it for iPhone and iPad or Android. See It Answer Before Your Customers Do Do not take our word for it. Install Storebird, connect your store and ask it the hardest product question you received this week. Private test mode keeps the widget visible only to logged-in store administrators until you decide it is ready for shoppers: Install and connect Storebird Let your WooCommerce products sync Ask real customer questions Check the answers yourself Go live when you are ready The plugin is free to install. A Storebird account and paid plan are required to make the assistant available to shoppers. The Pro plan includes a 14-day trial. Your customers already have questions. Give them a reason to keep shopping. Install Storebird and see what it knows External Services This plugin connects to the Storebird API service to provide AI-powered chat functionality. Storebird API This plugin sends data to and receives data from the Storebird API (https://storebird.ai/api) for the following purposes: Data sent: * Product information (names, prices, descriptions, images) – when syncing products * Chat messages from customers – when customers use the chat widget * Visitor information (page URL, session ID) – for chat context * WordPress and WooCommerce version info – during connection setup When data is sent: * On initial plugin connection (automatic or manual) * On product sync (manual trigger in admin) * When products are created/updated in WooCommerce * When customers send messages through the chat widget Service links: * Service website: https://storebird.ai * Terms of Service: https://storebird.ai/terms * Privacy Policy: https://storebird.ai/privacy