A merchant asked me last week: "I\'ve got demos booked with AiSensy, Interakt, and WATI this week. Which one should I pick?" I\'ve shipped all three into live Shopify stores, run real volume through them, dealt with the support teams, and seen how each one handles things like Meta template rejections and Jio delivery issues. So here\'s the honest take.
Short version: AiSensy is the best value if you\'re cost-sensitive. Interakt is the best if Shopify is your primary channel. WATI has the best product, but the price tag only makes sense for certain merchants. Long version below.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | AiSensy | Interakt | WATI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (INR/month) | ₹999 | ₹2,499 | $49 (~₹4,100) |
| Per-msg markup on Meta rates | 0% (pass-through) | ~20% | ~25% |
| Setup time (first message) | 2–4 hours | 1–3 days (concierge) | 1 day |
| Shopify native integration | Plugin + API | Deep native app | Plugin + Zapier |
| Chatbot builder | Basic, drag-drop | Solid, visual flows | Best-in-class, no-code |
| Broadcast to 10K contacts | Fine | Fine, CSV upload | Fine, segment builder |
| Abandoned cart flow out-of-box | Manual setup | Pre-built, tunable | Pre-built |
| Green tick support | Self-serve form | Hand-held | Hand-held |
| Support response time | 24–48h email | 4–8h chat | 2–4h chat |
| Team inbox / agent seats | 1 seat included, ₹299/extra | 5 seats in base plan | 5 seats in base plan |
| Would I use again? | Yes, for cost-sensitive merchants | Yes, for Shopify-first stores | Only if budget isn't a concern |
AiSensy: the budget pick
AiSensy is the cheapest of the three by a wide margin. ₹999/month base, no markup on Meta\'s per-message charge. The reason? They run lean — smaller support team, less hand-holding, UI is a bit rough around the edges. For a merchant who knows what they want and doesn\'t need someone walking them through template submission, AiSensy is great value.
What works: pass-through pricing is huge at scale. At 50,000 messages/month you save roughly ₹8,000 vs Interakt and ₹12,000 vs WATI. Broadcasting works fine. Shopify plugin covers the basics.
What doesn\'t: support replies in 24–48 hours by email. If a template gets rejected at 11pm on a Friday, you\'re waiting till Monday. The chatbot builder feels like a Google Form. Single seat in the base plan — every extra is ₹299/month.
Pick AiSensy if: you\'re under ₹25K/month messaging spend, you\'re comfortable troubleshooting on your own, and you don\'t need a polished agent inbox.
Interakt: the Shopify pick
Interakt is built by Haptik (part of Jio Platforms), which shows — the engineering quality is noticeably higher than AiSensy. Their Shopify native app pulls order data, abandoned carts, product catalog, and customer segments directly. You don\'t need a separate tool for cart recovery because it\'s baked in.
What works: pre-built Shopify flows (abandoned cart, order status, welcome series) actually work out of the box. The visual chatbot editor is solid. Support via in-app chat usually replies within 4–8 hours. Five agent seats in the base plan.
What doesn\'t: onboarding feels slow — they insist on a "concierge setup" call for new accounts, which can take 1–3 days to schedule. ~20% markup on per-message pricing. Some of the more advanced flows (complex chatbot branching, CRM integrations) require the higher-tier plan (~₹6,000/month).
Pick Interakt if: Shopify is your main channel, you want something that works out of the box, you value good Indian support over pure cost optimization.
WATI: the premium pick
WATI is Singapore-based (Clare.AI is the parent), which is why pricing is in USD. Their product is easily the most polished of the three — the chatbot builder is the best I\'ve used outside of enterprise-tier Gupshup, the UI feels like Intercom, and support is genuinely fast.
What works: drag-drop chatbot builder is genuinely good. Team inbox is clean — feels like you\'re using a modern SaaS. Support responds in 2–4 hours on chat. International presence means if you sell outside India too, one vendor covers both.
What doesn\'t: $49/mo ≈ ₹4,100 at current rates, and their message markup is ~25%. For an Indian merchant doing 10,000 WhatsApp messages/month, WATI costs roughly ₹2,500/month more than Interakt for comparable features. The Shopify integration is via their generic plugin (not as deep as Interakt\'s native app).
Pick WATI if: you\'re a premium brand where UX matters more than cost, you sell internationally, or you\'re using WhatsApp as a full customer-support channel (not just notifications).
My actual recommendation
- Less than ₹15K/month messaging spend + you\'re DIY-friendly: AiSensy.
- Shopify-first store, want plug-and-play: Interakt.
- Premium brand, global, WhatsApp = support: WATI.
- Over ₹50K/month messaging, need WhatsApp Commerce: skip all three, go Gupshup or direct Meta Cloud API.
One thing to remember: your WABA is portable
All three BSPs attach to the same Meta WhatsApp Business Account — they don\'t own it. If you pick one and hate it 6 months later, you can migrate without losing your phone number or green tick (if you have one). Templates get re-submitted, but that\'s a week of work, not a rebuild. So don\'t overthink the first pick.
FAQs
If I run a new Shopify store with low volume, which should I pick?▼
Is WATI worth the price?▼
Does Interakt's "Official Shopify app" matter?▼
Can I switch BSPs later?▼
What about Gupshup?▼
Which one integrates with Alintro?▼
Why isn't Zoko/Trengo/DelightChat on this list?▼
Which one has the best abandoned cart recovery?▼
Alintro works with all three
Pick the BSP that fits your budget and team. Alintro orchestrates Shopify events into the right channel, so you can switch later without redoing your automation logic.