Andy

Andy's $9 Starter tier and 14-day free trial let an agency validate a client's WhatsApp and Instagram conversation flow for less than the cost of a single support shift, then graduate to Pro at $19 or Pro Max at $49 as message volume grows. The economics only compound when the client's customers already live on those channels, so the strategic move is qualifying for channel fit before quoting a retainer. Agencies that treat Andy as a lead-capture layer rather than a full support replacement protect margin and avoid the adoption risk the verdict flags.

Andy's value scales with how much of a client's inbound already lives on WhatsApp or Instagram, because those channels are where the agent connects natively via QR code or the official Meta API. A real estate agency whose leads arrive as WhatsApp messages can put Andy on the Starter plan at $9/month (1 agent, 300 messages) and still capture after-hours inquiries, while a client spread thin across email, phone, and web forms gets less from the same deployment. The Pro tier at $19/month raises the ceiling to 3 agents, 3 seats, and 2,000 messages across multiple channels, which is the realistic entry point once a client runs two or more conversation surfaces. Before quoting a retainer, count the client's monthly WhatsApp threads: below roughly 300, Starter holds; above 2,000, budget Pro Max at $49/month for 7,500 messages and 10 seats.

Escalation Debt Ratio is the share of chatbot conversations that must reach a human before resolution, measured against the share the client was promised would resolve alone. Agencies sell AI chatbots on deflection rates, but the retainer survives on the escalation path: who answers at 2am, how fast, and whether the transcript carries context. A bot trained on client documents can close routine questions, yet pricing, refunds, and account changes usually need a person. Track the ratio monthly. When it climbs, the client sees a queue, not savings. Chatling and FastBots both ship human handover as a first-class feature, which tells you the vendors expect escalation to be normal, not exceptional. The framework matters because escalation debt compounds quietly: every unresolved thread becomes a support ticket, a churn signal, and a reason the client questions the retainer. Budget the human layer before you quote the automation layer.

Handoff Fidelity Threshold is the point at which a chatbot's automated resolution stops being cheaper than a clean transfer to a human. Below the threshold, every extra automated turn saves the agency money. Above it, each additional bot turn adds rework, apology credits, and churn risk that the retainer has to absorb. The framework forces agencies to define the threshold per client before deployment, not after the first complaint. A support bot trained on uploaded documents and website content can resolve repetitive questions well, but the moment a query touches billing disputes, refunds, or account-specific history, the cost curve inverts. The practical test: measure containment rate and escalation satisfaction separately, because a 70 percent containment rate with angry escalations is worse economics than 50 percent containment with clean transfers. Agencies that price managed chatbot retainers on containment alone are selling a metric that hides the expensive half of the conversation.

Deploy Andy only when the client's customers already live in WhatsApp or Instagram and monthly message volume fits inside the $9 to $49 tier band, then price the retainer around setup and monthly review rather than per-message markup.

Cap the automation scope at the intents you can escalate cleanly, and price the retainer around ongoing optimization rather than full deflection.

IF a client already runs high WhatsApp or Instagram DM volume and needs 24/7 inquiry handling plus Google Calendar booking, THEN start on Andy Starter at $9/month (1 agent, 300 messages, 1 channel) to prove response-time gains before upgrading. IF the client needs multi-channel coverage or more than 300 messages monthly, THEN the jump is to Pro at $19/month (3 agents, 3 seats, 2,000 messages, multi-channel) or Pro Max at $49/month (up to 7 agents, 10 seats, 7,500 messages, API access). IF the client's customers do not use WhatsApp or Instagram as a primary channel, THEN defer, because Andy's channel positioning is the core of its value.

A productized retainer that connects Andy to a client's WhatsApp number and Instagram professional account, qualifies inbound leads, and books appointments through Google Calendar so the client captures inquiries outside business hours.