You’re probably here because you’re looking for alternatives to MessageBird or MessageBird alternatives that support the full potential of instant messaging channels. Although MessageBird has been around for more than a decade, it might not be the best fit for all businesses. This article will introduce you to respond.io, a powerful MessageBird alternative built to help businesses enhance customer communication through messaging.

Alternatives MessageBird: Respond.io vs MessageBird

MessageBird and Respond.io are platforms that businesses use to streamline their communication channels and engage with customers. They offer similar features including omnichannel chat widgets, chat automation and more.

Although both platforms were developed for large businesses and have powerful features to cater to their needs, their primary focus differs.

MessageBird was initially developed for SMS, so it excels in that area and is often used for SMS messaging. Respond.io, on the other hand, was specifically created for instant messaging channels, so its capabilities are tailored to that focus.

Now that you have an idea of their strengths, let's explore how respond.io could be a better MessageBird alternative for your business.

Alternatives MessageBird: Is respond.io a Better Solution for Your Business?

Respond.io is a customer conversation management software that helps businesses enhance customer experience and build brand loyalty through messaging.

It has enabled businesses worldwide to send notifications to a regional audience, gain more qualified leads, improve sales conversions and achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. Let's take a closer look at how businesses are achieving success on respond.io.

Centralize All Messaging Channels for Seamless Customer Interactions

Centralizing all key communication channels is essential, especially for businesses that use multiple messaging channels to connect with customers. It allows businesses to reply to customers on any channel from one place without juggling multiple messaging platforms. In short, convenience is a major advantage.

That said, MessageBird doesn’t have a mobile app or support custom channel integrations that most large businesses need. We’ll explain why this matters in the next few sections.

Connect WhatsApp, SMS, Google Business Messages and More in One Place

Respond.io is an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, offering fast and secure WhatsApp API access. With respond.io, businesses can connect with customers across all popular messaging channels.

This includes traditional channels like email and SMS along with messaging channels like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Google Business Messages, Viber and Telegram. It also allows you to connect multiple channel accounts or numbers like individual WhatsApp accounts for each branch or outlet, and reply to customers from one place.

Unlike MessageBird, which doesn’t support sending and receiving voice messages, respond.io supports all of the channels’ native features like sending emojis, voice messages and more.

This enables agents to engage in more casual and genuine conversations and provides customers with an authentic messaging experience unique to each channel.

Integrate Custom Channels like In-app Chat, Chats from E-commerce Platforms and more

If your company has its own messaging app or uses an e-commerce platform’s native inbox like Lazada chat inbox, you can connect them to respond.io. With respond.io’s custom channels integration, you can connect any channel with an open API to the platform.

This allows you to centralize both popular and business-specific messaging channels, providing the convenience of managing all your messages from a single shared inbox.

Reply to Customers Anywhere with Mobile App for Agents on the Go

With all messages directed to a single inbox, a mobile app can be handy for agents on the go. Agents can receive notifications when they are assigned new conversations, respond to messages at their convenience and manage their workload from anywhere.

Additionally, supervisors can monitor agents' work and performance, and assist them as needed from any location. While a mobile app is a standard feature of most omnichannel platforms, MessageBird does not have one.

Get Notified when Duplicate Contacts are Created and Merge them Seamlessly

Customers want a seamless omnichannel experience that allows them to chat with agents effortlessly, without having to re-identify themselves or repeat background information. With respond.io, businesses can get a unified customer profile by merging conversations from different channels in a single thread.

If a customer previously emailed you but decides to message you on WhatsApp next, you can merge the conversations to get context easily. This allows you to identify returning customers, spot recurring issues and make informed decisions while assisting them.

Although MessageBird has a similar feature, businesses must manually search for contacts they wish to merge. Respond.io, however, automatically detects duplicate contacts and prompts businesses to merge their contact information.

Additionally, contact merges can’t be undone on MessageBird but are possible on respond.io. This way, you don’t have to delete wrongly merged contacts, lose their conversation histories and recreate new contact profiles.

Now that you know how to provide an omnichannel experience, let’s look at how to automate conversations.

Streamline Processes like Auto Assignment in One Visual Workflow Automation Builder

MessageBird has two automation setups, which can lead to confusion or redundancy when building automation or trying to diagnose automation errors. In contrast, respond.io’s Workflows Module allows you to automate complex business processes in one visual Workflow.

You can plan, design, and implement your Workflow from A to Z with any amount of complexity. This includes automating FAQs, pre-chat surveys, chat routing and many more from scratch or via templates.

Automating conversations is essential when businesses receive more messages than they can handle. However, customers prefer conversing with human agents to resolve complex issues. To solve this, businesses can combine automated messages and human agent support.

Below, we’ll explore all the possible ways to auto-assign conversations instantly on respond.io.

Assign New Conversations Equally Among Agents or to Agents with the Least Conversations Open

Respond.io allows businesses to have a variety of auto-assignment methods. Two frequently used methods are round-robin assignments and assigning customers to agents with the least open conversations.

Round-robin assignment ensures equal lead distribution. It provides sales agents with a fair opportunity to convert leads and earn their commissions.

Assigning agents with the fewest open conversations improves the customer experience as customers are connected with available agents quickly. This reduces wait times, resulting in faster responses and resolutions.

Assign Returning Customers to the Previous Agent in Charge of Their Case

Respond.io is also perfect for businesses looking for more advanced auto-assignment methods. For instance, businesses can assign new customers to any agent and route existing customers with a history of interactions to the previous agent in charge of their case.

This way, agents can develop a deeper understanding of customers’ needs and preferences and build stronger relationships with them. It also provides customers with a more personalized and effective support experience.

Assign High-Value Leads and Customers to a Dedicated Agent

To prioritize high-value customers, businesses can assign them to dedicated agents who are responsible for providing personalized support and guidance. These agents serve as the primary point of contact for high-priority customers, helping them achieve their needs and goals.

Doing so will strengthen customer loyalty, increase the chances of repeat business and referrals, and ultimately contribute significantly to revenue. Now that customers can reach appropriate agents quickly, let’s explore a powerful tool that can benefit customer-facing teams.

Automate and Execute Complicated Manual Tasks with a Click

Managers can automate complicated tasks like appointment scheduling and customer satisfaction surveys, and enable agents to launch them at a click with the Shortcut Trigger while engaging with customers.

It helps free up agents' time, allowing them to focus on solving complex issues and providing excellent customer service. It also streamlines workflows and minimizes the risk of human error.

Note that MessageBird doesn't offer the same capability to automate and execute complicated tasks with a click. That said, let’s look at how this benefits your business.

Transfer Conversations to the Next Shift Easily

If you have several unresolved conversations and your shift is ending soon, you may need to quickly resolve them or delegate them manually to your team. However, these options can be challenging with limited time.

With respond.io, you can transfer conversations to the next shift effortlessly. Agents simply need to click a button, fill in a handover form to provide context and let automation assign the conversation to the next agent.

Escalate Complex Cases to Colleagues or Superiors Quickly

The same process works for case escalation. If a case is too complex for a Level 1 support agent, the agent can just click a button to escalate the case to a Level 2 support agent. This way, agents can escalate cases quickly and reduce resolution times.

Besides that, agents can also escalate the case to external platforms to get help or insights from another colleague on Slack or other CRMs.

Create Deals and Tickets, Retrieve Contact Information and More on External Platforms

If you’re a large business that relies on data enrichment platforms like Clearbit or CRMs like Hubspot, Zendesk and Salesforce, this tool is perfect for you! Respond.io’s flexible integration allows you to automatically exchange information on external platforms.

You can update customer information, create deals and tickets in external CRMs and more with one click while chatting with customers. This syncs customer data across your software stack, saving time and reducing the risk of errors that may result from manual input.

Next, we’ll look at how you can use promotional messages to start conversations with customers on respond.io.

Send Promotional Messages on Multiple Channels

Broadcasting promotional messages on multiple channels gives businesses opportunities to increase their reach and engage with customers through various touchpoints. This eventually leads to increased sales and revenue.

While the ability to support broadcasts on every channel is a feature businesses would expect, MessageBird only supports SMS and WhatsApp broadcasts. Its WhatsApp broadcast is not a native feature so setting it up requires technical knowledge and you cannot schedule and analyze the broadcasts.

This makes it clear that its platform was initially built for SMS, not instant messaging channels. Now, let's look at how to increase customer engagement via promotional messages on respond.io.

Broadcast on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE and More

Respond.io gives businesses the ability to engage with customers on their preferred platforms via broadcast messages. It supports broadcasts on multiple channels including SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, LINE and Viber.

Unlike MessageBird, respond.io allows you to send broadcasts in a few clicks. Businesses can personalize messages based on each channel's unique features, schedule and send broadcast messages to target audiences and create a more integrated and cohesive marketing strategy.

Get Marketing Performance Insights with Broadcast Analytics

Analyzing past broadcast campaign performance is crucial as it gives important insights for businesses to improve their next campaign's strategy.

It allows managers to identify successful campaigns and get insights into the behavior and preferences of their audience. Then, they can optimize their messaging, targeting and channels for future campaigns based on their findings.

Trigger Promotional Messages from Customer Actions on External Platforms

With respond.io, businesses can trigger promotional messages based on customer actions on external platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and more.

For instance, you can trigger an abandoned cart message on customers’ preferred channel if they leave items in their cart. The message can include discounts or other incentives to encourage the customer to complete the purchase.

Customers can select predetermined reply buttons or send a response and be automatically connected to an agent. This gives customers what they want, enhancing the customer experience and satisfaction.

Having seen how respond.io can improve customer communication, let's now explore the benefits of using a reliable platform.

Achieve Great Success with a Reliable Platform and Customer Support

Businesses that use MessageBird and respond.io rely heavily on these platforms to manage their business operations and communicate with customers. Therefore, reliable services and excellent customer support from these solution providers are crucial.

However, MessageBird’s customer support is only reachable from Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm via email. Plus, its estimated first response time is 12 hours to 48 hours.

If there are critical issues outside these hours, businesses cannot contact MessageBird unless they subscribe to a dedicated support plan. Note that the cheapest plan is $500 with operation hours limited to 7 am to 7 pm, Monday to Friday, and a first response time of between 8 hours to 24 hours.

The platform also experiences downtime 2-3 times per month, disrupting the ability to send and receive messages for several hours. If platform uptime and customer support availability are important to you, let’s see how respond.io is a better choice.

Robust Platform Stability for Consistent Operations

Platform reliability is essential for smooth operations as any downtime can negatively impact customer satisfaction and harm a brand’s reputation.

Unlike MessageBird, respond.io offers a dependable platform that is designed to handle high volumes of messages without interruption. It gives businesses the ability to maintain consistent operations and focus on chatting with customers.

Get Speedy Assistance with 24/5 Conversational Support

In addition to maintaining a stable platform, providing responsive and efficient customer support is crucial.

Respond.io’s support team is available from Monday to Friday, around the clock, and can assist you in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. You can also reach them on multiple channels including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE and more.

In contrast to MessageBird, respond.io provides free, high-quality and speedy assistance to resolve any issues you encounter. This enables you to focus on expanding your business and providing top-notch customer experiences.

Get Dedicated Support from a Customer Success Manager

Having a dedicated customer success manager can be a game-changer for enterprises with complex requirements. Our experts specialize in providing personalized support for planning and setting up Workflows, integrating with third-party tools, and more.

With a customer success manager by your side, you can unlock the full potential of the platform and attain success like many of our satisfied customers. Now that you’ve learned what respond.io has to offer, let's explore the pricing plans to determine which solution provides the most value.

The Best Solution for Maximum Value

Pricing plans are one of the most crucial aspects businesses consider when selecting a product. In this section, we'll compare respond.io and MessageBird’s pricing to help you choose the platform that offers more value.

Respond.io vs MessageBird: Transparent Pricing Plans

MessageBird has very confusing pricing that lacks transparency and leaves room for charging additional costs. Since it has a total of 17 different charges on its pricing page, we’ll only examine some of them.

For starters, MessageBird attracts micro businesses by allowing them to start for free with 2 user seats, 1,000 free messages collectively across instant messaging channels and no automation charges for the first 1,000 automation that get triggered.

Automation trigger charges include sending automated messages, routing and assigning contacts and more with MessageBird’s Flow Builder.

Once they pass the freebies, businesses are charged up to $30 per additional user seat, $0.005 per message on all instant messaging channels, $0.008 per SMS and an undisclosed fee for automation triggers. Additionally, businesses need to spend between $500 to $5,000 for average customer support.

Compared to MessageBird, respond.io’s pricing is straightforward with no hidden costs, per message fees, automated conversation fees and more.

For instance, with the respond.io $79 Team plan, businesses can get access to all popular messaging channels, 10 user seats, 5 Workflows automation and 25,000 broadcast messages per month.

It also offers free high-quality support and Enterprise plan customers are given a customer success manager at no extra cost. Now that you have an idea of how both their pricing work, let's see which of them is better for fast-growing businesses.

Value-filled Plan for Fast-Growing Businesses

While MessageBird’s pay-as-you-go pricing may seem appealing at first, it can quickly become a burden when businesses start to grow.

For instance, you’ll see the charges start to rack up when your business scales or when it sends and receives high volumes of messages, automates most conversations and tasks, and needs basic customer support to help you on MessageBird.

To receive respond.io’s quality of customer support, 10 user seats, 1,000 SMS and 2,000 messages on instant messaging channels, you must spend a minimum of $5,253 on MessageBird. This doesn’t even include the automation fee, which is not disclosed to the public.

To summarize, respond.io offers comprehensive and transparent plans that do not charge for simple features. This makes it an ideal choice for fast-growing businesses and mid to large businesses looking for well-rounded plans that meet their needs without hidden fees.

Now that you know what you can achieve with respond.io, let’s look at why it is the right solution for you.

Alternatives MessageBird: Why Respond.io?

Respond.io is one of the most versatile customer conversation management software in the market. Unlike MessageBird, which only fully supports SMS channel features, respond.io supports all the capabilities of each messaging channel, including SMS.

Its flexible Workflow automation and integrations allow businesses to set up all the processes they want to automate in one place. Most importantly, respond.io has high uptime, making it suitable for larger businesses that receive high volumes of messages.

Its free, high-quality support is available 24/5 to help customers whenever they need assistance, while Enterprise plan users get a dedicated customer success manager.

Armed with these, businesses can create superior customer experiences and build customer loyalty, ultimately increasing their revenue.

If you’re considering migrating from MessageBird to respond.io, contact our support team. You can transfer all your channels to respond.io, including WhatsApp API accounts while keeping the same WhatsApp API number.

Ready to experience the power of respond.io? Sign up for a 14-day free trial and witness its benefits firsthand.

Further Reading

Want to explore respond.io further? Here are some readings that might interest you.

• Inbound Conversation Workflows: A How-To Guide
• Chat Routing: Contact Routing with the respond.io
• Auto Assignment: Automatic Assignment with respond.io