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Belline vs respond.io
Two different things that both answer WhatsApp. respond.io gives a team one inbox for every channel and AI agents they build themselves. Belline is the receptionist: it answers your phone, your website and a WhatsApp number from your own hours, prices and rules, and hands your team what it should not answer.
Checked against respond.io’s own pages on 14 October 2026.
The short answer
Built for different businesses.
respond.io is built for
A sales or support team handling a lot of conversations across many channels, which wants broadcasts, workflows, CRM integrations and an inbox several people share — and has someone to build and run it.
Belline is built for
A clinic, salon, garage or restaurant that wants the phone and WhatsApp answered properly tonight without building anything, at a dirham price with the AI already in it.
Side by side
Price, setup and channels.
respond.io’s prices are in US dollars on its own site; the dirham figures use the fixed rate of AED 3.6725 to the dollar.
| What | Belline | respond.io |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A receptionist. It answers your phone line, the chat and voice button on your website, and a WhatsApp number, from your own information, and passes requests to your team. | A shared inbox for WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok, email and calls, with AI agents, workflows and broadcasts. |
| Who answers | Belline answers every conversation. Your team takes over anything it should not answer, from the inbox or the phone. | Your team, plus AI agents you set up and train. AI agents are on Growth and above. |
| Cheapest plan with the AI | WhatsApp Receptionist: AED 129 a month, with 250 text conversations a month, shared across your website chat and WhatsApp. | Growth: USD 199 a month, or USD 159 a month paid yearly (about AED 731 and about AED 584). |
| With a phone line | Starter: AED 249 a month, with 100 voice minutes a month, shared across your phone line and your website's voice button and 250 text conversations a month, shared across your website chat and WhatsApp. | Its AI agents can answer inbound WhatsApp and internet calls; this needs a plan with AI agents. |
| Entry plan | WhatsApp Receptionist is the entry plan, and the AI is in it. | Starter: USD 99 a month, or USD 79 paid yearly (about AED 364 and about AED 290). No AI agents on Starter; it has AI drafting tools for your team. |
| How it is billed | Per location, with a monthly allowance of voice minutes and conversations. For more, a business moves up a plan. | By monthly active contacts, with a set number of users per plan and a monthly charge for each extra user. |
| WhatsApp fees | No per-message charge on top of the plan. | Not included: Meta's WhatsApp fees are paid on top, topped up inside respond.io. |
| Setting it up | Set up by you. Belline reads your website for your hours, prices and rules, and you register the WhatsApp number yourself in your dashboard. | You build it, from templates or by describing an agent to its assistant. A guided onboarding programme is offered subject to availability. |
| Free trial | 7 days, with no card. Nothing is charged unless you choose a plan. | A week on Growth features, with no card. |
| Languages | Answers in English. | Its AI agents are described as answering voice calls in more than thirty languages. |
| Security certifications | None yet. What we do with your data is on the privacy page, in plain words. | States ISO 27001 certification and GDPR compliance. |
Which to choose
Either can be the right answer.
Choose respond.io if
- Several people answer messages and need one inbox to share.
- You send broadcasts and campaigns, not only replies.
- You need TikTok, Messenger, email or a CRM in the same place.
- You need a language Belline does not answer in yet.
- Your buyer asks for an ISO 27001 or GDPR statement from the vendor.
Choose Belline if
- The phone rings at a venue and nobody is free to pick it up.
- You want it answering tonight, without building flows or training an agent.
- You want one dirham price with the AI already included.
- You want calls, the website and WhatsApp answered by the same receptionist from the same information.
- Bookings matter more than broadcasts.
Your data
What we can promise today.
No badges we have not earned. These are true of every Belline account now, and the privacy policy says each of them in full.
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The official WhatsApp Business Platform
Belline answers WhatsApp through Meta's business platform, never through an unofficial app that can get a number blocked.
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Card details go to Stripe, not to us
Your card is entered in Stripe's own form. Belline never sees or stores the card number.
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Your conversations do not train the AI
Belle's replies are written with Anthropic's models, and Anthropic's commercial terms do not allow it to train on your conversations.
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Calls are not recorded, except a voicemail
Belline keeps a written summary and transcript, not the audio, apart from a voicemail a caller chooses to leave before you go live.
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Your data, on your terms
Phone numbers and emails are kept out of our logs. Ask for a copy of your data, or for it to be deleted, and we answer within 30 days.
Questions
What operators ask us.
Is Belline a respond.io alternative?
For a small business that wants its messages and calls answered, yes. For a team that wants a shared inbox with broadcasts, workflows and integrations, respond.io does more, and Belline is not trying to be that.
Why is the AI cheaper on Belline?
Because it is the whole product rather than an upgrade. On respond.io the AI agents start on the Growth plan. On Belline every plan is the receptionist, from AED 129 a month.
Can I keep my WhatsApp number?
Your own WhatsApp stays exactly as it is. Belline answers a second WhatsApp number you register with it, which our team sets up with you, so the number on your shopfront keeps working the way it does today.
Does Belline answer the phone?
Yes, from the Starter plan. You forward your line to Belline and it answers from the same information as your website and WhatsApp. Urgent calls are put through to your team on Growth and Scale.
Does Belline have a team inbox like respond.io?
Every conversation lands in your Belline inbox with a summary and transcript, and your team can take over any chat. It is built for a venue's front desk, not for a sales team working thousands of contacts.
Where do these respond.io details come from?
From respond.io's own pricing and AI Agents pages, read on the date printed on this page. Prices and plans change; if something here is out of date, tell us at hello@belline.ai and we will correct it.
Pricing
Per location, per month.
The same prices as everywhere else in the United Arab Emirates. No setup fee, no per-call charge.
- No per-user fees
- No per-message fees
- No AI surcharge
Every plan includes
- One location
- Books appointments, or takes the request for your team
- Your team can take over any chat from the inbox
Starter
For a small business that wants every enquiry answered.
- 100 voice minutes a month, shared across your phone line and your website's voice button
- Video receptionist · 40 video minutes (each uses 2.5 voice minutes)
- 250 text conversations a month, shared across your website chat and WhatsApp
- Up to 2 users on your dashboard
- Keep your number — forward it to Belline
- Answers questions from your own hours, prices and policies
- Summary and full transcript of every call and chat
- Your own words and colours on the website buttons
Growth
For a team that wants urgent calls put through live, and its own rules for what Belline may decide.
- 250 voice minutes a month, shared across your phone line and your website's voice button
- Video receptionist · 100 video minutes (each uses 2.5 voice minutes)
- 600 text conversations a month, shared across your website chat and WhatsApp
- Everything in Starter, plus:
- Up to 5 users on your dashboard
- Puts urgent calls through to your team, live
- Your own rules about what it may and may not decide
- Restore earlier settings any time
Scale
For higher-volume teams with more complex reception rules.
- 500 voice minutes a month, shared across your phone line and your website's voice button
- Video receptionist · 200 video minutes (each uses 2.5 voice minutes)
- 1,500 text conversations a month, shared across your website chat and WhatsApp
- Everything in Growth, plus:
- Up to 15 users on your dashboard
- Priority support
Only need website chat and WhatsApp?
WhatsApp Receptionist
AED 129 per location, per month Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
For a business that wants every WhatsApp message and website chat answered. 250 text conversations a month, shared across your website chat and WhatsApp. No phone line and no voice button — add those any time with Starter.
- Answers WhatsApp and your website chat from your own hours, prices and policies
- Text only: WhatsApp and website chat, with no phone line and no voice button
- Answers on a second WhatsApp number you register yourself
Prices exclude VAT where it applies.
Compare the plans
| Starter | Growth | Scale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price a month, per location | AED 249 | AED 499 | AED 999 |
| Voice minutes a month | 100 | 250 | 500 |
| Text conversations a month | 250 | 600 | 1,500 |
| Users on your dashboard | 2 | 5 | 15 |
| Keep your number — forward it to Belline | Included | Included | Included |
| Answers questions from your own hours, prices and policies | Included | Included | Included |
| Summary and full transcript of every call and chat | Included | Included | Included |
| Your own words and colours on the website buttons | Included | Included | Included |
| Puts urgent calls through to your team, live | Not included | Included | Included |
| Your own rules about what it may and may not decide | Not included | Included | Included |
| Restore earlier settings any time | Not included | Included | Included |
| Priority support | Not included | Not included | Included |
An answering service takes a message. Belline answers the question, takes the details and tells your team what to do next.
What counts as a minute
A minute is time Belline spends on a live call with your caller — on your phone line or through the voice button on your website — from the moment it answers to the moment the call ends, rounded up to the next whole minute. Calls you make from your own test console do not count, and neither do calls cut short by a fault on our side.
What counts as a conversation
A conversation is one customer's thread in your website chat or on WhatsApp in which Belline replies at least once. Everything that customer says in the 24 hours after Belline's first reply is the same conversation. Threads your team answers without Belline do not count.
When an allowance runs out
When an allowance runs out, you choose what happens: move up to the next plan, or stop at the allowance. We tell you at 70%, 90% and 100%. Nothing is ever added to your bill without you choosing it.
7 days free
7 days free: 30 voice or 12 video minutes and 50 text conversations, with your website chat, the voice button on the same page, WhatsApp and your phone line all switched on. No card: nothing is charged unless you choose a plan, and on day 8 without one Belline pauses until you do. Standard onboarding is free.
Where this comes from
Read on 14 October 2026.
Everything said here about respond.io is from its own pages, read on that date. Prices and plans change. If something is out of date, write to hello@belline.ai and we will correct it. respond.io is a trademark of its owner; Belline is not affiliated with it.
