Most comparisons of WhatsApp inbox tools list features in a grid and stop there. The grid hides the part that decides the bill: what each product counts. One counts seats and active contacts, one counts channels, one sells the AI agent as an add-on. This post walks through respond.io, SleekFlow and Wati on the questions that usually come up when a small team picks one, using their public pricing and help pages as of October 2026.
Disclosure: I work on DialogBrain, which competes with all three. I'll say where each of them fits better than we do.
What you pay for
respond.io is built around tiers: Starter $99, Growth $199, Advanced $349 a month ($79, $159 and $279 billed yearly). Each tier comes with a set number of users and monthly active contacts, and WhatsApp fees are on top. The trial is 7 days.
SleekFlow prices by region. On its ASEAN page, Pro is US$99 a month with 3 seats, 1,000 active contacts and 3 channels; Premium is US$299 with 10 seats and 10 channels; an extra seat is US$30. The WhatsApp Business Platform adds US$10 a month per number plus conversation rates. Also a 7-day trial.
Wati has Growth, Pro and Business. Growth has 3 users and no way to add more; Pro and Business have 5, with extra seats at $24 and $69 a month. Message fees follow Wati's rate card.
The thing to check before you compare prices: which limit will you hit first? A team of two with heavy inbound traffic hits active contact limits. A shop selling on WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and a website chat hits a 3-channel cap. A team of four on Wati Growth hits the seat limit, because Growth has none to add.
The AI agent: included or an upgrade?
This is where the three differ most.
- respond.io: AI Agents start on Growth. Starter has none.
- SleekFlow: AI agents from Pro; AI agents that call your integrations from Premium.
- Wati: the agent is called Astra. Not on Growth, a separately priced add-on on Pro, included on Business.
If the reason you are shopping is "we want an AI agent to answer the first message at 3 a.m.", the entry plan of each of these will not do it, and the real starting price is one tier up.
WhatsApp: API only
All three are built on the official WhatsApp Business Platform (the API). That is the right route for template broadcasts and click-to-WhatsApp ads.
Telegram
- respond.io: bots created through BotFather only. Its help center says a Telegram Business account cannot be added.
- SleekFlow: one bot, created through BotFather.
- Wati: Telegram is not among its channels.
If your customers write to a person on Telegram (common in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia), none of the three connects that account. A bot is a different contact with no history.
Calls
- respond.io lists calls, AI voice calls and call transcripts on its pricing page.
- SleekFlow lists VoIP calls and local number hosting as not available at the moment.
- Wati supports WhatsApp Business Calling, answered by Astra and handed to the team.
API and automation
- respond.io: developer API and Zapier or Make from Growth; webhooks and HTTP requests in workflows from Advanced.
- SleekFlow: webhooks and HTTP requests in flows from Premium; Shopify, HubSpot and Salesforce integrations depending on the plan.
- Wati: no webhooks on Growth, limited on Pro, extensive on Business.
Where each one fits
- respond.io fits large teams that run on broadcasts and deep workflow automation.
- SleekFlow fits commerce teams in Asia that want Shopify and CRM integrations and click-to-chat ads out of the box.
- Wati fits a team whose whole business is WhatsApp marketing: click-to-WhatsApp ads, broadcasts and a Shopify store.
Where DialogBrain is different
Since I work on it, here is the short version, and you can check it against the tables linked below.
- Priced per connected channel: $20 a month per channel, $5 per extra teammate (the owner's seat is free), AI usage paid as used. No tiers, so nothing is held back for a higher plan. 14 days free, no card.
- The AI agent is on every account and every channel, answering from your website and files and handing the chat to a person when it is unsure.
- WhatsApp either way: link the number you already use by QR, with its chats and groups, or connect a Business API number. Both can sit side by side.
- Telegram as your own account, with real chats, groups and calls, or as a bot.
- The same agent answers calls on Twilio or Telnyx numbers, Telegram and WhatsApp, and joins Google Meet or Microsoft Teams to write the transcript.
- REST API, webhooks and a hosted MCP server on every account.
Side-by-side tables with the sources:
If what you need is an agent on the phone line rather than the chat, there is a separate page on the AI phone agent, and for a support desk across channels, the AI customer support agent. For a shop that wants one chat on the site and in messengers: live chat for an online store.
Prices change, and SleekFlow's vary by region. If you spot something out of date, say so in the comments and I will correct it.
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