The Missive alternative for AI agents that answer on chat apps
Missive is a fast, fairly priced team inbox for people who live in email, with SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger alongside. It even has an MCP server so Claude or ChatGPT can read and send from it. But its WhatsApp runs on the Business Platform, which switches off the WhatsApp app on that number, and it does not connect LinkedIn. If what you are building is an AI agent that answers customers on the WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn and Messenger accounts a business already has, you need the connection to those chats. That is what Spaces is.
Every Missive fact below comes from Missive's own website and documentation, checked on 11 November 2026. Where Missive is the better choice, we say so.
Already down to two? See Spaces vs Missive.
Two different products, one sentence each
- Missive is a collaborative inbox for teams — shared email (Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, iCloud, IMAP), SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, live chat and custom channels, with assignments, internal chat, tasks, rules, analytics and AI drafting — priced per user. (pricing, other channels)
- Spaces is messaging infrastructure for AI agents: one REST API and one MCP server that let the agent you already use — Claude, Grok, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own code — read and reply to conversations on the Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger accounts a business already has, inside each platform's limits, priced per connected account. (pricing, llms.txt)
The short version: Missive is where your team works its inbox. Spaces is how your agent reaches the chat accounts.
Spaces vs Missive, head to head
| Spaces | Missive | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Messaging API + MCP server for AI agents on existing chat accounts | Team inbox and email client with chat channels, tasks and AI drafting |
| Main job | Let your own agent answer and follow up on customer chats | Let a team share, assign, discuss and answer messages together |
| Inbox / DM channels | Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger | Email, SMS (Twilio, SignalWire, Dialpad or Quo), WhatsApp, Instagram Business DMs, Messenger (Facebook Pages), live chat, custom channels. LinkedIn is not listed |
| Other channels | TikTok for posts and comments (no TikTok DM inbox). Facebook Pages coming soon | Voice logs via Aircall and Dialpad |
| Not a live Spaces channel | Missive's centre of gravity | |
| How WhatsApp connects | Your existing number, linked by scanning a QR code, the way you link WhatsApp on a computer; it keeps working on your phone | WhatsApp Business Platform with a verified Meta Business Account. Meta disables the WhatsApp Business app on that number; Coexistence "is not currently supported in Missive". No group chats |
| Starting a conversation | WhatsApp: only to people who wrote to the number before or are marked opted in | WhatsApp: approved template required; Instagram and Messenger: customers must message first |
| MCP server | https://api.spacesos.com/mcp (plus one per channel), every plan including Free | https://mcp.missiveapp.com, Productive and Business; off until an admin turns it on; read, label, draft and send, plus calendars |
| API | REST API on every plan, including Free | REST API on Productive and up: drafts (email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat) that can be sent at once, posts, contacts, webhooks; 300 requests a minute |
| AI | Bring your own agent; Spaces adds no model | Missive AI with Anthropic, OpenAI or Gemini: Missive AI credits at provider price + 25%, or your own key; $5 free credits |
| Free option | Free plan: 1 account, 50 actions a day, no card | 30-day free trial, no card |
| Price: 3-person team, 5 chat accounts | $45/month (5 accounts × $9, 5,000 actions a month pooled). No per-user fee | $72/month on Productive billed yearly (3 × $24), $90 billed monthly (3 × $30) — plus Meta's WhatsApp charges and AI usage |
Price assumption: a small team of 3 people whose customers write in on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and LinkedIn — on Spaces, 5 connected accounts (say one WhatsApp number, two Instagram profiles, one Facebook account for Messenger and one LinkedIn profile); on Missive, 3 users on Productive, the lowest plan with API and MCP access, which an agent needs (Missive cannot connect the LinkedIn profile). Missive Starter is cheaper — $42 a month billed yearly or $54 monthly for 3 users — but has no API or MCP. Spaces prices are from spacesos.com/pricing; Missive prices are from missiveapp.com/pricing, both checked 11 November 2026, excluding tax. Meta bills Missive customers directly for WhatsApp Business Platform usage, which varies by country and message type and is not estimated. Your own AI agent's model costs are not in either figure.
This is not a like-for-like price. Missive's users get a full shared email client, tasks, calendars and analytics, which Spaces does not include. Spaces' price buys five chat accounts an agent can work, including LinkedIn and a WhatsApp number that stays on your phone.
Where the difference shows up
1. Both have MCP servers — for different jobs
Missive runs an MCP server at https://mcp.missiveapp.com. Connected, an AI app "can search your conversations, look up contacts, check your calendar, draft replies, and send them", acting as you with only the permissions you grant — drafting and sending are separate permissions, so you can keep a human check. It needs the Productive or Business plan, an admin has to turn it on, it uses the connected app's own model (no Missive AI credits), and Missive says it "doesn't act on its own" and is "for chatting with your data"; for building an integration, Missive points you to its REST API. (MCP server, permissions)
Spaces' MCP is built for the agent doing the messaging: read chats, reply, start a chat where allowed, schedule a message for a local time, run routines triggered by a new message, a keyword or no reply after N hours, require a person to approve sends, or pause every send at once. It is on every plan, including Free, and an agent can set Spaces up itself from https://www.spacesos.com/agents. (pricing, llms.txt)
Rule of thumb: Missive's MCP gives an AI app your team inbox. Spaces' MCP gives an agent the chat accounts.
2. WhatsApp: Business Platform or a QR link
Missive connects WhatsApp through the WhatsApp Business Platform. You need a Meta Business Account with business verification, Meta bills usage directly (Missive adds no fee), and new conversations need an approved template. Missive's FAQ says Meta disables the WhatsApp Business app on a connected number and that running both — Coexistence — "is not currently supported in Missive"; WhatsApp groups, voice notes and WhatsApp calls are not supported either. Using an existing number means porting it into Twilio, which Missive says can take up to 4 weeks. (WhatsApp, WhatsApp FAQ)
Spaces links the WhatsApp number you already use by QR code, the same way you link WhatsApp on a computer, and Spaces says that on this connection there is no Meta approval, no message templates and no Meta message fees, and the number keeps working on your phone (Spaces WhatsApp API page). The trade-off: Spaces is for answering people and following up with people who know the business. A new WhatsApp chat only goes to someone who has messaged the number before or is marked opted in, and template broadcasts to large lists are what the official WhatsApp Business Platform is for. (llms.txt)
3. Channels: email-first vs chat-first
Missive is strongest where email is the centre of the work, with SMS and chat apps alongside. Its social channels are Instagram Business or Creator DMs and Messenger for Facebook Pages; on both, "businesses can only respond to customers who message first", and Missive mentions a 7-day messaging window. LinkedIn is not among Missive's channels. (social FAQ, other channels)
Spaces does not do email as a live channel. It gives one agent the inboxes on Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger, plus TikTok for posts and comments, through one API and one MCP server (/mcp, or /mcp/whatsapp, /mcp/instagram, /mcp/linkedin, /mcp/messenger). Facebook Pages is coming soon. (llms.txt)
4. AI for your people, or the agent you already run
Missive's AI helps the team: instant drafts, summaries, translation, custom prompts and AI rules, with Anthropic, OpenAI or Gemini. You pay with Missive AI credits at the provider's price plus a 25% markup, or bring your own key at the provider's price; Productive and Business start with $5 of free credits. (AI overview, pricing)
Spaces adds no model. Your agent runs wherever you already run it and calls Spaces to read and send, with hand-over to a person when a conversation needs one. Its price excludes your model provider's costs. (llms.txt)
5. Pricing: per user or per account
Missive is per user: Starter $14 a user a month billed yearly ($18 monthly, up to 5 users), Productive $24 ($30, up to 50 users; adds integrations, rules, analytics and API & MCP access), Business $36 ($45, unlimited users; adds SAML SSO, IP restrictions and advanced analytics). There is a 30-day free trial with no card. (pricing)
Spaces has a Free plan — $0, no card, 1 connected account and 50 actions a day (sending stops until midnight at the limit; reading keeps working; no sequences or webhooks). Pay as you go is $9 per connected account a month, prorated, with 1,000 actions per account pooled across the workspace, then $5 per 1,000 ($4 above 100,000 extra, $3 above 1,000,000). Reading is always free, and you can set a monthly usage cap ($25 suggested). An action is a send, reply, new chat, post, comment, like, follow, invitation or profile lookup. (pricing)
The more people you add, the more Missive costs; the more accounts and messages you add, the more Spaces costs.
6. Limits that protect the account
Missive's limits are about its API — 5 concurrent requests, 300 a minute and 900 every 15 minutes — and each channel's own rules. (rate limits)
Spaces' limits protect the chat account itself, because automated use of an existing account is what platforms watch. Every plan has per-channel daily limits, pacing and a four-week warm-up. For up to 24 hours after a WhatsApp account connects, reconnects, or is disconnected and connected again, Spaces does not start new chats or outreach. Replies in chats that already exist still go out. Other channels have no reply-only window: the warm-up limits apply from the first day, and replies to people who wrote in go out immediately. Replies to someone who just wrote in are never held back by daily limits. This lowers the risk of a platform restricting an account; it does not remove it. (limits, safety, llms.txt)
Choose Spaces if
- You are building or running an AI agent that answers customers itself on WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn and Messenger.
- You want to keep the WhatsApp number working on your phone, without moving it to the Business Platform.
- You need LinkedIn messages in the same place as the other chat apps.
- You would rather pay per connected account than per person.
- You want limits, pacing, warm-up, approvals and a pause switch handled for every account, and a Free plan to start.
Stay with Missive if
- Email is the centre of your work and your team shares, assigns and discusses it together.
- You want email, SMS and chat apps in one inbox for people, with AI drafts to help them — at a low price per user.
- You want an AI app to work inside your team inbox, including email, through Missive's MCP server.
- You need WhatsApp on the official Business Platform, with templates for messages you start.
Some teams will use both: Missive for the shared email inbox, Spaces for an agent working the chat accounts, including LinkedIn.
Other alternatives to consider
- Front — a per-seat help desk and shared inbox for email-centred teams, with an MCP server documented for developers: Starter $25, Professional $65, Enterprise $105 a seat a month billed annually. (front.com/pricing, Front MCP docs, checked 11 Nov 2026) · Spaces vs Front
- Callbell — a shared inbox for WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram and web chat, with an API: €14 an agent a month (€18 on Plus), plus €20 a month for each extra WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger or Telegram account. (callbell.eu/en/pricing, checked 11 Nov 2026) · Spaces vs Callbell
- Trengo — a shared omnichannel inbox for WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email, live chat and more, priced per plan with users included (Base 3 users, Boost 10, Pro 20). Its pricing page shows conflicting Base figures — €119 on the plan cards and €149 billed annually (€199 monthly) in its FAQ — so check trengo.com before buying. (trengo.com/pricing, checked 11 Nov 2026) · Spaces vs Trengo
FAQ
What is the best Missive alternative for an AI agent?
If your agent should answer customers directly on WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn and Messenger, Spaces is the closest fit: one API and one MCP server, priced per account. If you still want a shared email inbox for people, Front is a nearer swap.
Does Missive have an MCP server?
Yes, at https://mcp.missiveapp.com, on the Productive and Business plans once an admin turns it on. A connected AI app can search conversations, draft and send replies and check calendars, with the permissions you grant. (Missive MCP server)
Can I keep using the WhatsApp app on my number with Missive?
No. Missive's FAQ says Meta disables the WhatsApp Business app on a number connected to the Business Platform, and Coexistence is not currently supported in Missive. With Spaces, the number you link by QR code keeps working on your phone. (Missive WhatsApp FAQ, Spaces WhatsApp API)
Does Missive support LinkedIn messages?
LinkedIn is not among Missive's documented channels, which are email, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, live chat, voice logs and custom channels. Spaces connects LinkedIn profiles. (other channels)
How much does Missive cost?
Per user a month: Starter $14 billed yearly ($18 monthly), Productive $24 ($30), Business $36 ($45). API and MCP access start on Productive. Meta bills WhatsApp usage directly. (pricing)
How much does Spaces cost?
Free for 1 account and 50 actions a day, with no card. Then $9 per connected account a month, with 1,000 actions per account pooled, and $5 per 1,000 extra actions. Five accounts within included actions are $45 a month. (pricing)
Does Spaces do email?
No. Email is not a live Spaces channel. If shared email is the main job, Missive or Front fits better. (llms.txt)
Will connecting an AI agent get my accounts banned?
Every platform has its own rules. Spaces keeps each account inside daily limits, paces activity and warms new accounts up over four weeks. That lowers the risk but cannot remove it. See sending limits and account safety.
Facts about Missive, Front, Callbell and Trengo come from their own websites, checked on 11 November 2026. Prices and features change; their sites have the current version. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked on 11 November 2026 from the official product pages linked in the text, and from Spaces pricing.