Gupshup is the one gateway that most serious Indian D2C brands end up on. It\'s not the cheapest (MSG91 wins there for SMS) and it\'s not the prettiest (WATI wins on UX) — but if you\'re doing decent volume across SMS and WhatsApp, it\'s the one platform that\'s rarely the bottleneck. I\'ve had stores push through Diwali sales sending 5 lakh messages in a week without a single infrastructure complaint from Gupshup.
The setup is two separate flows though — SMS and WhatsApp are onboarded independently. I always tell merchants to do SMS first even if they mainly want WhatsApp. Reason: SMS gets you live in 24 hours (once DLT clears), which unlocks order confirmations immediately. WhatsApp takes 1–2 weeks end-to-end including Meta\'s Business Verification. Don\'t let WhatsApp delays hold up basic notifications.
Part 1: SMS setup (6 steps, ~30 min)
Sign up at gupshup.io
Use business email. Pick "Enterprise" tier even if starting small — Basic tier has stricter rate limits.
Complete KYC + DLT
Gupshup embeds DLT registration into onboarding. Upload GST + PAN. Approval 24–72h.
Register Sender ID
Six uppercase letters. Gupshup syncs it to all four operator portals automatically.
Submit SMS templates
Gupshup → SMS → Templates → New. Submit under correct DLT category. 1–24h approval.
Get API Key
Dashboard → Profile → API Keys. Copy the "SMS API key" (distinct from WhatsApp key).
Paste into Alintro
Alintro → Gateways → Gupshup → paste SMS API key, Sender ID, and Template IDs.
Part 2: WhatsApp setup (6 steps, ~2 hours including Meta verification)
Apply for WhatsApp Business API
Gupshup → WhatsApp → New App. Meta Business Portfolio needs to be verified first (see our WhatsApp Meta setup guide).
Provide dedicated phone number
Must not be linked to WhatsApp personal or WhatsApp Business app. Gupshup sends OTP to verify.
Set display name + business category
Display name is what customers see. Must match your brand — Meta rejects mismatches.
Submit WhatsApp templates
Gupshup template editor. Utility templates auto-approved usually; Marketing needs review (24h).
Get App Name + API Key
Dashboard → WhatsApp → your app → API Key. Copy both App Name and API Key.
Connect to Alintro
Alintro → Gateways → Gupshup WhatsApp → paste App Name + API Key. Templates auto-sync.
Gupshup vs direct Meta Cloud API
Meta now offers Cloud API direct, which skips the BSP and can save 15–20% on WhatsApp costs. Trade-off: you manage templates + infra yourself, no BSP support. Alintro supports both routes — use Gupshup if you want hand-holding and a single-vendor SMS+WhatsApp stack, use Meta Cloud API direct if you want the lowest possible cost and have technical capacity.
Gupshup pricing (April 2026)
| Type | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SMS Transactional (GSM-7) | ₹0.20–0.25 | Per delivered SMS, 160 chars |
| SMS Unicode | ₹0.24–0.28 | 70-char segments |
| WhatsApp Utility (India) | ₹0.13 + ~20% markup | April 2026 Meta rates + Gupshup BSP fee |
| WhatsApp Marketing (India) | ₹0.88 + ~20% markup | Increased from ₹0.80 Jan 2026 |
| WhatsApp Authentication | ₹0.13 + markup | Same as Utility |
| Service messages (in 24h window) | Free | Meta's free customer service window |
| Platform fee | ₹2,500/month | Enterprise tier; waived if volume >₹10,000/month |
Troubleshooting
WhatsApp templates stuck in "Pending" for >48h
Gupshup support is notoriously slow on template approval. Contact your dedicated account manager (every Enterprise account has one) — they can escalate to Meta.
SMS sent but never delivered to Jio
Jio route throttling. Gupshup routes through multiple operators; sometimes the primary route to Jio is saturated. Open a ticket with route ID.
WhatsApp shows "Quality rating: Low"
Your template language triggered user blocks. Common causes: all-caps subject, excessive emoji in marketing templates, or sending the same template >3× to the same recipient in 24h.
API returns 429 (rate limit)
Gupshup Basic tier caps at 30 msg/sec. Upgrade to Enterprise or request higher limit in dashboard.
WhatsApp number suddenly marked as "Restricted"
Meta flagged high block-rate. You have 7 days to appeal via Gupshup support. Meanwhile, Alintro auto-failover to SMS for order-critical messages.
Template ID doesn't match between Gupshup and Alintro
Copy the template from Gupshup → SMS → Templates → click template → copy "Template ID" (the long numeric string), not the template name.
FAQs
Is Gupshup better than MSG91?▼
Does Gupshup charge a monthly platform fee?▼
Can I use Gupshup for multiple Shopify stores?▼
How fast is Gupshup WhatsApp delivery?▼
Does Gupshup support WhatsApp Pay for Indian customers?▼
What is Gupshup's delivery infrastructure like?▼
Can I migrate from Twilio to Gupshup?▼
Does Alintro support Gupshup bot flows?▼
Ready to connect Gupshup?
Alintro\'s Gupshup integration handles SMS and WhatsApp with automatic failover. Live in 30 minutes for SMS, 2 hours for WhatsApp.