The bill
A comparable respond.io plan costs $349 a month. Ours is $99 with 10 people on the team included, and a free plan so you can look around before you pay.
Channels
They connect messengers through official APIs: business verification, templates and a 24-hour window. We run personal Telegram — the very account your clients already write to.
AI
Both have an AI agent. Ours speaks in your AI agent’s voice and tone, transcribes voice notes and can answer by voice.
| Cicada | respond.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Team included in the plan, no per-seat fee | — | |
| Personal Telegram account | — | |
| Telegram bots | ||
| AI-chat widget | ||
| AI agent with a goal for the conversation | ||
| Your own AI agent: name, tone, rules | — | |
| The AI agent answers with a voice | — | |
| Voice notes transcribed into text | — | |
| Knowledge base the AI agent answers from | ||
| Sales automations on every channel | ||
| Deal pipeline on a board | ||
| Broadcasts to filtered audiences | ||
| Write first | — | |
| Analytics and reports, also on request to AI AGI | ||
| AI scoring: a conversation review with a score | — | |
| AI AGI: an assistant that sets up the account and builds automations from plain words | — |
Compiled from the platforms’ own public materials. If something here is out of date, write to us and we will correct it.
Moving from respond.io
- 1
Sign up and connect the channels your clients already use: your Telegram bot or personal account, the website chat and your mailbox. Clients keep writing where they always did.
- 2
A Telegram bot token works with one service at a time. When you connect your bot to Cicada, switch it off in respond.io, or the two will take turns receiving messages.
- 3
Give the AI agent your price list and FAQ, set the stages of your deals and invite the team. Everyone is included in the plan, so nobody waits for a seat.
Facts about other products checked on 25.10.2026 from their public pages. Prices change, so check before you decide.
Questions people actually ask
Yes. The free plan never expires and needs no card. Connect Telegram, email and website chat to one inbox, set up your AI agent and test its answers in the sandbox. When you want it to answer real customers, pick a plan: with your own AI key it starts at $19 a month.
Yes, and that is the point. A personal Telegram account connects by QR or phone code, a bot by its token from BotFather.
Only if you want it to. It has three modes: answer on its own, suggest a reply for your operator, or stay silent and just fill in the deal card. You decide per project — and you can stop it in any single conversation without touching the others.
Top up your balance by bank card via Stripe or in crypto — USDT, BTC, ETH, TON and other coins; the amount in the coin is worked out for you. The balance pays for the plan and for AI generations beyond the package.
You and the people you invite, with the access you give them. Roles decide who sees which projects and channels.
Let the first conversation start today
Set up an AI agent, connect a channel and see what a conversation that makes money looks like.
Start freeFree plan, no card needed.