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- A shared WhatsApp inbox lets a team answer one number from their own logins with assignment, notes, tags and history; it is the core of every tool here
- The differences are in assignment rules, SLAs and collision handling, the channels beside WhatsApp, the mobile app, and the pricing model
- Eight tools: VGraple CRM, Wati, Interakt, Gallabox, DoubleTick, Respond.io, SleekFlow, Trengo
- Pick by team shape: support desk, sales team, front desk, or agency, and by whether the owner keeps the WhatsApp app
A shared inbox is the reason most teams move from the WhatsApp Business app to the API: one number, many people, every conversation assigned and recorded. Every tool in this guide has one; what separates them is how assignment, SLAs and collisions work, which other channels join WhatsApp in the inbox, how good the mobile app is, and how the bill grows with the team. 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.
The eight compared
| Tool | Assignment | SLAs and stages | Collision handling | Channels beside WhatsApp | Mobile app | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VGraple CRM | Manual, round-robin, by rule, by flow choice | First-response SLA with alerts, custom stages, CSAT | Presence and typing indicators | Instagram, Messenger, comments, website widget | Android, inbox-first with reply from notification | Flat plans; Meta bills directly |
| Wati | Manual and rules | Basic reporting | Check page | Instagram, Messenger, widget | iOS and Android | Per user tiers plus add-ons |
| Interakt | Manual and rules | Basic reporting | Check page | Instagram, Messenger, widget | iOS and Android | Feature tiers |
| Gallabox | Teams and rules | SLA on higher tiers | Check page | Instagram, web, AI voice | iOS and Android | User and AI-credit tiers |
| DoubleTick | Team hierarchy, rules | SLA tracking, governance alerts | Check page | WhatsApp-led | iOS and Android | User tiers |
| Respond.io | Rules, workflows | SLAs, custom fields | Yes | Many, including email and SMS | iOS and Android | Monthly active contacts |
| SleekFlow | Rules | SLAs | Yes | Many | iOS and Android | Monthly active contacts |
| Trengo | Rules, teams | SLAs, labels | Yes | Many, including email and voice | iOS and Android | Conversations per year, per user |
"Check page" marks capabilities the vendor's public pages did not state clearly when read.
Assignment models, explained
Manual assignment is a supervisor dragging conversations to people; it works up to a handful of agents. Round-robin within a team shares new conversations evenly and is the default for most sales teams. Rule-based assignment routes by channel, source, campaign, language or the choice a customer made in a flow (sales or support, which branch, which product), and is what lets one number serve several departments. Skill or load-based assignment weighs who is online and how many open conversations each person has. Most tools do the first two; the rule-based and load-aware models are where they separate. Reassignment on escalation, on SLA breach and when an agent goes offline is the detail that keeps a queue from silting up overnight.
SLAs and stages in practice
A first-response SLA of fifteen minutes during business hours is achievable and meaningful; the tool should count down on the conversation, warn before breach, alert a manager after, and pause outside business hours. Stages (new, open, waiting on customer, resolved) keep the working tabs honest and let CSAT fire on resolve. Tools that report SLA attainment per agent and per team turn the inbox into something a manager can run; tools that only show a list turn it into a shared phone with logins.
Channels beside WhatsApp
Instagram DMs, story replies, Messenger and comments are the top of most funnels in India; a website widget is the bottom. An inbox that unifies them shows one customer across channels, lets one assignment rule cover all of them, and moves the conversation to WhatsApp for consent, templates and payments. The tools that treat Instagram as an add-on or omit comments push that work to a second tool.
The mobile app
For field sales and front desks the phone is the inbox. Reply from the notification, a working outbox on weak connections, push on assignment and mentions, and the lead or appointment a tap away are the four things to test on a trial before judging a mobile app.
What matters by team shape
A support desk needs first-response SLAs with alerts, stages (new, waiting on customer, resolved), CSAT after resolve, routing by keyword or flow choice, and collision indicators so two agents do not answer at once. Tools that document all of these: VGraple CRM, Respond.io, SleekFlow, Trengo.
A sales team needs the pipeline next to the inbox: a lead card with stage, value and source attached to the conversation, assignment by source, and a mobile app for the field. VGraple CRM, Gallabox and DoubleTick lean this way; Kommo is a CRM with messaging.
A front desk (clinic, salon, hotel) needs appointments in the same tool, quick replies, and an owner who can keep the WhatsApp app: VGraple CRM through coexistence.
An agency needs multiple organisations under one login, per-client billing and roles that keep clients apart: VGraple CRM's organisation switching, Respond.io and SleekFlow's workspaces.
Pricing the inbox as the team grows
Per-user pricing (Wati tiers, Rasayel, Kommo) grows with every hire. Contact-based pricing (Respond.io, SleekFlow) grows with reach, which is fine for support and expensive for broadcasts. Conversation-based pricing (Trengo) grows with volume. Flat plans with seat allowances (VGraple CRM: 5, 15, unlimited) grow in steps. Add the message charges: Meta directly with no markup on VGraple CRM; re-billed on several Indian platforms; pass-through on the global ones.
Features that separate a good inbox from a fine one
- Reply from the notification on the phone, so a customer is answered without opening the app.
- Internal notes and mentions that hand a question to a colleague without reassigning.
- Search that opens the conversation at the matching message.
- A 24-hour window countdown on every conversation, and a composer that switches to templates when it closes.
- Contact panel with leads, appointments and other channels' conversations.
- Quiet-hour and business-hour awareness for automated replies.
The inbox tour shows how VGraple CRM handles each; the managing WhatsApp with a team guide covers the operating habits that matter more than the tool.
A last test before choosing: give the trial to the person who will live in the inbox all day, not to the person buying it, and ask them after a week which tool they would resent losing. The inbox is a place people work eight hours in; the small frictions decide adoption more than the feature list does.