Is Palby AI Agent on the WhatsApp Business API?

No. It links your number as a device through Green API, the way WhatsApp Web does. So there are no Meta templates to get approved and no Meta message fees. If you need the Business API, respond.io is built on it.

Will linking my number get it banned?

Nobody can promise it won't, and WhatsApp's help centre warns that linking through unofficial apps "may put your account at risk". So it sends carefully. A new number starts no chats on day one, three on day two and ten a day until day six. Nothing goes out from 11pm to 9am unless you change it, and someone who never wrote back is never chased.

Does Palby AI Agent handle Instagram, TikTok or calls?

No. It works on WhatsApp only, and it never calls anyone. If you want those in one inbox, respond.io covers them.

Does respond.io have a trial?

Yes. Its pricing page offers 7 days of the Growth plan with no credit card, for 5 users and 1,000 monthly contacts, without broadcasts.

How much does Palby AI Agent cost?

There's no public price yet. You'll get a price for your team on the walkthrough, before you link a number.

respond.io alternative

respond.io alternative: answer, book and hand over WhatsApp leads in your own words

respond.io is a conversation inbox for busy B2C teams on WhatsApp's Business API, with Instagram, TikTok, email and calls beside it. Palby AI Agent links the number you already use. It answers in your words, books the good ones and passes the hot ones to a person.

Book a walkthrough

30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.

Do you need every channel, or one WhatsApp number answered?

Stay with respond.io if a busy team handles chats and calls across several channels, on the Business API. Pick Palby AI Agent if a small team answers one WhatsApp number, and you want your enquiries answered and booked without moving to the API.

Who should pick which

Stay with respond.io if

Your team handles a lot of chats and calls across several channels
You want WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and email in one inbox
You want the WhatsApp Business API, with Meta's rates and no markup
You take phone calls as well as chats, and want both in one inbox

Pick Palby AI Agent if

A small team answers one WhatsApp number
You want to keep your number, with WhatsApp still working on your phone
You want the agent to book the slot and pass the hot ones to a person

Side by side

Compared on	Palby AI Agent	respond.io	Source
Price	No public price yet. You get one on the walkthrough	Starter US$79 a month billed yearly. AI agents, broadcasts and workflows start on Growth, US$159 a month billed yearly. Meta's WhatsApp fees come on top, with no markup	respond.io pricing
To start	Book a 30-minute walkthrough	A 7-day trial of Growth with no card, without broadcasts	respond.io pricing
How WhatsApp connects	Your own number, linked by scanning a code, through Green API	The Business API, as a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider. The Business App can stay on the same number	respond.io site
Channels	WhatsApp only	WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Messenger, email and phone calls	respond.io site
The AI agent	Answers from your files, website pages and past chats, in your words	Qualifies, routes and books across channels, and answers WhatsApp and VoIP calls in 30+ languages	respond.io site
How it's priced	Quoted for your team on the walkthrough	By the contacts you talk to each month	respond.io pricing

As of November 2026. respond.io's details are from its own pages, read on 1 November 2026. Plans and prices change, so check them before you pay.

Where respond.io fits better

respond.io is built for B2C teams with a lot of conversations. WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Messenger, email and calls share one inbox, and its AI agents qualify, route and book across them. It's a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, adds no markup to Meta's fees, and lets the Business App stay on the same number. It's based in Kuala Lumpur and says 10,000+ brands use it. Its own page is candid too: if one person handles under 500 conversations a month, it says the free Business App usually covers that. If your team has outgrown one phone across several channels, it fits better.

The three differences that matter

Keep your number as it is

Open WhatsApp on your phone, go to Linked devices and scan the code. The link runs through Green API, the way WhatsApp Web links. You enter its instance id and token once, then scan. WhatsApp keeps working on your phone, on the same number.

Answer in your words

Upload your FAQs and brochure as a PDF, text or CSV file, and add your website. The agent answers from them and picks up your tone from your own chats. You try it in a test chat before a customer sees it.

Follow up without chasing

Turn on check-ins, and it follows up a quiet chat once, at least a day later and never at night. Someone who never wrote back is never chased. Topics you list go to a person, by a WhatsApp alert or a Lark group.

Moving over from respond.io

Book a 30-minute walkthrough. You'll see the agent answer a test chat, and get a price for your team before you link a number.
Link your number by scanning the code under Linked devices. WhatsApp keeps working on your phone.
Upload your FAQs, add your website and list the topics that go to a person. There's no import from respond.io, so try it on yourself first.

Questions

Let the agent take the first reply on your own number.

Start with your FAQs, your website and your booking page.

Book a walkthrough

30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.

Sources

Every page read on 1 November 2026. Nothing about a competitor on these pages comes from anywhere else.

respond.io: Price, To start and How it's priced. respond.io/pricing
respond.io: How WhatsApp connects and Channels. respond.io/whatsapp-business-api
respond.io: The AI agent. respond.io/ai-agents
respond.io: Quoted in the text above. respond.io/about