Wati vs AiSensy vs a direct WhatsApp API build for a small shop

Wati and AiSensy are seats on top of Meta’s Cloud API. A direct build is the list and the inbox without that seat, and it is cheaper when you do not need their dashboard.

I will not invent Wati’s plan sticker, and I will not treat AiSensy’s numbers as mine. Open their pages the week you buy. They move.

What each seat actually is

A gym in Saket and a salon in Greater Kailash get pitched these names. The pitch is an inbox, broadcasts, and a bot. Under the pitch is Meta’s Cloud API. You still pay Meta for the template messages you send.

Wati’s pricing page lists Growth, Pro and Business. It offers a 7 day trial and says there is no setup fee for the WhatsApp API. Growth includes 3 users. Pro and Business include 5 users. Extra users on Pro are listed at $24 a month. Extra users on Business are listed at $69 a month. Message charges sit on top, and they vary by marketing, utility and authentication. I will not invent the missing plan sticker.

AiSensy’s pricing page, the day I opened it, listed a no-code chatbot plan at Rs 2,500 a month for five chatbots, or Rs 2,250 a month billed annually. It also listed an AI agent plan at Rs 1,350 a month including 1,000 AI messages. It shows India template rates on that same page of Rs 1.09 for marketing and Rs 0.145 for utility and authentication, and it says service replies inside the 24 hour window are free. It says those conversation credits are charged by Meta and recharged separately. I will not treat that card as Meta’s own page.

Meta’s Cloud API pricing page is the rate card that actually bills the templates. I will not paste a stale India table from memory. Open that page the week you send.

How much a WhatsApp chatbot costs is the build floor I publish. WhatsApp chatbot or website chatbot is the channel. This page is the seat versus the build.

The chat build I sell starts at Rs 15,000 on pricing. That is a floor for chat that answers from your list and writes a slot. It is not a Wati seat. It is not an AiSensy seat.

When the seat is the thing you are buying

You want their shared inbox, their broadcast screen, and a person who is not me to click send.

You want a vendor who already holds the Cloud API paperwork.

You want agents and labels more than you want a short list.

Then open their pages. Add the seat. Add Meta’s templates. Add GST on the seat if your invoice has it. I will not do that add for a shop I have not seen.

When a direct build is the cheaper honest path

You already live in WhatsApp. The pile is the same three questions. You want those three answered while both hands are in foil, and you want the slot written once.

You do not need their broadcast machine. You do not need five agent seats. You need a list.

That is the AI chatbots job. You still may need Cloud API if the bot has to sit on the paid platform. Whether you need a separate SIM is the number question. The seat is optional. The list is not.

A Saket gym that already replies to every trial before dinner does not need Wati to look modern. A Greater Kailash salon that still types the keratin price after closing might need a list, not a dashboard.

I will not invent a monthly minimum that makes the seat look mandatory. Wati’s page did not give me a clean rupee sticker to cite. AiSensy’s chatbot line starts at the rupee figures above. Direct work starts at the build floor above. Compare those three with the pile you can screenshot.

Downsides of each path

A seat you do not open is rent. Broadcasts you send badly are a quality hit on the number.

A direct build you cannot edit is a poster. You must be able to change Tuesday hours without me.

Meta’s rates sit on every path that uses Cloud API. Skipping a seat does not skip Meta.

I will not tell you one vendor is “best for India”. I will tell you to open the two pricing pages and the Meta card, then count last week’s unanswered chats.

Screenshot the pile, then open the three pages

Bring three threads that sat overnight. Open Wati, AiSensy, and the Meta price page.

Then get in touch. I will say the seat is what you are buying, the list is enough, or the free Business app still holds the week and nobody should take a rupee yet.