Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to The Hustle Episode 60: Imagine an Army of Friend Bots (with Chris Messina)

Open source, conversational UI and contextual design

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. The Hustle Episode 60: Imagine an Army of Friend Bots (with Chris Messina) launched in 2017; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Hack To Start: Chris Messina [Ep #118]▲97

   Talking about the hashtag, Product Hunt, and MessinaBot

   2016 · its alternatives →

2. 2
   What are conversational bots?▲102

   An introduction to and overview of AI-driven chatbots

   2016 · its alternatives →

3. 3
   O'Reilly Bots - #4 - Cathy Pearl on voice user interfaces for bots▲61

   The basics of VUI design

   2016 · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Chatbots▲102

   Conversational UI and the future of online interaction

   2016 · its alternatives →

5. 5BE
   BotEngine – Easy tool for creating chatbots▲124

   2017 · botengine.ai · its alternatives →

6. 6BA
   Botlist – An App Store for Bots▲128

   2016 · botlist.co · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Tung▲96

   A social podcast player

   2016 · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Botbuzz▲127

   On-Demand chatbot developers

   2016 · its alternatives →

9. 9AT
   A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats▲134

   2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    "Please Hold" #4: Building A Community with Ryan Hoover▲123

    Chatting poop emojis, entrepreneurship, and customer service

    2016 · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Alice by Couple▲57

    An AI companion from the folks who built Couple

    2014 · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Geekbot▲84

    Asynchronous standup meetings in Slack

    2015 · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Project Murphy▲140

    The chat bot with imagination by Microsoft

    2016 · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Designing Bots▲13

    Creating Conversational Experiences

    2017 · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Botified▲101

    A job board for bot developers

    2017 · its alternatives →

16. 16CA
    Caine – A GitHub bot▲48

    2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Nikbot▲64

    A multilingual AI chatbot

    2017 · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Designing Bots▲6

    Creating Conversational Experiences

    2017 · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Nowdue for Slack▲93

    Super fast invoicing bot for small teams

    2016 · its alternatives →

20. 20
    The Hacking UI podcast #11 - Turning our side project into a full time gig▲62

    1 month in, and launching The Side Project Accelerator

    2016 · its alternatives →

21. 21
    The Hacking UI Podcast #15 - Tal Perry (Citi)▲61

    The goat-herding, algorithm-cracking, autodidact

    2016 · its alternatives →

22. 22RA
    Recast.AI 2.0 – your end-to-end collaborative bot platform▲13

    2017 · producthunt.com · its alternatives →

23. 23MA
    MyBot, a chatbot playground for AI enthusiasts▲5

    2017 · mybot.be · its alternatives →

24. 24BC
    BotEngine – chatbots for LiveChat▲17

    2017 · livechatinc.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →