WhatsApp CRM

Most Indian businesses already sell on WhatsApp. The trouble starts when three salespeople answer from their own phones, nobody knows which lead was followed up, and the chat history leaves with the person who quits. A WhatsApp CRM puts every chat on one business number, ties it to a lead with a stage and a follow-up date, and shows the owner what is happening. You can rent one (WATI, Interakt, AiSensy, Gallabox) or have one built around how you sell. This page explains both, and what I build when renting doesn't fit.

01

What I build

Shared WhatsApp inbox

One business number on the official WhatsApp Cloud API, answered by the whole team from a browser, with each chat assigned to a person and nothing living on a personal phone.

Every chat linked to a lead

A new WhatsApp conversation creates or updates a lead, matched by phone number, with source, stage, deal value and the full message history on one page.

Follow-ups and approved templates

A follow-up date on every lead, today's list for each salesperson, and Meta-approved templates for reminders, quotes and payment links once the 24-hour window closes.

Bots, routing and reports

An optional AI or menu bot for the first reply, round-robin assignment, and reports on response time, leads by source and won value.

02

Results from shipped work

Self-hosted WhatsApp + n8n stack

Builder & operator · Running since June 2026

  • Personal AI chat, group @agent bot and keyword router running on one WhatsApp number
  • About ₹1,155/month total infrastructure for a small business setup
  • Full build documented step by step in a public guide series
03

Pricing

Fixed-scope packages. After a free call you get a fixed written quote for your exact project, so the price doesn't creep up mid-way. Prices in INR, GST extra where applicable. Payment: 50% to start, 50% on handover. Outside India? Same packages, quoted in USD.

Lead tracker

from ₹60,000

one-time · about 2 weeks

For a small team losing leads across WhatsApp, calls and spreadsheets.

  • Leads from your website form and WhatsApp in one place
  • Pipeline stages and a follow-up date on every lead
  • Duplicate check by phone number
  • CSV import and export
Ask about Lead tracker
Most picked

Sales CRM

from ₹1,50,000

one-time · about 4–6 weeks

For a sales team of 2–20 that needs a daily call list and real numbers.

  • Everything in Lead tracker
  • Today's call list for each salesperson
  • One-tap call outcomes and WhatsApp logging
  • Users and roles
  • Funnel, source and speed-to-lead reports
  • 2 integrations: property portals, Meta lead ads, website or Sheets
  • 30 days of fixes after handover
Ask about Sales CRM

Custom CRM

from ₹3,00,000

quoted after the call

For businesses whose sales process runs into onboarding, payments or delivery.

  • Everything in Sales CRM
  • Your own stages, rules and approvals
  • WhatsApp templates sent from the lead page
  • Targets and weighted forecast
  • Migration from your old CRM or sheets
Ask about Custom CRM

Running costs (paid by you, at cost)

No licence and no per-seat fee. You pay only for hosting in your own account.

Hosting (Cloudflare or a small VPS)₹0–1,500/month
WhatsApp messages, if usedMeta's rates, from ₹0.115 per message
Optional care plan: fixes, updates, small changes₹5,000–12,000/month
04

What I design for

These are the problems that came up on real projects, and the ones I plan for before writing code.

Staying within WhatsApp's rules

Built on the official API with opt-in and approved templates, so your number isn't flagged or banned the way bulk-sender tools get banned.

No per-agent fee

Rented WhatsApp CRMs charge per month and often per agent. A custom one costs hosting and Meta's message fees, whether you have 2 salespeople or 20.

Your sales process, not a template

Stages, fields and rules match how you actually sell: site visits, demos, trial classes, deposits or installations.

Your data stays yours

Chats and leads sit in your own database, exportable any time, and connect to your website, Sheets, payments or an existing CRM.

05

Tools I use

  • WhatsApp Cloud API
  • TypeScript
  • n8n
  • PostgreSQL / SQLite
  • Cloudflare
  • OpenAI / Claude
  • Google Sheets
  • Docker
06

Is it a fit?

A good fit for teams of 2–20 who sell mainly on WhatsApp, have outgrown personal phones and spreadsheets, and have a process the rented tools only half fit.

Not a fit if WATI, Interakt, AiSensy or Gallabox already works for you. At ₹1,500–3,000 a month they are cheaper than any custom build for a simple inbox and broadcasts. I'd rather connect automation to them than replace them.

07

Questions people ask

What is a WhatsApp CRM?

Software that connects your WhatsApp Business number to a customer database: every chat is tied to a lead or customer, the team shares one inbox, and follow-ups, stages and reports live in one place instead of on personal phones.

Custom WhatsApp CRM or WATI / Interakt / AiSensy?

Rent one if you mainly need a shared inbox, broadcasts and a simple bot. Those tools cost ₹1,500–3,000 a month plus message fees and are quick to start. Build a custom one when you need your own pipeline stages, deeper reports, integrations with your systems, or when per-agent fees start adding up.

Does it use the official WhatsApp Business API?

Yes. Business numbers in a CRM run on Meta's official Cloud API with approved templates. Unofficial libraries are fine for personal experiments but risk bans for a business number.

How much do WhatsApp messages cost?

Replies within 24 hours of a customer messaging you are free. Template messages you start cost ₹0.115 (utility) or about ₹0.86 (marketing) each, plus GST, paid directly to Meta.

Can it connect to my existing CRM instead?

Yes. If you already use Zoho, HubSpot or LeadSquared, WhatsApp chats and leads can sync into it, which is usually cheaper than a new CRM. See WhatsApp automation for that kind of setup.

08

Go deeper