Build, Customize, and Monetize Chatbots Easily with Pickaxe – My Honest Review

I first discovered Pickaxe through an interview with its developers on AppSumo's "Meet the Founders" series on YouTube.


Before this, I had heard about custom ChatGPTs and GPT stores, but I didn't fully understand what they were or how they worked. After watching the video, however, I became very interested in Pickaxe's monetization potential.


I had been looking for a way to build chatbots that could solve real pain points while also earning revenue from them.

I ended up spending hours playing with various ways to create bots.


The very first chatbot I made was designed to suggest vitamins based on specific health issues.


While it didn't always provide the correct recommendations, I spent many credits tweaking and testing the prompts until they worked the way I wanted.


I used about 67 credits per bot to fine-tune them to answer user queries as I intended, which led to my credits running out quicker than I expected—but I had a great time learning and building.

If you're interested in building chatbots, whether to automate tedious tasks or just for fun, I recommend trying out the free version of Pickaxe.


The free membership tier is a great way to explore custom GPTs without committing to a monthly fee.


Pickaxe is beginner-friendly but also offers enough depth for more advanced users to build a great bot by using more complicated prompts.


For me, the monetization feature really sets Pickaxe apart—it's a huge motivator for generating passive income and making money online.

Continue reading to discover the key features, pros and cons, and my detailed experience with Pickaxe to see if it's the right tool for you.

My Take On Pickaxe ⭐5/5
  • Easy to Learn and Implement: Pickaxe is simple to use, allowing you to create a custom chatbot quickly, even as a beginner.
  • No Technical Skills Required: You don’t need coding skills to build a bot that can search the web and use uploaded materials to solve user queries.
  • Monetization Through Pickaxe Studio: Pickaxe Studio provides a paywall chatbot storefront, where you can monetize the chatbots you create, offering a real passive income opportunity.
  • Extensive Learning Resources: Pickaxe offers helpful resources like YouTube videos and blog posts explaining its features. There’s also valuable content on monetization, gaining traffic, writing better prompts, and chatbot use cases, making it a well-rounded platform.
Content

Overview

Key Features

User Experience (UX)

Pricing

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Support and Community

Summary

Overview

Name: Pickaxe


Developer/Company: Pickaxeproject.com


Purpose: Build custom chatbots without coding


Platform Compatibility: Pickaxe is a web-based platform that is accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. With a computer and internet connection, you're ready to build a chatbot to assist with tasks and even monetize it if you choose to.

Key Features

  • Form: Create a chatbot that allows users to input specific information in a form style you design, delivering targeted answers they need.
  • Chat: Build a chatbot that engages users with specific prompts in a conversation, ultimately solving their pain points or providing the information they seek.
  • Automatic AI Builder: This tool asks the creator three questions and then builds a chatbot based on the creator's answers.
  • Studio: You can use a paywall to customize your custom-designed chatbot or formbot on Pickaxe Studio's platform. You can charge fees for accessing your chatbot, customize your storefront, host it on Pickaxe's domain, or migrate to a custom domain or subdomain.

Unique Features:

Pickaxe is a platform that allows you to easily create custom chatbots using simple, everyday conversational language to build prompts.


No coding skills are required.


I was even able to develop a chatbot to help me sort out charity donation amounts for tax filings.

User Experience (UX)

  • Ease of Use: It's incredibly easy to create your chatbot. I built mine in just a few minutes using the automatic AI builder.
  • Interface: The interface is clean, simple, and modern, with a unique steampunk theme.
  • Performance: The Automatic AI Builder took about 2 minutes to create my chatbot after I answered the three questions. However, speed may vary based on your internet connection and site traffic.

I'm new to chatbot creation and haven't tried customizing ChatGPT before.


My only experience with a custom GPT was through Canva, and it was frustratingly unhelpful—constantly redirecting me back to Canva for a "better experience."


So, when I tried Pickaxe, I was immediately struck by its clean and minimalist interface, with clear instructions for each tool and feature.


It wasn't long before I found myself enjoying the process of creating and testing different prompts to make "Pickaxes" (the custom bots built on the platform).

Pricing

Purchase Price: Pickaxe offers Free, Gold, and Pro membership plans. I found the Free plan quite generous, allowing users to create limitless Pickaxes, which is impressive.

Free Trial/Version: The Free Tier includes 50 credits, unlimited Pickaxes, the ability to place Pickaxes on any website, and access to monetization in Pickaxe Studio.


Cost Of Building My ChatBot:

I ended up spending hours playing with various ways to create bots.


The very first chatbot I made was designed to suggest vitamins based on specific health issues.


While it didn't always provide the correct recommendations, I spent many credits tweaking and testing the prompts until they worked the way I wanted.


I used about 67 credits per bot to fine-tune them to answer user queries as I intended, which led to my credits running out quicker than I expected—but I had a great time learning and building.

Comparison:

Compared to creating custom GPTs with ChatGPT, Pickaxe is more user-friendly and affordable.


While ChatGPT charges $20/month for custom GPTs, Pickaxe offers more value at just $16/month with their Gold plan.


This includes access to GPT-4o, Mistral Large, Claude and additional features like hosting on custom domains, white labeling, and monetization customization.


In terms of value, Pickaxe clearly stands out. On the monetization side, ChatGPT's payout structure is unclear.


At the same time, Pickaxe Studio is straightforward, taking 8-10% of the amount you charge customers for using your custom Pickaxe.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Easy to learn and implement, allowing you to create a custom chatbot quickly
  • No technical skills needed to build a bot that can search the web and use uploaded materials to solve user queries
  • Pickaxe provides Studio, a paywall chatbot storefront, where you can monetize the chatbots you create. A true passive income opportunity.
  • Helpful resources like YouTube videos and blog posts explain how to use Pickaxe's features. There's also helpful content on monetization, gaining traffic, writing better prompts, and chatbot use cases, making it a well-rounded platform.

Cons

  • Each time you press submit, even during testing, it costs a credit. This means you can run out of credits quickly.
  • The Automated Chatbot Builder only creates a framework, and I found it took several hours of refining prompts to get the chatbot to perform exactly as I wanted.
  • Pickaxe Studio takes about 8-10% of your earnings from the membership fees you charge.
  • When users (who aren't Pickaxe members) interact with your chatbot, the usage credits come from your subscription unless you use a paid version and implement the API of the Large Language Model (LLM) of your choosing.
  • Sometimes, the chatbot behaves differently than expected. It required multiple attempts for me to "train" my bot to perform exact calculations, as it tended to deviate creatively. The creative side of the bot was frustrating when I needed precision.

Support and Community

Customer Support: You can book an appointment for support through a calendar, which leads to a web conference link.

Community:

Wrapping It Up

Pros:

  • Easy to use and quick to implement without technical skills.
  • Monetization options through Pickaxe Studio, offering a passive income opportunity.
  • Users can integrate their own API key for unlimited LLM usage.
  • Helpful resources for learning, monetization, and improving chatbot performance.

Cons:

  • Credits can run out quickly during testing.
  • Refining prompts can take time to get the chatbot working as desired.
  • Pickaxe Studio takes 8-10% of earnings from chatbot sales.

User Experience:

  • Simple, clean interface that’s beginner-friendly but still powerful enough for advanced users.
  • Fun and engaging platform, especially for those new to chatbot creation.
  • Testing and refining bots can be time-consuming, but the potential for customization and monetization makes it worth the effort.

Summary

Overall, Pickaxe offers a user-friendly, no-code solution for creating custom chatbots that can be fun and functional.


Its minimalist design and clear instructions make it accessible for beginners.


At the same time, its advanced features—like monetization through Pickaxe Studio—are perfect for more experienced users looking to generate passive income and make money online from their creations.


I enjoyed experimenting with different prompts and building bots for various purposes. However, the credit system can be limiting if you're testing frequently.


While it may take some trial and error to refine your chatbots, the platform offers excellent value, especially compared to alternatives like custom GPTs on other platforms.


If you're curious about chatbot creation or want a monetization option, Pickaxe is worth exploring—starting with the free tier to get a feel for the platform's capabilities.


What features of Pickaxe are you most excited about?


Share your thoughts or questions below—I’d love to hear from you!

Build, Customize, and Monetize Chatbots Easily with Pickaxe – My Honest Review

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