Invent vs Customer.io: pricing and use cases

Customer.io sends journeys and campaigns to your users. Invent answers the messages they send back. The two overlap on broadcasts and solve different problems.

Different jobsOutboundvs inbound

Customer.io is proactive lifecycle messaging: journeys, email, push and in-app. There is no support inbox and no chat widget, and its AI agent helps your marketers build campaigns rather than talking to customers.

Entry price$100/month

Essentials starts at $100 a month for 5,000 profiles and grows $0.009 per extra profile. Premium starts at $1,000 a month, billed yearly. Invent starts at $29/mo with usage included.

Run bothCoexist

Plenty of teams keep Customer.io for lifecycle marketing and add Invent for support. Unlimited webhooks on their side and API actions on ours make the pairing straightforward.

01Pricing

Customer.io pricing vs Invent

Entry plans, billed monthly. Customer.io bills by stored profiles; Invent bills by messages actually answered.

Invent Business$29/monthIncludes $29 of usage. Overage at the same per-message rates, from $0.001.

~3,000 Auto messages≈ $32 total

White-label + custom domainIncluded

SSO + audit logsIncluded

Team inbox, CRM, broadcastsIncluded

Free trial14 days

Customer.io Essentials$100/month5,000 profiles and 1M emails a month included. Extra profiles at $0.009 each.

20,000 profiles~$235/mo

Support inbox and chat widgetNot offered

AI that talks to customersNot offered

AI credits100K sample, then $10/100K

Premium plan$1,000/mo, billed yearly

Live prices, monthly billing, Jul 10, 2026. The 20,000-profile figure is derived from the published $0.009 per-profile overage.

02Features

Feature comparison

The highlights. The full comparison table lives on the compare page.

Feature	Invent	Customer.io
Value
Billing model	Per message, $29 incl.	Per stored profile
AI talks to your customers	Included	Not available
Shared team inbox	Included	Not available
Support operation
Broadcast campaigns	Included	Included
Contacts and segments	Included	Included
CSAT surveys	Included	Not available
Web widget	Included	Not available

Verified against customer.io pricing and docs, Jul 10, 2026. See the full matrix on the compare page.

03Fine print

The fine print

All from Customer.io's own pricing page, Jul 10, 2026.

Deleted profiles still billA profile counts if it exists at any point in the billing period, even if you delete it, and overage is computed on the highest count of the month.

There is no support inboxNo inbox, no chat widget, no customer-facing AI. Its own comparison pages point inbound chat at other tools.

Premium is a yearly commitmentPremium starts at $1,000 a month, billed yearly and gated behind a demo, a five-figure commitment before you start.

AI is metered in creditsThe built-in AI comes with a 100K-credit sample; after that it is $10 per 100K credits.

Leaving Customer.io? We move you over, free

Book a free 30-minute call and we migrate your agent for you: knowledge, instructions, channels, branding. You just approve the result.

1Book a 30-minute callShow us your Customer.io setup. Sources, instructions, integrations.

2We rebuild it hereKnowledge, instructions, channels, and your white-label branding. No charge.

3You flip the switchTest it side by side, go live when you are happy.

Common questions

Can Customer.io handle customer support?

No. There is no support inbox, no live chat widget and no customer-facing AI agent; its AI helps marketers build segments and campaigns. Customer.io itself positions inbound support as another tool's job. Invent covers that side at $29/mo.

How much does Customer.io cost?

Essentials starts at $100 a month with 5,000 profiles included, then $0.009 per extra profile, about $235 at 20,000 profiles. Premium starts at $1,000 a month, billed yearly.

Which is better, Invent or Customer.io?

They do different jobs. For data-driven lifecycle campaigns at scale, Customer.io is the specialist. For answering customers with AI and a team inbox, that is Invent. Many teams run both.

Is Invent a Customer.io alternative?

For support and simple broadcasts, yes. For advanced multi-step journey orchestration across email, push and in-app, Customer.io remains the stronger tool.

How do I migrate my support setup to Invent?

Book a short migration call and we set up your agent, knowledge and channels for you. Customer.io can keep running your marketing side by side.

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