Comparisons · 2026-10-05

ManyChat, respond.io, SleekFlow and Wati Pricing in 2026: What 500, 1,000 and 3,000 Contacts a Month Really Cost

The short answer

For a small business with three staff that wants an AI agent answering on WhatsApp, the four best-known tools cost roughly this per month, billed yearly, before tax and Meta's own message fees (each vendor's pricing page, read 5 October 2026):

ManyChat is the cheapest on paper and the one built mainly for Instagram. respond.io and SleekFlow charge by the number of people you talk to, so the bill rises in your busiest months. Wati charges by seat and sells its AI agent as a separate product. Meta's own WhatsApp fees are not in any of these prices. The working, and the catches behind each number, are below.

How we worked the numbers

The business in these examples has one WhatsApp number, three staff who answer chats, and wants an AI agent replying to customers. "Contacts" means the different people who message you, or whom you message, in a month. ManyChat calls them Active Contacts, respond.io and SleekFlow call them Monthly Active Contacts (MACs). A parent who sends you twenty messages in a month counts once.

All prices are list prices for self-serve plans, per month, billed yearly unless stated, from each vendor's own pricing page on 5 October 2026. Prices exclude tax and Meta's WhatsApp message fees. Wati showed prices in pounds; the others in US dollars. Prices change often, so check the page before you buy.

ManyChat: cheap to start, priced by active contacts

ManyChat prices by Active Contacts. Pro costs $29 a month billed yearly ($348 a year) and includes 2,500 Active Contacts, three users, two inbox seats and AI replies; WhatsApp is one of three channels you can connect. Past 2,500, each extra Active Contact costs $0.038 on a yearly plan or $0.05 on a monthly one, billed monthly. So 3,000 contacts on Pro is $29 plus 500 × $0.038, about $48 (ManyChat's pricing page, 5 October 2026).

The catches:

• Who counts. ManyChat's page says a contact counts as active "when messages are sent or received through Manychat - via automations, AI, Broadcasts, or the Inbox". Every customer who messages your connected number counts, whether or not the bot did anything useful. One reviewer put it bluntly: "ManyChat charges you for anyone who DMs you" (Trustpilot, August 2026). It is one of 56 complaints about contact-based pricing among the 452 ManyChat complaints we read on 27 September 2026. We gathered that sample by searching for complaints, and most of it is about Instagram, so it shows what unhappy customers raise, not how many customers are unhappy.
• Seats. Pro includes two inbox seats. Three people answering chats in ManyChat's inbox means Business, at $69 a month billed yearly, with 7,500 Active Contacts and three inbox seats.
• The free plan. Free now includes 25 Active Contacts a month and does not connect WhatsApp; nor does Essential ($14 a month billed yearly).
• Your billing country. ManyChat says the final price depends on it.

ManyChat does let you set an overage limit and sends notifications as you approach your allowance.

respond.io: AI agents start on Growth

respond.io's Starter plan ($79 a month billed yearly) has AI Assist and AI Prompts but not AI Agents. AI Agents start on Growth: $159 a month billed yearly ($199 month to month) with 1,000 MACs, ten users and 10,000 AI credits. respond.io says AI usage is included at no extra cost on Growth, under a fair-use policy, and extra AI credits cost $15 per 1,000 (respond.io's pricing page, 5 October 2026).

As you grow, Growth with 2,500 MACs costs $239 a month billed yearly and with 5,000 MACs $319. Between tiers, extra contacts are billed on demand at $12 per 100 MACs at the end of the month, which respond.io says is "intended for temporary, seasonal usage spikes". At 3,000 contacts the cheapest route is the 2,500 tier plus five blocks of 100: $239 + $60 = $299.

respond.io counts a MAC as someone who "messages or calls your business or you initiate a conversation with them" in the billing month. Small teams notice: "we are just 2 people that needs it, and their pricing is for copmanies with 10 min" (G2, September 2026).

SleekFlow: priced by contacts, and it upgrades you by default

SleekFlow's Pro plan includes AI agents. In US dollars it costs $109 a month billed yearly with 500 MACs, $149 with 1,000, $199 with 2,000 and $279 with 4,000; a WhatsApp number adds a hosting fee of $15 a month (SleekFlow's pricing page, 5 October 2026). At 3,000 contacts you either buy the 4,000 tier ($279 + $15 = $294) or sit on the 2,000 tier and let SleekFlow add capacity.

That second route is now automatic. SleekFlow's help centre says that with auto-scaling on, it "will automatically upgrade your MAC tier to the next available pricing level if your usage exceeds your current limit", and that "auto-scaling is enabled by default" (SleekFlow help centre, "Plans and billing", read 5 October 2026). Each 100-MAC add-on is a one-time charge to your card for that month; SleekFlow's pages do not give its price. If you switch auto-scaling off and go over the limit, SleekFlow blocks the workspace: inbox replies, AI agent replies and broadcasts pause until capacity is restored.

Wati: priced by seat, with AI sold separately

Wati does not meter contacts. It meters seats. In the UK view, Growth costs £49 a month billed yearly (£59 month to month) for three users, with no option to add a fourth; Pro costs £99 (£129) for five users, plus £32 a month for each extra user (Wati's pricing page, UK view, 5 October 2026).

Wati's AI agent, Astra, is a separate product that Wati lists as a Pro-plan feature, "priced separately". Astra Pro costs $99 a month for 5,000 credits and Astra Business $399 for 25,000, month to month; Astra says paying yearly saves 20%. A text reply uses one credit, a rich reply (an image, PDF or table) three (Wati's Astra pricing page, 5 October 2026). Vendors do not publish how many AI replies a typical contact needs; at an assumed five replies per contact a month, 500 contacts fit in Astra Pro, 1,000 use its whole allowance, and 3,000 need Astra Business. That is why the Wati row in the table rises at 3,000 even though Wati itself never counts contacts.

Meta's fees come on top of all four

None of these plan prices includes Meta's own WhatsApp fees. respond.io says so outright: "WhatsApp fees are not included in any respond.io subscription." SleekFlow and Wati charge them through their own rate cards and prepaid credit. Meta's rates depend on the message type and the customer's country, so budget for them separately from the subscription.

What the table does not show

• Your busiest month sets the bill. Contact-metered plans charge for the month you actually had. A term start or an open day that doubles your enquiries can move you up a tier for that month.
• Monthly billing costs more. Every price above assumes a yearly commitment. Month to month, respond.io's Growth is $199 instead of $159, and Wati's Pro £129 instead of £99. Yearly plans are usually hard to leave early; see cancelling, refunds and keeping your number.
• Caps can switch the bot off. On SleekFlow with auto-scaling off, AI agent replies pause at the limit. respond.io's on-demand AI credits stop at a hard cap of 200% of your allowance.

Who this comparison is for, and who it is not for

For: small service businesses (classes, tuition, salons, studios) that answer customer questions on WhatsApp, have a handful of staff, and want an AI agent to take the routine questions.

Not for: teams running large broadcast campaigns, or companies needing many WhatsApp numbers, workspaces or a CRM-grade inbox. At that scale the enterprise plans, sold by quote, are the real comparison.

If a flat price matters more than a big inbox, Conciergr prices are flat, with no contact, seat or reply meter; they are on the pricing page. The vendor-by-vendor detail is in our respond.io, SleekFlow, Wati and ManyChat comparisons.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does ManyChat cost for WhatsApp?

ManyChat Pro, the cheapest plan that connects WhatsApp, costs $29 a month billed yearly with 2,500 Active Contacts, then $0.038 for each extra Active Contact (5 October 2026). Business, with three inbox seats and 7,500 Active Contacts, costs $69. Meta's message fees are extra.

What is an active contact in ManyChat?

A real person you interact with through ManyChat in a monthly billing period, by automation, AI, broadcast or the inbox. Each person counts once a month, however many messages you exchange.

What happens if I go over my contact limit?

It depends on the tool. ManyChat charges per extra Active Contact. respond.io bills extra contacts in blocks of 100 at the end of the month. SleekFlow adds 100-contact blocks automatically by default, and pauses replies if auto-scaling is off. Wati does not count contacts.

Which WhatsApp tool includes AI in the price?

ManyChat Pro and Business, respond.io Growth and above, and SleekFlow Pro and above include AI under each vendor's usage limits. Wati sells its Astra AI agent as a separate subscription, from $99 a month.

Are Meta's WhatsApp fees included?

No. None of the four plan prices includes Meta's message fees; respond.io, SleekFlow and Wati say they are charged separately, and ManyChat's pricing page does not include them in any plan.