Develop a Telegram bot without code

Sometimes it happens that a business (most often an info business or an educational one) is faced with the task of creating a Telegram bot that will be used, for example, in trainings and for sending out homework after them.

The main tasks that the bot should perform.

• Provide information to frequently asked questions;
• Be able to send homework messages to different groups of people;
• Send mailings to former participants about new trainings;
• Have the ability to correspond on behalf of the bot with users;
• Block people who accidentally entered the bot;
• Accept feedback from users;
• Create sections in the bot that are available only to a specific team at trainings;
• Have a free version without ads.

The tasks are not easy, especially if you do not have programming knowledge.

Below are some of the services that can be easily found on the web in the public domain.

manybot

http://manybot.io/

The service works exclusively through its Telegram bot, which is a plus in favor of mobility, but a minus in ease of use (especially for large tasks). Manybot allows you to create a bot with a multi-level keyboard, connect RSS feeds and make a newsletter to bot subscribers.

Service Advantages:

1. Completely free;
2. There is all the necessary functionality to create the simplest bot (the button is the answer).

Service limitations:

1. The project has not been supported since 2015;
2. You can not turn off advertising (no tariffs and packages);
3. Inline* keyboard is not supported (* — keyboard in transparent buttons right below the message);
4. Management via Telegram bot (in practice, it is not always convenient);
5. Lack of knowledge base and support.

Total:

Suitable for very simple bots with keyboards up to 4 levels deep. If you need a bot to create a regular keyboard, you can test the constructor from the link in the description.

Puzzlebot

https://puzzlebot.top

The Puzzlebot service is completely different from the previous one in terms of capabilities: a convenient personal account, an understandable site structure, suitable for constructing bots and working with channels (posting, moderation statistics) and groups.

Service Advantages:

1. There is a free package (unlimited in time);
2. Almost all functions are available in the free package (the difference between the packages depends on the number of subscribers and the number of connected bots/channels/chats);
3. Flexible mailing setup (can be divided into categories and overlapping audiences);
4. The ability to connect channels / groups and manage them (post, collect statistics, create a greeting for groups, moderate, etc.);
5. Clear and quite simple interface;
6. Live chat support;
7. Low cost for paid tariffs;
8. Mobile version.

Service limitations:

1. Advertising on a free plan;
2. Few users of the service (the service launched in mid-September 2019, based on the first posts in the channel);
3. More modest functionality (compared to the next constructor (no integrations, shopping cart, payment acceptance));
4. It is in the open Beta stage (because of which there are errors).

Total:

The Puzzlebot constructor is great for implementing complex bots and more.

Botmother

https://botmother.com/


A very powerful bot creation service that supports almost all popular instant messengers and social networks (Telegram, WhatsApp (for a fee), Viber, Facebook, VK and Odnoklassniki).

It may seem difficult to learn: many different functions, features for each platform, little information about the blocks themselves (for example, what is the difference between the blocks "Button group", "Button group with hints" and "Navigation buttons" without explanation  difficult to understand ).

Service Advantages:

1. Availability of a free package (without time limits);
2. There are no ads on the free package (and the package itself is unlimited in time);
3. Great functionality (chat with the user, shopping cart, integration with a large number of services, etc.);
4. Availability of support (the speed of responses depends on the tariff).

Service limitations:

1. The high cost of tariffs (1490 rubles per month);
2. Limited free package (Statistics, mailings, dialogs - all sections are closed, except for the constructor);
3. Difficult-to-learn user interface;
4. No mobile version.

Total:

It is completely impossible to work from the phone (for example, it will not be possible to transfer blocks from the palette to the command screen). You can’t make private commands and set up mailings to groups of people, the functionality of the free package is very limited (only the constructor with restrictions is available).

Conclusion

In comparison with the presented ones, the Puzzlebot service is the most suitable, since the service was able to complete all the most important tasks and has more advantages compared to other platforms. Do not exclude the presence of advantages and other services, at the current moment their choice is huge.

However, if you are planning to organize a chat bot or a mobile application for your business without the use of third-party services and according to a unique technical task, leave a request at  office@loycult.com  or call +7 (495) 12- 88-901, +7 (3412) 901-907, we will be happy to help.

You can read about the comparison of chatbots and mobile applications here.