respond.io pricing explained: what you pay for users, contacts, AI and WhatsApp messages
respond.io prices on three meters at once: the plan, the number of people you talk to each month, and AI usage, with Meta's WhatsApp charges on top. This guide gives you the numbers for each meter, a table by contact tier, and two worked bills so you can see where a small team actually lands.
Quick answer
respond.io's Starter plan is $99 a month ($79 billed yearly) for 5 users, without AI agents. Growth, the first plan with AI agents, starts at $199 a month ($159 yearly) for 1,000 monthly active contacts and rises with contacts. WhatsApp message fees are not included: Meta charges them per message, paid from a credit balance you top up.
How does respond.io pricing work?
Your respond.io bill is built from three things: a plan with a set number of users, a monthly active contact tier, and an AI credit allowance. Meta's WhatsApp charges are a fourth, separate cost.
- A monthly active contact (MAC) is anyone you interacted with through calls or messages during the billing month. A customer who messages you ten times in a month counts once. Contacts you only store, and never talk to, do not count.
- AI credits power AI Agents, AI Assist and AI summaries. Each plan includes an allowance that grows with your MAC tier. respond.io says 99% of businesses never exceed it.
- Users are the team members who log in. Each plan includes a number, and you pay per extra user.
The model is fair in one sense: you pay for conversations, not for the size of your contact list. The catch is that a busy month raises the bill, so you need a rough MAC count before you choose a tier.
respond.io prices by plan and contact tier
Starter has one price with no MAC metering. Growth and Advanced change price with the contact tier you pick. Here is the full grid, checked October 2026 on respond.io's pricing page, in US dollars.
| Monthly active contacts | Starter | Growth, monthly | Growth, billed yearly | Advanced, monthly | Advanced, billed yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $99 monthly, $79 yearly, not metered by contacts | $199 | $159 ($1,908 a year) | $349 | $279 ($3,348 a year) |
| 2,500 | $299 | $239 ($2,868 a year) | $529 | $419 ($5,028 a year) | |
| 5,000 | $399 | $319 ($3,828 a year) | $699 | $569 ($6,828 a year) | |
| 10,000 | $559 | $449 ($5,388 a year) | $989 | $789 ($9,468 a year) |
| What is included | Starter | Growth | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Users included | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| Extra users, per month | $12 to $15 | $20 to $25 | $24 to $30 |
| AI credits | 5,000 | From 10,000 | From 20,000 |
| AI Agents | No (AI Prompt and AI Assist only) | Yes | Yes |
| Broadcasts and workflows | No | Yes | Yes |
| Webhooks, HTTP requests, multiple workspaces, SSO | No | No | Yes |
The extra-user price is the lower figure on yearly billing and the higher on monthly. respond.io offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card. Enterprise is custom, with unlimited users.
The line that matters for most small businesses: the AI agent starts on Growth, so the realistic entry price for "AI answers my WhatsApp" is $199 a month, or $159 on a yearly contract, before message fees.
How much does WhatsApp cost on respond.io?
respond.io's FAQ is direct: WhatsApp fees are not included in any subscription. Meta charges them per message, and you top up a WhatsApp credit balance inside respond.io to pay them.
Since 1 October 2026, Meta's pricing charges for four kinds of outgoing message: marketing, utility and authentication templates on every delivery, and service replies inside the 24-hour customer service window after the first 1,000 per business phone number each month. That last change matters for respond.io users in particular, because an AI agent that replies to every chat generates a lot of service messages. Two things stay free: messages customers send you, and messages in a free entry point window opened by a click-to-WhatsApp ad or Facebook Page button, which may stay open for up to 7 days.
| Market | Marketing | Utility or service |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | $0.0732 | $0.016 |
| Indonesia | $0.0411 | $0.025 |
| Malaysia | $0.086 | $0.014 |
| United Arab Emirates | $0.0576 | $0.0157 |
| North America | $0.025 | $0.0034 |
Meta list rates per delivered message from 1 October 2026. Notice Indonesia: a service reply costs more there than in Singapore, so a Jakarta team with high reply volume feels the October change more than most. If you need help reading templates and categories, see our guide to WhatsApp Business API pricing.
Overages and add-ons to budget for
respond.io does not cut you off when you go over a limit. It bills the overage instead, which keeps conversations running but can surprise you at month end.
- Contacts over your tier are billed in blocks of 100: $12 per 100 on Growth and $15 per 100 on Advanced, charged at the end of the billing cycle. respond.io says this is meant for seasonal spikes, and that upgrading is cheaper if you are over every month.
- AI credits over your allowance switch on automatically at $15 per 1,000 credits, with a hard cap at 200% of your allowance.
- Extra users at the per-user rates in the table.
- The 28-day onboarding program, a guided setup with respond.io's specialists, is listed as an add-on on self-serve plans.
- WhatsApp credit top-ups, which are your Meta message charges.
Two respond.io bills, worked out
Both businesses are hypothetical, and we use Meta's list rates.
In both bills the plan is the biggest single line, but the message fees are the part that moves. For the Jakarta agency, Meta's service charge alone is a third of the plan price.
Is respond.io worth the price?
For a team that sells across WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email and calls, and wants routing, lifecycle stages and AI in one place, respond.io is good value: AI usage is included on Growth and above under a fair use policy, and the inbox, lifecycle stages and workflow builder are mature. It is also an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, so broadcasts and templates are fully sanctioned.
It is less good value when the team is one to three people, the channel is mostly WhatsApp, and the job is answering questions and booking appointments. Then you pay for 10 seats, workflows and multi-channel tooling you will not use, plus Meta's per-message fees on every reply above 1,000.
What to use if respond.io is more than you need
We make ReplyKit, so weigh our view accordingly.
- SleekFlow uses a similar contact-based model with local-currency pricing in Southeast Asia, and is worth quoting side by side.
- Wati is cheaper to enter for official-API broadcasts, with its AI agent sold as an add-on.
- ReplyKit is $29, $49 or $99 a month flat, with 1,000, 5,000 or 20,000 AI replies, a website assistant, booking with reminders, a leads CRM and human handover. It does not meter contacts or users and has no Meta fees, because it connects through Quick Connect, an unofficial QR pairing method rather than the official API. Meta does not sanction it and a number can be restricted, which we explain in will WhatsApp ban my number for automation; you see one plain notice before connecting, and pressing Connect accepts section 3 of our Terms. ReplyKit has no Instagram, Messenger, email, broadcasts or calls, so a multi-channel team should stay with respond.io.
For the Singapore tuition center, ReplyKit Growth at $49 would cover the replies and bookings, but not the holiday campaign. Our ReplyKit vs respond.io comparison and best respond.io alternatives go further, and you can see ReplyKit's three plans or try it free for 7 days.
Frequently asked questions
How much does respond.io cost per month?
When we checked in October 2026, Starter was $99 a month on monthly billing or $79 billed yearly. Growth started at $199 a month ($159 yearly) and Advanced at $349 ($279 yearly), both for 1,000 monthly active contacts, rising with higher contact tiers.
Does respond.io include WhatsApp API pricing?
No. respond.io's FAQ says WhatsApp fees are not included in any subscription. Meta charges per message and you pay from a WhatsApp credit balance you top up inside respond.io.
Is there a free plan on respond.io?
There is no free plan. respond.io offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card needed, after which you choose Starter, Growth, Advanced or Enterprise.
What is a monthly active contact on respond.io?
A monthly active contact is anyone you interacted with through calls or messages during the billing month. Each person counts once a month no matter how many messages you exchange, and contacts you only store do not count.
Does respond.io charge extra for AI?
AI usage is included on Growth, Advanced and Enterprise under a fair use policy, with an AI credit allowance that grows with your contact tier. If you exceed it, extra credits cost $15 per 1,000, capped at 200% of your allowance. Starter has AI Assist and AI Prompt but not AI Agents.
What happens if I go over my contact limit?
Your conversations keep running and respond.io bills the extra contacts at the end of the cycle in blocks of 100: $12 per 100 on Growth and $15 per 100 on Advanced. If you are over every month, moving up a tier is usually cheaper.
Answer WhatsApp leads without metering contacts or seats
ReplyKit is $29, $49 or $99 a month with AI replies, booking and a leads CRM included. Start a 7-day free trial, no credit card needed.
Sources and further reading
- respond.io, Pricing · plan prices by contact tier, users, AI credits, overage rates, trial and the WhatsApp fees FAQ
- Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform pricing · per-message pricing, service message charges from 1 October 2026, the 1,000 free service messages and free entry point windows; USD rate card
ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. Prices for other vendors are taken from their public pricing pages as checked in October 2026 and may change. This article is general guidance, not financial advice.