RESPOND.IO PRICING
Respond.io pricing plans and respond.io cost per month at 1,000 to 10,000 monthly active contacts
We read the respond.io rate card on respond.io/pricing from a US connection on 6 October 2026: three self-serve plans at four contact tiers, two billing cycles, the per-contact and AI credit overage rates, and the contact counts where moving up a tier beats paying on demand.
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Respond.io pricing starts at $79 a month billed yearly ($99 month to month) for Starter, $159 ($199) for Growth and $279 ($349) for Advanced, with Enterprise quoted. Those are the prices at 1,000 monthly active contacts. Growth and Advanced rise with your contact tier: at 10,000 contacts Growth costs $449 a month billed yearly and Advanced $789, or $559 and $989 month to month. Starter stays at $79 at any volume but has no AI Agents, broadcasts or workflows.
So the plan you need is set by two things: whether you need AI Agents (Growth and up) and how many people you talk to in a month. Above your tier, extra contacts cost $12 per 100 on Growth and $15 per 100 on Advanced. That on-demand rate is more than twice the price of moving up a tier, so on yearly Growth you should step up once you pass about 1,667 contacts a month instead of paying the overage.
Side by side
Respond.io cost per month at 1,000 to 10,000 monthly active contacts
Every price below was shown on respond.io/pricing on 6 October 2026, from a US connection, in US dollars, by setting the contact selector to each tier on each billing cycle. The last column divides the yearly Growth price by the contacts included.
| Monthly active contacts | Starter, yearly or monthly | Growth, yearly or monthly | Advanced, yearly or monthly | Growth cost per contact, yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $79 or $99 | $159 or $199 ($1,908 a year) | $279 or $349 ($3,348 a year) | $0.159 |
| 2,500 | $79 or $99 | $239 or $299 ($2,868 a year) | $419 or $529 ($5,028 a year) | $0.096 |
| 5,000 | $79 or $99 | $319 or $399 ($3,828 a year) | $569 or $699 ($6,828 a year) | $0.064 |
| 10,000 | $79 or $99 | $449 or $559 ($5,388 a year) | $789 or $989 ($9,468 a year) | $0.045 |
| More than 10,000 | $79 or $99 | Talk to sales | Talk to sales | Not published |
| 1,500 on the 1,000 tier | Included | $219 yearly with 500 on-demand contacts at $12 per 100 | $354 yearly with 500 at $15 per 100 | Still cheaper than the $239 tier |
| 2,000 on the 1,000 tier | Included | $279 yearly with 1,000 on-demand contacts | $429 yearly with 1,000 on-demand contacts | Now $40 more than the $239 tier |
| MessageAgent, any contact count | Starter $39 yearly or $79 monthly, 1,000 AI conversations | Growth $99 yearly or $199 monthly, 5,000 AI conversations, 10 seats | Scale $249 yearly or $499 monthly, 20,000 AI conversations, 25 seats | No contact meter |
Starter lists monthly active contacts as unlimited, so its price does not move with the selector. Meta charges for WhatsApp messages are not in any respond.io plan and are billed separately. Extra users cost $12, $20 or $24 a month on Starter, Growth and Advanced. Respond.io is a trademark of its owner and is named here for comparison only.
What you get
Everything one AI agent handles
Three self-serve plans, and the contact tier sets the price
Starter is $79 a month billed yearly or $99 month to month, with 5 users and unlimited monthly active contacts. Growth is $159 or $199 and Advanced $279 or $349, each with 10 users, at the 1,000-contact tier. Pick 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 contacts and Growth becomes $239, $319 or $449 yearly, Advanced $419, $569 or $789. Above 10,000 both go to a sales quote.
AI Agents start on Growth, not Starter
Starter includes the shared inbox, the mobile app, AI Prompt and AI Assist for agents, basic reports and growth widgets. AI Agents that answer customers on their own, broadcasts, workflow automation, the developer API and Zapier and Make start on Growth. So for a business that wants an AI answering customers, the real entry price is $159 a month billed yearly, not $79.
Moving up a tier beats paying on demand
Going from 1,000 to 2,500 contacts on yearly Growth adds $80 a month, which is $5.33 per 100 contacts. On-demand contacts cost $12 per 100, 2.25 times as much. Divide the $80 step by $12 and the break-even is about 667 extra contacts, so upgrade at about 1,667 a month. Respond.io says the same thing in its FAQ: on-demand is meant for seasonal spikes.
Per contact, the bigger tiers get much cheaper
On yearly Growth you pay $0.159 per included contact at 1,000, $0.096 at 2,500, $0.064 at 5,000 and $0.045 at 10,000. Each step up costs less per 100 contacts than the one before: $5.33, then $3.20, then $2.60. A team that is near a boundary every month is usually better off on the larger tier than juggling overage.
AI credits have an overage meter with a ceiling
Starter includes 5,000 AI credits, and Growth, Advanced and Enterprise start at 10,000, 20,000 and 40,000, growing with the contact tier. Past that, on-demand credits cost $15 per 1,000 and stop at 200 percent of your allowance. On Growth at 1,000 contacts that caps the extra AI spend at $150 a month. The same page also says AI usage is included at no extra cost under fair use, so ask which rule your contract follows.
Yearly billing saves about 20 percent
The toggle reads "Save up to 20%." Measured cell by cell, the discount runs from 18.6 percent (Advanced at 5,000 contacts, $699 down to $569) to 20.8 percent (Advanced at 2,500, $529 down to $419), and most cells sit at 20.1 percent. Respond.io says you can cancel or upgrade at any time and keep the plan to the end of the billing cycle.
What the bill leaves out
WhatsApp fees are not in any plan: Meta charges them by usage and you top up a WhatsApp credit balance inside respond.io. Extra users cost $12, $20 or $24 a month by plan, the 28-day onboarding program is an add-on, and Advanced is sold through sales rather than checkout. A Growth team of 15 at 1,000 contacts pays $159 plus five extra users at $20, so $259 before Meta fees.
When a flat AI agent is the better buy
Respond.io is strong for WhatsApp-heavy teams, broadcast campaigns and calls, with the widest channel list in its class. If the job is an AI that answers, qualifies, books and hands off across SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, web chat and email in one inbox, MessageAgent Growth is $199 a month or $99 billed yearly with 5,000 AI conversations, 10 seats and no contact tier.
Conversation Console
Try it on every channel
Pick a channel and a sample customer message, and watch the same AI agent reply on brand, take the action, log it to the CRM, and hand off to a human in one tap.
Tap a customer message above. The same AI agent replies on , in your brand's voice.
- Intent
- Action
- CRM
Handed to a human teammate
They pick up with the full conversation and context carried over. No dead ends, no repeating.
Common questions
Respond.io pricing questions
How much does respond.io cost per month?
Respond.io costs $79 a month for Starter, $159 for Growth and $279 for Advanced billed yearly, or $99, $199 and $349 month to month, at 1,000 monthly active contacts. Growth and Advanced rise with the contact tier, to $449 and $789 a month billed yearly at 10,000 contacts. Enterprise is quoted. Prices were read on respond.io on 6 October 2026 in US dollars.
What are the respond.io pricing plans?
There are four: Starter, Growth, Advanced and Enterprise. Starter covers the team inbox, mobile app, AI Assist and basic reports for 5 users. Growth adds AI Agents, broadcasts, workflows, advanced reports and the developer API for 10 users. Advanced adds multiple workspaces, webhooks, HTTP requests in workflows, SSO and custom channels. Enterprise adds unlimited users and higher API limits.
What is a monthly active contact on respond.io?
A monthly active contact is anyone you talked to by chat or call during the billing month, whether they messaged you first or you started the conversation. Respond.io counts each person once a month. Contacts who sit in your database without a conversation that month do not count, so the bill follows the people you actually talk to, not the size of your list.
What happens if I go over my respond.io contact limit?
Nothing stops. Respond.io bills extra contacts on demand in blocks of 100 at the end of the billing cycle: $12 per 100 on Growth and $15 per 100 on Advanced. Its FAQ says on-demand contacts are for temporary spikes and that upgrading is cheaper for a permanent increase. On yearly Growth the upgrade wins once you pass about 1,667 contacts a month.
Does respond.io charge for AI?
It depends which line of its pricing page you read. One FAQ says AI usage is included at no extra cost on Growth, Advanced and Enterprise under a fair use policy. Another says that past your included AI credits, on-demand credits switch on at $15 per 1,000, capped at 200 percent of your allowance. Plans include 5,000 to 40,000 credits to start.
Is respond.io cheaper billed annually?
Yes, by about 20 percent. At 1,000 contacts the yearly prices are $79, $159 and $279 a month against $99, $199 and $349 month to month, which is $948, $1,908 and $3,348 a year. Across all the contact tiers we checked, the yearly discount ranged from 18.6 percent to 20.8 percent.
Are WhatsApp fees included in respond.io pricing?
No. Respond.io states that WhatsApp fees are not included in any subscription and that Meta charges them based on usage. You top up a WhatsApp credit balance inside respond.io to pay for messages and calls. Respond.io does not charge a separate fee to host a WhatsApp number, which some competitors do at around $15 a month per number.
Does respond.io have a free trial?
Yes, a 7-day trial with no credit card. It opens every Growth feature for 5 users and 1,000 monthly active contacts, except broadcasts, and topping up a WhatsApp balance needs a paid subscription. Respond.io says its support team can extend the trial on request. There is no free plan.
How much does respond.io cost for 5,000 contacts?
At 5,000 monthly active contacts, Growth costs $319 a month billed yearly ($3,828 a year) or $399 month to month, and Advanced costs $569 yearly ($6,828 a year) or $699 month to month. Starter stays at $79 or $99 at any contact count but cannot run AI Agents, broadcasts or workflows. Meta fees for WhatsApp are extra.
How much does an extra user cost on respond.io?
Extra users cost $12 a month on Starter, $20 on Growth and $24 on Advanced. Starter includes 5 users and Growth and Advanced include 10 each, while Enterprise lists unlimited users. A 15-person Growth team therefore adds $100 a month for five extra users on top of the plan price.
We answer WhatsApp, Instagram and text messages for a 3-location clinic and want AI to book appointments. Which respond.io plan do we need?
Growth, because AI Agents and workflows start there, at $159 a month billed yearly for 1,000 contacts or $239 for 2,500, plus extra users past 10. If your volume is closer to 5,000 people a month, that is $319. MessageAgent covers the same three channels with booking and handoff for $99 a month billed yearly, with no contact tier.
What is a respond.io alternative with flat pricing?
MessageAgent Growth is $199 a month or $99 billed yearly with 5,000 AI conversations, 10 seats and SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, web chat and email in one inbox, without a contact tier. Respond.io stays the better fit for broadcast-heavy WhatsApp marketing, voice calls and channels such as LINE, WeChat or Viber, so match the tool to the job.
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