heysteff vs. Mercately: what the plan includes, and what costs extra.
heysteff is an AI platform for customer support and sales across WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Gmail and Shopify; Steff is the AI agent that runs it. Mercately is an Ecuadorian conversational CRM and sales platform with a strong presence across Latin America and a very complete set of payment options for the region. Both solve the same problem, with different ideas about what the plan includes.
◆ in one sentence
Mercately is strong on payments and ad attribution; heysteff can be tried free with no card and connects your API from the first paid plan.
Trying it before you buy
heysteff has a real Free plan: 50 conversations a month on one channel, no card, with the full agent. You sign up and try it on your own WhatsApp this afternoon.
Mercately doesn't publish a free plan. It has "start free" buttons that lead to its signup, but it doesn't publish the length or limits of that trial, and on its pricing page the plans point you to booking a demo. Neither approach is better in the abstract (if you'd rather be guided, a demo is an advantage), but it changes how long it takes to find out whether the tool works for you.
What to look at in the price, beyond the headline number
Both bill per conversation with a quota per plan and overage beyond it, so the model is comparable, and in both the AI is included in the plan. The difference is in what's left out. On its entry plan, Mercately marks API and webhook requests as "not included", charges 35 USD for each user beyond five (another of its pages says ten users), and lists VTEX as an add-on at 1,200 USD for setup plus 250 USD a month. In the same table, among its sales tools (next to payment links and PDF quotes), there is a 10 USD monthly charge to remove a "Vende más con Mercately" ("Sell more with Mercately") footer; the page doesn't say where that footer appears, so it's worth asking.
In heysteff, the tool builder over HTTP APIs and webhooks is available from Starter, the first paid plan (three tools; ten on Pro and unlimited on Max), because that's exactly what connects the agent to your ERP or your own system. An honest caveat: Mercately's pricing page shows more than one table, with figures that don't match each other (the entry plan appears at both 299 and 225 USD a month), so to compare properly, ask them for their current proposal in writing. Meta's messaging fees are separate in both cases.
Where Mercately is the better choice
In payments for Latin America, clearly: its pricing table lists Stripe, Mercado Pago and PayPhone, and its payments page adds PayPal, Kushki, Nequi, Daviplata and Bre-B. heysteff currently takes payments only through Stripe. If your operation runs on Mercado Pago or a local wallet, that outweighs the rest of this comparison.
Also if you need TikTok as a channel, VTEX as your store, or ad attribution (connecting the results of your campaigns with the conversations they generate), which is a module of their own and something heysteff doesn't offer.
Where heysteff does things Mercately doesn't publish
Email as a channel in the same inbox: heysteff handles Gmail alongside WhatsApp and Instagram, and Mercately doesn't list it among its channels. Product reviews requested over WhatsApp after purchase don't appear in its catalog either, and neither does store abandoned-cart recovery (they do publish reminders for abandoned payments).
On WhatsApp, heysteff connects both the official API and your own unofficial number, which is useful if you already have a number with history and don't want to migrate it; Mercately publishes the official API.
And if your team works in English: Mercately's site is published only in Spanish, while heysteff's site and product are available in Spanish and English.
| Factor | heysteff | Mercately |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Real Free plan: 50 conversations/month, 1 channel, no card | No free plan published; trial length and limits not published |
| Billing unit | Resolved conversation; users at no extra cost | AI conversations with a quota per plan and overage; on the entry plan, 5 users and 35 USD per extra user |
| AI | Included in the plan | Included in the plan, with an AI conversation quota |
| Channels | WhatsApp (official and unofficial), Instagram, Messenger, Gmail and Shopify | Official WhatsApp API, Instagram, Messenger and TikTok, plus Instagram and Facebook comments |
| Unofficial WhatsApp | Yes, your own number through Baileys as well as the official API | They publish the official API |
| Email as a channel | Yes, Gmail in the same inbox | Not published |
| Ecommerce | Native Shopify; the rest through the tool builder | Shopify and WooCommerce included; VTEX at extra cost |
| Payment gateways | Stripe | Stripe, Mercado Pago and PayPhone in its pricing table; PayPal, Kushki, Nequi, Daviplata and Bre-B on its payments page |
| API and webhooks | Tool builder over HTTP APIs and webhooks from Starter | Not included on the entry plan; 10,000 requests a month on the next one |
| Published add-ons | No setup fee | Extra users, VTEX, extra funnels and teams, and 10 USD/month to remove the "Vende más con Mercately" footer |
| Product reviews | Yes, its own Shopify app that asks for them over WhatsApp | Not published |
| Ad attribution | No | Yes, through its performance module |
| Site languages | Spanish and English | Spanish only |
| Origin | Chile, operating across Latin America | Ecuador, with customers across Latin America |
Frequently asked questions
Can I try either one for free?
With heysteff, yes: the Free plan gives you 50 conversations a month on one channel, with no card and without talking to anyone. Mercately doesn't publish a free plan and, although it has self-service signup, it doesn't publish the length or limits of its trial; on its pricing page the plans invite you to book a demo.
What costs extra on Mercately?
According to its pricing table, on the entry plan the API and webhooks aren't included and each user beyond five costs 35 USD a month; VTEX has a 1,200 USD setup plus 250 USD a month, and there are add-ons for extra funnels and teams. They also publish a 10 USD monthly charge to remove a "Vende más con Mercately" footer, listed among their sales tools; the page doesn't say where that footer appears, so ask if you care how what your customer receives looks.
Where is Mercately better?
In payment gateways for Latin America: they publish Stripe, Mercado Pago, PayPhone, PayPal, Kushki, Nequi, Daviplata and Bre-B, while heysteff currently takes payments only through Stripe. They also have TikTok as a channel, a VTEX integration and an ad attribution module that connects your campaign results with conversations, something heysteff doesn't offer.
◆ next step
Try heysteff on the Free plan, no card required, and compare it against your own operation before you decide.
Also useful: compare heysteff with Whaticket, Chatsell and ManyChat, or read about WhatsApp payments.