Cliengo vs ManyChat: which one is right for your business?

If you're here, you probably have a business and are looking for a tool to handle customer chats. Cliengo and ManyChat are two well-known options, but they take quite different paths. This comparison will help you see which one is closer to what you need, without beating around the bush.

It's written by the Wando team, an Argentine tool that uses AI to respond to WhatsApp Business. So our point of view is on the customer service side, not marketing. But we try to be fair: if ManyChat or Cliengo suits you better, we'll tell you.

Cliengo: the specialist in capturing leads from your website

Cliengo is an Argentine platform born to turn visitors to your website into leads. Its strength is the web chatbot: if someone lands on your page and doesn't know where to start, the chat greets them, asks what they need, and guides them along. It does that very well.

Then it adds WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, plus a basic CRM to qualify and organize the contacts it captures. It's a tool designed so that no potential customer slips away, especially if your business depends on inquiries coming from the web.

• Web chat to capture leads: its favorite territory.
• Multichannel: web, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.
• Basic CRM with lead qualification included.
• Argentine company with a track record.

Prices, verified one by one

• Cliengo Starter: US$45/month — 2 users and 500 conversations.
• Cliengo Premium: US$119/month — more volume and marketing features.
• Cliengo Business: US$259/month — the highest tier, aimed at teams.
• Cliengo free trial: 14 days.

• ManyChat Essential: US$14/month — 250 contacts.
• ManyChat Pro: US$29/month — 2,500 contacts.
• ManyChat free: Real Free Plan: 25 active contacts and 1 user.

• Wando Starter: US$9.99/month — 500 contacts, 1 user.
• Wando Pro: US$19.99/month — 5,000 contacts, 3 users.
• Wando Enterprise: US$49.99/month — 25,000 contacts, unlimited users.
• Wando free trial: 14 days without a card.

ManyChat: the king of Instagram and Messenger

ManyChat is the go-to tool for automating Instagram and Messenger. If your business lives off campaigns on those networks, you've probably seen it in a tutorial or recommendation. It's very good at building marketing funnels: stories with buttons, automatic replies to comments, direct messages that follow a sequence.

It also has WhatsApp, but that's not its core focus. It's designed more for chat-based marketing and sales than for a team handling customer inquiries. If your problem is that you get 200 messages a day and need to respond quickly, ManyChat is not the best tool for that.

• Real free plan, not a disguised trial.
• Reference in Instagram and Messenger automation.
• Low entry price among paid plans.
• Lots of community and material, though mostly in English.

How they differ (and how they are similar)

The main difference is the focus. Cliengo seeks to capture leads from your website and social media, and qualify them. ManyChat seeks to automate marketing campaigns on Instagram and Messenger. Both can handle WhatsApp, but neither is designed for a support team to use WhatsApp as its main channel.

They are similar in that both use pre-programmed flows: you define a conversation tree and the bot follows it. That works for simple questions, but it becomes a headache when customers ask things that weren't in the script. And keeping those flows up to date takes time.

That's where Wando comes in, which uses generative AI that learns from your team's real responses. There's no need to program flows: the AI suggests responses and your team approves them with a click. It's another way to approach the problem, designed for SMEs that need to respond quickly without going crazy maintaining a bot.

Pricing and plans: from entry level to high tier

Cliengo has an entry plan that is already a significant investment for an SME that only needs WhatsApp. For small teams, it can be expensive. ManyChat, on the other hand, has a truly free plan and a paid plan with a low entry price, which is tempting if you're just starting out.

But be careful: ManyChat's free plan has contact and feature limits. And if what you need is to handle WhatsApp with a team, Cliengo or ManyChat plans may not include what you need without paying extra.

Wando has a 14-day free trial without a credit card, and plans starting at a monthly rate in US dollars. Updated prices are at wando.online/pricing. We won't lie to you with numbers that change: check there.

Which one suits you best depending on your case?

Choose Cliengo if your priority is capturing leads from your website and social media, and you want a CRM to organize them. It's a solid tool, but you pay for features you might not use if you only need WhatsApp.

Choose ManyChat if your engine is Instagram and Messenger campaigns, and you want a tool with a free plan to get started. It's ideal for marketing, not so much for customer service.

Choose Wando if your problem is handling WhatsApp efficiently, with a team that responds and an AI that helps them. We don't compete in Instagram marketing: we compete in WhatsApp service, which is where your customers are every day.

In the end, the choice depends on your priority: capturing leads, doing marketing, or serving your customers well. Cliengo and ManyChat are good tools in their own right, but neither is designed for a team to use WhatsApp as the main channel. If that's your case, try Wando: 14 days free, no card required, and see if it works for you.

What if you need something in between Cliengo and ManyChat?

If your case is neither capturing leads from the web nor running Instagram campaigns, but rather serving well the customers who already write to you on WhatsApp, both Cliengo and ManyChat fall short. Cliengo will charge you for a CRM and a web chat you might not use, and ManyChat will push you to build flows for a social network that isn't your main channel.

That's where a third path appears: tools that use AI to help you respond faster, without having to program a conversation tree. Wando is one of them: the AI learns from the responses your team gives and suggests replies for new messages. There's no need to maintain flows, just approve or edit what it suggests.

If your priority is customer service via WhatsApp, that difference in focus changes everything. It's not that Cliengo or ManyChat are bad tools: it's that they solve a different problem.

• Cliengo: capture leads from the web and organize them in a CRM.
• ManyChat: automate campaigns on Instagram and Messenger.
• Wando: streamline customer service on WhatsApp with AI that learns.

A concrete example: the restaurant that didn't know what to choose

Let's think of a restaurant that receives 50 inquiries per day on WhatsApp: reservations, hours, delivery, events. Its owner tried Cliengo and found that the web chat wasn't useful because no one booked from the web, and the cheapest plan was already a significant monthly investment. Then he tried ManyChat, but setting up the flows for the bot to handle reservations took hours, and when a customer asked something off-script, the bot went blank.

With Wando, the team loads typical responses (hours, menu, address) and the AI learns from how the owners respond. When a message arrives, it suggests a response that the team approves with one click. There are no flows to maintain: the AI adapts on its own.

The result: the restaurant responded faster, without paying for features it didn't use, and without going crazy setting up a bot. Obviously, each business is different, but this case shows the practical difference between the three tools.

Common mistakes when choosing between Cliengo and ManyChat (and how to avoid them)

The first mistake is focusing only on the entry price. ManyChat has a free plan, but with contact limits and features that fall short if your business grows. Cliengo starts more expensive, but you might not need half of what it includes. Before looking at prices, define what problem you are solving.

The second mistake is thinking that a bot with pre-programmed flows will save you time. Flows work for simple questions, but they break when the customer asks something unexpected. And keeping them updated takes hours. If your team ends up answering everything manually anyway, the bot isn't helping you.

The third mistake is not testing the tool in your real context. Cliengo and ManyChat offer trials, and so does Wando: 14 days free without a card. Test with your real messages, with your team, and see which one makes your life easier. That is worth more than any comparison.

Questions that come up after reading the comparison

A common question is whether you can use Cliengo or ManyChat alongside Wando. Yes, you can: Wando focuses on WhatsApp, so you can have Cliengo capturing leads from your website and Wando handling WhatsApp inquiries. They are not mutually exclusive.

Another one is whether Wando's AI responds on its own or requires approval. By default, the AI suggests responses and your team approves them with a click. It is not a bot that responds on its own without supervision. That gives you control and prevents wrong answers.

They also ask if Wando works for channels other than WhatsApp. Today Wando focuses on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, but its strength is WhatsApp. If your main channel is another one, maybe Cliengo or ManyChat serve you better.

If you still have doubts, the best thing is to try it out. Each tool has its free trial, and the reality of your business matters more than any recommendation.

How to switch from ManyChat or Cliengo to Wando without losing your history

If you already use ManyChat or Cliengo and want to try Wando, migration is simpler than it seems. Wando connects to WhatsApp through Meta's official API, so you don't lose your numbers or your chats. Your contacts can be exported and imported, and the tags you used can be recreated.

What you do need to do is set up the typical responses in Wando so that the AI learns quickly. You can load frequently asked questions, schedules, prices, and the AI will start suggesting responses aligned with your business from day one.

The 14-day trial period without a card gives you time to set everything up and see if the tool fits. There is no exit cost, and if you are not convinced, you can keep using the one you already had. You lose nothing by trying.