Respond.io costs $99/month on Starter, $199/month on Growth and $349/month on Advanced when billed monthly, which is roughly ₹8,700, ₹17,500 and ₹30,700 at ₹88 to the dollar. Annual billing drops those to $79, $159 and $279 a month, and WhatsApp conversation fees are charged on top of every plan.
This page breaks down what each respond.io plan includes, the costs that are easy to miss (extra users, monthly active contact overages, WhatsApp top-ups, GST and forex), and what the same team would pay on an India-first WhatsApp platform. All respond.io figures come from its public pricing page as of October 2026; the rupee amounts are our estimates and will move with the exchange rate.
Respond.io pricing at a glance (October 2026)
Respond.io sells four plans. Every paid plan is priced in US dollars and sized by two limits: the number of users (agent seats) and the number of monthly active contacts (MACs), meaning the contacts your team actually talks to in a given month.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing (per month) | Approx. ₹/month (monthly billing) | Users included | Monthly active contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99 | $79 ($948/year) | ~₹8,712 | 5 | Starts at 1,000 |
| Growth | $199 | $159 ($1,908/year) | ~₹17,512 | 10 | Starts at 1,000 |
| Advanced | $349 | $279 ($3,348/year) | ~₹30,712 | 10 | Custom |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Custom quote | On request | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Rupee figures use ₹88 per US dollar and exclude GST. Your card issuer may add a foreign transaction markup, and if you pay annually the whole year is charged upfront: about ₹83,400 for Starter, ₹1.68 lakh for Growth and ₹2.95 lakh for Advanced.
What each respond.io plan includes
Starter is the entry plan for small teams: a shared inbox across channels, basic contact management and up to 5 users. It suits a team that mainly needs one place to answer WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger chats.
Growth doubles the seat count to 10 and adds the automation layer most buyers are actually shopping for: workflows, broadcasts with more control, and reporting. If you want lead routing, auto-assignment or follow-up sequences, Growth is the realistic starting point.
Advanced keeps 10 users but adds custom contact limits and more advanced controls for larger support or sales teams. Enterprise is a negotiated contract with unlimited users and contacts, aimed at companies that need security reviews, dedicated support and custom terms.
Where respond.io is genuinely strong is omnichannel. It connects WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email and several other channels into one inbox with AI agents on top. If your customers spread across many channels and you are budgeting in dollars, that breadth is the reason to pay for it.
The costs that are not in the headline price
The plan price is the floor, not the total. Four costs usually push the real bill higher for Indian teams.
- Extra users. Seats above the plan limit cost $12/month each on Starter, $20 on Growth and $24 on Advanced. Adding 5 agents to Growth adds $100 a month, or about ₹8,800.
- Monthly active contact overages. Above the included contacts, respond.io charges per block of 100 contacts: $12 on Growth and $15 on Advanced. A Growth team talking to 3,000 contacts a month pays for 2,000 extra contacts, which is $240 (about ₹21,120) on top of the $199 plan.
- WhatsApp conversation fees. Respond.io's pricing page states that WhatsApp fees are not included in any plan. You top up WhatsApp credit on the platform, and Meta's per-message charges are deducted from it. Check respond.io's billing documentation for how those charges are passed through before you budget.
- GST and forex. Dollar invoices from an overseas SaaS do not come with a standard Indian GST invoice, and bank forex markups typically add another 2 to 3.5 percent on card payments.
Before you sign up, model your real seat count and the number of contacts you talk to per month, not the plan you hope to stay on. You can run the WhatsApp side of the numbers in our WhatsApp API cost calculator.
Get the India 2026 WhatsApp BSP price comparison
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Respond.io vs RichAutomate: what a typical Indian team pays
RichAutomate is built for Indian businesses that mostly sell and support on WhatsApp. Plans are priced in rupees and include GST: Starter ₹499/month (1 number, 2 team members), Pro ₹899/month (2 numbers, 5 team members, API and webhooks) and White-label ₹1,199/month (unlimited team members). On Client Pay, you pay a flat ₹0.10 platform fee per message and Meta bills its own charges to you directly. Setup is ₹0 and there is a 14-day free trial. Full details are on the RichAutomate pricing page.
| Scenario (monthly) | Respond.io | RichAutomate |
|---|---|---|
| 5 agents, under 1,000 active contacts | Starter $99 ≈ ₹8,712 + GST + WhatsApp fees | Pro ₹899 (GST incl.) + ₹0.10/msg + Meta charges |
| 10 agents, workflows and broadcasts | Growth $199 ≈ ₹17,512 + GST + WhatsApp fees | White-label ₹1,199 (unlimited seats) + ₹0.10/msg + Meta charges |
| 10 agents, 3,000 active contacts | Growth $199 + $240 overage ≈ ₹38,632 + fees | White-label ₹1,199 + ₹0.10/msg + Meta charges (no contact limits) |
| 15 agents | Growth $199 + 5 × $20 ≈ ₹26,312 + fees | White-label ₹1,199 (unlimited seats) + ₹0.10/msg + Meta charges |
| Billing currency and invoice | USD, overseas invoice | INR, GST invoice |
The per-message fee is the part RichAutomate users pay that respond.io plan users do not, so be fair with the maths. A team sending 20,000 messages a month pays ₹2,000 in RichAutomate platform fees, which takes the 10-agent White-label total to about ₹3,199 before Meta charges. That is still a fraction of the Growth plan before any respond.io add-ons. Meta's own charges apply on both platforms, and service replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are free from Meta.
See your own number before you commit. Start a 14-day free trial with 100 free credits and ₹0 setup, or compare every plan on the pricing page.
When respond.io is worth the price
Respond.io is a good choice if most of these are true for you:
- Your customers write to you across many channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email, web chat) and you need all of them in one inbox.
- You sell internationally and already budget software in US dollars.
- You want a mature omnichannel AI agent and are happy to pay per active contact for it.
- Your support team is large enough that enterprise controls and a dedicated account manager matter.
A cheaper India-first platform fits better if WhatsApp drives most of your revenue, you have more agents than your budget per seat allows, you talk to thousands of contacts a month, or your finance team needs rupee GST invoices. For a wider shortlist, see our guide to respond.io alternatives in India, and for a feature-by-feature breakdown read respond.io vs RichAutomate pricing decoded.
How to estimate your real respond.io bill
- Count seats honestly. Include part-time agents, managers who reply occasionally and anyone who covers weekends.
- Count active contacts. Use last month's WhatsApp chat count as a proxy. Every customer you message or who messages you in a month counts as active.
- Pick the plan your features need. If you need workflows, start from Growth rather than Starter.
- Add overages. Extra users × the per-seat rate, plus contacts above the included limit ÷ 100 × the block rate.
- Add WhatsApp fees. Estimate marketing, utility and authentication volumes separately, because Meta prices each category differently. Our WhatsApp API pricing comparison for India lists current per-message rates.
- Convert at a realistic rate. Use the current dollar rate plus your bank's forex markup, then add GST if you cannot claim input credit on the invoice.
Repeat the same exercise for one or two alternatives and compare 12-month totals rather than monthly sticker prices. Annual plans look cheaper per month, but they lock in a seat count and currency risk for a full year.
The verdict
Respond.io is a capable omnichannel platform priced for international teams: $99 to $349 a month before extra seats, contact overages and WhatsApp fees. For an Indian business that mainly runs on WhatsApp, the same team can usually go live on a rupee plan from ₹499 to ₹1,199 a month and spend the difference on reaching more customers. If cost per lead matters, model both, then test with real conversations. Start a 14-day RichAutomate free trial and compare the first month side by side.