Hailbell vs Gleap: in-app support for mobile apps in 2026

12 November 2026 · Prices checked November 12, 2026

Hailbell is our product, built by an indie app developer who uses it in his own apps. Gleap is a strong product with far more features than ours, and for many teams it's the right pick. This page tries to make the choice quick either way. Gleap facts come from gleap.ai/pricing, its integration and product pages and its developer docs, all checked November 12, 2026. Gleap changed its plans in November 2026: Starter and Team are no longer sold to new workspaces, which now choose Hobby, Growth, Pro or Enterprise. Prices are in US dollars.

At a glance

Where Gleap is better, and who should pick it

Gleap does more jobs than Hailbell. If any of these describe you, it's probably the better buy:

• You want product feedback, not only support. Feature requests with votes, a public roadmap, a changelog, in-app surveys, product tours and checklists all come with Growth. Hailbell has none of these.
• Your bugs need logs. Gleap bug reports carry console logs and custom data on every plan, network logs from the SDK, and session replay from Growth. Its AI can investigate a bug report and Kai Code can open a pull request for your team to review. Hailbell's bug reports are simpler; more on that below.
• Customers write from email, WhatsApp or Instagram too. From Growth, Gleap puts those in the same inbox as the in-app chat. Hailbell is in-app chat and a web widget, with email only as a follow-up for replies the customer missed.
• You want a real help center or ticketing. Gleap's knowledge base has collections and ticket workflows. Hailbell's help center is a plain list of articles with search. The AI answers from it, and so far only the web chat suggests articles, not the iOS and Android chat. Hailbell has no ticketing.
• Your team answers from phones or Slack. Gleap has native inbox apps for iPhone and Android and can sync replies with Slack threads. Hailbell's iPhone app is coming soon, and it has no Slack integration.
• You build on more platforms. Gleap has SDKs for Capacitor, Cordova and FlutterFlow, plus .NET MAUI and Unity in beta. Hailbell covers Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native and the web.
• You have a huge app and a small team. Gleap's plans don't count users. Hailbell charges $5 per extra 10,000 users past Scale's 100,000.

Where Hailbell fits mobile apps better

• Push campaigns on the smallest plan. Hailbell sends campaigns through APNs, FCM and Web Push from the dashboard, the REST API or MCP, with segments, each person's local time or usual hour, weather and occasion variables, quiet hours and daily caps. One campaign can cover an app's iOS, Android and web platforms. On Gleap, push campaigns start on Growth.
• The money side of the chat. Offer cards open one of your paywalls, and review cards open your store review page once a problem is solved. Superwall paywall events sit next to the chat. Gleap has a RevenueCat integration but no Superwall one we found, and no offer or review cards.
• AI with no meter. Hailbell's AI replies are included on every plan. Gleap's are cheap, about $0.05 per conversation by its estimate, but they come out of a prepaid balance, so the bill grows with your chat volume. Gleap's Kai learns from more sources, including your website and YouTube videos, and from Growth it can call your own APIs and MCP servers, so it may answer more on day one.
• Seats and apps don't count. Every Hailbell plan has unlimited seats and apps. Gleap Hobby is 1 seat and 1 project, Growth includes 4 seats and then $25 per extra seat a month, and unlimited seats start on Pro at $359 a month.

Bug reports: Gleap goes deeper

Gleap's bug reports go further than ours. On every plan a report comes with a screenshot, console logs and any custom data you attach. Teammates, workflows or the AI can also ask a customer to take a screenshot or record their screen right in the chat (SDK 19.1.0 or later). Growth adds session replay. Gleap marks replay as beta, and on iOS and Android it builds replays from periodic screenshots and says they are not yet recommended for production apps. On the web it records the session with rrweb.

Hailbell's bug reports are newer and smaller. If you turn them on, customers shake the phone or tap your own "Report a problem" button. They send a screenshot they can mark up or remove, a description, and the app version, device, OS, locale and last 10 screens. The report lands in that customer's normal chat thread, next to their plan and purchases, and in Discord or Telegram if you answer there. There are no console logs and no replay. If your team triages crashes from support, Gleap is the stronger tool.

Knowing who is writing: plan, purchases and paywall events

Most messages to a subscription app are about money: "I paid and it's still locked", "I was charged twice". The answer depends on what the person bought.

Gleap covers part of this from Growth. Its RevenueCat integration lets Kai answer with the customer's real plan, status and purchases, spot a failed renewal, and send the store's own link to change or cancel. Your team sees the subscriptions next to the conversation. It also connects Stripe, Chargebee and Lemon Squeezy for web billing.

Hailbell does it on every plan, with RevenueCat and Superwall. Each conversation shows the customer's plan, purchases and paywall events, next to their device and country. When someone writes "the trial didn't start", you can see they closed the paywall two minutes ago without buying, and answer that. Then two cards finish the job:

• Offer cards. A button that opens one of your paywalls (a Superwall placement, or your RevenueCat paywall through a callback). The tap, "Not now" or purchase shows up in the chat, so you know if the offer worked.
• Review requests. Once you've solved the problem, a card opens the App Store review sheet, or your Play Store listing on Android. Ask happy customers only and never trade anything for a review; Apple and Google both forbid that.

Where you answer: Discord, Telegram, Slack or an AI agent

Gleap's inbox runs on the web and in native iPhone and Android apps with push. Its Slack integration posts tickets to a channel with thread replies and an optional two-way sync, and a Slack channel can itself become a support channel. Its Discord integration sends notifications. In Gleap, Telegram is a channel your customers message you from.

Hailbell gives each customer a Discord forum thread, or sends chats to your own Telegram bot, and you reply right there. The reply lands in the app, or as a push if the app is closed.

Both have official MCP servers that let an AI agent such as Claude Code or Codex work the inbox. Gleap's, from Growth, reads and writes tickets, sends replies and notes, and manages help center articles. Hailbell's, on every plan, reads and answers chats, and each conversation comes with the customer's plan and Superwall or RevenueCat purchases. Its replies wait as drafts a teammate sends unless an admin lets agents send in that app. It also sets up apps, writes the AI's notes, and previews and sends push campaigns.

Pricing for a solo app, a small team and an agency

Prices checked on November 12, 2026, on gleap.ai/pricing and hailbell.com.

Gleap's AI is paid separately on every plan, about $0.05 per Kai Support conversation by Gleap's own estimate, so 1,000 AI conversations a month would add about $50. Eligible startups can get $1,200 in AI credits on Growth or Pro. Hailbell counts monthly active users, the devices that opened your app with the SDK in a month; Gleap doesn't count users at all. Four examples:

• A solo developer with one app and 8,000 users a month, who wants AI replies and push. Hailbell Pro: $29. Gleap Hobby is $35 plus AI usage, without push campaigns or the RevenueCat integration; those need Growth at $119.
• A three-person team with 40,000 users that wants push and purchase context. Hailbell Scale: $79. Gleap Growth: $119 plus AI usage, with session replay, surveys and a roadmap thrown in.
• An agency with six people answering for eight client apps, 60,000 users between them. Hailbell Scale covers every app and teammate: $79. Gleap Growth has unlimited projects and 4 seats, so two extra seats make it $169 plus AI usage.
• One large app with 400,000 users a month and two people answering. Hailbell Scale plus 30 blocks of extra users: $229. Gleap Growth: $119 plus AI usage. Here Gleap's plan is cheaper.

How to choose

• You want bug reports with logs, session replay, surveys or a public roadmap: Gleap Growth.
• Customers reach you by email, WhatsApp and Instagram as well as in the app: Gleap Growth.
• Your team answers from Slack or wants a phone inbox app today: Gleap.
• Most support happens inside your iOS, Android or Flutter app: Hailbell.
• You sell subscriptions through Superwall or RevenueCat and want purchases and offers in the chat on a small plan: Hailbell.
• You want push campaigns and AI replies without a second tool or a usage bill: Hailbell.
• You're an agency answering for many client apps with a growing team: Hailbell, since apps and seats are unlimited on one plan.

Both trials need no card, so the fastest test is to add each SDK to a debug build and send yourself a message. Try Hailbell or read the docs. Weighing other tools too? See Crisp alternatives for mobile apps and in-app support chat SDKs compared.

Questions

Is Gleap or Hailbell cheaper for a mobile app?

For most small apps, Hailbell is cheaper. It costs $29 a month for 10,000 monthly active users, with unlimited seats, AI replies and push campaigns included. Gleap Hobby is $35 a month ($29 billed yearly) for one seat, with AI paid per conversation and no push campaigns; push and integrations start on Growth at $119 a month ($99 yearly). Gleap doesn't count users, so a very large app with a small team can pay less on Gleap Growth than on Hailbell Scale plus extra users. Prices checked November 12, 2026.

Does Gleap have session replay for iOS and Android apps?

Yes, from the Growth plan, in beta. On iOS and Android Gleap builds replays from periodic screenshots and says they are not yet recommended for production apps. On the web it records the session with rrweb. Hailbell has no session replay; its bug reports carry a screenshot the user can mark up, the app version, device and the last screens.

Can Gleap or Hailbell show a customer's RevenueCat subscription in the chat?

Both. Gleap's RevenueCat integration, from Growth, lets its AI answer with the customer's plan, status and purchases and shows them next to the conversation. Hailbell shows plan, purchases and paywall events from RevenueCat and Superwall on every plan, and can send an offer card that opens your paywall.

Can I reply to customers from Discord or Telegram?

With Hailbell, yes: each customer gets a Discord forum thread, or chats go to your own Telegram bot, and you reply there. Gleap's Discord integration sends notifications, and in Gleap Telegram is a channel your customers write from. Gleap does let your team reply from Slack threads, which Hailbell doesn't.

Can an AI agent answer chats in Gleap or Hailbell over MCP?

Yes, both. Gleap's MCP server, from Growth, reads and writes tickets, sends replies and notes, and manages help center articles. Hailbell's, on every plan, reads and answers chats with each customer's plan and purchases, and also runs push campaigns. Hailbell's agent replies wait as drafts for a teammate unless an admin lets agents send.