What Is Wati? WhatsApp Business API for Marketing Teams

The short answer: Wati's Growth plan, $69 a month on monthly billing, includes three users and allows no fourth, so a team of five starts on Pro at $149, and on both plans every WhatsApp message is billed on top at Wati's own rate card (pricing page, checked on 26 October 2026). Wati is a WhatsApp Business API platform that has grown into one inbox for WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok and web chat, with broadcasts, no-code chatbots, click-to-WhatsApp ads and Astra AI agents, for businesses that market and sell over WhatsApp.

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What to price before the demo:

1. One broadcast, not the plan. For example, a promotion to 2,000 opted-in Dutch customers at Wati's marketing rate of $0.2555 costs 2,000 x $0.2555 = $511, more than three months of Pro at 3 x $149 = $447, using the pricing page and Wati's rate card.
2. The number customers already message. With Meta's Coexistence option the number stays in the WhatsApp Business App and up to six months of chats sync, per the Coexistence article; without it, that number's WhatsApp account must be deleted first.
3. Delivered, read and engaged. Campaign Overview reports all three, per the analytics article; the funnel with failure reasons is on Pro and Business.

What Wati does

Broadcasts send approved templates to a list on a schedule; Pro adds click tracking and retargeting. Chatbots and keyword rules answer and collect details, each run using one of the plan's monthly automation triggers. Click-to-WhatsApp ads, Shopify at $4.99 a month and a team inbox complete the core. Astra, the AI agent product, answers on web, WhatsApp and voice and is priced apart: Pro is $99 a month on monthly billing, per the Astra pricing page. A hosted MCP server lets Claude or ChatGPT work in the account.

It fits direct-to-consumer brands, schools and service businesses that run campaigns and order updates on WhatsApp with a small team. It fits less well a list with no recorded consent: Meta requires an opt-in that names your business, per its opt-in guide.

Plans and the message bill

Checked on 26 October 2026 on the pricing page, in USD:

Messages are charged per delivery, by category and country. Wati's rate card for Growth and Pro, effective 1 October 2026, charges $0.2555 per marketing message, $0.0900 per utility message and $0.0600 per service message to a Dutch number, keeps 1,000 service messages a month free and does not charge conversations started from a click-to-WhatsApp ad. Meta's own USD rate card for the Netherlands lists $0.1597, $0.05 and $0.05 (Meta pricing). Wati pays Meta and bills you its own column, so the difference is what Wati earns on each message on top of the subscription, and it grows with every name added to a list.

Against respond.io, AiSensy and Interakt

• respond.io passes Meta's fees through with nothing added, per its pricing calculator, and includes 10 users on Growth. Choose it when the message bill is large or the team is.
• AiSensy prices in rupees, prepaid, with a separate WhatsApp credit balance, per its pricing page. It is built for businesses messaging Indian numbers.
• Interakt sells Growth at $55 a month on monthly billing and lists no markup on template charges only on Enterprise, per its pricing page. Compare template rates line by line, as with Wati.

Getting started

How to use Wati sends a first broadcast to an opted-in list and reads the results.

FAQ

How many people can a new number message?

Meta starts a number at 250 unique customers in a rolling 24 hours for business-started messages, rising to 2,000 after business verification, per Wati's limits article.

Can I cancel at any time?

Yes, with no cancellation fee, but Wati does not refund payments already made for the subscription or for credits, per the pricing FAQ.

Is there a setup fee?

No. Dedicated onboarding is a paid extra, included with annual plans.