WhatsApp AI agent vs Wati, SleekFlow, respond.io and a hire: which one answers tonight’s enquiries?
Should you set up a WhatsApp tool yourself, pay someone to run an agent, or hire a person? Here’s an honest side-by-side on price, setup, AI and hours covered, read from each company’s own pricing page on 31 Oct 2026. It also says when a tool or a hire is the better call.
How they actually differ, side by side
Each column is the first plan that includes an AI agent. The price and terms are what its own pricing page showed on the date read, and US dollar prices are also shown in Singapore dollars.
| D'Marketing Agency | Wati | SleekFlow | respond.io | 41 Labs | Hire someone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Starter: 1 WhatsApp number, up to 300 new conversations a month (Growth up to 1,000, Scale up to 3,000) | Pro: 5 users, 2,000 automation triggers a month (AI agents are listed from Pro; Growth is S$119 billed annually) | Pro: 3 user seats, starts with 500 monthly active contacts | Growth: 10 users, starts with 1,000 monthly active contacts (Starter has no AI agents) | Start: about 100 sales conversations a month | One full-time customer service officer |
| Price | S$390 a month on an annual plan (S$490 month to month). Growth S$590, Scale S$990 | S$329 a month billed annually (S$429 monthly) | S$209 a month billed yearly (S$259 monthly) | S$203 a month billed yearly (S$254 monthly)US$159 a month billed yearly (US$199 monthly) at 1 USD = 1.2784 SGD, 30 Oct 2026 | S$299 a month, after the first 100 sales conversations free | S$3,861 a month |
| Extra conversations | Ask on the demo call | More automation triggers from S$35 a month per 1,000 | Adds 100 monthly active contacts at a time; price not shown | Plan price rises with monthly active contacts | Moves you up a plan before the limit; nothing charged without your yes | Overtime, by the employment contract |
| Meta template fees | Ask on the demo call | Message charges on Wati's rate card | Meta's per-message fees, plus S$19 a month WhatsApp number hosting | Not included; Meta charges by usage | Not stated on the pricing page | Not applicable |
| Free to try | No. A 30-minute demo call on your own enquiries | 7 days | 7 days, no card | 7 days, no card | First 100 sales conversations free | Not applicable |
| Minimum term | Monthly: one month, then 30 days' notice. Annual: paid upfront, no refund after 14 days. | Monthly or annual. Cancel any time; no refunds on payments made | Monthly or yearly billing; no minimum term stated on the pricing page | Cancel any time; the plan runs to the end of the billing cycle | None. Month to month, stop any time with one message | Notice period in the employment contract |
| Who sets it up | Our team, from your price list and FAQs. No setup fee | You do. Onboarding help is free on annual plans; a build service is priced on request | You do, with group onboarding sessions. 60-day dedicated onboarding is S$1,299 one-off | You do, with a 28-day onboarding program | 41 Labs builds it before your first call | You recruit and train them |
| AI agent | Included on every plan | Add-on: Astra AI agents, from $99 a month on Wati's Astra pricing page | Included (AI agents on Pro) | Included from Growth | Included (it is the product) | No |
| Hours covered | 24/7. Replies to new enquiries within a minute | - | - | - | All 168 hours a week, on its own page | Up to 44 normal working hours of the 168 in a week |
| Time to start | - | - | - | - | - | After you recruit and train someone |
| Who covers leave | Not needed. Hands chats to your team in their working hours | - | - | - | - | You do, or the chats wait. 7 days of annual leave in year one, rising to 14 |
| Source | digitalmarketingagency.sg/pricing/ai-systems/whatsapp-ai-agent | wati.io/pricingRead 31 Oct 2026 | sleekflow.io/pricingRead 31 Oct 2026 | respond.io/pricingRead 31 Oct 2026 | 41labs.ai/pricingRead 31 Oct 2026 | stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Occupational-Wages-Tables2025.aspxRead 31 Oct 2026 |
Wati Growth (S$119 a month, billed annually) and respond.io Starter (US$79) cost less, but their pricing pages list AI agents only from the plan above.
How to decide in five minutes: tool, agent or hire
- You have someone who likes building chat flows and the time to keep them current. A tool like Wati, SleekFlow or respond.io costs less, and you stay in control of every reply.
- You need many chat apps in one inbox. SleekFlow and respond.io cover more channels than our agent, which answers WhatsApp.
- You want new enquiries answered, nights and weekends included, without learning a tool. That’s an agent set up for you: ours, or 41 Labs.
- You need a person who also answers the phone and serves walk-ins. Hire, and plan who covers their leave.
- You get a handful of enquiries a week. Don’t buy an agent yet. Answer them yourself.
Who replies at 10pm: you, the tool, or the agent
With a tool, the AI agent replies once you’ve built and trained it, and on Wati it’s the Astra add-on. With a hire, the 10pm enquiry waits for the morning. Our agent replies to new enquiries within a minute, 24/7. That’s our promise.
It answers in the customer’s language, from your price list and FAQs. When a chat needs a person, it hands over to your team with the full thread.
No flows to draw, and none to keep current
Wati, SleekFlow and respond.io give you the tool and help you set it up. Wati’s onboarding is free on annual plans, SleekFlow Pro has group sessions, and respond.io runs a 28-day onboarding program. Then the answers are yours to write, and yours to update every time a price changes.
We set the agent up for you from your price list and FAQs, and it asks your qualifying questions before it quotes. Then we tune it from your real chats every month. There’s no setup fee. 41 Labs also builds its agent for you.
Compare the whole monthly bill, not the plan price
Our Starter plan costs more than Wati Growth and 41 Labs Start. Here’s what each price gets you:
- Wati Pro is S$329 a month billed annually. The AI agent is Astra, an add-on from $99 a month on Wati’s Astra pricing page.
- SleekFlow Pro is S$209 a month billed yearly, with AI agents included. Dedicated onboarding is S$1,299 one-off.
- respond.io Growth is US$159 a month billed yearly (about S$203), with AI agents included.
- 41 Labs Start is S$299 a month for about 100 sales conversations, after the first 100 free.
- Our Starter is S$390 a month on an annual plan, or S$490 month to month, for up to 300 new conversations. It’s set up and tuned by our team, with no setup fee and no GST.
Meta’s WhatsApp message fees and extra conversations: ask on the demo call. Want to know if the agent pays for itself? Put your own numbers in the missed enquiry calculator.
Spam and sellers are the agent’s problem, not your team’s
Sellers, job seekers and spam get one polite line and stay out of your inbox. In a test on our own WhatsApp on 22 September 2026, the agent kept out 67 of 73 of them. Your team sees the enquiries worth answering, and every lead is filed in your CRM.
How to leave each one, and what it costs
- Ours: monthly plans have a one-month minimum, then 30 days’ notice. Annual plans are paid up front, with no refund after 14 days.
- Wati: cancel any time, with no refunds on payments already made.
- SleekFlow: its pricing page doesn’t state a minimum term.
- respond.io: cancel any time, and the plan runs to the end of the billing cycle.
- 41 Labs: no contract. Stop any time with one message.
An agent set up for you vs an in-house hire: which answers your WhatsApp first?
MOM’s latest wage table puts the median gross monthly wage of a customer service officer at S$3,300 (Occupational Wages 2025, June 2025). Add 17% employer CPF and one hire costs S$3,861 a month. That’s before any bonus, and before you’ve paid to find and train them.
That salary buys up to 44 normal working hours of the 168 in a week, so the 10pm and Sunday chats still wait. When they’re on leave (7 days in their first year, rising to 14), someone else answers or the chats wait.
A person does things an agent can’t. They pick up the phone, serve walk-ins and know your regulars. If you need that person anyway, let the agent take the nights and weekends.
What owners ask about these prices
Why doesn’t your table show Wati’s S$119 plan?
Is your price higher than 41 Labs?
Do I keep my WhatsApp number?
Can I see it working before I pay?
How current are these prices?
Not sure whether a tool, a hire or our agent fits? We’ll say so on the call
Book a 30-minute demo call. Before it, we look at how your enquiries come in today, so the call starts with what we found rather than a pitch. If we can help, you get a quote. If we can’t, we’ll say so.