Multichannel Communication: 6 Platforms Compared & How To Choose One

TL;DR - What is the Best Multichannel Messaging Platform?

Multichannel messaging helps businesses meet customers where they are—but not all platforms offer the same flexibility, features, or channel coverage. This guide breaks down the top platforms based on their strengths, whether you need a unified inbox, strong WhatsApp automation, omnichannel support, or regional specialization.

Respond.io: Best for businesses needing an all-in-one platform with automation, AI, and a unified inbox for all channels.
Trengo: For teams focused on customer support with messaging, email, and VoIP in one place.
WATI: For small businesses centered on WhatsApp messaging with simple automation tools.
SleekFlow: For businesses wanting WhatsApp automation plus access to other messaging platforms.
Zenvia: For LATAM-based businesses needing regional channel coverage and integrations.
ManyChat: For e-commerce brands and marketing agencies needing easy chat automation and broadcasts.

What is Multichannel Communication?

Multichannel messaging is a communication strategy that enables businesses to engage with customers across multiple messaging platforms—such as WhatsApp, TikTok, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, email, calls and more, using a single platform.

Rather than relying on just one channel, multichannel messaging meets customers where they are most active, giving them the flexibility to choose how they want to communicate. This is big, since customer purhcase journeys tend to start in one device and end in another.

Here’s an example of a business using multichannel communication: A travel agency runs a targeted Instagram ad promoting a tropical vacation package, follows up with an email campaign highlighting exclusive discounts, and sends personalized WhatsApp messages to answer questions and assist with bookings.

Clients can reply directly via WhatsApp messages or even request a WhatsApp call for personalized travel advice. Each channel works together to nurture leads and convert interest into confirmed trips.

Examples of Channels for Multichannel Messaging

Voice/Phone: Personal and real-time for urgent or complex issues, but hard to scale.
Email: Reliable for detailed communication and records, though slower to engage.
Social Media: Meets customers where they are; boosts visibility but lacks privacy to talk to customers.
Live Chat: Great for support and conversions, but requires leads to visit your website first.
SMS/Text Messaging: Direct and effective with high open rates, ideal for alerts and reminders. However, impractical and potentially expensive for conversations.
Messaging Apps: Direct and effective with high open rates. Ideal for multiple use cases beyond alert and reminders. Unlike SMS, they work much better for conversational sales and support.

Each channel has its strengths and limitations. The key is to adopt a multichannel strategy that aligns with your use cases — or better yet, move toward an omnichannel approach. Not sure about the difference? We’ll break it down in the next section.

Multichannel Messaging Platform vs Omnichannel Messaging Platform

Feature	Multichannel	Omnichannel
Channel availability	✅ Multiple channels	✅ Multiple channels
Unified inbox	❌ No	✅ Yes
Shared conversation history	❌ No	✅ Yes
Agent efficiency	⬇️ Low	⬆️ High
Customer experience	Fragmented	Seamless

Multichannel: Multiple messaging platforms are used separately, like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and email, each with its own inbox. Agents switch between different apps to respond. With separate platforms, conversations feel fragmented for both sides due to the lack of a unified view.

Omnichannel: All channels are connected into a single inbox, allowing agents to see the complete chat history regardless of origin. This speeds up replies and provides a full understanding of the customer’s journey. Connecting everything into one stream offers a smoother, more organized experience.

A better customer experience has an impact in business growth. In fact, companies that embrace omnichannel have significantly higher customer retention than the ones that don't.

In short, multichannel and omnichannel messaging platforms let you chat with customers on multiple channels. But in multichannel, each channel is isolated. That means messages are not connected, and agents have to switch between apps.

Why Multichannel Messaging is Important

Benefit	Multichannel	Omnichannel
Increase Audience Reach	✅	✅
Supports Different Use Cases	✅	✅
Data Collection	✅	✅
Improves Customer Experience	✅	✅
Manage Channel Silos	❌	✅
Create a Cohesive Experience	❌	✅

Increase Audience Reach: Different customers prefer different platforms — some are active on WhatsApp, others check email or follow you on Instagram. Multichannel messaging helps you reach a wider audience by meeting them where they already are.
Supports Different Use Cases: Each channel serves a unique purpose. Use WhatsApp to nurture sales via chat, email for detailed itineraries or updates, and SMS for time-sensitive alerts. This flexibility allows you to tailor communications to the context.
Data Collection: Engaging customers across channels provides more touchpoints to collect valuable data — such as preferences, behavior, and purchase intent — which can be used to refine targeting and personalize future interactions.
Improves Customer Experience: Offering multiple communication options gives customers the freedom to choose how they interact with your business, which improves convenience and satisfaction.

Omnichannel takes it a step further with two additional benefits.

Manage Channel Silos: Instead of juggling multiple inboxes, omnichannel platforms unify conversations across channels into a single thread. This prevents message duplication, missed inquiries, and fragmented communication.
Create a Cohesive Experience: 40% of consumers abandon a purchase if the experience is not seamless across channels. With an omnichannel stack, customers can switch between channels — for example, starting a conversation on Instagram and continuing it on WhatsApp — without repeating themselves. Your team has full context at every stage, enabling smooth, consistent service.

Top Multichannel Communication Platforms

Respond.io

Respond.io unifies all popular chat and voice channels into a single inbox. With robust WhatsApp automation tools, AI Agents, customer lifecycle tracking, CRM integration and more, you can manage your entire customer journey from first contact to sale to retention.

Pros

Omnichannel inbox for WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, SMS, LINE, Viber, WeChat, website chat and custom channels
Voice channels: WhatsApp Business Calling API, Facebook Messenger calls and VoIP
Broadcast on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and more
Omnichannel website chat widget
WhatsApp Business App + API coexistence
Omnichannel automation
Autonomous AI Agents that can be trained with your knowledge sources to chat, update contact fields and Lifecycle, route conversations and more.
Identify and merge duplicated contacts from different channels
Guaranteed 99.999% platform stability
24/5 customer support via chat and call, 24/7 AI customer support

Cons

May be too advanced for micro businesses or entrepreneurs who only need one channel

Pricing

Respond.io’s mid-tier Growth plan is priced at $199/month and supports up to 10 users. It includes unlimited automation, unrestricted use of the AI Agent, advanced reporting and more — all without extra charges for WhatsApp API account setup, hosting or markups to Meta message fees.

Trengo

Trengo is a multichannel communication platform designed primarily for customer support, helping teams manage inquiries efficiently across multiple channels.

Pros

Omnichannel inbox for WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, SMS, email, website chat, VoIP and custom channels
Omnichannel website chat widget

Cons

No WhatsApp Business Calling API
No WhatsApp Business App + API coexistence
Automation is not omnichannel and must be created separately on each channel
VoIP at additional cost
Broadcast only on WhatsApp and SMS at additional fees

Pricing

Trengo costs $701/month for twenty users, but essential features like broadcasts come at an additional cost. The plan includes a yearly limit of 18,000 conversations, with extra charges applying if you exceed that. Conversations involving AI also incur a separate surcharge.

Wati

WATI (WhatsApp Team Inbox) is built for small and medium-sized businesses that focus mostly on the WhatsApp Business API. It focuses on team collaboration and simple automation for customer conversations on WhatsApp.

Pros

Omnichannel inbox for WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram
WhatsApp Business app + API coexistence

Cons

Only supports three channels
Broadcast only for WhatsApp
No WhatsApp Business Calling API
No merge of duplicate contacts
Difficult to get support from human agents

Pricing

WATI’s mid-tier plan is priced at $149 for five users, making it an affordable option for small teams. However, be aware of additional costs like messaging markups and extra fees for features such as Shopify integration and 1,000 AI support responses. These costs are not included in the base price.

Sleekflow

Sleekflow is a multichannel platform for businesses with low chat volumes. It also offers automation and AI for businesses wanting to simplify some simple business processes.

Pros

It supports WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, Viber, WeChat, SMS, LINE and website chat

Cons

Automation is mostly supported on WhatsApp
No WhatsApp Business Calling API
No WhatsApp Business app + API coexistence
No merging of duplicate contacts
Some users report frequent platform downtime

Pricing

SleekFlow’s mid-level plan is priced at $399/month and supports just 5 users. Its pricing structure is based on your total contact list, not only the contacts you interact with. Plus, the platform comes with the following usage limits.

Each account gets 500 AI Agent credits by default. There are three types of AI Agents: Basic Support consumes one credit per message, while Sales Growth and Custom Agents use two credits each. Additionally, triggering automation workflows requires separate flow enrollment credits, which are also billed separately.

Zenvia

Zenvia is a Brazilian multichannel communication platform with a focus on Brazil and other Latin American countries. It focuses on medium to large B2C businesses that primarily operate on WhatsApp, email and SMS.

Pros

WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, WeChat, SMS, email
Omnichannel website chat widget

Cons

No WhatsApp Business Calling API
No WhatsApp Business app + API coexistence
No merging of duplicate contacts
No customer support for the starter plan

Pricing

Zenvia’s mid-tier plan, called Specialist, costs $130 per month and includes 10 users, 500 conversations, and 5 flow chatbots. The price includes a mandatory $20+ message pack, which allows sending up to 1,088 SMS, 431 WhatsApp messages, or 23,750 emails.

Zenvia also charges $137 for setup fees in the Specialist plan. Message fees are $0.05 per outbound WhatsApp message, $0.02 per inbound WhatsApp message, $0.02 per SMS, and $0.04 per 50 emails.

Manychat

Manychat stands out on this list for its strong focus on e-commerce businesses and marketing agencies. It supports multiple channels and tools tailored for sales, promotions and customer engagement.

Pros

It supports WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, SMS and email
WhatsApp Business app + API coexistence
Broadcast on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, SMS and email

Cons

No omnichannel webchat widget
No WhatsApp API calling
No formal uptime guarantee or publicly available performance data
Limited customer support for the starter plan, only email support for Pro and above

Pricing

The ManyChat mid-tier plan is called Pro and it starts from $15 per month for 500 contacts, but the cost will go up if you need more. It includes three users and allows unlimited custom flows. For add-ons, each additional user costs $39 per month. If you exceed the Pro plan’s email limit, there is an extra charge of $3.00 for every 1,000 additional emails. You can also add ManyChat AI for $29 per month.

Multichannel Messaging Platforms: A Comparison

	Respond.io	Trengo	WATI	SleekFlow	Zenvia	ManyChat
WhatsApp	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Instagram	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
TikTok	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
Messenger	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Telegram	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌	✅
SMS	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
LINE	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌
Viber	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌
WeChat	✅	❌	❌	✅	✅	❌
Website Chat	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌
Email	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅	✅
Custom Channels	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Omnichannel Widget	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
WhatsApp Business Calling API	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Messenger Calls	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
VoIP	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌

How to Choose a Multichannel Messaging Platform

Not all businesses have the same communication needs—so the right multichannel platform depends on your size, channels, and goals. Here's how to decide:

Trengo is a solid pick for mid-to-large teams that need a unified inbox with messaging, email, and VoIP—minus the complexity of omnichannel automation.
WATI works well for small teams centered around WhatsApp, with some support for Messenger and Instagram.
SleekFlow suits businesses that rely heavily on WhatsApp but still want access to a few other messaging channels—without needing deep automation features.
Zenvia is ideal for Brazil-based businesses that want a regional solution with WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, SMS, and email under one roof.
ManyChat shines for e-commerce and marketing teams running broadcast campaigns across multiple channels with minimal setup.
Respond.io is your best bet if you're looking for a true omnichannel powerhouse with the most popular voice and messaging channels all in one inbox. Businesses like My Dream Travel and Tours are growing with chat and calls in the #1 omnichannel platform.

Are you ready to streamline your communications? Try respond.io for free.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the challenges of multichannel communication?

Using multiple communication channels is hard to manage. Agents must switch between tools to answer messages, which slows replies and creates inconsistencies. With conversations split across platforms, customer history is incomplete, and people often have to repeat themselves when switching channels. This frustrates both customers and agents. It also increases costs, as each channel may require separate tools, training and integrations.

This was exactly the case for Sicar, a Mexican POS provider, which struggled with managing chats and calls on separate systems. After adopting respond.io and the WhatsApp Business Calling API, Sicar unified its communications into one inbox. Now, agents can switch from chat to call instantly — with full context — resolving issues faster and delivering a smoother customer experience.

Can small businesses use multichannel communication?

Small businesses can use multichannel communication successfully by starting with just a few important channels, like email, phone, and one or two social media platforms. Low-cost tools, such as shared inbox software or simple customer management systems, can help keep messages organized. Automation features like chatbots or automatic replies can maintain quick responses, even outside working hours. As the business grows, more channels can be added based on customer demand and available resources. Even with fewer platforms, being consistent and responding on time helps create a professional image and keep customers happy.

How to choose channels for a multichannel strategy?

Picking the right channels starts with knowing where your customers spend the most time and how they like to communicate. Businesses should look at customer age, habits, and preferences to decide on the best platforms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS or email. It’s also useful to see what competitors are using. Managing more channels takes extra staff, training, and tools, so starting with the most effective ones is best. Over time, more platforms can be added. The goal is to make communication easy for customers while keeping it manageable for the business.