We priced AiSensy, Interakt, Wati and Gupshup from their own pricing pages on 8 November 2026. Here is what one month of WhatsApp marketing really costs, and the volume where the cheapest provider changes.
01Meta charges ₹0.8631 per marketing message and about ₹0.115 per utility or authentication message to Indian numbers, and every WhatsApp API provider adds its own fee on top.
02In PingTalks’ test basket of 10,000 marketing, 5,000 utility and 3,000 service messages, AiSensy cost ₹13,415, Interakt ₹15,932 and Gupshup about ₹11,412 a month before GST.
03AiSensy’s ₹1,500 Basic plan beats Wati Growth until about 17,850 marketing messages a month and Interakt Growth until about 30,600, because AiSensy charges ₹1.09 per marketing message.
04Gupshup’s self-serve plan adds $0.001 to every template and session message, including incoming customer messages, but needs your own inbox or CRM.
₹13,415. That is what one month of WhatsApp marketing cost on AiSensy in our test basket, against ₹15,932 on Interakt and about ₹11,412 on Gupshup, before GST. We priced the four biggest WhatsApp API providers in India from their own pricing pages on 8 November 2026, and the cheapest one depends almost entirely on how many marketing messages you send.
Below: the comparison table, our cost maths for a typical D2C brand, the volume where the winner flips, and the pricing traps each provider’s page doesn’t shout about.
For a small Indian business sending under about 18,000 marketing messages a month, AiSensy is the cheapest ready-to-use option once the platform fee is included, because its Basic plan costs ₹1,500. Above that volume, its ₹1.09 marketing rate costs more than the low fee saves. Gupshup is cheaper still, but you build your own inbox.
Every provider passes on Meta’s charge, which since 1 January 2026 is ₹0.8631 per marketing message and about ₹0.115 per utility or authentication message for Indian numbers. The difference is what each provider adds on top: a plan fee, a per-message markup, or both.
| Provider | Platform fee (checked 8 Nov 2026) | India marketing message | Utility / service message |
|---|---|---|---|
| AiSensy | Free Forever plan; Basic ₹1,500/month; chatbot builder ₹2,500/month extra | ₹1.09 | ₹0.145 |
| Interakt | Growth $55/month, Advanced $69/month, plus taxes (about ₹5,174 and ₹6,491) | ₹0.949 to ₹0.970, by plan | ₹0.140 to ₹0.160 utility; ₹0.127 to ₹0.129 service |
| Wati | Growth $59, Pro $119, Business $279 a month, billed annually (about ₹5,550, ₹11,194, ₹26,246) | Meta rate plus Wati markup; India figure sits in a rate card PDF, not on the page | Same: rate card PDF |
| Gupshup (self-serve) | No monthly fee stated | Meta rate plus $0.001 (about ₹0.094) | Meta rate plus $0.001, charged on incoming session messages too |
Dollar prices are converted at ₹94.07 to the US dollar, the 8 November 2026 rate. Interakt and Wati showed us USD prices; Indian checkout may differ, so confirm before you pay.
We built one basket and ran it through each provider’s published rates. The brand sends 10,000 marketing messages (offers and cart reminders), 5,000 utility messages (order and delivery updates) and 3,000 service replies. Customers send roughly 3,000 messages back.
Since 1 October 2026, the first 1,000 service messages per business number each month are free and the rest are billed, so 2,000 service replies get charged. Utility templates inside the 24-hour window are no longer free either.
| Provider | Messages | Plan fee | Total before GST |
|---|---|---|---|
| AiSensy (Basic) | ₹11,915 | ₹1,500 | ₹13,415 |
| Interakt (Growth, highest rate set) | ₹10,758 | ₹5,174 | ₹15,932 |
| Wati (Growth, Meta rates only) | ₹9,436 plus markup | ₹5,550 | ₹14,986 or more |
| Gupshup (self-serve) | ₹9,436 plus ₹1,976 fees on 21,000 messages sent and received | None stated | ₹11,412 |
Two caveats keep this honest. Interakt’s India table lists three rate sets without clearly labelling which plan gets which, so we used the highest. Wati’s number is a floor, because its India markup isn’t on the public page. Add 18% GST to everything: AiSensy lands near ₹15,830 and Gupshup near ₹13,466.
AiSensy stays cheaper than Wati’s Growth plan until about 17,850 marketing messages a month (assuming Wati adds no markup, which flatters Wati), and cheaper than Interakt’s Growth plan until about 30,600. Past those points, AiSensy’s higher per-message rate costs more than its lower plan fee saves. Those are our break-even figures from each provider’s published rates.
The working is simple. Wati Growth costs ₹4,050 a month more than AiSensy Basic. AiSensy charges ₹0.227 more per marketing message than Meta. Divide one by the other and you get the crossover. Interakt’s gap is smaller per message (₹0.12 at its highest rate), so the crossover comes later.
Low monthly fee, high per-message rate. That deal is great at 5,000 messages and expensive at 50,000.
Want to run your own numbers? Plug your volumes into the PingTalks WhatsApp API pricing calculator, then add each provider’s plan fee from the table above.
Each provider has one cost that a quick look at the plan cards misses. On AiSensy it’s add-ons, on Interakt it’s plan-linked message rates, on Wati it’s USD annual billing, and on Gupshup it’s the fee on incoming messages. Check these four before you compare headline prices.
AiSensy’s ₹1,500 Basic plan doesn’t include the drag-and-drop chatbot builder. That is ₹2,500 a month for five chatbots, or ₹2,250 billed annually. The AI Agent builder is another ₹1,350 a month for 1,000 AI messages. Chatbot replies count as service messages, so they eat into your 1,000 free ones. AiSensy also needs a minimum ₹10 credit balance to keep automations running.
Interakt’s country table shows India marketing messages between ₹0.949 and ₹0.970, which suggests higher plans pay slightly less per message. Its Enterprise plan advertises no template markups. Interakt hasn’t published a free trial length on the page we read.
Wati’s $59 Growth price is per month billed annually, and the plan caps you at 3 users with no extra seats allowed. Pro gives 5 users, with extras at $39 each a month. Wati’s FAQ mentions international credit cards and no refunds on existing subscriptions. Its India per-message rates live in a rate card PDF and inside your account wallet.
Gupshup’s self-serve page charges $0.001 on template messages and on session messages, which it defines as outgoing and incoming text. A chatty support inbox pays on both sides of the conversation. Media above 64KB is free. The self-serve page lists API fees only, so budget for a developer or a CRM to give your team an inbox.
Watch the deadline: Meta requires eligible Indian WhatsApp Business accounts to move to INR billing by 31 December 2026. Ask your provider in writing whether they handle the migration, or whether you need a new account.
For a Shopify brand that needs chatbots, AiSensy is cheaper up to roughly 8,300 to 9,800 marketing messages a month, even with its ₹2,500 chatbot add-on. Above that, Interakt’s Growth plan wins, and it bundles linear chatbot flows, catalogs and native payments into the fee.
Run the sum with the chatbot included: AiSensy Basic plus chatbot builder is ₹4,000 a month, still below Interakt Growth at about ₹5,174. AiSensy keeps the edge on fees. Interakt wins back ground on every marketing message, by ₹0.12 to ₹0.14 depending on which of its rate sets applies. Divide the ₹1,174 fee gap by that and the crossover lands between about 8,300 and 9,800 messages.
Already running Click-to-WhatsApp ads? Messages inside Meta’s 72-hour free entry window cost nothing on any provider. Push acquisition through ads and your marketing message bill drops for everyone, which narrows the gap between the four.
The counter-argument is strong. A ₹2,000 monthly saving disappears the first time a campaign fails at 9 PM before a Diwali sale and nobody picks up the phone. Support quality, template approval help and delivery tooling don’t show up in a rate table.
Delivery matters too. If your campaigns are hitting WhatsApp error 131049, you’re paying setup and fees for messages Meta never delivers. Spam is the other cost. In July 2025, Nikila Srinivasan, Meta’s vice president of business messaging, told Moneycontrol that Meta is deliberately acting on user complaints about unwanted business messages, including letting people opt out of promotions from specific businesses. Blast an unengaged list, and blocks will cost you more than any markup.
And our maths has limits. We used list prices. Agencies and high-volume brands negotiate, and Enterprise tiers at all four don’t publish rates.
Start on AiSensy if you’re a small brand sending under about 15,000 marketing messages a month without chatbots, and want something live this week. Move to Interakt Growth once you’re above roughly 8,300 messages with chatbots running, or above 30,000 without. Pick Gupshup only if you have a developer and a CRM ready. We’d skip Wati for budget-led Indian SMBs: dollar annual billing and a hidden India markup make it the hardest to forecast.
You can move a WhatsApp Business number between providers. The old provider releases it, and the new one registers it with Meta, usually through Embedded Signup. Ask both, in writing, whether your approved templates and quality rating move with the number before you cancel anything. Plan for a short gap in sending.
For the full setup sequence, from business verification to messaging tiers, our WhatsApp marketing guide for India covers each step. If consent is the worry, read our note on the DPDP consent manager rule.
For small businesses under about 18,000 marketing messages a month, AiSensy is the cheapest ready-to-use option because its Basic plan costs ₹1,500. Gupshup’s self-serve plan is cheaper per message, adding $0.001 per message, but you need your own inbox or CRM.
Meta charges ₹0.8631 per marketing message delivered to an Indian number, before 18% GST. Utility and authentication messages cost about ₹0.115 each.
Since 1 October 2026, only the first 1,000 service messages per business phone number each month are free. After that, providers such as AiSensy bill them, for example at ₹0.145 each.
Yes. GST at 18% applies to Meta’s per-message charges and to provider platform fees, so a ₹0.8631 marketing message costs about ₹1.02 after GST.
Yes. The old provider releases the number and the new provider registers it with Meta, usually through Embedded Signup. Confirm in writing whether approved templates and quality rating move with it.
Digital Evangelist and Entrepreneur at Clickseek Digital. A results-oriented marketing leader with an 18+ year track record driving transformative growth for diverse global businesses. Expert in performance marketing, demand generation, customer acquisition, strategic partnerships, and market expansion within B2B SaaS, Consumer-Tech, Fintech, Travel/Hospitality, and CRM/ITES Solutions sectors. IIM alumnus with a strong analytical background and a string of accolades, including "Top 50 Most Influential E-Commerce Professional of India" and "Top 100 Digital Marketer of India."
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