Is Trengo or Respond.io cheaper?

Respond.io at the entry level: Starter is $79 a month billed annually for five users with unlimited contacts, against Trengo Boost at €299 a month billed annually for ten users and 500 conversations. At ten users the gap narrows, because Respond.io Growth is $159 and adds contact tiers, while Trengo's ten seats are included.

Which has better WhatsApp support, Trengo or Respond.io?

Both are official WhatsApp Business Solution Providers, so both pass Meta's per-message fees through and both need business verification. Respond.io covers more chat channels, including WeChat and LINE; Trengo adds email and voice. WhatsApp itself works the same way on either.

How do Trengo and Respond.io charge for AI?

Differently. Trengo adds an AI surcharge of €0.25 to €0.30 per conversation on top of the plan. Respond.io includes a monthly allowance of AI credits, from 5,000 on Starter, with overage at $15 per 1,000 credits and a cap at 200 percent of the allowance.

Can I move from Trengo to Respond.io without losing WhatsApp?

Yes. Both are official-API providers, so the number migrates between them; past conversations stay in the old provider's inbox. Templates need re-approval on the new provider, so do the switch in a quiet week and keep the old account open until the first campaign has gone out from the new one.

Trengo vs Respond.io in 2026: which inbox?

Quick answer

Respond.io is cheaper to start at $79 a month billed annually for five users with unlimited contacts; Trengo Boost is 299 euros for ten users and 500 conversations. Trengo adds email and voice, Respond.io adds WeChat and LINE. Both run WhatsApp on the official API and pass Meta's per-message fees through, so channels and team size decide it.

Respond.io Starter is $79 a month annually for five users; Trengo Boost is 299 euros for ten.
Trengo charges 0.25 to 0.30 euros per AI conversation; Respond.io includes credits from 5,000.
Only Trengo carries email and voice; only Respond.io carries WeChat and LINE.
Neither fits a founder with one number and nobody to route messages between.

Trengo and Respond.io are both shared-inbox platforms for support teams that run WhatsApp on the official Business API. The difference is shape: Trengo starts at €299 a month billed annually for ten users, includes email and voice, and charges for AI per conversation; Respond.io starts at $79 a month for five users, covers more chat channels, and charges for AI through a credit allowance with contact tiers on the higher plans. Prices below were verified on both vendors' pricing pages in September 2026.

What do Trengo and Respond.io cost in 2026?

The table below leaves out the line both vendors share. Since 1 July 2025 the WhatsApp Business Platform has charged per delivered template message, whether marketing, utility or authentication, while non-template replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are free (Meta for Developers, 2025). Both companies pass that through as Business Solution Providers, so it lands on your Meta invoice whichever one you pick.

	Trengo	Respond.io
Entry plan	Boost, €299/mo annual, €349 monthly	Starter, $79/mo annual, $99 monthly
Users included	10	5
Extra user	€25-30 on Boost, €40-50 on Pro	$12 on Starter, $20-24 above
Conversations or contacts	500 a month on Boost, 1,500 on Pro	Unlimited contacts on Starter; 1,000 monthly active on Growth, then $12 per 100
AI	€0.25-0.30 per conversation	5,000 to 40,000 credits included, $15 per extra 1,000
Mid plan	Pro, €499/mo annual, 20 users	Growth, $159/mo annual, 10 users
Meta message fees	Passed through	Passed through

For the full breakdown of Respond.io's tiers, see Respond.io pricing in 2026. Trengo's add-ons are listed in 7 Trengo alternatives.

Which channels do Trengo and Respond.io cover?

Channel	Trengo	Respond.io
WhatsApp (official API)	Yes	Yes
Instagram and Messenger	Yes	Yes
Email	Yes	No
Voice calls	Yes	No
Web chat	Yes	Yes
WeChat and LINE	No	Yes
SMS	Yes	Yes

If email or phone is a real support channel for you, Trengo. If your customers are on Asian chat apps, Respond.io.

What each one is actually built for

Trengo is a European product for mid-market teams that want every channel in one queue with assignment, SLAs and reporting. Its pricing assumes you will use most of the ten seats. The AI surcharge makes heavy automation expensive: at 1,500 AI-handled conversations a month on Pro, the surcharge alone is €375 to €450 on top of the plan.

Respond.io is built for chat-first teams, often in Asia, running WhatsApp, Instagram and LINE together. It is cheaper to start and its AI is easier to budget because the credits are included, but the monthly-active-contact tiers on Growth and Advanced mean a busy month costs more.

The decision, by team size

Three people, mostly WhatsApp and Instagram: Respond.io Starter. $79 a month, unlimited contacts, five seats you will not fill.
Ten people, chat channels only: Respond.io Growth at $159, unless you send so many AI replies that the credit overage bites, in which case price Trengo Boost at €299 with the surcharge added.
Ten to twenty people with email and phone in the mix: Trengo Pro at €499. Respond.io cannot take the phone calls.
Twenty plus: both go custom. Get a quote from each with your real volumes.

The honest answer changes with the team, and at the small end it is neither of them.

When you need neither

A large share of the businesses comparing these two are a founder and one or two staff with a single WhatsApp number. Neither product is built for that. Replai pairs to the number you already have as a linked device, so there is no Meta application and no per-message fee, and it answers from your own documents with the AI included at $19, $49 or $99 a month flat. The trade is that it is unofficial and WhatsApp only. If your problem is the inbound queue rather than routing a team, start there; see Replai vs Trengo and Replai vs Respond.io.

Frequently asked questions

Is Trengo or Respond.io cheaper?: Respond.io at the entry level: Starter is $79 a month billed annually for five users with unlimited contacts, against Trengo Boost at €299 a month billed annually for ten users and 500 conversations. At ten users the gap narrows, because Respond.io Growth is $159 and adds contact tiers, while Trengo's ten seats are included.
Which has better WhatsApp support, Trengo or Respond.io?: Both are official WhatsApp Business Solution Providers, so both pass Meta's per-message fees through and both need business verification. Respond.io covers more chat channels, including WeChat and LINE; Trengo adds email and voice. WhatsApp itself works the same way on either.
How do Trengo and Respond.io charge for AI?: Differently. Trengo adds an AI surcharge of €0.25 to €0.30 per conversation on top of the plan. Respond.io includes a monthly allowance of AI credits, from 5,000 on Starter, with overage at $15 per 1,000 credits and a cap at 200 percent of the allowance.
What if I only have one WhatsApp number and no support team?: Then neither is the right shape. A tool like Replai pairs to the number you already have as a linked device, answers from your own documents with the AI included, and costs $19 a month flat with no Meta fees. It is unofficial and WhatsApp only, which is the trade for the price.
Can I move from Trengo to Respond.io without losing WhatsApp?: Yes. Both are official-API providers, so the number migrates between them; past conversations stay in the old provider's inbox. Templates need re-approval on the new provider, so do the switch in a quiet week and keep the old account open until the first campaign has gone out from the new one.

Sources

WhatsApp Business Platform pricing, Meta for Developers, 2025-07-01
WhatsApp Business crosses 200M MAUs, introduces personalized messages feature, TechCrunch, 2023-06-27

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