Overview

Bento and Customer.io both focus on behavioral email marketing, but they serve different market segments. Bento is the modern, simple option targeting smaller companies with transparent pricing. Customer.io is the enterprise-grade platform with years of development and features for complex use cases. See our Customer.io comparison for more details.

Multi-Channel vs Email Focus

The biggest feature difference is channels. Customer.io supports email, push notifications, SMS, and in-app messaging from one platform. Bento is email-only. If you need to reach users across multiple channels, Customer.io is the choice. If email is enough, Bento is simpler. For campaign management, both work well.

Pricing Comparison

Bento charges $0.01 per tracked user - simple and predictable. At 10,000 users, that's $100/month. Customer.io's Essentials starts at $100/month for 5,000 profiles. Add 5,000 more and you're paying extra. Customer.io's pricing is harder to predict as you scale. Use our pricing calculator to compare.

Behavioral Automation & Segmentation

Both platforms excel at event-triggered behavioral automations and user segmentation. Customer.io has more advanced triggers and conditions. Bento has simpler workflows but still covers most email campaign needs.

Enterprise Features

Customer.io has HIPAA compliance, SSO, and enterprise support tiers. Bento is more suited for smaller teams without complex compliance requirements. If enterprise features matter, Customer.io is the safer choice.

Making the Decision

Choose Bento for simple, affordable email marketing with quick setup and transparent pricing. Choose Customer.io for multi-channel messaging, advanced behavioral features, or enterprise compliance. For SaaS with Stripe integration, consider Sequenzy as a third option.

The Sequenzy Alternative

If you're a SaaS with Stripe billing, Sequenzy combines email campaigns, smart segmentation, AI sequences, and native Stripe integration at one simple price per contact.