Using external and paid frameworks
If building your bot yourself is still a priority for you and your team, it may make more sense to purchase a framework rather than the actual bot or app itself. We learned in Chapter 10, Building Your Own Bot, that there are existing frameworks within Slack, such as Block Kit and Bolt, but we have yet to discuss using them as a paid or external option.
In this section, we'll focus on different types of frameworks outside of Slack, both free and paid, such as Botkit, Microsoft Bot Framework, and Amazon Lex.
Botkit
When it comes to free, for me, Botkit is the go-to framework option. This open source developing tool aids in building bots for Slack such as chatbots as well as apps and custom integrations. Open source essentially means a type of software where the code is released under a license in which the owner has the right to use, change, and distribute to others. Botkit provides a built-in source for hundreds of already-existing...