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Monthly Cost Comparison

All prices are current as of January 2025. Enterprise/custom pricing estimated based on public information.

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Small Team (5 Agents)

PlatformBase CostWhatsApp Add-onTotal MonthlyAnnual Cost
Team Inbox$80-300Included$80-300$960-3,600
Intercom370(370 (74/user)$99$469$5,628
Front295(295 (59/user)$49$344$4,128
Zendesk275(275 (55/user)$89$364$4,368
Freshdesk250(250 (50/user)$75$325$3,900
Team Inbox saves 1,500−1,500-4,668/year for 5-person teams

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Medium Team (10 Agents)

PlatformBase CostWhatsApp Add-onTotal MonthlyAnnual Cost
Team Inbox$80-300Included$80-300$960-3,600
Intercom740(740 (74/user)$99$839$10,068
Front590(590 (59/user)$49$639$7,668
Zendesk550(550 (55/user)$89$639$7,668
Freshdesk500(500 (50/user)$75$575$6,900
Team Inbox saves 3,300−3,300-9,108/year for 10-person teams

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Large Team (20 Agents)

PlatformBase CostWhatsApp Add-onTotal MonthlyAnnual Cost
Team Inbox$80-300Included$80-300$960-3,600
Intercom1,480(1,480 (74/user)$99$1,579$18,948
Front1,180(1,180 (59/user)$49$1,229$14,748
Zendesk1,100(1,100 (55/user)$89$1,189$14,268
Freshdesk1,000(1,000 (50/user)$75$1,075$12,900
Team Inbox saves 9,300−9,300-18,000/year for 20-person teams

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What’s Included in Team Inbox Cost?

Required: Server to run backend + frontendOptions:
  • Railway: $5-20/month (simplest)
  • AWS EC2: $10-30/month (scalable)
  • DigitalOcean: $12-25/month (affordable)
  • Self-hosted: $0 (if you have servers)
Scales with: Message volume, not team size
Required: Database for conversations + contactsOptions:
  • Railway PostgreSQL: $5-15/month
  • AWS RDS: $15-30/month
  • DigitalOcean Managed: $15/month
  • Self-hosted: $0
Scales with: Data volume, not team size
Required: Meta’s WhatsApp messaging servicePricing Model: Per conversation (24-hour window)
  • Marketing conversations: $0.08-0.12 each
  • Service conversations: $0.04-0.06 each
  • Free tier: 1,000 service conversations/month
Examples:
  • 1,000 conversations: ~$50/month
  • 3,000 conversations: ~$150/month
  • 5,000 conversations: ~$250/month
Note: This cost is the same regardless of which platform you use (Team Inbox, Intercom, etc.)
Optional: Email alerts for new messagesOptions:
  • Resend: Free tier (100 emails/day), then $20/month
  • SendGrid: Free tier (100 emails/day), then $15/month
  • AWS SES: 0.10per1,000emails( 0.10 per 1,000 emails (~1-5/month)
  • No emails: $0 (rely on push notifications only)

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Total Cost Calculator

Your actual costs depend on message volume, not team size

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Low Volume (1,000 conversations/month)

  • Railway hosting: $20/month
  • Railway PostgreSQL: $10/month
  • WhatsApp API: $50/month
  • Resend emails: $0/month (free tier)
  • Total: $80/month
  • Annual: $960/year
vs. Intercom (5 agents): 469/month=469/month = 5,628/year Savings: 389/month=389/month = 4,668/year (83% cheaper)

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Medium Volume (3,000 conversations/month)

  • AWS EC2: $30/month
  • AWS RDS PostgreSQL: $25/month
  • WhatsApp API: $150/month
  • Resend emails: $15/month
  • Total: $220/month
  • Annual: $2,640/year
vs. Front (10 agents): 639/month=639/month = 7,668/year Savings: 419/month=419/month = 5,028/year (66% cheaper)

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High Volume (5,000 conversations/month)

  • AWS EC2 (2x instances): $60/month
  • AWS RDS (larger): $40/month
  • WhatsApp API: $250/month
  • Resend emails: $5/month
  • Total: $355/month
  • Annual: $4,260/year
vs. Zendesk (20 agents): 1,189/month=1,189/month = 14,268/year Savings: 834/month=834/month = 10,008/year (70% cheaper)

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Feature Comparison

FeatureTeam InboxIntercomFrontZendesk
WhatsApp Support✅ Native✅ Add-on✅ Add-on✅ Add-on
Unlimited Agents✅ Yes❌ No❌ No❌ No
Self-Hosted✅ Yes❌ No❌ No❌ No
Data Ownership✅ Full❌ No❌ No❌ No
Real-time Collaboration✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Conversation Assignment✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Push Notifications✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Multi-language UI✅ 6 languages✅ 40+ languages✅ 10+ languages✅ 30+ languages
Custom Branding✅ Full control⚠️ Limited⚠️ Limited⚠️ Limited
API Access✅ Full✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Email Channel❌ Not yet✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
SMS Channel❌ Not yet✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Social Media❌ No✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Knowledge Base❌ Not yet✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Analytics⚠️ Basic✅ Advanced✅ Advanced✅ Advanced
Chatbot Builder❌ No✅ Yes⚠️ Limited✅ Yes

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When Each Platform Makes Sense

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Choose Team Inbox If:

You primarily use WhatsApp for customer communication
You want to save 60-80% on support platform costs
Data privacy and ownership are critical
You plan to scale your team size
You need full customization freedom
You’re comfortable with basic technical setup

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Choose Traditional SaaS If:

Consider Intercom/Front/Zendesk if you need:
  • Multi-channel support (email, SMS, social, chat)
  • Advanced chatbot and automation
  • Enterprise-level analytics and reporting
  • No technical setup/management
  • Out-of-the-box integrations with 100+ tools
  • Only 1-2 agents (cost difference minimal)

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Hidden Costs to Consider

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Traditional SaaS Hidden Costs

Per-Agent Pricing

Every new team member adds $50-74/month. Hiring support staff directly increases your monthly bill.

Channel Add-ons

WhatsApp, SMS, social media often cost extra $49-99/month each.

Storage Limits

Conversation history often limited. Extended storage costs extra.

API Rate Limits

API calls limited on lower tiers. Higher limits require enterprise plans.

Migration Costs

Switching platforms is expensive. Data export fees, setup time, training.

Contract Lock-in

Annual contracts common. Cancellation fees if you leave early.

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Team Inbox Transparent Costs

All costs are usage-based and transparent. No hidden fees, no per-agent charges, no contract lock-in.
One-time Costs:
  • Setup time: ~2-4 hours of your time
  • Optional: Professional deployment service ($200-500)
Ongoing Costs:
  • Infrastructure: Fixed monthly cost
  • WhatsApp API: Per conversation (same as other platforms)
  • Email: Minimal or free
No Costs For:
  • ✅ Adding team members
  • ✅ API access
  • ✅ Data storage
  • ✅ Feature updates
  • ✅ Customization
  • ✅ Migration/export

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ROI Calculation Example

Scenario: Growing startup with 8-person support team

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Year 1 with Intercom

  • Intercom Professional: 74/user∗∗×8=∗∗74/user** × 8 = **592/month
  • WhatsApp add-on: $99/month
  • Setup time: $0 (no setup)
  • Monthly: $691
  • Annual: $8,292

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Year 1 with Team Inbox

  • Setup time: 4 hours × 50/hour=∗∗50/hour = **200** (one-time)
  • Railway hosting: $20/month
  • Railway database: $10/month
  • WhatsApp API: $100/month (2,000 conversations)
  • Resend emails: $0/month (free tier)
  • One-time: $200
  • Monthly: $130
  • Annual: 1,560+1,560 + 200 = $1,760
Year 1 Savings: 8,292−8,292 - 1,760 = $6,532 saved 3-Year Total:
  • Intercom: $24,876
  • Team Inbox: 200+(200 + (130 × 36) = $4,880
  • Total Savings: $19,996
The time investment to deploy Team Inbox pays for itself in the first month

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Scaling Costs

  • Team Inbox
  • Traditional SaaS
As your team grows from 5 → 20 people:Cost Change: 80−300/month→80-300/month → 80-400/monthSlight increase only if message volume increases. Team size doesn’t matter.

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Frequently Asked Questions

No contracts, no cancellation fees. Stop paying for infrastructure whenever you want. Export all your data first - it’s yours.
WhatsApp API costs scale with conversation volume (same for any platform). Infrastructure costs only increase significantly if you exceed 10,000+ conversations/month.
Community support is free. Documentation is comprehensive. Professional deployment assistance available for $200-500 one-time fee.
Yes! Export your data from the SaaS platform, import contacts into Team Inbox, and switch your WhatsApp webhook. Most teams complete this in 1 day.