Comparison
respond.io is a capable omnichannel inbox built around WhatsApp Business, with Instagram, Messenger, SMS, email and Telegram alongside it. Its Telegram channel runs on a bot. Entergram does one channel and does it completely: it connects the personal Telegram accounts your customers already message, 100+ of them in one inbox, with tickets, analytics and MCP on top.
Content review: 31 October 2026 · Publisher: Entergram. Paid placement: none. Check official sources
Quick verdict
If WhatsApp is your main channel and Telegram is one of several you want in the same inbox, respond.io is a reasonable purchase and Entergram is not competing for that job. If Telegram carries your customers, respond.io's bot channel only ever sees the part of your Telegram traffic a bot can reach.
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Comparison
How respond.io and Entergram compare when Telegram is the channel that decides the purchase.
| respond.io | Entergram | |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | Omnichannel inbox across WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, SMS, email and Telegram | Telegram CRM for sales and support teams running many accounts |
| Telegram connection | A Telegram bot, connected with a token from BotFather | Your real Telegram accounts, connected by QR code or phone number |
| Personal account support | Not supported; respond.io's FAQ says a Telegram bot is required | The core of the product: 100+ accounts in one inbox |
| Starting a conversation on Telegram | Not possible; Telegram does not let bots message first | Message anyone your account can message, including first contact |
| Existing Telegram history | Starts empty when the bot connects | Your chats, groups and channels are there from day one |
| Telegram group chats | Bots see only commands and replies to them unless made admin | Every group your account is in, with several tickets per group |
| Telegram-specific depth | Bot-level messaging inside a model shared by every channel | Telegram folders from the CRM, and which account owns which group |
| Team inbox | Strong omnichannel inbox with routing and assignment | One inbox for 100+ Telegram accounts, an assignee on every chat, each account shared or private |
| Ticketing | Conversation statuses and workflow automation rather than tickets | Tickets from any message, with priority, assignee, due date and an SLA deadline |
| Data protection from your own team | Roles and permissions in the inbox | Hide usernames and group members; block message edits and deletions |
| Automation | Mature visual workflow builder, a genuine strength, from the Growth tier | Reminders, broadcasts, REST API, Make.com and MCP-driven AI workflows |
| Analytics | Cross-channel conversation and agent reporting | Messages sent and received, response times, busiest hours and days; raw data downloadable |
| AI | AI agents across channels on higher tiers | One MCP connection for every account on your seat, plus a REST API, included in Pro |
| Several Telegram identities | Additional bots | Five accounts per seat, then €5 each, each on its own proxy |
| WhatsApp Business API | Core strength, including provider and template management | Not offered |
| Pricing model | Plan tiers plus monthly active contacts | Per seat: €29 Basic, €39 Pro; not per contact |
| Entry price | Starter $79 per month billed yearly ($99 monthly); Growth $159 | Basic €29 per seat per month, Pro €39; 3-day free trial, no card |
| Self-hosting | Cloud only | Available on the Enterprise plan |
An omnichannel product has to model every channel the same way. Telegram has folders, groups, channels and teams running many accounts at once, and those do not survive being turned into a generic conversation object.
respond.io reaches Telegram through a bot, so a customer has to find and start your bot before a conversation exists, the bot cannot message anyone first, and it cannot see what a group said before it joined. Entergram connects the account, so the inbox holds what your team actually sees.
respond.io starts at $79 a month without workflows, $159 for Growth, and scales with monthly active contacts. Entergram is €39 per seat on Pro, with five Telegram accounts per seat and nothing charged per contact.
Run 100+ Telegram accounts in one inbox, each on its own proxy. Hide client usernames and group members from teammates and block message edits and deletions, so the relationship stays with the company.
The core difference
respond.io and Entergram answer different questions. respond.io answers “how do I put six channels in one place?” Entergram answers “how do I run a business properly on the one channel my customers use?”
respond.io's centre of gravity is WhatsApp Business. It handles the provider relationship, template messages, the session window and the compliance work that comes with the WhatsApp Business API, which is hard and which it does well. Around that sits an omnichannel inbox with Instagram, Messenger, SMS, email, web chat and Telegram, plus a mature visual workflow builder.
As of 31 October 2026, Starter is $79 per month billed yearly ($99 monthly) for five users and no workflows. Growth at $159 per month billed yearly adds workflows, and Advanced is $279. Every tier scales with monthly active contacts, with a charge for contacts beyond the plan's allowance.
If your business really spans several messaging channels, that is a coherent product and the price buys real capability.
Telegram in respond.io is a bot channel. You create a bot in BotFather, connect the token, and the bot's conversations appear in the inbox. respond.io's own FAQ answers the question "can I connect a personal Telegram account?" with: a Telegram bot is required.
The consequences are Telegram's rules, the same for every vendor using a bot. A bot cannot send the first message, so there is no Telegram follow-up. A bot cannot see anything a group said before it was added, so history starts at zero. In groups, privacy mode is on by default, so it receives only commands and replies to it unless made admin in each customer group.
That works for a company whose Telegram presence is a public support bot. For a company whose customers message a person, the omnichannel dashboard reports Telegram as a small channel, because most of the Telegram traffic never entered it.
Entergram connects the account, so the inbox holds what your team sees on their phones: DMs, groups, channels and folders. On top sits what a team needs: an assignee on every chat, comments, tickets raised from individual messages, priorities and due dates, an SLA deadline, and a board for working the queue.
It works inside Telegram rather than beside it. You can add chats to the account's Telegram folders from the CRM and see which connected account owns which group. Entergram mirrors Telegram directly, so a teammate can switch to the Telegram app and back at any point. 100+ accounts fit in one inbox, each on its own proxy, each shared with the workspace or kept private.
respond.io's workflow builder is a real advantage and Entergram has no visual canvas. If you want drag-and-drop routing rules across six channels, buy respond.io.
Entergram's bet is programmability: a REST API, the Make.com app, reminders, broadcasts, and an MCP that lets your AI model read and act on every account on your seat. A model that reads the conversation replaces a lot of branching logic, because it triages by meaning rather than keyword. AI inbox triage over MCP shows the pattern.
respond.io charges per plan tier and then scales with monthly active contacts. That suits marketing-led businesses with predictable contact volumes and penalises businesses whose contact count grows faster than their team: communities, marketplaces and anyone with a large inbound audience.
Entergram charges per seat, €29 on Basic and €39 on Pro, with five Telegram accounts per seat and €5 per month for each extra one. A community team talking to 50,000 people pays the same as one talking to 500. See the pricing page for details.
Cost
The tiers are not equivalent: respond.io's entry plan leaves out workflows, so the realistic comparison starts at Growth.
| respond.io | Entergram | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Starter: $79 per month billed yearly ($99 monthly), five users, no workflows | Basic: €29 per seat per month (€290 per year) |
| Mid plan | Growth: $159 per month billed yearly ($199 monthly), adds workflows | Pro: €39 per seat per month, adds tickets, analytics, API and MCP |
| Higher tiers | Advanced: $279 per month billed yearly ($349 monthly) | Enterprise: custom, includes self-hosting and SSO with Okta |
| Pricing driver | Plan tier plus monthly active contacts | Seats and accounts only; not per contact |
| Telegram accounts | Bots only | Five real accounts per seat, then €5 per extra account per month |
| AI | AI agents on higher tiers | MCP and REST API included in Pro |
A five-person team, one year
respond.io Growth is $1,908 per year at the plan level before contact scaling, and Advanced is $3,348 per year. Five Entergram Pro seats come to €2,340 per year, cover up to 25 Telegram accounts, and include tickets, analytics, the API and the MCP.
On price these land close together, so the real question is simple: do you need six channels in one inbox, or the one channel your customers use working properly? respond.io wins the first; it cannot win the second, because its Telegram channel is a bot.
respond.io prices were taken from respond.io/pricing on 31 October 2026 and change without notice. Entergram's plans are on our pricing page.
Honest recommendation
This is usually settled by counting channels. If Telegram is one of many, buy breadth. If Telegram is the business, buy depth.
Switching
If WhatsApp does real work in respond.io, keep it. This is usually about moving one channel out, and sometimes dropping a tier as a result.
Connect each account that carries customer conversations, by QR code or phone number. Chats, groups and channels are there straight away; five accounts are included per seat.
Spend the first day just looking. DMs to team accounts and group chats never reached the bot channel, so expect more Telegram volume than respond.io reported.
Recreate contact fields, tags and conversation statuses as Entergram custom columns and ticket statuses. Keep the same words so reporting stays comparable.
Update the Telegram link everywhere it appears: website, docs, signatures, ads. Keep the bot running for a few weeks as a safety net, then retire it.
Rebuild the Telegram parts of your workflows with Entergram's REST API, the Make.com app or the MCP. Workflows that also touch WhatsApp stay where they are.
If Telegram was part of why you were on Growth or Advanced, recalculate after the move; the plan or contact tier may drop.
Connecting an account adds a Telegram session; disconnecting leaves every chat untouched. See the security page.
FAQ
Practical guides
Claims about respond.io reflect its public pages as checked on 31 October 2026. Verify current terms with the vendor.
Connect the accounts your customers already message and see how much Telegram volume the bot never showed you.
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