A Trengo alternative for stores that sell on WhatsApp
Trengo is a Dutch customer engagement platform, founded in Utrecht, that puts email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, live chat and voice into one team inbox, with AI agents and order notifications for online stores. It is priced for teams: from €299 a month on an annual contract, €349 month to month, for 10 users and 500 conversations, plus €0.30 per AI conversation and Meta's WhatsApp fees. Our assistant is the opposite shape: one channel, WhatsApp, one job, selling, at a flat price. Here is the honest side-by-side, checked October 2026, including where Trengo is clearly ahead.
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Trengo at a glance, checked October 2026
- European and established: founded in Utrecht, with 1,500 customers, 100 million conversations a year and a $36 million Series A in 2021, by its own account, and certified as a WhatsApp Business Provider in 2022.
- A team inbox first: email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, live chat, SMS and Telegram, with voice as an add-on, and assignments, permissions and internal notes.
- Priced by users and conversations: Boost €299 a month annually or €349 month to month (10 users, 500 conversations), Pro €499 or €599 (20 users, 1,500), with a 10% fee on usage above your commitment.
- AI per conversation: its AI agent adds €0.30 per AI conversation month to month (€0.25 annually). A separate e-commerce agent from Trengo's team, Dessa, charges €0.75 per successful outcome.
- Store integrations: Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, Lightspeed and more; no app on the Shopify App Store.
Feature comparison
| Capability | Trengo | Us |
|---|---|---|
| AI that sells in a WhatsApp chat | The AI agent answers availability questions and recommends products from a Shopify catalog, and looks up orders | Yes, the core product: product cards, cart and your store's own checkout link |
| Order updates | Yes: paid, shipped, delivered and refunded triggers for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and BigCommerce, on Pro and above | Yes, on every plan: confirmed, shipped with tracking, delivered |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Not among its listed e-commerce triggers | Yes, timed reminders with resume links |
| Channels | Email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, live chat, SMS, Telegram, voice | WhatsApp only |
| Shared team inbox | Yes, the core product, 10 or 20 users included | Single-operator dashboard today |
| Broadcast campaigns | Add-on | Not yet |
| Hosting | Frankfurt, Germany, with OpenAI in the US for its AI | See our privacy page |
Pricing comparison, checked October 2026
| Trengo | Us | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Boost: €349 per month month to month, €299 on an annual contract, 10 users, 500 conversations a month | $29 per month for 500 conversations, one operator |
| AI | €0.30 per AI conversation month to month, €0.25 annually | Included, no per-conversation AI fee |
| What grows the bill | Conversations (€18 per 100), users (€30 to €50), AI conversations, add-ons, and a 10% fee above your commitment | Conversations only; move up a tier when you outgrow it |
| WhatsApp message fees | Charged on top from a prepaid balance | Passed through at Meta's rates |
A note on fairness: Trengo's entry plan seats ten people in a shared inbox across every channel a support team uses, so the price gap is a gap in scope, not just in value. If your team answers email, chat and social all day, compare Trengo with other help desks, not with us. If what you want is WhatsApp turning chats into orders, the flat tier is the smaller and simpler bill. What Meta charges per message in each European country is in our WhatsApp API pricing guide.
Which one should you pick?
Choose Trengo if
You run a customer service team across email, WhatsApp, social and chat, want one inbox with assignments and permissions, value EU hosting, and use platforms such as Lightspeed, Magento or Shopware alongside or instead of Shopify.
Choose us if
You want WhatsApp to sell: an AI that shows products from your live catalog, builds the cart and sends the checkout link, then recovers carts and sends order updates, on Shopify, WooCommerce, a POS or no website, at a flat $29 a month with Meta's fees at Meta's rates. And you can live without a team inbox and the other channels for now, because we do not have them yet.
Trengo alternative questions
How much does Trengo cost?+
As of October 2026, Trengo's Boost plan is €299 per month on an annual contract or €349 month to month, with 10 users and 500 conversations a month; Pro is €499 or €599 with 20 users and 1,500 conversations; Enterprise is custom. Extra conversations cost €18 per 100 on monthly billing, extra users €30 to €50, AI adds €0.30 per AI conversation (€0.25 on annual billing), broadcasting is an add-on, and usage above your commitment carries an extra 10% fee. WhatsApp message fees from Meta are charged on top.
What counts as a conversation in Trengo?+
Trengo defines a conversation as any reply to an inbound or outbound message with a customer within a 7-day window; messages outside that window start a new one. We count one customer chat session as one conversation. The two are close in spirit but not identical, so compare your own chat history against both definitions before comparing prices.
Does Trengo work with Shopify and WooCommerce?+
Yes, through its own integrations rather than a Shopify App Store app. Its AI agent can answer stock and product questions from a Shopify catalog and look up orders by number once Shopify approves access to protected customer data. Order notifications on paid, shipped, delivered and refunded events work for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and BigCommerce on Pro and above. Trengo also connects to Lightspeed, Shopware, PrestaShop and Wix.
Is Trengo's data hosted in Europe?+
Trengo's terms list its core hosting in Frankfurt, Germany, and list OpenAI, in the US, as the provider behind Trengo AI. If EU hosting is a hard requirement for your support data, that is a real point in Trengo's favour; check how its AI processing fits your policy.
Is there a cheaper Trengo alternative for a small online store?+
If what you need is WhatsApp selling rather than a team inbox for ten people, yes. Trengo's entry plan is €349 month to month before AI and Meta fees; ours is $29 a month for 500 conversations with the selling AI, cart recovery, order updates and order confirmation included, and Meta's fees at Meta's rates. If you run a support team across email, chat and social, Trengo is built for that and we are not.