Short answer
Interakt vs Wati vs AiSensy: AiSensy has the lowest entry plan (₹1,500 a month, five agents) but the highest per-message prices (₹1.09 marketing). Interakt charges less per message and lists native HubSpot and Zoho CRM integrations. Wati costs more per seat and lists HubSpot from its ₹4,899 Pro plan. Choose on message volume and CRM.
How WhatsApp Business API providers charge in India
You pay twice: a platform fee to the provider, and a charge for every delivered template message, which the provider passes through from Meta with or without a markup.
Meta has charged per delivered message since 1 July 2025, by message category and the recipient's market, according to its WhatsApp Business Platform pricing documentation. From 1 October 2026 Meta also charges for service messages (free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message), with a free tier of 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month. Utility templates sent inside the 24-hour customer service window, free since July 2025, are charged again from the same date. Messages sent in a 72-hour free entry point window, opened when a user messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button, are free in every category. One more India change: Meta launched INR billing in January 2026 and says eligible accounts must move to INR by 31 December 2026, so ask your provider which currency your messages are billed in.
The providers compared here (Interakt, Wati and AiSensy) are software layers on top of that: a shared inbox, broadcasts, chatbots, integrations. Each publishes its own per-message price list, which is where the real cost difference sits for any business sending more than a few thousand messages a month. For Meta's rates in full and how they apply, see WhatsApp Business API pricing in India.
What decides the charge for one message
- CategoryTemplate or reply?Templates are marketing, utility or authentication. Free-form replies are service.
- WindowFree entry point?Within 72 hours of a click-to-WhatsApp ad or Page button chat, everything is free.
- TierService free tier?The first 1,000 service messages per number each month are free.
- ChargeRate appliedMeta's rate for the recipient market, plus any provider markup.
Interakt vs Wati vs AiSensy: plan prices in INR
All three show INR prices. They differ in what is included per seat: Interakt includes unlimited agents, AiSensy includes five, Wati three to five with paid extra users.
| Provider and plan | Monthly billing | Longer terms | Agents included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interakt Starter | Instagram-only on monthly billing | ₹3,499 a quarter (+taxes) | Unlimited (owner roles) |
| Interakt Growth | ₹2,799 (+taxes) | ₹7,699 a quarter (+taxes) | Unlimited (all roles) |
| Interakt Advanced | ₹3,799 (+taxes) | ₹10,499 a quarter (+taxes) | Unlimited (all roles) |
| Wati Growth | ₹2,999 | ₹2,699 a month quarterly, ₹2,199 a month yearly | 3 users, no extra users |
| Wati Pro | ₹6,499 | ₹5,799 quarterly, ₹4,899 yearly (per month) | 5 users, extra ₹1,299 each |
| Wati Business | ₹18,499 | ₹16,799 quarterly, ₹14,799 yearly (per month) | 5 users, extra ₹2,199 each |
| AiSensy Free Forever | ₹0 | No broadcasting | Claim the API, apply for the blue tick, run Meta ads |
| AiSensy Basic | ₹1,500 | ₹4,275 a quarter, ₹16,200 a year | 1 owner + 5 agents, extra ₹750 each |
| AiSensy Pro | ₹3,200 | ₹9,120 a quarter, ₹34,560 a year | Adds scheduling, click tracking, budget analytics |
| AiSensy Premium | ₹9,100 | ₹25,935 a quarter, ₹98,280 a year | Adds number masking, downloadable reports |
Wati vs Interakt on seats is the clearest difference: a team of eight agents fits any Interakt plan, needs Wati Pro plus three extra users (₹3,897 a month extra at ₹1,299 each), and fits AiSensy Basic plus three extra agents (₹2,250 a month extra at ₹750 each). For a team of two or three, Wati Growth and AiSensy Basic are both straightforward. Add-ons change the picture too: AiSensy prices its chatbot flow builder (₹2,500 a month for five chatbots) and AI agent (₹1,350 a month with 1,000 AI messages) separately, Interakt lists WhatsApp AI agents as a ₹3,000 add-on on Growth and Advanced, and Wati includes AI credits in each plan with more sold as an add-on.
How much does each add on top of Meta's message rate?
For businesses that send at volume, the per-message price matters more than the plan. Here is each published price against Meta's INR list rate for India.
| Price list | Marketing | vs Meta | Utility | vs Meta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta list rate (from 1 Oct 2026) | ₹0.8631 | – | ₹0.115 | – |
| Interakt Starter | ₹0.970 | +12.4% | ₹0.160 | +39.1% |
| Interakt Growth | ₹0.958 | +11.0% | ₹0.150 | +30.4% |
| Interakt Advanced | ₹0.949 | +10.0% | ₹0.140 | +21.7% |
| Interakt Enterprise | No template markup | 0% | No template markup | 0% |
| AiSensy (all plans) | ₹1.09 | +26.3% | ₹0.145 | +26.1% |
| Wati | Per-plan rate cards (not verified) | ? | Per-plan rate cards (not verified) | ? |
Cost of 50,000 marketing messages at each published price
AiSensy's plan fee is lower and its message prices higher. On marketing messages AiSensy charges about ₹0.13 more per message than Interakt Growth (₹1.09 against ₹0.958), so once a business sends roughly 10,000 marketing messages a month, the message difference outweighs a ₹1,300 gap in monthly plan fees. The cost comparer below does this arithmetic for your own mix.
HubSpot and Zoho CRM integration: the deciding factor
A WhatsApp tool that does not write conversations and outcomes back to the CRM creates a second, invisible pipeline. Check the CRM route before the price.
| CRM | Interakt | Wati | AiSensy |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Native | Listed in Pro's integrations ("5 integrations incl. HubSpot") | Through Zapier |
| Zoho CRM | Native | Not verified | Not listed |
| Bigin | Native | Not verified | Not listed |
| LeadSquared | API-powered | Not verified | Native |
| Salesforce | Native | Business plan ("unlimited integrations incl. Salesforce") | Not listed |
| Shopify | Separate Shopify plan | Add-on, $4.99 a month | Native |
| Webhooks and APIs | Public APIs from Growth, advanced webhooks on Advanced | No webhooks on Growth, limited on Pro, extensive on Business | Template message APIs, webhooks |
Even a native integration differs in what it writes back. Before buying, check four things in a trial: does each inbound WhatsApp conversation create or match a contact by phone number; is the conversation logged on the contact timeline; can a CRM workflow trigger a template (for example a follow-up when a deal stage changes); and does the lead source survive, so a lead from a click-to-WhatsApp ad is attributed to that ad. The last one is what makes WhatsApp leads usable for Google Ads offline conversions.
HubSpot also has its own route: its native WhatsApp inbox channel needs Marketing Hub or Service Hub Professional or Enterprise, per HubSpot's knowledge base, with a cap of 1,000 template messages a month across connected accounts. The trade-off between that and a provider app is covered in the HubSpot WhatsApp integration guide. Zoho CRM supports WhatsApp natively in all paid editions, as Zoho's help explains, so a Zoho team may not need a provider's CRM integration at all; Bigin lists WhatsApp from its Express plan as well.
Speed matters as much as the connector. A WhatsApp lead that waits hours for a reply behaves like any slow lead, which the lead routing delay cost calculator puts a number on, and HubSpot round-robin lead routing or Zoho CRM lead assignment rules decide who replies first.
A lead from a click-to-WhatsApp ad: who does what
Which WhatsApp provider is cheapest for your volume?
Put in a normal month. The comparer picks each provider's plan for your team, prices the messages, and shows the CRM route.
WhatsApp provider monthly cost comparer
Enter a normal month of WhatsApp traffic and your team size. The tool picks the plan each provider would need, adds its published per-message prices, and shows the total next to what Meta alone would charge.
Replies by agents, bots or AI. The first 1,000 per number are free.
Read it from Wati's rate card for your plan. 0 means Meta's list rate.
- Interakt: native integration listed on its integrations page
- Wati: HubSpot listed among the integrations from the Pro plan
- AiSensy: through Zapier, as listed on its integrations page
Meta India list rates per delivered message from the INR rate card effective 1 October 2026: marketing ₹0.8631, utility ₹0.115, authentication ₹0.115, service ₹0.115 after 1,000 free service messages per number per month. Interakt (prices +taxes): Starter ₹3,499 a quarter (monthly Starter is Instagram-only, so the tool moves you to Growth on monthly billing), Growth ₹2,799 a month or ₹7,699 a quarter, Advanced ₹3,799 or ₹10,499; yearly prices were not captured, so the quarterly rate is used for yearly. Interakt per-message prices for Indian numbers by plan: marketing ₹0.970, ₹0.958, ₹0.949; utility ₹0.160, ₹0.150, ₹0.140; authentication and service ₹0.129, ₹0.128, ₹0.127. Wati (INR, monthly-equivalent): Growth ₹2,999 / ₹2,699 / ₹2,199 (monthly, quarterly, yearly billing), 3 users, no extra users; Pro ₹6,499 / ₹5,799 / ₹4,899, 5 users, extra ₹1,299; Business ₹18,499 / ₹16,799 / ₹14,799, 5 users, extra ₹2,199; Shopify add-on $4.99 a month converted at ₹96.6 (FBIL reference rate, 9 October 2026). Wati's message rate cards were not verified, so its messages are priced at Meta's rate plus the markup you enter. AiSensy (prepaid): Basic ₹1,500 a month, ₹4,275 a quarter, ₹16,200 a year; Pro ₹3,200, ₹9,120, ₹34,560; 5 agents included, extra ₹750; messages ₹1.09 marketing and ₹0.145 utility, authentication and service. Plan rules: Interakt Advanced for auto-assignment and branched bots, Growth for more than one agent or a CRM; Wati Business for Salesforce or several numbers, Pro for HubSpot, webhooks or more than 3 users; AiSensy Pro for scheduling and click tracking. All checked 17 October 2026. GST and payment-gateway fees are not included. Messages sent inside a free entry point window from click-to-WhatsApp ads are free; leave them out of your counts.
Interakt, Wati and AiSensy: strengths and limits
A fair summary of each from its own pages. All three are established providers used by Indian businesses; the differences are in pricing shape and integrations.
Where each fits
Best WhatsApp Business API provider in India: choose by situation
There is no single best provider. There is a best fit for your message mix, team size and CRM.
Which provider to trial first
Must WhatsApp write to HubSpot or Zoho CRM?
See the whole decision tree
Must WhatsApp write to HubSpot or Zoho CRM?
- Yes
Which CRM?
- Zoho CRM or BiginInterakt, or Zoho's native WhatsAppInterakt lists native Zoho and Bigin integrations; Zoho CRM also connects WhatsApp natively on paid editions.Zoho CRM consultant →
- HubSpotInterakt or Wati ProBoth list HubSpot. Compare what each logs on the timeline in a trial.HubSpot WhatsApp integration →
- Zoho CRM or Bigin
- No
More than about 10,000 marketing messages a month?
- YesInteraktLower published per-message prices; Enterprise removes the template markup.
- NoAiSensy or Wati GrowthLower entry fee for small teams; AiSensy includes five agents.WhatsApp automation →
- Yes
Wati alternatives and AiSensy vs Interakt. Teams leaving Wati usually do so over seat costs or message rates; Interakt (unlimited agents, lower published markup) and AiSensy (five agents included, low entry fee) are the two obvious alternatives. Between AiSensy and Interakt, the trade is entry price against per-message price, and LeadSquared or Shopify (AiSensy native) against HubSpot or Zoho (Interakt native).
For Shopify stores, the provider choice matters less than what the messages do: an order or COD confirmation flow that updates Shopify and only then sends the purchase event cuts fake orders out of ad optimisation. That flow is in Shopify WhatsApp order notifications, alongside Meta CAPI for Shopify COD orders and the RTO-adjusted ROAS calculator.
Checks before you sign with any WhatsApp provider
Myth Service replies are always free.
Reality From 1 October 2026 Meta charges service messages after 1,000 free per number per month.
Myth Utility messages inside the 24-hour window are free.
Reality Meta now lists only two free cases: the 72-hour free entry point window and the monthly service free tier. Utility templates in the customer service window are charged.
Myth Every provider charges Meta's rate.
Reality Published prices for Indian numbers range from about 10% to 39% above Meta's INR list rate across Interakt and AiSensy plans.
Myth Native integration means full sync.
Reality It means a connector exists. What it logs, and whether it can trigger templates from CRM events, varies.
Provider due diligence
Ask which WhatsApp provider fits your setup
Share your volumes, team and CRM. The reply recommends a provider and plan and explains how the CRM integration should be configured.
Rahul D Sarker is an independent consultant based in Kolkata, not a partner or reseller of Interakt, Wati or AiSensy, and earns no referral fee from any of them. WhatsApp work runs under the site's WhatsApp automation service, usually together with CRM work for HubSpot or Zoho CRM. The fintech speed-to-lead case study, which used the WhatsApp API with HubSpot, cut speed-to-lead from 4.2 hours to 11 minutes. For a wider review of how leads turn into revenue, the Revenue Diagnostic runs two weeks with read-only access, at ₹90,000 in India ($1,500 elsewhere), credited if the work continues.
Tell me about your WhatsApp setup
Volumes, team size and the CRM are enough to recommend a provider and plan.
Interakt vs Wati vs AiSensy: common questions
Which is cheaper, Interakt, Wati or AiSensy?
It depends on volume and team size. AiSensy has the lowest paid entry at ₹1,500 a month with five agents, but the highest published per-message prices (₹1.09 marketing, ₹0.145 utility). Interakt charges less per message (₹0.949 to ₹0.970 marketing) and includes unlimited agents. Wati's plans start at ₹2,199 a month billed yearly with three users. The cost comparer on this page totals all three for your own numbers.
Wati vs Interakt: which is better for a sales team?
For a larger team, Interakt is usually cheaper because every plan includes unlimited agents, while Wati charges ₹1,299 or ₹2,199 per extra user beyond five on Pro and Business. Both list HubSpot integration (Wati from Pro). Wati puts more emphasis on AI agents and credits in each plan. Trial both against your CRM before deciding.
AiSensy vs Interakt: what is the main difference?
AiSensy has a lower entry fee and native Shopify, Razorpay and LeadSquared integrations, and lists HubSpot only through Zapier. Interakt has lower per-message prices and lists native HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Bigin and Salesforce integrations. At around 10,000 marketing messages a month the message price difference outweighs AiSensy's lower plan fee.
What does Meta charge for WhatsApp messages in India?
Meta's INR rate card effective 1 October 2026 lists ₹0.8631 per marketing message and ₹0.115 per utility, authentication or service message for India. Each business number gets 1,000 free service messages a month, and all messages in a 72-hour free entry point window are free. See the WhatsApp Business API pricing in India guide for detail.
Do these providers charge a markup on Meta's rates?
Their published prices are above Meta's list rate. Interakt's are about 10% to 12% higher for marketing and 22% to 39% for utility, depending on plan, with no template markup on Enterprise. AiSensy's are about 26% higher for both. Wati publishes per-plan rate cards that were not verified for this page. Part of a difference may be tax, so ask each provider.
Which WhatsApp provider integrates with Zoho CRM?
Interakt lists native Zoho CRM and Bigin integrations. AiSensy's integrations page does not list Zoho. Wati's integrations page could not be read, so ask Wati directly. Zoho CRM also supports WhatsApp natively in all paid editions.
Which WhatsApp provider integrates with HubSpot?
Interakt lists a native HubSpot integration, Wati lists HubSpot among the integrations on its Pro plan, and AiSensy connects through Zapier. HubSpot's own WhatsApp inbox channel needs Marketing Hub or Service Hub Professional or Enterprise.
What are good Wati alternatives in India?
Interakt and AiSensy are the most direct alternatives, compared on this page. The choice between them comes down to per-message price and CRM integration (Interakt) against entry price and Shopify or LeadSquared integration (AiSensy).
Can I switch WhatsApp providers later?
Usually yes, if the WhatsApp Business Account is in your own Meta business portfolio. Wati lists provider migration as part of its paid onboarding. Confirm account ownership and how templates and opt-ins move before signing a long term.
Sources
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (with INR rate card effective 1 October 2026), Meta for Developers. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- WhatsApp Business API Pricing, Interakt. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- Integrations, Interakt. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- Wati Pricing: WhatsApp Business API, Wati. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- AiSensy Pricing Plans: WhatsApp API Pricing, AiSensy. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- Integrations, AiSensy. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- Connect WhatsApp to the conversations inbox, HubSpot Knowledge Base. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- Top 3 WATI Alternatives (vendor-published), Interakt. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- Top 5 AiSensy Alternatives (vendor-published), Interakt. Accessed 2026-10-17.
- WhatsApp Business Integration, Zoho CRM Help. Accessed 2026-10-17.