Wati Pricing Explained 2024: A Comprehensive Breakdown (Updated)

Wati offers tiered pricing plans for WhatsApp Business API, starting from ₹2,999/month for the Growth plan, ₹5,999/month for Pro, and ₹16,999/month for Business Plan, with a Custom plan available for larger enterprises. Each plan includes a few free conversations per month, but additional conversations incur markups over Meta Pricing: up to 48.65% for marketing and 21.73% for utility and 37.64% on service conversations. Features like user limits, bot builders, integrations, and support options vary by plan (as covered in detail in the blog) with advanced capabilities often restricted to higher-tier subscriptions. Hidden Charges in Wati’s plan, that include paid integrations, extra charges for additional users, and extra charges for chatbot sessions, become apparent to the customer with time. This pricing structure can become costly and complex, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses looking to scale their WhatsApp operations. On the contrary, Heltar - Best Whatsapp Business API Provider comes as a savior by providing low cost plans catered to SMBs (Small and Medium sized Businesses), and different plans suited to the needs of larger enterprises. In addition, Heltar’s flat 5% markup policy makes sure that the API becomes an asset for your marketing team rather than a financial burden. Read the blog to discover how exactly.

Is WhatsApp API free?

While WhatsApp offers free options for small businesses through the WhatsApp Business App, this is a basic tool designed for immediate, small-scale customer communication, available for free on both mobile and desktop via WhatsApp Web.

However, for businesses looking to scale their operations, the WhatsApp Business API is the real game-changer—but it comes at a cost. The API is not free, and businesses must use one of WhatsApp’s Business Solution Providers like Wati or Heltar to access it.

• Wati offers tiered pricing plans, which can quickly become expensive and complex to manage, especially for small to medium-sized businesses.

• Heltar, on the other hand, provides a cost-effective, simplified pricing model, making it easier for businesses to scale without facing the high setup fees or confusing pricing structures that are often found with other providers.

In essence, while the WhatsApp Business App is free for basic usage, businesses seeking growth through automation, analytics, and other advanced features will need to invest in the WhatsApp Business API

Wati Costs Breakdown

1) Recurring Subscription Costs: Subscription fees at Wati are variable, starting from INR 2,999/- to INR 16,999/- per month, depending on the plan. This range accommodates different business sizes but can escalate with additional feature access.

2) Conversation Costs: Wati also charges per conversation, with rates varying based on the interaction type.

• User-Initiated Conversations: These are charged when a customer contacts the business, triggering a 24-hour window of unlimited messaging.

• Business-Initiated Conversations: Charges apply when the business starts the conversation, with the same 24-hour unlimited messaging rule.

3) Hidden Charges: Apart from the recurring subscription and conversation costs that are charged by mostly Whatsapp Official Business API providers, including Heltar, Wati charges the following additional charges:

• Additional User Charges: Wati allows only 5 free users per plan, which is a very constricting cap for any business team willing to function seamlessly. Incase more members need to access the platform the charges are as follows:

• Growth Plan: ₹699/Month/User

• Pro Plan: ₹1,299/Month/User

• Business Plan: ₹3,999/Month/User

• Extra Charges for Chatbot Sessions: For any kind of chatbot conversation outside the free limit (which is very low, ranging between 1,000 to 5,000 free sessions), Additional chatbot sessions have to be purchased for obscenely high prices, like ₹14,400/Month for 8000 chatbot sessions.

• Paid Integrations: Integrations like Shopify are chargeable at $4.99/Month/Integration

Wati Pricing Plans: A Closer Look

Wati offers structured pricing tiers, each designed to cater to different stages of business growth:

Growth Plan (₹2,499/month)

• Designed for small teams to manage WhatsApp interactions.

• Includes a Shared Team Inbox.

• Includes basic choice based chatbots, limited webhook and API access, and few inbox analytics.

• Select commerce and CRM Integrations available.

Pro Plan (₹5,999/month)

• Designed for fast-growing businesses using WhatsApp automation.

• Includes everything in Growth, plus CTWA (Click-to-Whatsapp Apps) analytics.

• Advanced control via user roles, and multiple CRM Integrations including HubSpot.

• Advanced Shopify Integrations using customer key syncing.

Business Plan (₹16,999/month)

• Designed for businesses looking to scale their WhatsApp operations.

• Round-Robin Chat Assignment and reminders via google sheets.

• IP whitelisting, free custom domain and 24x7 priority customer support

The table below provides a comprehensive look of these plans:

WhatsApp Conversation Sessions and Charges (as applicable in India)

While the actual charges that Meta levies on businesses for the conversations are as follows:

• Marketing Conversation - INR 0.7265

• Utility Conversation - INR 0.1150

• Service Conversation - INR 0.2906

Wati charges the businesses the following marked up rates: 

• Marketing Conversation - INR 1.08

• Utility Conversation - INR 0.14

• Service Conversation - INR 0.40

Calculate your WhatsApp conversation charges with our Pricing Calculator!

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EXTREMELY HIGH CONVERSATIONAL MARKUPS

Upon deeper analysis, we observe that Wati charges upto 48.65% markup on marketing conversations, upto 21.73% markup on utility, and upto 37.64% markup on service conversations. These charges can end up being a big financial burden, eating into your business’ marketing budget and decreasing the ROI as you scale up.

In contrast, Heltar offers a straightforward and transparent pricing model with a blanket 5% markup across all conversation types. This consistency provides businesses with predictable costs that helps them in scaling their business with no excessive markups.

Why Choose Heltar Over Wati?

Lower Platform Fees and Markups

• Wati: Wati’s pricing plans start from ₹2,999 per month, scaling up to  ₹16,999 per month for the business plan. The multiple packages and tiered features make it expensive, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. The incremental costs for unlocking advanced features force businesses to either commit to higher-tier plans or compromise on functionality.

• Heltar: In contrast, Heltar offers lower subscription fees with a base plan starting at a more affordable monthly rate. It is designed to be budget-friendly for businesses of all sizes, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to minimize upfront costs, along with a simplified and transparent conversation pricing model, charging a flat 5% markup across all conversation types. 

No Extra/Hidden Charges for Integrations

• Wati: While Wati provides robust features, many advanced capabilities are locked behind higher-priced plans. Essential features like advanced analytics, automated workflows, and API integrations are only available in the more expensive plans. Apart from that, Wati charges extra fees for employing integrations, like an additional USD 5 per month for a shopify integration, and additional charges for extra users.

• Heltar: Heltar includes advanced features—automation, analytics, customer segmentation. Businesses benefit from unrestricted access to essential tools allowing them to leverage full functionality of the platform.

Intuitive and User-Friendly Interface

• Wati: Wati offers a variety of features, but the interface could be difficult to learn for inexperienced users. The tiered functionality makes it hard to locate important tools within the complex menu structure it offers. It may be a real pain for people who are not familiar with navigating multi-tiered software ecosystems. 

• Heltar: Heltar’s platform is designed with ease of use in mind. It features an intuitive interface, making it simple to navigate, even for those new to such systems. The user-friendly dashboard provides easy access to key tools, reducing the learning curve and allowing businesses to get up and running quickly without sacrificing functionality or efficiency.

Well Rounded Customer Support: While Wati does not provide even setup support in the growth plan, in Heltar, End-to-End Customer Support is made available to all customers, irrespective of their subscription plans. For us, at Heltar, Our Customers are our biggest priority, and we ensure they are well served through a comprehensive knowledge transfer of our platform and continued assistance.

Try Heltar today!

Start with our free trial and experience the difference in service and support. Choose Heltar for a straightforward, feature-rich approach to WhatsApp Business communications that won't strain your budget.

​Read more about the WhatsApp Business API pricing.