InstantReply vs Respond.io: Pricing, AI, Channels (2026)

Watch the fine print

The hidden costs of Respond.io

The sticker price is rarely the price. Here's where Respond.io bills add up that the marketing page doesn't lead with.

• Starter plan forces 5 user seats minimum

  3 paid empty seats

  Respond.io Starter is $79/mo but it's seated for 5 users. If you're a 2-person team, you're paying for 3 empty chairs. There's no smaller plan. Instant Reply Starter is $59/mo with no seat floor and no per-user upcharge on the entry plans.

• AI Agents not included on Starter

  +$80 per month to match

  Respond.io's AI features (AI Agents, AI Prompts, AI Assist) are bundled on Growth ($159/mo) and above. Starter customers get no AI. So to compare like-for-like with Instant Reply Starter, the real Respond.io price is $159/mo, not $79/mo.

• Monthly Active Contacts (MAC) cap

  +$100 to $400 per month

  Growth and Advanced plans start with 1,000 MACs. Exceed that and you're buying add-on contact packs. Heavy-broadcast businesses regularly add $100 to $400 per month in MAC overage on top of the plan fee.

• Extra users on top of the seat floor

  $20-24 per extra user

  Growth at $20/user/mo, Advanced at $24/user/mo for every user past the included seats. A 12-person team on Advanced is paying $279 + (2 × $24) = $327/mo before MAC overage.

Instant Reply pricing is plan-based, not usage-based. Pick the plan that fits, no per-conversation gotchas, no per-user upcharges on the entry tiers, no MAC caps to trip over when a campaign goes well.