Quick answer: For a catalogue-led WhatsApp store in India, shortlist Interakt (Growth Rs 2,799 a month, per its pricing page), WATI (from Rs 2,699 a month billed quarterly), AiSensy (free plan, message-rate led) and Zoko (dollar plans, 7-day trial). All four sit on Meta's per-message billing. Abandoned-cart reminders are the highest-return flow; the cost swings sharply with which template category Meta approves.
How we researched this: We read Meta's developer documentation on selling products via WhatsApp, opt-in rules and message pricing, and the pricing pages of Interakt, WATI, AiSensy, Zoko and Gallabox, plus Zoho Inventory's pricing page for its WhatsApp commerce tier. We checked every price on those pages in October 2026. Where a page showed no figure, we say so.
What the WhatsApp catalogue can and cannot do
Meta's documentation on selling products explains the mechanics that every WhatsApp shopping catalog software product below builds on.
- You upload product data to Meta "through the Commerce API or the Meta Commerce Manager", and the catalogue must be linked to your WhatsApp business account.
- Single product messages highlight one product with image, price and description.
- Multi-product messages present "a curated selection of up to 30 products organized into sections".
- Customers can add "up to 99 units of each single catalog item" to a cart, there is "no limit on the number of distinct items", and "once a cart has been sent, no edits can be made".
- A Cloud API limitation: messages sent through it "currently do not display a shopping cart icon in the chat thread header".
- Businesses based in India "must comply with all online selling laws", and Meta points to a Business Compliance API for retrieving compliance details for a business number.
Two practical consequences. First, a 30-product cap per message means a 200-item catalogue needs curation: build one message per category, not one giant list. Second, the cart is a hand-off, not a checkout: once sent, you take the order, collect payment and confirm stock yourself or through your tool. Meta's selling documentation covers catalogues and carts and says nothing about payment processing for India, so plan on a payment link from your gateway. WhatsApp's own Business app page says the app helps you "showcase your products" and "share items with customers in just a few taps", and the API route (via a provider) adds automation, multiple agents and campaigns. If you are choosing between the two, our WhatsApp Business API providers guide explains the difference.
What the providers charge: plans and message fees side by side
Meta bills per delivered message by category: marketing, utility, authentication and service. Providers add a subscription, and some add a markup. Their pages, in October 2026:
| Provider | Subscription (as shown) | Per-message rates shown for India | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interakt | Growth Rs 2,799 a month, Advanced Rs 3,799 a month, excluding taxes; Enterprise on request | Marketing Rs 0.958 (Growth) or Rs 0.949 (Advanced); utility Rs 0.150 or Rs 0.140; service Rs 0.128 or Rs 0.127 | Quarterly 8% off, yearly 20% off; first 1,000 service messages free |
| WATI | Growth Rs 2,699, Pro Rs 5,799, Business Rs 16,799 a month, billed quarterly | Not stated as a markup; refers to Meta's rate card | Shopify add-on is $4.99 a month; 7-day free trial; 3 users on Growth |
| AiSensy | A "Free Forever" plan on its cards; paid cards not legible | Marketing Rs 1.09, utility Rs 0.145, authentication Rs 0.145, service Rs 0.145 after 1,000 free a month, effective 1 October 2026 | Chatbot add-on Rs 2,500 a month (Rs 2,250 yearly); AI Agent add-on Rs 1,350 a month; Rs 50 conversation credit on signup |
| Zoko | Starter $49.99, Plus $79.99, Elite $139.99, Max $499.99 a month | Meta fees paid directly at Meta's rate card; markup from $0.015 per conversation on Starter to none on Max | All features on every plan; 7-day trial; Instagram add-on $9.99 a month |
| Gallabox | Basic Rs 2,999 (quarterly) or Rs 2,399 (annual) a month; Essential Rs 6,999 or Rs 5,599; Advanced Rs 16,999 or Rs 13,599 | Links to a separate conversation-pricing page | 3 users on Basic as a hard cap; 500 AI credits trial |
Read the gap between providers. On the pages above, a marketing message costs Rs 0.949 to Rs 1.09. At 10,000 marketing messages a month, Interakt's Growth rate (Rs 0.958) versus AiSensy's (Rs 1.09) is Rs 1,320 a month, which can matter more than a Rs 100 difference in subscription. Note too that AiSensy's page says utility messages sent inside the 24-hour customer service window become chargeable from 1 October 2026, and that Meta's documentation says India billing moved to INR on 1 January 2026 for eligible customers, with a 31 December 2026 migration deadline. Ask your provider to confirm that your account is on INR billing.
For provider-versus-provider detail, see WATI vs Interakt vs AiSensy, WATI vs Zoko and WhatsApp automation for e-commerce; Gallabox is covered with others in the WhatsApp automation category.
Catalogue hygiene before you connect anything. Give each product a clear name in the order a buyer would say it ("Cotton kurta, blue, M"), keep the price identical to your website, mark out-of-stock items unavailable the day they sell out, and store one clean image per variant. A catalogue that shows stock you do not have creates the same cancellations as an out-of-sync marketplace; see syncing billing and inventory. Decide who updates it (one named person), and how often.
Abandoned cart recovery: the flow most stores should switch on first
An abandoned cart recovery WhatsApp tool should send a reminder with the cart contents, and ideally a one-tap payment or checkout link, to a shopper who has given consent. What each vendor's page lists:
- Interakt: simple abandoned checkout reminders on its lowest listed tier; multiple abandoned checkout reminders on Growth, plus a "CoD to prepaid flow", winback notifications and auto-sync of the Shopify catalogue.
- WATI: lists Shopify abandoned cart on Growth; the Shopify add-on is $4.99 a month in dollars.
- Zoko: a pre-built flow to "recover abandoned checkouts" is among the free essential flows; third-party checkout recovery is a premium flow at $5.99 a month per flow.
- AiSensy: its navigation links a Shopify abandoned-cart and order-status integration; its pricing page does not detail it.
Whether the shopper can be messaged at all is a consent question. Meta's documentation says businesses "must clearly state that a person is opting in to receive communication" and "must clearly state the business's name", recommends separate opt-ins for categories such as order updates and offers, and says low quality for a sustained period may lead to rate limits. Add a checkbox at checkout in your own words and record it; our DPDP Act compliance guide covers the Indian data-protection side.
The category effect, worked through. Say 400 shoppers a month abandon a checkout and you send three reminders each, 1,200 messages. On AiSensy's page rates, 1,200 marketing messages cost 1,200 x Rs 1.09 = Rs 1,308; if the same volume were approved as utility messages it would cost 1,200 x Rs 0.145 = Rs 174. Meta, not you, decides what category a template belongs in, so ask your provider which one your submitted template received, and do not budget on the cheaper one.
From catalogue to order: the CRM layer
A WhatsApp catalog ordering CRM tool has to turn "chat plus cart" into a record someone owns. The minimum flow: the customer opens a catalogue message, sends a cart, an agent or bot confirms stock, a payment link goes out, the order lands in your CRM with a status, and a shipment update follows.
What the vendors list for catalogue and ordering:
- Interakt: "Create WhatsApp Catalog" on Growth; its home page also says you can "sync your catalog via Shopify, WooCommerce, or Excel".
- Gallabox: "Catalog and Payments" on Basic, described as showcasing products inside the chat.
- Zoko: WhatsApp Catalog is included on every plan; the Zoko-branded catalogue, chat widget and pop-up campaigns carry Zoko branding.
- AiSensy: the chatbot add-on includes sharing catalogues and products, with WhatsApp cart management.
- Zoho Inventory Plus: at Rs 4,999 a month billed annually (excluding GST) it adds Zoho Commerce features including an online store builder, WhatsApp commerce and abandoned cart recovery, with up to 7,500 orders a month, per Zoho Inventory's pricing page.
If you already run a sales CRM, connect the number to it rather than adding a second inbox: see selling on WhatsApp with a CRM, WhatsApp follow-up automation in a CRM and how to integrate the WhatsApp API with your CRM. Browse CRM software if you need one.
Instagram shopping integrated SaaS: what to ask
Several of these vendors also pitch Instagram DMs. Zoko lists Instagram at $9.99 a month on every plan, and Interakt's pricing page mentions an Instagram-only Starter at Rs 999 a month that is not a WhatsApp plan. Neither page explains Instagram's own shopping or checkout rules, which Meta controls. If you want an Instagram shopping integrated SaaS, confirm four things with the vendor: whether product tags sync from the same catalogue, whether DMs land in the same inbox as WhatsApp, whether abandoned-cart flows cover Instagram, and who bills Meta fees. For store software that already handles social selling, compare e-commerce platforms and the Dukaan vs Shopify guide.
Which setup for which seller, and a rollout
A Jaipur silver-jewellery seller taking 15 orders a day from Instagram. Start on the WhatsApp Business app with a catalogue, move to an API provider only when two people need the inbox. A tool with Instagram support and a Rs 2,000-3,000 plan fits; test Interakt's and Zoko's trials.
A Surat saree brand on Shopify with COD-heavy orders. Prioritise abandoned-checkout and COD-to-prepaid flows; Interakt's Growth tier lists the latter. Read cutting RTO and COD losses alongside.
A Chennai wholesale stationer with 60 repeat buyers. A broadcast of price lists with reorder buttons may be enough; a low-volume plan and WATI's Growth tier are the cheaper shortlist.
Rollout over 14 days. Days 1 to 3: clean the catalogue (names, prices, images, one category per message). Days 4 to 6: apply for the API number and templates. Days 7 to 9: build one abandoned-cart flow and one order-confirmation flow. Days 10 to 12: test with staff. Days 13 to 14: go live to 10% of traffic and compare reply and order rates against the week before.
Who should skip it. A business that sells only by phone to a handful of buyers does not need a catalogue tool. A brand with no consent record for its customers should fix that first. And anyone expecting WhatsApp to be a payment gateway should plan on a separate payment link.
FAQs
How many products can I send in one WhatsApp catalogue message?
Meta's documentation says a multi-product message presents up to 30 products organised into sections, and customers can add up to 99 units of each item to a cart. For bigger catalogues, send category-wise messages.
What does WhatsApp abandoned cart recovery cost in India?
It depends on the template category Meta assigns. On AiSensy's page, marketing messages are Rs 1.09 and utility messages Rs 0.145 each; Interakt's Growth plan shows Rs 0.958 for marketing. Add the provider's subscription.
Which WhatsApp catalogue software is cheapest?
On their pages, AiSensy shows a free-forever plan, WATI starts at Rs 2,699 a month billed quarterly and Interakt's Growth is Rs 2,799 a month excluding taxes. Message fees often exceed the subscription, so model your volume.
Do I need customer consent to message on WhatsApp?
Yes. Meta's opt-in rules say you must state clearly that a person is opting in and name the business, and recommend separate opt-ins by message category.
Can I use one tool for WhatsApp and Instagram?
Zoko and Interakt both list Instagram on their pages (a $9.99 add-on at Zoko; an Instagram-only Starter at Rs 999 a month at Interakt). Confirm product sync and a shared inbox before buying.
Next step: get a free matched shortlist, or compare more in WhatsApp automation.
