On this page
In short
- Freshchat bills per agent per month (Growth $19, Pro $49, Enterprise $79), and WhatsApp/social channels require Growth or above; its free tier is web chat and email only
- Freshchat charges a separate "campaign contacts" fee of $100/month per 5,000 contacts messaged, on top of Meta's own conversation fee, for broadcast-style sending
- VGraple CRM's flat plan price already includes broadcasting to your full contact list with no per-contact campaign fee, with no extra per-contact campaign fee
Verdict
Freshchat is part of the wider Freshworks ecosystem, with a genuinely useful 10-agent free tier for web chat and email, but WhatsApp and other social channels only unlock from the Growth plan ($19/agent/month) upward, and broadcast-style sending carries a separate, disclosed "campaign contacts" fee of $100/month per 5,000 contacts on top of both the seat price and Meta's own conversation charges. VGraple CRM's flat plan price already includes broadcasting with no per-contact campaign fee, with no extra per-contact campaign fee and no markup on Meta's India rate. Choose Freshchat if you are already invested in the Freshworks suite and want WhatsApp as one channel among several; choose VGraple CRM if you want WhatsApp-first pricing with no per-seat or per-campaign add-ons.
Pricing
Freshchat's pricing page (freshworks.com/live-chat-software/pricing/, checked 26 Aug 2026) lists four tiers billed per agent per month, annually: Free ($0, up to 10 agents, no WhatsApp), Growth ($19/agent/month), Pro ($49/agent/month, marked "Most Popular") and Enterprise ($79/agent/month). The same page discloses a "Campaign contacts" add-on at $100/month per 5,000 contacts, which we treat below as one $100 block per 5,000 contacts messaged in a campaign, rounded up; Freshworks' page does not fully detail how this interacts with WhatsApp-specific sending, so treat the totals as an estimate built from disclosed rates rather than an official quote.
| Team size | VGraple CRM | Freshchat |
|---|---|---|
| 2 agents, 2,000 marketing messages/month | Starter Rs 1,499 + Meta Rs 1,726 = Rs 3,225/month | Growth 2 x $19 = $38 (Rs 3,344) + campaign contacts $100 (Rs 8,800, one 5,000-contact block) + Meta Rs 1,726 = Rs 13,870/month |
| 8 agents, 15,000 marketing messages/month | Growth Rs 3,499 + Meta Rs 12,947 = Rs 16,446/month | Growth 8 x $19 = $152 (Rs 13,376) + campaign contacts $300 (Rs 26,400, three 5,000-contact blocks) + Meta Rs 12,947 = Rs 52,723/month |
| 20 agents, 50,000 marketing messages/month | Scale Rs 7,999 + Meta Rs 43,155 = Rs 51,154/month | Growth 20 x $19 = $380 (Rs 33,440) + campaign contacts $1,000 (Rs 88,000, ten 5,000-contact blocks) + Meta Rs 43,155 = Rs 164,595/month |
USD converted at Rs 88 = $1. Two separate charges compound as Freshchat's totals scale: the per-agent seat fee and the per-5,000-contact campaign fee. VGraple CRM's Starter, Growth and Scale plans (Rs 1,499, Rs 3,499 and Rs 7,999/month) have neither; broadcasting to your full contact list is included within the plan's monthly conversation limit, with only Meta's own India rate (Rs 0.8631 marketing, zero markup) added on top.
Feature comparison
| Capability | VGraple CRM | Freshchat |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, no time limit, includes WhatsApp | Yes, up to 10 agents, but does not include WhatsApp |
| Entry price for WhatsApp | Rs 1,499/month (Starter) | $19/agent/month, Rs 1,672/agent (Growth) |
| Per-message markup over Meta's rate | None, stated on pricing page | Not confirmed |
| Separate broadcast/campaign fee | None; included in your plan | Yes, $100/month per 5,000 contacts, disclosed on pricing page |
| Pricing model | Flat plan price, fixed agent count | Per agent per month; cost scales directly with headcount |
| Shared team inbox | Yes | Yes, "unified agent workspace" |
| Instagram DM in same inbox | Yes | Yes, from Growth |
| Messenger in same inbox | Yes | Yes, from Growth |
| Web chat widget | Yes | Yes, on every tier including Free |
| Chatbot / flow builder | Yes | Yes, "AI-driven bots" |
| AI agent / AI reply suggestions | Yes (Growth and above) | Yes, Freddy AI Agent, 500 sessions included Growth+, $49 per additional 100 sessions |
| Knowledge base for AI | Yes | Yes, referenced for Freddy AI |
| Broadcast pacing (auto speed control) | Yes, documented | Not documented on public pages |
| Daily portfolio budget tracking | Yes, documented | Not documented on public pages |
| Auto-pause on template pause | Yes, documented | Not documented on public pages |
| Suppression of capped/opted-out contacts | Yes, documented | Not documented on public pages |
| A/B testing on broadcasts | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Template validator | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Template gallery | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Coexistence (Business app + API together) | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Drip sequences | Yes | Not confirmed as a named feature |
| Leads pipeline (CRM) | Yes, on every plan | No, not a CRM (Freshworks' separate Freshsales product covers this) |
| Appointments / booking | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Payments in chat | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Revenue attribution | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Meta Conversions API (CAPI) | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Zapier, REST API and webhooks | Yes | Yes, connector-app integrations (billed separately at $80 per 5,000 tasks) |
| Android app | Yes | Yes, "chat widget on web & mobile apps" stated |
| 2FA and audit log | Yes, on every plan | Audit logs on Enterprise; 2FA not confirmed |
| Support hours | Email (Starter+), priority (Growth+) | Multiple SLA policies from Pro; skill-based routing on Enterprise |
Where Freshchat is stronger
- A genuinely useful free tier, up to 10 agents. Freshchat's Free plan supports up to 10 agents for web chat and email, a larger free seat count than any WhatsApp-focused competitor we have reviewed, even though it excludes WhatsApp itself.
- Part of the wider Freshworks suite. A business already using Freshdesk for support or Freshsales for its CRM gets tighter native integration by staying inside the Freshworks ecosystem than by adopting a separate WhatsApp-first platform.
- Freddy AI Agent with a transparent session-based add-on. 500 AI sessions are included from Growth upward, with clearly priced overage at $49 per additional 100 sessions, a level of AI cost transparency several competitors in this series do not publish.
- Multiple SLA policies and skill-based routing at the top tiers. Pro adds multiple SLA policies and intelligent routing; Enterprise adds skill-based routing and JWT authentication, useful for a large, structured support organisation.
- A longer, larger review history. Freshchat holds roughly 4.4/5 on G2 and 4.1/5 on Capterra (checked 26 Aug 2026) across a substantially larger review base than VGraple CRM has accumulated so far.
Where VGraple CRM is stronger
- No separate campaign fee. VGraple CRM's plan price already includes broadcasting to your full contact list with no per-contact campaign fee. Freshchat charges $100/month per 5,000 contacts on top of its per-agent seat price, which the pricing table above shows can dominate the total bill at real broadcast volume.
- WhatsApp on the entry paid plan, not gated behind a seat-priced add-on. VGraple CRM's Starter plan (Rs 1,499/month, 5 agents) includes WhatsApp from day one at a flat price. Freshchat requires Growth or above per agent before WhatsApp is available at all.
- A flat plan price that does not grow with headcount. VGraple CRM's agent count is fixed per plan (5, 15, unlimited); Freshchat's per-agent billing means the subscription line alone rises every time a seat is added, on top of the campaign fee.
- Delivery protection is documented and default. Pacing that adapts to your number's quality rating, a live daily portfolio-budget tracker, automatic campaign parking on a paused template or a quality collapse, and suppression logic that separates a refused send from a rejected one all ship on every VGraple CRM plan; none of this is documented on Freshchat's public pages.
- A CRM pipeline on every plan. Freshchat itself has no leads pipeline; that functionality sits in a separate Freshworks product (Freshsales), which is a further cost. VGraple CRM's Kanban pipeline ships on every plan, including Free.
- Coexistence and appointments as standard features. Coexistence (running the WhatsApp Business app and the API on the same number) and appointment booking are documented, standard VGraple CRM capabilities; neither is confirmed as a Freshchat feature.
Switching from Freshchat
- Confirm who owns your WABA. If your WhatsApp Business Account sits inside your own Meta Business Portfolio, which is standard, you can move it directly regardless of Freshchat's involvement.
- Reconnect through Meta's Embedded Signup. This is the standard flow for changing Tech Provider; the number's message history and quality rating with Meta are unaffected.
- Export your contacts. Freshchat contacts export as a CSV; import them into VGraple CRM's contacts module and remap custom fields as needed.
- Recreate and resubmit your templates. Templates belong to the WABA and the platform that submitted them, not to Freshchat, so each approved template needs rebuilding in VGraple CRM's template builder and resubmitting to Meta for review.
- Rebuild your bot flows and routing rules. Freddy AI Agent flows and Freshchat's routing rules do not export; recreate the equivalent logic in VGraple CRM's flow builder and AI assistant. If your team also uses Freshdesk or Freshsales, plan for those integrations to be replaced or reconnected separately.
- Run a short parallel period. Keep Freshchat active in read-only mode for a week or two while you confirm delivery, inbox and automation behaviour in VGraple CRM before decommissioning the old account.
What reviewers say
Freshchat holds roughly 4.4 out of 5 on G2 and 4.1 out of 5 on Capterra (both checked 26 Aug 2026) across a substantial review base built up over several years as part of the well-known Freshworks brand. Independent write-ups describe it as well-liked for omnichannel breadth at an accessible entry price, with metered AI costs, reporting depth and routing consistency the most commonly cited watch-outs.
VGraple CRM does not yet have a comparable public review count to cite honestly. Freshchat's longer track record and Freshworks-ecosystem integration are real advantages worth weighing if you are already invested in that suite, alongside the campaign-fee and delivery-protection differences described above.