Helios Vision AI vs respond.io: AI agents on every plan, not just higher tiers
respond.io is a mature customer conversation platform built for enterprise support teams, with a wide channel roster. Helios takes a different approach: real AI agents that answer and qualify customers, included on every plan, with pricing that does not track your contact count. Here is an honest comparison so you can decide what fits.
| What matters | respond.io | Helios Vision AI |
|---|---|---|
| AI access | Gated behind the Growth plan at $159/mo; the $79/mo Starter plan has no AI at all | AI agents on every plan, including free with your own AI key |
| Pricing model | Monthly active contact billing, with overage around $12 per 100 contacts | Flat plans. Bring your own AI key on any plan, billed at provider cost, or use included AI credits on paid plans |
| Voice | Inbound voice AI limited to app-based calls and WhatsApp Business Calling, not a real telephone number | A real phone number inside the app, answered by an AI voice agent with human transfer, recordings, and natural multilingual voices |
| CRM and pipeline | Contact fields and lifecycle stages | AI lead scoring and agents that qualify leads and move pipeline stages from any channel |
| Bring your own AI key | Not offered | Bring your own AI key on any plan, or use the included AI credits on paid plans |
| Channels | 11+ channels with mature enterprise integrations | WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Messenger, Telegram, TikTok comment replies, voice calls, email, and web chat. One agent, every connected channel |
| Best at | Enterprise-scale conversation management with a mature partner ecosystem | An AI agent that actually reasons over your data and moves deals forward, on every plan |
Pricing and feature details for respond.io reflect publicly available information as of July 2026 and may change. Confirm current terms directly with respond.io.
When to pick each
When respond.io is the right pick
You run a large enterprise support organization that needs 11+ channels, established integrations, and a mature partner network, and in-app inbound voice calling covers your needs.
When Helios is the right pick
You want AI that actually answers and qualifies customers on every plan, not just higher tiers, with a real phone number and voice agent instead of app-only calling, and lead scoring that moves your pipeline on its own.
An honest note
respond.io has spent years building one of the widest channel rosters in this category, along with the integrations and admin controls a large support organization needs. That is real engineering, and if your customers are on a channel outside our eight, it is a good reason to choose them. Where Helios is stronger is the agent itself. On every connected channel it answers from your own documents and data tables, scores the lead, and moves it down the pipeline, on every plan including the free one. Most teams do not need eleven channels. They need the eight their customers actually use, answered by something that understands the question.
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