Short answer: the best WhatsApp CRM for an Indian sales team is one that runs on Meta’s official Cloud API, lets every salesperson reply from their own login on one shared business number, turns IndiaMART, JustDial and Meta lead-ad enquiries into leads automatically, and bills in rupees with a GST invoice. If you mainly send broadcasts, WATI, AiSensy or Interakt fit best. If you run a sales team that calls and chats until the payment comes in, look at a sales CRM with WhatsApp built in — TeleCRM, Privyr, Zoho Bigin, Kommo or Sales Daddy.
A note before you read: we make Sales Daddy, so treat our section with that in mind. Every other tool is described from its own website and public pricing page as we found them on 19 October 2026. Prices change often, so check each vendor’s page before you decide.
What to look for in a WhatsApp CRM
Most Indian SMBs come to a WhatsApp CRM after the same problem: the business number lives on one phone, three salespeople need to reply, and nobody can see who promised what to which customer. The right tool fixes that problem first and adds automation second.
Use these criteria to cut a long list down to two or three tools you actually trial:
- Official API. The tool should connect through Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), not by driving WhatsApp Web. Unofficial tools get numbers restricted.
- Coexistence. Can you keep the WhatsApp Business app on the owner’s phone while the team works from the CRM? Many owners will not give up the app.
- Team inbox with owners. Each chat assigned to one person, managers able to read any thread, history kept when a rep leaves.
- Lead capture from Indian sources. IndiaMART, JustDial, Meta lead ads, website forms and missed calls should create leads without copy-paste.
- Calling beside chatting. In India the deal usually moves between a call and a WhatsApp message several times. Both should land on one lead record.
- Rupee pricing and GST invoices. Know whether Meta’s message charges are passed through at cost or marked up, and whether setup fees apply.
- Languages. If your buyers write in Tamil, Hindi or Hinglish, any AI or chatbot must handle that.
The eight tools at a glance
The table sums up what each vendor says about itself. “Pricing model” is taken from each vendor’s public pricing page; where a vendor shows prices in US dollars to our browser, we say so rather than guess the rupee figure.
| Tool | Best suited to | WhatsApp setup | Pricing model (public page) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Daddy | Sales teams that sell on WhatsApp and phone | Official Cloud API or coexistence, shared inbox | Free for one user; Core ₹17,969 a year for 3 users, plus GST |
| WATI | Broadcasts and support teams | Official API through WATI | Plans with included users (Growth includes 3); 7-day trial; per-message charges by category |
| AiSensy | Broadcast marketing for small businesses | Official API through AiSensy | Free Forever plan; paid plans monthly, quarterly or yearly; chatbot builder add-on ₹2,500 a month |
| Interakt | WhatsApp commerce and catalogues | Official API through Interakt (Jio Haptik) | Plans billed quarterly; see interakt.shop for current prices |
| TeleCRM | Telecalling teams | WhatsApp API with a one-time ₹1,999 setup | ₹799 per user a month billed yearly; ₹1,099 billed quarterly |
| Privyr | Solo agents and small mobile-first teams | Messages leads from your own WhatsApp on the phone | Free for up to 3 team members; paid Pro plans |
| Zoho Bigin | Simple pipelines inside the Zoho suite | WhatsApp through Bigin’s integration | Free for 1 user; paid plans per user (shown in US dollars to us) |
| Kommo | Messenger-first pipelines, global | WhatsApp, Instagram and other messengers | Per-user plans (shown in US dollars to us) |
Broadcast tool or sales CRM: decide this first
The eight tools fall into two groups, and choosing the wrong group is the most common mistake we see. WATI, AiSensy and Interakt began as WhatsApp Business API platforms. They are excellent at sending approved templates to large lists, running chatbots, and handling support conversations. Their contact lists and labels cover simple sales needs, but the centre of the product is the message.
TeleCRM, Privyr, Zoho Bigin, Kommo and Sales Daddy start from the lead. The centre of the product is a record that holds the enquiry source, the owner, the stage, the calls, the chats, the quotation and the follow-up date. WhatsApp is one channel on that record.
A simple test: if one person mostly sends offers to customers who already know you, a broadcast tool is enough. If several people work fresh enquiries through calls, chats, quotations and payment, you need a sales CRM — and the WhatsApp part has to be first-class, not an afterthought.
How the tools differ in practice
WATI is widely used by support and marketing teams; its plans include a fixed number of users and it lists a seven-day free trial and up to about 25% off for yearly billing. AiSensy is popular with small businesses for broadcasts, offers a Free Forever plan, and prices extras such as its drag-and-drop chatbot builder as separate add-ons. Interakt, now part of Jio Haptik, leans towards WhatsApp commerce: catalogues, Shopify stores and order updates.
TeleCRM is built around the telecaller. Its public page lists one plan at ₹799 per user a month billed yearly, call recording for every call, and a WhatsApp API setup fee of ₹1,999. Privyr is a mobile-first lead app loved by insurance and real-estate agents; it is free for up to three team members and shines at instant lead alerts. Zoho Bigin is Zoho’s simple pipeline CRM, free for one user, and makes most sense if you already use Zoho Books or Zoho Mail. Kommo is a messenger-first pipeline CRM used worldwide, priced per user.
None of these is a bad choice. They are built for different jobs, which is why reading the “best suited to” column matters more than any feature tick-list.
Where Sales Daddy fits — and where it does not
Sales Daddy is a sales CRM built around WhatsApp for Indian teams. Leads from Meta lead ads, Google, IndiaMART, JustDial, website forms and missed calls land in one list, get assigned by rules, and every chat on the official Cloud API attaches to the right lead. Reps call from their own phone with one tap and the call is logged; quotations, GST invoices and payment links go out from the same record. The Free plan covers one user and one WhatsApp number with unlimited leads; the Core plan is ₹17,969 a year (about ₹1,497 a month) for 3 users.
Where it is not the best fit: if you only need to broadcast offers, a WhatsApp-only tool is simpler — we sell a WhatsApp-only plan for exactly that. If you want a free plan for three people, Privyr and Zoho CRM are more generous than our one-user Free plan. Our telecalling is click-to-call from the rep’s phone with a calling queue where the rep taps “next lead”; teams that want a dialer that rings numbers without a tap should look at telecalling-first tools. And we are a younger, smaller company than most names on this list.
How to choose in one afternoon
You can narrow this down without a month of demos. Write down the answers to four questions, then trial at most two tools with your real number and real leads.
- Who replies on WhatsApp today, and how many of them? One person points to a broadcast tool; three or more points to a CRM.
- Where do your enquiries come from? List IndiaMART, JustDial, Meta ads, website, walk-ins. Check each tool connects to your top two sources.
- How do deals close — on calls, on chat, or both? If both, the tool must log calls and chats on one record.
- What will it cost in a year for your actual team size, including GST, setup fees and WhatsApp message charges?
Key takeaways
- Insist on Meta’s official Cloud API, and ask whether you can keep the WhatsApp Business app on the phone (coexistence).
- Broadcast tools (WATI, AiSensy, Interakt) are message-first; sales CRMs (TeleCRM, Privyr, Bigin, Kommo, Sales Daddy) are lead-first. Pick the group before the tool.
- Compare the yearly cost for your real team size, including GST, setup fees and Meta’s message charges.
- Sales Daddy is free for one user; the Core plan is ₹17,969 a year for 3 users, with Meta’s charges paid to Meta at cost.