How Channel.io Subscriptions Work thumbnail

In this article

How Channel.io Subscriptions Work

Channel.io strives to offer high-quality services at affordable prices. To ensure that businesses of all sizes can benefit from our platform, we have implemented a subscription system that is suitable for both small companies and large enterprises.

Channel.io Subscriptions

Unlike some other platforms, Channel.io does not charge per counselor or agent. This means that there is no limit on the number of consultations or team members who can be invited to the channel, as we believe that cost should not be a barrier to communication with customers.

While the subscription fee increases with the number of MAUs, there is a limit to the maximum fee. Even if your MAU increases infinitely, the cost will not increase without bounds. For instance, if your MAU exceeds 200,000 and you use all the available functions, the maximum subscription fee is $2,100 which is less than the salary of one intern. This pricing model allows businesses to scale their communication with customers without worrying about costs.

What is MAU?

MAU, or Monthly Active Users, is a metric used to measure user engagement on Channel.io. It refers to the number of users whose customer information has been updated on the platform within the last 31 days. If a user revisits the platform multiple times during this period, they are counted as a single active user without additional counting. To better understand the concept of user, please refer to the user classification guide.

If you have questions about MAU, check out these frequently asked questions:

  • Q: What is meant by "Customer Information Update" or "User Update"?

  • A: In general, we consider a user to be active if they visit a site, update their information, or are uploaded to Channel.io as a customer.

  • Q: What happens after Unification?

  • A: When two customers' information is unified, they are recognized as the same person. For more information on the unification process, please refer to our Unification Guide.

  • Q: How is Channel.io's MAU metric different from Google Analytics (GA)?

  • A: Channel.io uses advanced technology to comprehensively analyze usage information, including access device, browser, cookie value, and session data. This allows us to accurately determine whether the information of two customers should be integrated into a single customer profile. As a result, we count one customer as one MAU. While we cannot say exactly how GA aggregates user data, there may be differences between our metrics.

  • Q: Can I monitor the MAU trend?

  • A: You can find the MAU trend data in Channel settings - Billing & Subscription - Subscription (on your upper right side), available to download the data as a file.

Difference between the free and paid plans

The free plan allows you to chat with both customers and colleagues without any cost. However, if you need more advanced customer management features, you'll need to subscribe to a paid plan. These paid plans come with powerful add-ons like operations, support bots, and marketing tools that can help you manage your business more effectively. Here's a more detailed breakdown of the features and benefits offered by each:

Free plan

  • The free plan offers unlimited chat features, including team chat, at no cost.

  • You can link your Channel.io account to Kakao info-Talk, Naver Talk Talk, and Line for free.

  • You can view the history of your consultations with customers for the past 30 days.

  • You can view each customer's event history for the past 7 days. (For more information on events, see the Events section.)

Paid plan

  • With a paid plan, you can check, modify, and use customer information in real time.

  • You can search and review the history of past consultations with customers without any time limits.

  • You can search up to 90 days of your past event history.

  • You can download your conversation history and profile data with customers as an Excel or JSON file.

Add-ons

Channel.io offers add-ons that can be subscribed to in addition to the paid plan. These add-ons are designed to enhance the use of customer profiles and event data on the platform. Here are the different add-ons available:

Operations

  • Chat automation rules: allows automatic messaging based on pre-set rules.

  • Chat tags: allows efficient management by tagging each chat type.

  • Chat Goal: enables the measurement of performance based on customer actions after chat.

  • Analytics: provides chat statistics for issue management and chat efficiency.

  • Chat Auto Assignment: automatically assigns chats to the appropriate team member.

Support bot

  • Multiple-choice response type support bot: improves consultation efficiency by resolving simple and repetitive inquiries.

  • Supportbot Form: acquires sales opportunities and customer data by initiating conversation with customers.

Marketing

  • One-time messages: sends group messages to targeted customers.

  • Campaigns: encourage customer loyalty with targeted, automated one-time messages.

White label

  • This feature allows businesses to highlight their brand. The display can also be hidden while using Channel.io.

Free trial

Experience all the features of Channel.io with our 14-day free trial! You can access all functions by simply clicking the [Free Trial] button without having to register your card details.

Start a trial

1. To set it up, go to [Channel Settings] - [Billing] - [Subscription] and click [Try paid features for 14 days].

2. Choose a plan and add-ons as you need, and press [Start your 14-day free trial].

3. Register a payment method(your credit card information).

4. When you start a trial, SMS Recharge will be automatically activated with 1USD of points for testing.

After the end of your free trial, you will automatically start a paid subscription to your chosen plan and add-ons. If you don't want to purchase and no longer continue with paid features, please change them to the free plan before the trial ends.

  • [Channel Settings] - [Billing & Subscription] - [Subscriptions], and go to [Change Subscription] - [Free Plan].

Key elements of the free trial

  • A trial is available only one time per channel.

  • You receive 1USD when you start a trial, in order to try to push messages(SMS).

    • If you set up auto-charge for texts, you will be charged the amount of the auto-charge after your text points are used up. (→ Text Charge Guide)

  • The following features are limited during the free trial and will be fully available when the channel is on a paid subscription plan.

    • Sending a new chat to customers only by a channel message (not texts and emails)

    • Utilize Channel.io's OpenAPI

    • Limited to 100 texts, Kakaotalk, and emails(including follow-up notifications + marketing messages)

    • Import customer profile data from the homepage(Shopify)

FAQ

Why can't I click the free trial button?

You can only access the free trial after completing the tutorial. Please ensure that you have finished all the tutorial steps.

Is the free trial limited to one-time use only?

Yes, the free trial is offered once per channel and cannot be used more than once.