How to choose a WhatsApp CRM: nine questions to ask before you pay

We are going to do something unusual for a vendor's blog: give you a buying checklist that does not flatter us. You will compare better if you ask everyone the same questions, so here they are. Keep them in a note on your phone.

1. Are you on the official WhatsApp Business API?

You want a provider on Meta's official platform. It is the only route that is stable, supported and allowed. Anything that works by automating the normal WhatsApp app is a different thing with different risks, and it can put your number at risk. This is not a place to save money.

2. Do you add a fee on top of Meta's per-message charge?

This is the question that separates quotes that look the same. Meta decides which WhatsApp messages are charged and at what rate (check your rate card). Some providers pass that through; some add their own fee per message. On a small list it hardly matters. On a monthly broadcast to ten thousand people it can double the bill. Ask for the rate in rupees.

3. What is in the monthly price, and what is an add-on?

Chatbot builder, AI replies, extra team seats, extra numbers, analytics: for each, ask "included, or extra?" Some platforms treat these as separate products with their own fees. Others bundle them in a plan. Neither is wrong. Surprise is wrong.

4. How many people can use the inbox?

Count the people who will answer customers plus the owner who wants to look. Plans limit seats in very different ways, and an unlimited-seat plan can be cheaper than a cheap plan with seat fees.

5. Can you start free, and what does free include?

A free plan is the only honest way to test a tool on your own number with your own customers. Check what it limits: contacts, messages, automation, seats. Responseify has a free plan with one number and one seat, and you can see exactly what it includes on the pricing page.

6. How does AI work, and what does it cost?

If AI auto-reply matters to you, ask: whose AI is it, how do I teach it about my business, how does it hand over to a person, and is usage billed? Look for control: a knowledge base you edit, words that trigger a human, and a fallback message.

7. Does it fit how you sell?

If you sell in stages (enquiry, site visit, quote, deal) you need a pipeline, not just an inbox. If you sell products, look at catalogue and order messages. Match the tool to your process, not the other way round.

8. Can you export your data and leave?

Ask what you get if you cancel. You should be able to export contacts and conversations as files. In Responseify, self-serve export of contacts as CSV or JSON, and of conversations from Settings, is on Growth and above. On Free and Starter you can email [email protected] and we send your contacts and conversations as CSV. Whatever you pick, confirm this before you pay.

9. Who do you call when it breaks?

Support hours, language and channel matter more than you think the day your template is rejected on a festival weekend.

What we would do

If we were choosing for a business like yours, we would shortlist two or three, connect a free number on each, and send the same ten real conversations through all of them. After a week you will know more than any comparison page can tell you. If you want a sourced comparison of Indian platforms to start from, we publish one here, and we say where others do something better.