What is the best WhatsApp CRM in India in 2026?
For most Indian SMBs and D2C brands, InboxWA is the best-value WhatsApp CRM in 2026: Rs999/month with an AI chatbot bundled (1,000 AI calls included), zero markup on Meta's per-conversation fees, and no per-seat pricing. The cheapest credible alternative is Wati's Growth plan at Rs2,499/month, which as of July 2026 includes no customer-facing AI and allows only 3 users. "Best" depends on your shape, though: this guide lists where each platform genuinely fits, with sources, so you can decide from numbers rather than adjectives.
WhatsApp CRM comparison table (India, July 2026)
Four of the five platforms charge a per-message markup, meter their AI separately, or both. Here is the side-by-side, ex-GST:
| Platform | Entry price (WhatsApp) | Seats at entry | Meta-fee markup | AI chatbot included? | Automation flows | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| InboxWA | Rs999/mo (Growth Rs2,499, Scale Rs4,999) | 1 on Starter; 10 on Growth; never per-seat | Zero - Meta's exact rates | Yes - 1,000 AI calls/mo from Rs999; RAG on Growth | Cart recovery, COD verification, tracking, win-back; unlimited chatflows on Growth | 7 days, no card |
| Wati | Rs2,499/mo (Growth, monthly billing) | 3 users; no extra seats allowed on Growth | Yes - unpublished; ~20% measured by third parties | No - AI Support Agent is Pro-only (Rs5,999/mo, 250 responses) | Chatbot sessions metered: 1,000/mo, then ~Rs2,000 per 1,000 | 7 days |
| AiSensy | Rs1,500/mo + GST (Basic) | 1 owner + 5 agents; extra Rs750/mo each | Effective ~26% on marketing (Rs1.09 billed vs Meta list) | No - AI Agent add-on Rs3,500/mo | Add-on: Rs2,500/mo for 5 chatbot flows | 14 days, no card (flows excluded) |
| Interakt | ~Rs1,166/mo effective (Rs3,499/quarter; the Rs999 monthly tier is Instagram-only) | Unlimited seats on all plans | Yes - 10-39% by plan; 0% on Enterprise only | No - AI Agents add-on Rs3,000/mo (100 free msgs, then Rs0.50) | Simple auto-replies on Starter; branching flows need Advanced (Rs3,799/mo) | 14 days, capped at 10 chats/day pre-verification |
| DoubleTick | Rs3,000/mo, billed yearly only (Rs36,000 upfront) | 5 agents on Starter | No at-cost guarantee; ~13% alleged in third-party teardowns | No - Enterprise only, via your own OpenAI API key | Scripted Welcome/Order/Stop bots; complex journeys on Pro (Rs4,200/mo) | None - demo only |
All competitor figures as of July 2026, from vendor pricing pages and public third-party sources (linked below). Prices ex-GST unless stated. Vendors change pricing often; check their pages before buying.
How much does a WhatsApp CRM actually cost in India?
Plan on three layers, because the subscription is often the smallest one. First, the platform fee: Rs999 to Rs4,200+ per month across these five. Second, Meta's per-message fees: in India from January 2026, Rs0.8560 per marketing conversation, Rs0.1150 utility, Rs0.1250 authentication; user-initiated service conversations free (first 1,000/month). Third, add-ons: AI at Rs3,000-3,500/month extra on Interakt and AiSensy, chatbot flows at Rs2,500/month on AiSensy, extra seats at Rs499-1,299/month, and chatbot-session overages of ~Rs2,000 per 1,000 sessions on Wati.
Two entry-price traps. Interakt's Rs999/month sticker is Instagram-only; WhatsApp on Starter needs a Rs3,499 quarterly commitment. Wati's Rs999 India option is a one-time credit pack valid 3 months, not a plan. DoubleTick has no monthly billing at all: Rs36,000 a year upfront, no free trial. InboxWA's pricing is monthly, ex-GST, and annual billing saves about two months.
Which WhatsApp CRM includes AI without paid add-ons?
One of the five. InboxWA bundles AI from its Rs999 Starter plan: 1,000 AI calls/month in your own tone, overage Rs0.25 a call (a cached answer counts as half). Growth (Rs2,499) adds retrieval-grounded AI trained on your actual catalogue, FAQs, and pricing, with human escalation. Elsewhere, AI is an upsell: Wati's AI Support Agent needs the Rs5,999/month Pro plan (250 responses); AiSensy's AI Agent Builder is Rs3,500/month extra; Interakt's AI Agents are Rs3,000/month extra (100 free messages, then Rs0.50 each); DoubleTick lists AI bots only on custom-priced Enterprise, running on your own OpenAI API key with separately purchased OpenAI credits.
Bundled AI is only useful if it does not embarrass you. InboxWA's AI never invents prices: price and availability come from deterministic lookups, and a confidence gate hands unsure chats to a human with context. See our AI evaluation framework and the Data + RAG onboarding service (85%+ eval pass-rate guarantee).
The markup problem: how 10,000 messages quietly cost Rs2,140 extra
At 10,000 marketing conversations a month, Meta's bill is Rs8,560. On a platform with a 25% markup, the same sends cost Rs10,700, which means Rs2,140/month lost to margin skimming, before GST. A WhatsApp CRM should make its money on software, not by skimming a margin off every message you send.
As of July 2026: Interakt's self-serve plans bill 10-39% above Meta's rates by plan and category (only custom Enterprise advertises "No Markup Charges"). AiSensy bills Rs1.09 per marketing message against Meta's list rate, roughly 26% higher. Wati publishes no rate card; third-party teardowns measure ~20% on marketing and up to ~257% on authentication, and users on G2 make pricing the top complaint theme. DoubleTick offers no at-cost guarantee; a competitor teardown alleges ~13%. InboxWA charges Meta's exact published rates through a transparent wallet: no minimum, no markup. Full workings: WhatsApp API pricing comparison and the bulk messaging 2026 playbook.
Where each platform genuinely fits
Wati: best for teams that want the most widely adopted tool
Wati is the incumbent: 4.6/5 on G2 from 482 reviews, mature template management, HubSpot/Salesforce on higher tiers. A sensible pick if you want a large ecosystem and mostly need agent-assist. Caveats: Trustpilot sits near 3.5/5 with users reporting cancellation friction, the rate card is unpublished, and Growth (Rs2,499) has no customer-facing AI and no way to add seats as of July 2026. Full breakdown: Wati alternative.
AiSensy: best for broadcast-first marketing teams
AiSensy's Rs0 Forever Free plan (API access, 1 agent, click-to-WhatsApp ads manager) is a low-risk way to hold an API number, and Basic at Rs1,500/month is the cheapest paid base plan here if you only broadcast. Caveats: chatbots (Rs2,500/mo) and AI (Rs3,500/mo) are both add-ons, so an AI-enabled stack starts near Rs5,000/month plus GST, and its billed Rs1.09 marketing rate runs ~26% over Meta's list. G2: 4.3/5 from 110 reviews. Full breakdown: AiSensy alternative.
Interakt: best for large support teams on a budget
Interakt (by Jio Haptik) is the only platform here with unlimited agent seats on every plan, plus native WhatsApp catalogue, payments, and deep Shopify apps. Caveats: 10-39% per-message markup on all self-serve plans, AI at Rs3,000/month extra, branching chatbots gated to the Rs3,799 Advanced plan, and a stark split between 4.5/5 on G2 and 1.9/5 on Trustpilot, where users report slow support and billing disputes. Full breakdown: Interakt alternative.
DoubleTick: best for mobile-first field sales teams
DoubleTick's Android/iOS apps (100,000+ downloads) and QuickSell catalogue roots make it the strongest pick when your sellers work from phones, not desks. G2: 4.8/5. Caveats: annual-only billing (Rs36,000+ upfront), no free trial, real AI only on custom Enterprise via your own OpenAI key, and a 2.0/5 Trustpilot score where users report delivery and refund issues. Full breakdown: DoubleTick alternative.
A simple decision framework
Indian SMBs we onboard typically see 60-80% of inbound leads arrive on WhatsApp. If that is you, WhatsApp is not a channel; it is your CRM, and you should buy a WhatsApp-first tool rather than bolt WhatsApp onto a generic CRM. Then decide on four questions:
- Message volume: sending 5,000+ marketing messages a month? Markup dominates the bill; pick a zero-markup platform.
- AI need: want the bot answering price questions at 2 am? Only InboxWA includes that below Rs2,500/month; elsewhere budget Rs3,000-3,500 extra.
- Team size: 15+ agents? Interakt's unlimited seats or InboxWA Scale (unlimited seats, Rs4,999) beat per-seat platforms charging Rs499-1,299 per extra agent.
- Automation depth: D2C brands live on abandoned-cart recovery and COD verification (a direct RTO reducer). Check these are native flows, not "journeys" gated to a higher tier.
Our verdict
Buy InboxWA if you want AI answering on WhatsApp without add-on maths: Rs999/month entry with 1,000 AI calls, zero Meta-fee markup, no per-seat pricing, data hosted in India, DPDP-aligned, founder-direct support. Start the 7-day trial, no card needed.
Buy Wati (Rs2,499/month, the cheapest credible alternative) if ecosystem maturity matters more than bundled AI; Interakt for unlimited-seat support desks; AiSensy for pure broadcasting on a tight base fee; DoubleTick for mobile-first field sales with an annual budget. Unsure? Tell us your volumes and we will answer honestly, including when we are not the right fit.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best WhatsApp CRM in India in 2026?
For most small and mid-sized Indian businesses, InboxWA is the strongest value in 2026: Rs999/month with an AI chatbot bundled, zero markup on Meta's per-conversation fees, and no per-seat pricing. The cheapest credible alternative is Wati's Growth plan at Rs2,499/month, but as of July 2026 it includes no customer-facing AI and caps you at 3 users. Interakt suits large support teams (unlimited seats), and DoubleTick suits mobile-first field sales teams.
How much does a WhatsApp CRM cost in India per month?
Budget three layers: a subscription (Rs999 to Rs4,200+ per month across the major platforms as of July 2026), Meta's per-message fees (Rs0.8560 per marketing conversation in India), and add-ons. AI chatbots cost Rs3,000-3,500/month extra on Interakt and AiSensy; extra seats run Rs499-1,299/month on several platforms. InboxWA bundles AI from Rs999 and never charges per seat.
Which WhatsApp CRM is cheapest in India?
On sticker price, InboxWA Starter at Rs999/month is the cheapest full plan with WhatsApp API access, 5,000 contacts, broadcasts, and 1,000 AI calls included. AiSensy Basic is Rs1,500/month plus GST but includes no chatbot or AI. Interakt's Rs999/month tier is Instagram-only on monthly billing; WhatsApp requires a Rs3,499 quarterly commitment. Wati's Rs999 India option is a one-time credit pack, not a monthly plan.
Do WhatsApp CRM platforms add a markup to Meta's message fees?
Most do. As of July 2026, Interakt's self-serve plans bill 10-39% above Meta's India rates depending on plan and category, AiSensy bills Rs1.09 per marketing message against Meta's published list rate (roughly 26% higher), and Wati's rate card is unpublished, with third-party measurements around 20%. InboxWA charges Meta's exact published rates with zero markup: 10,000 marketing conversations cost Rs8,560, not Rs10,700.
Which WhatsApp CRM includes an AI chatbot without add-ons?
Of the five major platforms, only InboxWA includes AI in its entry plan (1,000 AI calls/month at Rs999). Wati's AI Support Agent requires the Rs5,999/month Pro plan, AiSensy's AI Agent Builder is a Rs3,500/month add-on, Interakt's AI Agents cost Rs3,000/month extra, and DoubleTick lists AI bots only on its custom-priced Enterprise tier, running on your own OpenAI API key.
Is there a free trial for WhatsApp CRM tools in India?
InboxWA offers a 7-day free trial of Growth features with no card required. Wati offers 7 days, AiSensy 14 days (chatbot flows excluded), and Interakt 14 days with hard caps (10 unique chats per day until Facebook Business verification completes). DoubleTick advertises no free trial as of July 2026, only a demo, with annual-only billing.
What is the difference between a WhatsApp CRM and the free WhatsApp Business app?
The free app is single-device and manual. A WhatsApp CRM runs on the WhatsApp Business API: multiple team members on one number, broadcasts to thousands of opted-in contacts, AI auto-replies, automations like abandoned-cart recovery and COD verification, and CRM connections. The API has no app-style interface of its own, which is why platforms like InboxWA exist.
See your real WhatsApp bill before you commit
AI answering from day one, Meta's exact rates, no per-seat pricing. Founder-run, New Delhi.