# API-first alternative to Bento

Bento bundles everything; Bitelio does one thing exceptionally well. Get serious email automation with no CRM, no live chat, and no multi-channel sprawl — a developer-first, API-driven platform with honest pricing.

## Why teams choose Bitelio

### API-First Design

Designed from the endpoint up for developers embedding email in their apps — a tidy REST API, thorough documentation, and webhooks throughout.

### Unlimited Contacts

Contact storage is never metered. Sending is what you pay for, so your audience can balloon without your bill ever noticing.

### Transparent Pricing

Start free at 1,000 emails/month; paid plans begin at $19/mo with a flat $1.20 per extra 1,000 emails. Nothing expires and nothing forces an upgrade.

### Simple Setup

Five minutes from signup to first send. There is no CRM to provision, no channels to connect, no chat widget to install — only email, handled properly.

### EU-Hosted & GDPR-Compliant

Hosted on EU infrastructure with GDPR-compliant processing, and the API will hand back your contacts and data any time you ask. Lock-in is not part of the model.

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Bitelio | Bento |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing Model | Free plan + tiers from $19/mo | Trial then subscription |
| Target Audience | Developers | Small businesses/creators |
| Transactional Emails | Yes | Yes |
| Marketing Campaigns | Yes | Yes |
| Workflow Automation | Yes | Yes |
| CRM Features | No | Yes |
| Live Chat | No | Yes |
| API-First Design | Yes | Integration-focused |

## FAQ

### When should I choose Bento over Bitelio?

If your business wants email, CRM, live chat, and customer relationship tooling rolled into a single product, Bento's all-in-one design is genuinely useful — it's aimed at small businesses and creators. Bitelio takes the opposite bet: pure, focused email automation for developers embedding email into their product, with none of the surrounding CRM weight.

### What is the pricing difference between Bitelio and Bento?

Bento runs a 30-day unlimited trial before moving you onto subscription pricing. Bitelio never expires: the free plan carries 1,000 emails/month with unlimited contacts, and paid plans begin at $19/month (Pro, with 15,000 emails included) plus a flat $1.20 per extra 1,000. If email is all you need, Bitelio usually wins on cost — though Bento bundles CRM and live chat into its price, so teams that would actually use those may find the bundle worthwhile.

### Can Bitelio handle email automation like Bento?

On the email side, feature for feature, yes — workflow automation, event-based triggers, transactional sending, and marketing campaigns are all present. Bento's extras (CRM, live chat, relationship management) are precisely what Bitelio leaves out, which is why it stays simpler for teams that only want email automation.

### How does the developer experience compare?

They target different builders. Bitelio is API-first — made for developers wiring email into their own applications with full control and flexibility. Bento leans on ready-made integrations for platforms like Shopify and WordPress and leads with its UI. More control with Bitelio; more out-of-the-box connections with Bento.

### Is migration from Bento to Bitelio easy?

For the email portion, yes: export contacts from Bento, bring them into Bitelio, rebuild workflows through the API or dashboard, and hook Bitelio into your app — count on a few hours for an email-only move. Bento's CRM, live chat, and multi-channel features have no equivalent in Bitelio, so plan replacements for those separately.


---

> Source: https://dev.bitelio.com/vs/bento