Trengo vs Converge

Most teams start looking for a Trengo alternative after their first overage invoice, not after reading the pricing page. Trengo bills excess conversations at your bundle rate plus a 10% surcharge — a detail that appears in the help centre, not on trengo.com/prices. We re-checked Trengo's live pricing page on 18 August 2026: Boost is €299/month annual or €349/month monthly with 10 users included, and Pro is €499/month annual or €599/month monthly with 20 users. The conversation allowance is quoted two different ways depending on billing mode — Boost shows “6,000 conversations/year” on the annual toggle and “500 conversations/month” on the monthly toggle. Those are not equivalent, and the difference is the single most expensive thing on the page.

A conversation, per Trengo's own definition, is any reply to an inbound or outbound message inside a rolling 7-day window; once that window closes, the next reply counts as a new billable conversation. Supported channels are email, WhatsApp Business API, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, Telegram, SMS, a website widget, and voice — though voice and WhatsApp broadcasting are listed as add-ons on all three tiers, including Enterprise, where voice upgrades to a full integration. Trengo does not support Discord or Zalo on any plan. AI HelpMate and AI Journeys (still marked beta on the pricing page) are included on Boost, but Boost is marked Not supported for custom channel integrations, custom integrations, and API actions in AI flows, and Not available for live chat support, phone support, and mandatory 2FA.

Converge is the Trengo alternative most messaging-first teams land on when flat pricing matters more than bundled voice. It charges $49/month flat for up to 15 team members with all channels included: WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram, Zalo, Messenger, Gmail, email, and an embeddable chat widget with visitor tracking and lead capture. The architectural difference is metering — Trengo meters replies and bills the excess at a premium; Converge does not meter conversations at all.

What does Trengo's inbox actually include?

Trengo's inbox centralizes WhatsApp Business API, email, live chat, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, Telegram, SMS, and voice (add-on) into a shared team inbox (trengo.com, 2026). The WhatsApp integration is Trengo's strongest channel — as an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP), Trengo supports both inbound customer service and outbound broadcasting for marketing campaigns. Broadcasting is sold as a separate add-on on all plans (trengo.com/prices, 2026). AI HelpMate operates as an autonomous agent that suggests and sends responses automatically, trained on knowledge base content. AI Journeys automate multi-step conversation workflows across channels. Flowbot provides a no-code visual builder for FAQ routing and common workflows. Collaboration features include @mentions, internal comments, conversation assignment, role-based permissions, conversation labels, and CSAT surveys. Reporting covers agent performance and AI resolution metrics.

Which Trengo features are gated behind the Pro tier?

Feature gating between plans is sharper than the two headline prices suggest, and the live comparison table is worth reading line by line. Boost is marked Not supported for custom channel integrations, custom integrations with internal tools, and API actions triggered from AI flows — so the AI agent on Boost can answer from your knowledge base but cannot call your order system to look anything up. Boost is also marked Not available for live chat support, phone support, and mandatory 2FA, meaning a security policy requiring enforced two-factor authentication across the team is a €200/month upgrade rather than a settings toggle. Pro unlocks all of those but keeps the dedicated success manager at Enterprise only, and voice and broadcasting remain add-ons at every tier (trengo.com/prices, checked 18 August 2026).

How does Trengo count a conversation?

The conversation definition is the other thing worth internalising before comparing prices. Trengo counts a conversation as any reply to an inbound or outbound message inside a 7-day window; once that window closes, the next reply starts a new billable conversation. A single support thread that runs across two weeks is therefore two conversations, and a customer who returns monthly with the same recurring question generates twelve per year. Auto-replies are excluded from the count, which is a genuine concession — but a Flowbot that hands off to a human is not.

Where does Converge's channel coverage differ?

Converge includes all 10 messaging channels at $49/month with no tier gating or conversation caps — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram, Zalo, Messenger, Gmail, email, X, and an embeddable chat widget. AI reply suggestions with configurable tone (professional, friendly, casual) and quick reply matching are included without credit limits; teams can bring their own API key for AI features. The chat widget provides visitor tracking, UTM attribution, session management, FAQ self-service, suggested messages, and CSAT collection. Converge does not offer voice calling, SMS, WhatsApp broadcasting, Flowbot-style chatbot builders, or native Shopify/HubSpot integrations. The tradeoff is clear: Converge is a focused messaging inbox with broader channel coverage; Trengo bundles more tools (voice, broadcasting, chatbot builder) at a higher price with usage metering.

What does Trengo actually charge in 2026?

Verified against trengo.com/prices on 18 August 2026, with the currency toggle set to EUR:

• Boost: €299/month annual or €349/month monthly — 10 users included; 6,000 conversations/year on annual, 500/month on monthly. Unified inbox, WhatsApp Business API, AI HelpMate, AI Journeys (beta), website widget, custom fields, contact groups, views, agent performance and AI reporting. Marked Not supported for custom channel integrations, custom integrations, and API actions in AI flows; Not available for live chat support, phone support, dedicated success manager, and mandatory 2FA.
• Pro: €499/month annual or €599/month monthly — 20 users included; 18,000 conversations/year on annual, 1,500/month on monthly. Adds developer access for custom channels, custom integrations via APIs, API actions in AI flows, live chat and phone support, and optional mandatory 2FA. Still no dedicated success manager.
• Enterprise: sales-quoted — custom users and conversation volume, dedicated success manager, custom-built integrations, and voice as a full integration rather than an add-on.

Which Trengo costs are not on the pricing card?

The add-on table sits below the plan cards and carries the numbers that decide your real invoice. Extra conversations run €18 per 100 monthly, €15 per 100 annually. Extra users are €30/user on Boost and €50/user on Pro monthly, dropping to €25 and €40 annually. Any conversation handled by AI HelpMate carries a surcharge of €0.30 monthly or €0.25 annually on top of the conversation itself. Voice calling and broadcasting are add-ons on every tier. WhatsApp service conversations are listed as free, but WhatsApp, voice, and SMS traffic that triggers an AI surcharge is billed per usage at each channel's rate.

The item that catches teams out is not on the pricing page at all. Trengo's help centre documents a 10% penalty on unplanned overage: at cycle end, the open balance is multiplied by your bundle price and then a further 10% fee is applied. Their worked example is 45 excess conversations at €0.18 each billing as €8.91 rather than €8.10 (help.trengo.com, updated March 2025). Buying conversation blocks ahead of time avoids the surcharge — but those blocks are one-time only and do not raise your recurring commitment, so the next cycle starts from the committed number again.

Does Trengo's monthly plan cost more than the €50 difference suggests?

Yes, and the gap is structural rather than a percentage. Trengo's help centre states that monthly subscribers forfeit unused conversations at cycle end with no refund, while annual subscribers carry the remainder forward because the cycle spans the full year (help.trengo.com, updated September 2025). For steady volume the two are equivalent. For seasonal volume they are not: a business running 250 conversations in February and 900 in November loses 250 of quota in the quiet month on monthly billing, then pays the 10%-loaded overage rate in the busy one — the same 400-conversation swing that annual billing absorbs from banked quota at no extra cost.

Converge is $49/month flat for up to 15 team members, all channels included, unlimited conversations, AI reply suggestions with no credit system, and a 7-day trial with no credit card. A 10-agent team on Trengo Boost pays €299/month (~$325) against a metered allowance; the same team on Converge pays $49/month with nothing metered — roughly $3,300/year of difference before a single overage line. A 15-agent team cannot use Boost at all, since Boost includes 10 users; the options are €499/month Pro (~$545) or €299 plus five extra seats at €25–30 each, which lands at €424–449/month and still leaves Boost's feature gates in place.

Do not switch away from Trengo if any of the following is true, because no flat-rate messaging inbox replaces them and you will lose capability to save money. You run outbound WhatsApp campaigns — broadcasting is a Trengo add-on, but it exists, and a support-only inbox cannot do it. You depend on AI HelpMate resolving conversations end-to-end without an agent, rather than suggesting replies for one. You have built Flowbot or AI Journeys flows deep enough that recreating them is a project. You are on an annual plan with banked conversation quota, in which case the rollover you already paid for is a sunk asset until renewal. Or you need a self-hosted help centre on your own domain, which Trengo includes on every tier.

Choose Trengo if you need voice calling alongside messaging in one inbox, want WhatsApp Business API broadcasting for proactive outreach, or need an AI agent that handles full conversations autonomously. Trengo's European hosting (AWS Frankfurt), zero setup fees, and native Shopify and HubSpot integrations suit European e-commerce teams already invested in those ecosystems. Note the plan gate, though: on Boost the AI agent cannot trigger external APIs, so order-lookup flows require Pro at €499/month.

Choose Converge if you need Discord or Zalo support (Trengo offers neither), want flat $49/month pricing for up to 15 agents with unlimited conversations, or your team size falls below the 10-user package Trengo bills you for regardless. Converge's chat widget includes visitor tracking with UTM attribution, beacon tracking, and lead capture with lifecycle stages — website intelligence features Trengo's widget does not provide. For messaging-focused teams that don't need voice, SMS, or WhatsApp broadcasting, Converge covers more channels at a fraction of Trengo's cost.

What is the best Trengo alternative for small teams?

For teams under 15 agents, the best Trengo alternative is usually a flat-rate unified inbox rather than another conversations-metered platform. Trengo's Boost plan bills €299/month for a 10-user package with 6,000 conversations/year — roughly €100 per actually-used seat for a 3-person team, plus overage billed at the bundle rate with a 10% surcharge on top once you pass it (trengo.com/prices and help.trengo.com, both checked 18 August 2026). A flat-rate alternative like Converge charges $49/month for up to 15 agents with unlimited conversations and no usage metering, which removes the seat over-provisioning, the overage surcharge, and the monthly-plan forfeiture of unused quota in one step. It also covers two channels Trengo offers on no plan — Discord support for community-led teams and Zalo support for the Vietnamese market. If you specifically need WhatsApp broadcasting, voice calling, or Trengo's Flowbot chatbot builder, weigh that against the pricing gap — those are the capabilities a messaging-first inbox typically does not replace.

Choose Trengo if:

• You need voice calling alongside messaging in a unified inbox (available as an add-on)
• WhatsApp Business API broadcasting for marketing outreach is part of your workflow
• You want an autonomous AI chatbot (HelpMate) that handles full conversations without agent involvement
• Your team needs native Shopify, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Dynamics 365 integrations
• You are based in Europe and value Dutch/EU-based vendors with GDPR-compliant AWS Frankfurt hosting
• You need a no-code conversation flow builder (Flowbot, AI Journeys) for automated workflows

Choose Converge if:

• You need native Discord or Zalo channel support (Trengo does not offer either)
• You want all channels and AI reply suggestions at $49/month flat — no conversation caps, no overage fees, no seat packages
• Your team is 3–15 agents, where Trengo's minimum €299/month for a fixed 10-seat package is oversized
• You need visitor tracking with UTM attribution, beacon tracking, and lead capture in your chat widget
• Predictable pricing matters — no conversation overages, no 10% surcharge on excess, no per-AI-conversation fee
• You prefer a focused messaging inbox over a bundled platform with voice, SMS, and chatbot builder