Shopify integration
Spur
Respond.io
Respond.io is a serious omnichannel platform for 15+ seat customer-ops teams. Spur is the Respond.io alternative for Shopify and D2C brands — WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and AI live chat in one stack, with no per-monthly-active-contact overage math. $374/yr for the real automation floor versus Respond.io Growth's $1,908.
No credit card. Unlimited contacts on every plan. Live on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and web chat in a few hours.
Same Shopify D2C team, automation floor
AI Start · 2 seats · annual
Growth · 10 seats · 1,000 MAC
+ $12 / 100 MAC overage
Stripe fee per top-up
Webchat widget
Sources: Spur Pricing · Respond.io Pricing · Shopify App Store (May 21, 2026). Detailed math in Pricing section.
Instagram DM & Comments
MessengerWeb live chatIf you only read three things
Cheaper at the automation floor, predictable as you scale, built natively into the channels and the Shopify stack you already run. The rest of the page is the receipts.
01 · The math
$1,534
saved per year vs Respond.io Growth at the entry tier
Spur AI Start is $374/yr. Respond.io's real automation floor — Growth at $1,908/yr — is the cheapest plan with broadcasts, workflows, AI agents and developer API. Starter at $948/yr has none of those.
See the worked example02 · Predictable bills
Unlimited.
contacts on every Spur plan, every tier
Respond.io's Growth caps at 1,000 monthly active contacts, then $12 per 100 in overage. A Black Friday broadcast that wakes up 5,000 dormant customers adds $480 to that month's bill. With Spur, successful campaigns don't change your software cost.
See the full matrix03 · Shopify-native
5.0★
/ 108 reviews — Respond.io's Shopify path: webchat widget + Zapier/Make/n8n
Cart recovery, order updates, post-purchase DMs, Shopify-segment broadcasts — built natively into Spur. Respond.io's own docs route deep ecommerce sync through Make, n8n or Zapier. Different shape entirely.
Spur on ShopifyWhat you actually get
The same AI agent handles WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and web chat — trained on your website, help docs, PDFs and YouTube transcripts. Custom actions hit your backend for order lookups, refunds, discounts and meeting bookings. Humans take over the moment something gets interesting.
Bot:Your kurta set is still in your cart — 10% off if you check out in the next 2 hours.
Cart recovery
"Loved the IG Live! Is the emerald set still available in M?"
Comment → DM"Need to change shipping address before tomorrow's dispatch."
Handoff to Anaya
Bot:Refund processed — $54.20 back to your card, 3–5 business days.
AI handledIllustrative — names, handles and order numbers are made up for this mock.
Is this for you?
Respond.io's own AI agents page says the platform "is not designed for low conversation volumes, group messaging, or outbound-led models." That's true and useful. If you're a 25-seat omnichannel customer-ops team running TikTok + Line + Viber + voice, stay on Respond.io.
The math, in full
Both prices below are pulled live from the public pricing pages on May 21, 2026. Respond.io Starter doesn't include broadcasts, workflows, AI agents or developer API — so it isn't the comparable plan. Growth is.
Starter
Shared inbox, mobile app, AI assist, basic reports. No broadcasts, workflows, AI agents or API.
$79/mo
GrowthReal automation floor
+ Broadcasts, workflows, AI agents, Zapier/Make, developer API. 10 users, 1,000 MAC.
$159/mo
Advanced
+ HTTP workflow steps, SSO, multiple workspaces, custom channels, voice AI.
$279/mo
Enterprise
Custom seats, MAC, support tier, procurement-grade contract.
Talk to sales
Usage-based add-ons
MAC overage billed monthly even on annual plans. A broadcast that wakes 5,000 dormant contacts on a 1,000-MAC plan adds $480 to that month.
View pricingAI Acquire
1 AI agent · 100 credits · 1 seat · 3 flows · Instagram + Click-to-DM.
$12/mo
AI StartMatch Growth
+ Shopify + WhatsApp + Click-to-WhatsApp · 25 flows · 2,000 credits · 2 seats · unlimited contacts.
$31/mo
AI Accelerate
2 AI agents · 12,000 credits · 5 seats · 50 flows · webhooks · Custom AI Actions.
$127/mo
AI Max
3 AI agents · 20,000 credits · 10 seats · unlimited flows · dedicated AM.
$399/mo
Predictable add-ons
Every plan includes unlimited contacts. Successful broadcasts don't change your software bill — only Meta's per-message fees scale.
View pricingIndia D2C · 2,000-contact monthly broadcast · WhatsApp + IG + FB + web
Respond.io path · Growth annual
$1,908/yr
Spur path · AI Start annual
$374/yr
WhatsApp Meta pass-through is identical on both — ~₹0.8631 per delivered marketing message in India as of Jan 2026. Service messages stay free inside the 24-hour window; Click-to-WhatsApp gets the 72-hour free entry point.
$1,534/yr saved
Roughly one-fifth of Respond.io Growth's annual at the automation floor — before MAC overages, wallet top-up fees and extra-user math kick in.
Disclaimers: Respond.io path assumes Growth annual ($159/mo × 12). Spur path uses website annual plan; Shopify channel plans price differently (AI Start at $39/mo monthly with 10 flows / 10 segments) — confirm which billing channel governs your contract. Both prices exclude WhatsApp Meta pass-through, which is identical on either platform.
Why the gap exists
These are themes we hear from founders weighing the two, and they show up in public review threads. Every one links back to a source.
Respond.io Starter at $79/mo has no broadcasts, no workflows, no AI agents and no developer API. The plan most teams actually need — Growth — is $159/mo annual ($1,908/yr). Anchor your comparison there.
Growth includes 1,000 monthly active contacts. Overage is $12 per 100, billed monthly even on annual plans. A Black Friday broadcast that wakes 5,000 contacts adds $480 that month. Spur uses unlimited contacts on every plan.
Respond.io adds a 5.5% Stripe transaction fee to every WhatsApp wallet top-up — $100 actually costs $105.50, with a $10 minimum and $2,000 maximum per transaction. If the WABA balance hits zero, paid templates fail.
Respond.io's own integrations page classifies Shopify under webchat. Their help docs route order syncing, contact data and abandoned cart events through Make, n8n or Zapier. One Capterra reviewer cites the same Zapier dependency for Magento, "adding extra cost and complexity."
A Reddit user in r/WhatsappBusinessAPI calls Respond.io "very good, stable, feature-rich" — and switched because pricing scaled past comfort. A small-business owner in r/automation called the AI agent "amazing" but too expensive at a ~$50/mo budget.
Respond.io's own help docs flag knowledge sources capped at 100 files per workspace with a 20MB per-file limit, AI access to only the most recent 20 messages, and no ability to send PDFs, images, videos, voice notes or stickers — those need workflows or human handoff.
Capability map · zoom in
Green where each platform genuinely owns a capability. Amber when it technically supports it but the depth is shallow. Grey dash when it's not there. Respond.io is genuinely deeper on multichannel breadth, voice and enterprise plumbing — we say so.
Scan signal
10
Spur-only clear edges
6
Shared clear capabilities
23 rows total. Use the chips first, then read the evidence where the answer is partial or unclear.
1 shared clear capabilities across 5 checks.
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
2 shared clear capabilities across 7 checks.
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
3 shared clear capabilities across 7 checks.
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
0 shared clear capabilities across 4 checks.
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Spur
Respond.io
Owns it · Supports it, shallow depth · Not offered
Honest take · summarised
If two or more items on the Respond.io side describe your team, buy Respond.io — don't waste a sales cycle. If two or more items on the Spur side fit, install on Shopify or start the trial. We mean it.
Channel breadth — TikTok, Line, Viber, Telegram, WeChat
If your team uses Line in Southeast Asia, Viber in Eastern Europe, or Telegram for crypto/finance audiences, you cannot run that through Spur. Respond.io covers all of them natively.
Voice AI agents and call workflows
Inbound WhatsApp + VoIP calls in 32 languages, log calls and chats in one inbox, retrieve data via API, live transfer to humans. 3-minute session cap and no payments — but Spur has no voice surface at all.
Enterprise plumbing
Multiple workspaces, SSO, granular permissions, HTTP requests in workflows, custom channels, ISO 27001. Easier to defend in a regulated enterprise procurement review than Spur's posture today.
Mature workflow engine
Capterra and G2 reviewers consistently praise workflow depth once it's configured — lead qualification, routing, follow-up, escalation, CRM integrations. Ryan C. on Capterra calls it "a serious omnichannel platform for teams that care about structure and scale."
Public review volume
4.8/5 across 487 G2 reviews and 4.7/5 across 51 Capterra reviews. Spur has 5.0/108 on the Shopify App Store — excellent for a Shopify-native product, but Respond.io has broader cross-industry review proof.
Brand and 10,000+ brand footprint
Mid-market Meta Business Partner since 2017, raised $7M Series A led by Headline Asia, 140-150+ person team in Kuala Lumpur. If your CMO wants "the platform mid-market B2C uses," Respond.io has a stronger version of that argument.
Conversions API documentation depth
Respond.io's workflow step for sending Meta Conversions API events from WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram is more thoroughly documented than Spur's equivalent ad-signal feedback. We do it too — they document it better.
Shopify-native, not Shopify-via-Zapier
Respond.io's own integrations page routes Shopify deep sync through Make, n8n or Zapier. Spur is a first-class Shopify App Store listing with native cart recovery, order updates, post-purchase DMs and segment-on-Shopify-data — 5.0★/108 reviews.
5x lower entry economics
AI Start at $374/yr vs Respond.io Growth at $1,908/yr — a 5x base price gap on the floor plan most D2C teams actually need. For Shopify brands testing WhatsApp marketing, that's the difference between starting and waiting.
Unlimited contacts on every plan
Successful campaigns don't increase your software bill. Respond.io's MAC overage means a Black Friday broadcast that wakes 5,000 dormant customers adds $480/month. Our broadcasts scale on Meta's per-message fee only.
Instagram-first creator and ad funnels
Built around comment-to-DM, story reaction auto-DMs, Click-to-DM ads with conversion-signal feedback. Libas ran an IG Live with 1,000+ viewers, 100+ commenters, 64 orders worth ₹78,000 attributed to Parul Chanana, Senior Marketing Manager at Libas.
Knowledge base depth without file caps
Spur trains on websites, help docs, PDFs, YouTube transcripts and custom Q&A. Respond.io caps knowledge sources at 100 files per workspace with 20MB per file, and AI access to only the most recent 20 messages.
Pricing accessibility for India + emerging markets
Incorporated in India (Spurtastic Technologies, Delhi), Hindi/regional playbooks, native partners across Razorpay, Shiprocket, Return Prime. Click-to-Instagram Direct Ads at ₹999/month entry. Respond.io is global USD-priced and assumes a mid-market North American/European buyer.
Founder-led support, not ticket-queue support
We're a bootstrapped team. Message us on WhatsApp +91 95990 55272 or email support@spurnow.com and the response often comes from a founder or someone who built the feature you're asking about. Closer to "WhatsApp the founder" than "submit a ticket."
Six head-to-head verdicts
Six common buying decisions, each with a one-paragraph verdict. Skim the headers — the labels tell you which way each one points.
Spur is a first-class Shopify App Store listing with native cart recovery and order updates. Respond.io routes deep ecommerce sync through Zapier/Make/n8n. Different shape entirely.
Both are WhatsApp BSPs. Spur ships unlimited contacts on every plan, DeliveryBoost, and Shopify-native cart recovery. Respond.io's MAC overage and 5.5% wallet fee turn successful campaigns into bigger software bills.
Respond.io covers Instagram as a channel. Spur is shaped around the IG creator/D2C playbook — comment-to-DM, story replies, mentions, Click-to-DM ad funnels with conversion-signal feedback. Libas closed 64 orders worth ₹78,000 on a single IG Live using Spur.
See Instagram playbookBoth run RAG on knowledge sources. Respond.io caps knowledge at 100 files and 20 most recent messages; Spur trains on websites + PDFs + YouTube without those caps. For complex enterprise routing → Respond.io. For D2C "where's my order, what's your refund policy" → Spur.
TikTok Business Messaging, Line, Viber, Telegram, WeChat, SMS, email — all native. Spur covers WhatsApp + Instagram + Facebook + web chat and stops there. If your channel mix includes Line for Japan or Viber for Eastern Europe, Respond.io is the right tool.
Spur has no voice channel. Respond.io's voice AI answers inbound WhatsApp + VoIP calls in 32 languages, transfers live to humans, logs into one inbox. 3-min cap and no payments — but the surface is real and we don't match it.
What real customers say
Pulled directly from G2, Capterra, Reddit, the Shopify App Store and Respond.io's own public roadmap. Nothing is invented — every excerpt links back to the public source.
“Very good, stable and feature-rich — but we switched mainly because pricing became too expensive as conversations and team usage scaled.”
“The AI agent was amazing in trial, but too expensive for a roughly $50/month budget.”
“Rewards teams who think in systems — but limited native Magento support requires Zapier, adding extra cost and complexity.”
Featured case study · Libas
“Comment automation + DMs took our IG Live from a 1,000-viewer event into 64 paid orders at ~6% conversion.”
Parul Chanana · Sr. Marketing Manager · Libas · Spur case study
“Abandoned cart flows were running within hours and the Shopify integration was deep enough for our custom marketing flows.”
“Eves & Gray: 88.75x ROI in 24 hours — £43 spend, £3,826 revenue via carousel WhatsApp messages and DeliveryBoost.”
Honest disclosure. Respond.io has 4.8/487 on G2 and 4.7/51 on Capterra — broader cross-industry review proof than Spur. Our 5.0/108 on the Shopify App Store is excellent for a Shopify-native product, and case-study numbers are vendor-published — we'll share raw exports during a POC.
Migration · no-risk path
Respond.io became your WABA's BSP after its Feb 2025 deprecation of Twilio/MessageBird/Vonage/360dialog. Moving means deleting the channel in Respond.io, removing them as partner in Meta Business Settings, then re-adding via Spur. WhatsApp message history is held by Meta and persists across BSPs.
Why most teams cut over at renewal
Audit channels
% of customer messages on WhatsApp/IG/FB/web vs TikTok/Line/Viber/voice. If the first four cover >90%, the move makes sense.
Export Respond.io contacts + KB
Use Respond.io's CSV/API export. Use the help docs and KB exports as training data for Spur's AI agent.
Migrate the WABA
Delete the channel in Respond.io, remove them as a partner in Meta Business Settings, then re-add the WABA through Spur. Plan a few hours of downtime for Meta's verification queue.
Train the AI agent
Help docs, PDFs, website URLs, YouTube transcripts, custom Q&A. Same agent deploys across WhatsApp + IG + FB + web.
Rebuild the priority flows
Cart recovery, order updates, comment-to-DM, broadcast templates, drip campaigns. 5-10 simple flows is a 1-2 day rebuild; 50+ complex HTTP-request workflows is a 1-3 week engineering project.
Pilot 30 days in parallel
Run both. Watch resolution rate, CSAT, time-to-first-response and cart-recovery revenue before committing.
Decide — fully consolidate or run divided
Some teams keep Respond.io for TikTok/Line/voice and run Spur for WhatsApp + IG + FB + web. Others go fully Spur. Plan the cutover around your Respond.io renewal date — annual subscription fees are non-refundable.
Diligence checklist
We've seen too many teams buy the wrong tool and stay locked in. Asking these up front saves the messy email thread in month seven.
Questions buyers ask
If your question isn't here, message us on WhatsApp or email — we usually reply within the hour during business hours, often faster.
Talk to a humanFor most D2C and Shopify teams, yes — substantially. Spur AI Start is $374/yr vs Respond.io Growth at $1,908/yr for comparable automation, AI, broadcast and developer-API entitlements. WhatsApp message fees are Meta-set and identical on both, so the platform-fee gap is the real gap. Spur also avoids MAC overage charges (unlimited contacts on every plan) and the 5.5% Stripe wallet top-up fee.
Yes, and they're good. Respond.io's AI agents qualify leads, update CRM/lifecycle fields, recommend products, assign/close chats, trigger workflows, block spam and escalate to humans. Voice AI agents handle inbound WhatsApp + VoIP calls in 32 languages on the Advanced plan and up. Spur's AI live chat is also real — it trains on a broader set of knowledge sources (websites, PDFs, YouTube transcripts) and has fewer documented file-count/file-size limits. Different shapes; both valid.
Partially. Respond.io's Shopify integration is classified under webchat — paste their widget into your Shopify theme. For order syncing, contact data and abandoned cart events, Respond.io's docs route you through Make, n8n or Zapier. Spur is a first-class Shopify App Store listing with native cart recovery, order updates and segment-on-Shopify-data. That's the cleanest functional difference between the two.
Starter at $79/mo annual is shared inbox + AI prompt/assist + basic reports + mobile app + 2FA + growth widgets. No broadcasts, no workflows, no AI agents, no Zapier/Make, no developer API. Growth at $159/mo annual is where everything most buyers actually want lives. If you're comparing Spur to Respond.io and the salesperson points you at Starter, you're not comparing the right plan.
A MAC is a contact who sends or receives a message during your billing month (broadcasts excluded; replies and post-broadcast interactions counted). Respond.io Growth includes 1,000 MAC; Advanced includes 1,000. Overage is $12 per 100 on Growth, $15 per 100 on Advanced. That means successful campaigns can increase your software bill. Spur doesn't use MAC pricing — unlimited contacts on every plan.
No. Meta sets WhatsApp message rates — ~₹0.8631 per delivered marketing message in India as of Jan 1, 2026, plus authentication / utility / service categories. Every BSP (Spur, Respond.io, all of them) bills you against Meta's rate plus their own provider markup. The per-message rate is similar across BSPs. Where the cost shows up is the wallet processing fee — Respond.io adds 5.5% Stripe on every WhatsApp wallet top-up.
TikTok Business Messaging, Line, Viber, Telegram, WeChat, SMS, email, VoIP/voice. If any of those are in your channel mix, Respond.io covers them and Spur doesn't. Spur covers WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and website live chat — and goes deep on those four.
Yes. Delete the channel in Respond.io and remove them as a BSP partner in Meta Business Settings, then re-add the WABA through Spur. Plan for a few hours of WhatsApp downtime depending on Meta's verification queue. Test templates in advance. Conversation history persists on Meta's side, so you don't lose chat data — only the BSP changes.
We operate under GDPR with customer data hosted on AWS Frankfurt and WhatsApp data localization set to Europe at number setup. Our DPA, subprocessor list and current security packet — including SOC 2 controls documentation — are shared under NDA with buyers in procurement review. Email security@spurnow.com or talk to your account contact. Respond.io publicly claims ISO 27001 — if procurement requires that exact stamp on day one, that's a real edge for them.
Bottom line · take it for a spin
Install Spur on Shopify in a few hours. Crawl your store + help docs to train the AI. Connect WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and your live chat widget. See whether it's the tool your team's been missing — without touching your existing Respond.io workspace.
Live pricing and review data from Respond.io, Spur, Shopify App Store, G2, Capterra, Reddit and Respond.io's own docs & roadmap. Last refreshed May 21, 2026.
Pricing and feature data last refreshed May 21, 2026.