Verified purchaser
ChatMatic? More like Asthmatic
There's nothing quite like trialing a new platform only to have error after error after error message.
Sumolings invest not only money, but time as well when determining whether or not a product has a use within their stack or can improve their operation in any way.
That being said, it bewilders me how platforms A) get through the Beta testing and B) launch when they're totally unusable.
Activating the account - no issues, but once I got inside the platform it was a train wreck.
When trying to edit the persistent menu, after 10 minutes I was able to finally luck my way into getting one button to appear - every other time I kept getting an error message that I needed to save before I could edit anything else. I hit every 'Save' button in eyesight and that didn't change anything. Then when I do click 'Save Changes,' I get a 404 error, huh?
Every time I click something in the sidebar that isn't "Settings," I get a prompt telling me that I need to upgrade. I had already activated the license on the billing page, what more can I possibly do?
I tried to going to Training, to see if I was just being a total baboon about it all - that's all gated behind a $1k fee...? ............what..........?
Not impressed with the UI or the UX (from the very limited interaction I am allowed to have with the platform) and there are essentially zero integrations, only what you can do with a Webhook.
I have used Manychat. I have used a dozen plus chatbot platforms. Botsify (another offering currently on AppSumo) and Chatmatic are really, really poor implementations of chatbots and fall to the wayside in terms of the quality that has generally graced Appsumo in years past (with the exception of ActiveChat, another poor chatbot platform).
This might be simple "launch day" hiccups, but as far as I can tell, when you're launching a relatively minor campaign and there are so many issues that riddle the system, it is a massive red flag for what's to come. If it's due to a lack of resources, I can almost assure you, it will always be due to a lack of resources as nothing stands out to me in this platform as being valuable, or anywhere near a Manychat rival, that would garner any serious funding.
I'll maybe take a look at this when it's on its way out of Appsumo, but for anyone hurting for a Facebook bot right now, there are better alternatives and past deals that will work A) much better and B) provide more tools - don't waste your time with Chatmatic right now until it gets its inhaler and has a minute to recollect itself.
Travis_Stephenson
May 9, 2024I'd like to address as much of this as I can so I'll go in order.
You say "once you get inside the platform it was a train wreck" which doesn't give us much to go off of but let's address the persistent menu item. It sounds to me like there was an error with what you were doing on the Persistent Menu, hence the error, however a simple support ticket would have solved whatever the issue is.
It literally could have been one of a million things... Out of date browser, different browser, bad FB permission request, etc... but once you submit a ticket we have a system that allows us to see what the issue is and fix it for you. We can't fix what we don't know about and you are the only person who's made a comment about that particular error.
The upgrade prompt WAS an error in our permissioning with Appsumo, you purchased on the first day and there are always going to be some bugs but we fixed it immediately after this review so that won't happen again.
As far as training.. yes we have courses that people pay for (and have paid for) so we don't/ can't include them here for because that would be an injustice to the people who've paid for our courses. That said, if you had joined the Facebook group our watched the training on our log in modal you would see there is plenty of training.
Also - our Chatmatic Youtube Channel has hours of training. All of which we point you to from our group on Facebook (which also has modules inside of it)
I'm sorry you aren't impressed with our UI... not really much I can say there aside from the fact that if you look at our roadmap we are in the process of completely rebuilding that so maybe that'll be something you'll find better in the future.
We are limited on our Integrations. Currently only Zapier app and Webhooks. But again, I would point to the roadmap as our plan is to rebuild our UX/ UI so that we can enhance that.
I'm happy you bring up an application like Manychat because even being in the same breath as a company that raised over $25M in funding is a big leap for someone like us. We can't hope to compete on that exact same threshold... but they also aren't offering any lifetime deals that I'm aware of. There is always give and take.
I think if you went back into the system and actually used it (now that we fixed the licensing issue) you'd see our system works as you'd likely expect it to.
Also I would like to mention that you pay for LIFETIME access... which doesn't just include where an application is now but where it's going. I don't think you'd expect to pay for a lifetime account and get a tool that's apples to apples with another company charging monthly fees that go up the more you use it... Something to keep in mind. We use Appsumo as a way to get users in to use our application and take those funds to build the tool out. Developers, support, and the entire team don't work free.
But reviews like this definitely make that more difficult so I'd love to see you give Chatmatic another shot.