A support inbox billed per contact, or a Telegram CRM?
respond.io is an omnichannel support inbox built around WhatsApp, where Telegram is a bot channel: contacts must message the bot first, group chats aren't supported, and history stays behind. There are no deal values or forecasts, and the bill grows with every active contact. Crewio is Telegram-first: real accounts, groups as deals, and a CRM that counts revenue.
| Capability | crewio | respond.io |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram connection | Your team's real accounts (MTProto mirror) | A bot; contacts must message it first |
| Telegram group chats | Groups become deals, members tracked | Not supported, per their own docs |
| Existing chat history in the CRM | Full history, searchable | — |
| Deals with amounts, forecast & revenue reports | Conversation inbox; no deal values or forecast | |
| Meetings & calendar (two-way Google sync) | — | |
| Campaigns measured to revenue | Broadcasts from the $159 plan | |
| AI on your workspace | Assistant + hosted MCP server | AI agents from the $159 plan |
| Omnichannel (WhatsApp, IG, web chat…) | Telegram-first | |
| Pricing | $49/mo per workspace, members included | $79–279/mo + per-contact overages + per-user fees |
| Trial | 14 days, full plan, no card | 7 days |
Compiled from public product pages, docs and pricing, July 2026. respond.io is a trademark of its respective owner; this page is independent and not affiliated.
What you get with respond.io
- • A WhatsApp-first team inbox with Telegram as one checkbox among many channels.
- • The Telegram channel is a bot: no groups, no message-first, no history import, and only a "sent" status on messages.
- • Conversations get resolved; nothing tells you what your pipeline is worth.
- • Per-contact (MAC) billing with overage charges and per-user fees on top of the plan price.
Tickets closed, per contact billed. Revenue is not the metric.
What you get with Crewio
- • Telegram as the first-class channel: real accounts, groups as deals, full history.
- • A sales CRM underneath: deal values, weighted forecast, win/loss and revenue reports.
- • Meetings, automations and AI included, not gated behind a higher tier.
- • Flat pricing: $49/mo per workspace, no per-contact meter running.
Built to answer "what's this month worth?"
An inbox tells you conversations were handled. Crewio tells you the pipeline is $148k, the weighted forecast is $86k, and which Telegram chats those numbers live in.
respond.io fits if…
You run a WhatsApp-centric support operation across many channels and Telegram inbound via a bot is enough.
Crewio fits if…
Telegram is your revenue channel and you need deals, groups, forecasts and follow-ups, not just resolved conversations.