respond.io charges by plan, by users, and, from the Growth plan up, by Monthly Active Contacts (MAC). When we checked its pricing page in 2026, Starter was $99 a month billed monthly or $79 billed yearly, Growth was $199 or $159, and Advanced was $349 or $279, all at the page’s default of 1,000 MAC. Contacts above your tier, users above the included seats, and AI credits above the allowance each add to the bill. Prices depend on your billing country and change, so treat the numbers below as a dated snapshot and confirm them on respond.io’s pricing page.
For respond.io next to ManyChat, Chatfuel, and VivaDialog in one place, see the total cost comparison.
respond.io plans and what they include
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly, per month | Users included | Extra user, per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99 | $79 | 5 | $12 |
| Growth | $199 | $159 | 10 | $20 |
| Advanced | $349 | $279 | 10 | $24 |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales | Unlimited | Not applicable |
Checked in 2026 from the United States, in US dollars, at 1,000 MAC. The page’s yearly toggle reads “Yearly (Save up to 20%)”, and the yearly figure is the large number on the page, so a $79 price is a monthly rate paid as one yearly charge.
Starter is built for people who handle chats themselves: it has no AI Agents and no Workflows, and MAC counting starts at Growth. Growth adds AI Agents, Workflows, and broadcasts.
What the plan costs over a year
Each figure is twelve times the monthly rate, which makes the plans easier to compare with tools that bill differently.
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $948 | $1,188 | $240 |
| Growth | $1,908 | $2,388 | $480 |
| Advanced | $3,348 | $4,188 | $840 |
The three things that raise the bill
Active contacts. A MAC is anyone you interacted with through calls or messages during the billing month, whether they wrote to you or you wrote to them. Going over your tier does not stop anything. respond.io bills the extra at the end of the cycle: $12 per 100 MAC on Growth and $15 per 100 on Advanced. At that rate, a Growth account that reaches 1,300 MAC against 1,000 included owes 3 x $12 = $36 more that month. respond.io’s FAQ says the extra is billed per block of 100 MAC, so a partial block counts as a whole one: 1,250 MAC against 1,000 included is 3 blocks, or $36.
A bigger contact tier raises the plan price itself. In 2026 the price calculator listed these monthly prices:
| MAC tier | Starter | Growth | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $99 | $199 | $349 |
| 2,500 | $99 | $299 | $529 |
| 5,000 | $99 | $399 | $699 |
| 10,000 | $99 | $559 | $989 |
| Above 10,000 | $99 | Custom | Custom |
Starter lists MAC as Unlimited, so its price stays the same at every tier. Enterprise is custom at every tier.
Users. Starter includes 5 users and Growth and Advanced include 10 each. A Starter team of 8 pays for 3 extra users at $12, which is $36 a month. A Growth team of 14 pays 4 x $20 = $80 a month.
AI credits. Each AI plan comes with credits that grow with your MAC tier. Past the allowance, AI keeps running at $15 per 1,000 extra credits, with a hard cap at 200% of the allowance. respond.io’s AI usage is also described as included at no extra cost with fair use, so read its current terms before you size a plan around AI.
Instagram comments and channels
For Instagram comments, respond.io offers Auto Private Replies: one DM to a person who commented, within 7 days, with the same text for every comment or one text per post or Reel. Its help page (updated in 2026) does not describe keyword filtering for them. Public replies to comments were not available; the feature request was marked “under review” on its public roadmap.
Its channel list includes Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp, and SMS. Threads is not listed. The trial lasts 7 days without a card and has Growth features for 5 users and 1,000 MAC, except broadcasts. We did not record a free plan.
VivaDialog next to respond.io
The two count different things. respond.io counts contacts and users. VivaDialog counts conversations (a comment thread or DM thread that got an automatic reply, counted once a month) and AI replies, and replies your team writes by hand are never counted.
| respond.io (checked in 2026) | VivaDialog | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest paid plan, billed monthly | Starter: $99, 5 users | Starter: $9, 500 conversations, 200 AI replies, you plus 1 team member |
| Lowest paid plan, billed yearly | $79 a month | $7.20 a month |
| Next plan, billed monthly | Growth: $199 at 1,000 MAC | Growth: $12, 2,000 conversations, 1,000 AI replies, you plus 10 team members |
| Next plan, billed yearly | $159 a month | $9.60 a month |
| What grows the bill | Contacts, users, AI credits | Nothing; the plan quotas are the limit |
| Public replies to Instagram comments | Not available | Yes, plus an optional private DM |
| Trial | 7 days, no card | 14 days, no card, opens after early access |
VivaDialog prices come from the pricing page. Yearly billing is 20% off and paid once, so Starter is $86.40 a year and Growth is $115.20. An extra team seat is listed at $5 a month, though add-ons are not on sale yet.
When respond.io is the better pick
A lower sticker price is not the whole comparison. respond.io fits better when:
- You need WhatsApp, SMS, Viber, or TikTok messages in the same inbox. VivaDialog does not support WhatsApp or SMS, and on TikTok it only schedules video posts.
- A sales or support team works the inbox with workflows, broadcasts, and calls.
- Your contact volume is small enough that the tier price is predictable.
VivaDialog fits better when the contact meter is what worries you, when you want Threads replies next to Facebook and Instagram, or when you want public comment replies and AI on the lowest plan. The full side-by-side is on VivaDialog vs respond.io.
Frequently asked questions
How much does respond.io cost?
In 2026, Starter was $99 a month billed monthly or $79 billed yearly, Growth $199 or $159, and Advanced $349 or $279, at 1,000 MAC. At 2,500 MAC, Growth was $299 a month and Advanced $529. Enterprise is priced by sales.
What is a Monthly Active Contact?
Anyone you interacted with through calls or messages during the billing month, whether they wrote to you or you wrote to them. Contact counting starts at the Growth plan.
Does respond.io reply to Instagram comments in public?
Not when we checked. It sends a private DM to people who comment. The public reply request was “under review” on its roadmap.
Does respond.io have a free plan?
We recorded a 7-day trial without a card and found no free plan on the pages we read.
What is a cheaper alternative to respond.io?
It depends on what you count. Best Instagram DM automation tools lists eight tools with prices and check dates, and flat vs per-contact pricing shows how the two billing models behave in a busy month.
VivaDialog is in early access right now, and participants get the Growth plan free for 30 days. The pricing page has the details.