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- Meta charges nothing to connect; what varies is the platform's free tier and whether message charges carry a markup
- Genuinely free plans without a time limit: VGraple CRM (1 seat, 500 contacts, 100 conversations, full product), Interakt (Instagram only), ManyChat (cut to 25 contacts in 2026); most others are trials
- A free plan that sells message credits above Meta's rate is a paid plan with a free login
- Use the free month to prove WhatsApp works on real customers, then pick a paid tier on real numbers
"Free WhatsApp API" is on every vendor's homepage and means something different on each. Meta's part is simple: connecting is free and messages cost per delivery. The platform's part ranges from a genuinely free plan with the whole product inside limits, to a trial that ends in fourteen days, to a free login that sells message credits at a markup. This guide sorts the platforms by what their free tier actually is. Figures below were read from each vendor's public pricing page in August 2026 and can change; where a page did not state a number we say so rather than guess. VGraple CRM is our own product and is listed on the same terms as the others.
What Meta gives everyone free
Embedded Signup and the WhatsApp Business Account, the Cloud API with no hosting fee, template creation and review, business verification and the green tick request, replies inside the 24-hour window, utility templates delivered inside an open window (since July 2025), the WhatsApp Business app, and coexistence between the app and the API. Meta charges only for delivered template messages: in India, marketing Rs 0.8631, utility and authentication Rs 0.115.
The free tiers, sorted
| Platform | Free tier | What it includes | Time limit | Message charges |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VGraple CRM | Free plan | 1 seat, 500 contacts, 100 conversations a month, 1 widget; inbox, flows, templates, broadcasts, leads, appointments, integrations, API | None | Billed by Meta directly, no markup |
| Interakt | Starter (free) | Instagram only, unlimited owner-role agents; WhatsApp on Growth Rs 2,799 | None | Re-billed above Meta's rate on paid tiers |
| ManyChat | Free | 25 active contacts across 2 channels after the March 2026 change | None | Per Meta via ManyChat |
| Wati | Pay-as-you-go entry | Rs 999 one-time plus Rs 999 credits, single user | Credits | Re-billed |
| AiSensy | Credits | Pay for conversation credits; features as add-ons | Credits | Re-billed at stated rates above Meta's |
| Respond.io | Trial | Full product for the trial period | Yes | Pass-through |
| SleekFlow | Trial | Full product for the trial period | Yes | Pass-through |
| Trengo | Trial | Full product for the trial period | Yes | Pass-through |
| Zoko | Trial | Full product for the trial period | Yes | Pass-through |
| Gallabox | Trial | See vendor page | Yes | Linked to external docs |
Three kinds of "free"
A free plan has no end date and lets you run a small business inside its limits. The limits are the honest part: one seat, a few hundred contacts, a monthly conversation allowance. VGraple CRM's is the fullest of the group because every feature is on it; Interakt's is real but Instagram-only; ManyChat's became very small in 2026.
A trial gives the whole product for a period and then requires a plan. Fine for evaluation, useless for running a business free.
Credits give a login and a balance of messages priced by the vendor, usually above Meta's rate. When the balance runs out, the "free" plan is a per-message bill with a markup.
What to test in a free month
- Connect the number, in coexistence mode if the owner wants to keep the app.
- Submit two templates: an acknowledgement and a reminder.
- Build one flow that answers the three questions customers ask most with buttons.
- Import fifty consenting contacts and send one broadcast; read the report.
- Take one booking or order end to end, with a payment link if you use one.
- Check the usage meters at the end of the month; they tell you which paid tier fits.
Reading a free plan's limits honestly
Seats decide whether the plan is for a person or a team. Contacts decide how much of your existing list you can bring; import the engaged part first and keep the rest for later. Conversations or contacts per month decide how much you can do: a single broadcast to 100 people uses a 100-conversation allowance in one go, so use the month for inbound conversations and small tests rather than a launch. Feature gates decide whether the test is meaningful: a free plan without templates or broadcasts cannot show you what the API does. And the message charges decide what the plan actually costs once you send: only plans where Meta bills you directly are free of markup.
The question to ask before choosing
If the free plan works and you upgrade, what changes? On a flat-plan vendor, the answer is more seats and contacts at the same message price. On a credit vendor, the answer is a bigger credit pack at the same markup. On a contact-based vendor, the answer is a larger contact band and overage per contact. The upgrade path is the real price of the free plan.
Free plan traps
- Credits at a rate above Meta's.
- Per-contact counting that includes imported contacts you never message.
- "Unlimited messages" on a plan where Meta still bills per message.
- Free plans without templates or broadcasts, which make the API pointless.
- The WhatsApp Business Account held under the vendor's portfolio, so leaving means migrating the number.
Free plans and the WhatsApp Business app
If the owner is not ready to leave the app, a free plan with coexistence is the zero-risk test: the number keeps working on the phone, the team tries the inbox and a flow, and nothing is lost if the answer is no. Free plans that require an API-only number ask you to give up the app before you have seen the product, which is a bigger commitment than the word free suggests.
After the free month
The first paid tier is where free plans diverge again: on VGraple CRM it is Starter at Rs 1,499 with five seats, 5,000 contacts and 2,000 conversations and the same Meta rates; on credit-based platforms it is a bigger credit pack at the same markup; on contact-based platforms it is a monthly active contact band. The free plan vs paid guide walks through the first paid month, and the true cost guide prices five realistic businesses.