6 Best Wati Alternatives in 2026
By Joren Wouters • Updated on
Wati is one of the most popular platforms for building WhatsApp chatbots. You get everything in one place: Flows, AI, live chat, and WhatsApp broadcasts.
But Wati isn’t perfect.
Some businesses find it too expensive. Others want a simpler tool, or more advanced AI, or features Wati doesn’t offer.
In this post, I’ll share the 6 best Wati alternatives. My choices are based on my experience testing 200+ chatbot tools and reviewing 50+ chatbot platforms in-depth.
You’ll learn what each platform does well, where it falls short, and who it’s best for.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Best Wati Alternatives: Quick Overview
| Name | Rating | Pricing | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manychat | 4.5/5 ⭐ | Free plan, Pro plan starts at $15/month | Marketing Automation and Customer Support |
| Chatbase | 4.1/5 ⭐ | Free plan, Hobby plan starts at $40/month | AI Beginners |
| Chatling | 4.3/5 ⭐ | Free plan, Paid plans start at $25/month | AI + Flow Builder on WhatsApp at a Lower Price |
| Botpress | 4.1/5 ⭐ | Free plan with pay-as-you-go model | Advanced AI Chatbots |
| UChat | 4.6/5 ⭐ | Free plan, Premium plans start at $15/month | eCommerce & Omnichannel Bots |
| Respond.io | 4.3/5 ⭐ | Plans start at $79/month, 7-day free trial on all plans | All-in-One Platform for Medium & Larger Businesses |
1. Manychat
Best for: Marketing Automation & Customer Support
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐
Manychat is great if you want a beginner-friendly platform for WhatsApp marketing and customer support.
It’s extremely easy to use. Anyone can build a chatbot with its drag-and-drop flow builder. So, if Wati feels too complex or heavy, Manychat is a lighter, faster way to automate WhatsApp.
With Manychat, you can send WhatsApp broadcasts, sequences, and rules to automate your marketing. You can even run A/B tests to improve performance over time.
For support teams, Manychat can automatically reply to questions. And if the bot doesn’t know the answer, the conversation moves smoothly to live chat. That makes it great for businesses that handle both marketing and customer service on WhatsApp.
Manychat also includes helpful AI features, such as AI Intents and the AI Flow Builder Assistant. These help you build smarter flows in less time.
If you want something much easier to use than Wati while still getting great WhatsApp automation, Manychat is a top choice.
Pros
- Very easy-to-use flow builder
- Send WhatsApp broadcasts, sequences, and rules
- Smooth live chat handover
- Unlimited custom fields & tags
- Integrates with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, SMS & Telegram
- Built-in AI: Intents, AI Steps & AI Flow Builder Assistant
Cons
- Hard to translate your chatbot into multiple languages
- You need to create separate messages for each channel
- Manychat AI can be too limited
Pricing
- Free plan up to 1000 contacts. You get basic features of the platform
- Pro plan – starts at $15/month
- AI Add-on – $29/month
To get started with Manychat, simply click the button below to get my 100% discount code:
2. Chatbase
Best for: AI Beginners
Rating: 4.1/5 ⭐
Chatbase is the best Wati alternative if you want to create an AI WhatsApp bot fast. It’s built for beginners who don’t want to deal with a complex flow builder or a big all-in-one platform.
Instead, Chatbase focuses on one thing. And it does it extremely well.
You simply upload your content or link your website, and Chatbase instantly trains an AI chatbot on that data. Then, it can can answer questions based on it. There is no need for setup, configuration, or technical work.
If you want Wati’s AI features but without the learning curve, Chatbase is a great fit.
Chatbase also supports AI Actions, which let the bot actually do things. These include:
- Checking an order status
- Booking an appointment
- Pulling data from another tool
This makes the chatbot much more useful than basic Q&A bots.
You can also improve answers manually, and the system learns from your corrections automatically. This makes improving your WhatsApp bot incredibly easy over time.
Pros
- Extremely easy to use, perfect for beginners
- Set up a WhatsApp chatbot in minutes
- AI trained on your content
- AI Actions for real-time tasks (order lookup, bookings, etc.)
- Easily improve and retrain your bot
- Integrations with WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Website & Slack
Cons
- No flow builder
- No built-in live chat (but integration with Zendesk)
- Cannot send WhatsApp broadcasts
Pricing
- Free plan: 100 message credits and train a chatbot on 400,000 characters
- Hobby Plan ($40/month): 2,000 message credits and train a chatbot on 40 million characters
3. Chatling
Best for: AI + Flow Builder on WhatsApp at a Lower Price
Rating: 4.3/5 ⭐
Chatling is a strong Wati alternative if you want AI + a flow builder but at a much more affordable price. It gives you many of the benefits of Wati, like structured flows and AI answers. But it’s only $29/month.
Just like Chatbase, you can train an AI model on your website or documents and publish it quickly.
But Chatling goes a step further. You can also build custom chatbot flows for:
- Lead capture
- FAQ trees
- Guided troubleshooting
This is the main advantage Chatling has over Chatbase.
Compared to Wati, Chatling delivers flows and AI in one platform. But there’s one important difference. Chatling does not include live chat. This is the biggest drawback, especially if human handover is essential for your team.
Still, Chatling is a good budget-friendly alternative. It’s great for businesses that want both AI and flows without paying Wati-level pricing.
It works on both WhatsApp and websites, and includes useful AI features like a trained knowledge base and intent detection.
Pros
- Less than half the price of Wati
- AI trained on your site/docs + flow builder in one tool
- Works on WhatsApp and websites
- AI knowledge base & AI intents
- Good integrations
Cons
- No AI Actions (unlike Chatbase or Botpress)
- Flow Builder is one big flow, can be hard too manage
- You need to create seperate bots per channel
- No built-in live chat or live chat integration
Pricing
- Free plan: Unlimited chats
- Paid plans: Start at $25/month (billed monthly)
4. Botpress
Best for: Advanced AI Chatbots
Rating: 4.1/5 ⭐
Botpress is the best Wati alternative if you want more advanced AI features.
It combines a flow builder with powerful AI agents. So, it’s one of the most customizable chatbot platforms available for WhatsApp.
While Wati is easier to use, Botpress is far more flexible. You can:
- Train the bot on your content
- Let it interpret images
- Summarize conversations
- Translate messages
- Adjust its personality
These capabilities go way beyond what most WhatsApp platforms offer.
It also supports AI Actions. So the bot can perform tasks like look up customer orders or update CRM records.
Botpress gives you everything Wati has, like flows, AI, and (on higher plans) live chat. But the main tradeoff is the learning curve. Beginners may find Botpress harder to use.
Another difference worth noting is that live chat is only available on their $89+/month plans. And Wati includes live chat at a cheaper price point.
However, if you don’t need live chat yet, Botpress can actually be much more affordable thanks to its free and pay-as-you-go plans.
Pros
- Very advanced AI tools (knowledge base, translation, summarization, personality, vision)
- AI Actions for real tasks
- Powerful flow builder
- Publish on WhatsApp and many other channels
- Integrations with Zendesk, Zapier, and Make
Cons
- High learning curve for beginners
- Live chat only on $89+/month plans
Pricing
- Free plan up to 500 messages
- Pay-as-you-go pricing model based on usage, available from $5/month
5. UChat
Best for: eCommerce & Omnichannel Bots
Rating: 4.6/5 ⭐
UChat is a great Wati alternative if you want a more advanced, omnichannel chatbot platform with strong WhatsApp features. The main benefit of UChat is that you can create one chatbot and publish it across many channels in just one click.
Just like Wati, UChat gives you flows, AI, and live chat. You can:
- Build custom chatbot flows
- Automate WhatsApp marketing
- Hand over conversations to your support team when needed
UChat also includes AI Agents and AI Functions. These give the bot the ability to perform tasks and behave more intelligently. This puts it closer to Botpress and Wati in terms of AI capabilities.
One of the biggest advantages of UChat is the WhatsApp Catalog. If you run an eCommerce business, you can connect your products and let customers browse and buy directly on WhatsApp. Wati doesn’t offer this level of native eCommerce support.
The only drawback is that UChat has so many features that beginners may feel overwhelmed at first. But if you want an all-in-one solution with flexibility and channel support, UChat is a great pick.
Pros
- Easy-to-use Flow Builder with advanced automation
- Build one chatbot and deploy it across 13 different channels
- AI Agents, AI Functions, and AI tools
- WhatsApp Catalog for eCommerce
- Direct integration with ChatGPT
- Set up a WhatsApp catalog and directly sell eCommerce products on WhatsApp
- Advanced marketing features, such as Broadcasts, Sequences, and Rules
- Built-in Live Chat
- Over 50 direct integrations, including Zapier & Make
Cons
- Steep learning curve, beginners can feel overwhelmed
Pricing
- Free plan
- Paid plan starts at $15/month
To get started with UChat, click the button below to get my 100% discount code:
6. Respond.io
Best for: All-in-One Platform for Medium & Larger Businesses
Rating: 4.3/5 ⭐
Respond.io is a strong Wati alternative if you need a more advanced, all-in-one platform for WhatsApp. It’s especially true if you’re a B2B company or have a sales team.
It combines:
- Flows
- AI agents
- Live chat
- Broadcasts
It’s great for businesses that want everything under one roof.
The big difference compared to Wati is how Respond.io handles live chat. Instead of a simple support inbox, Respond.io has an omnichannel inbox with lifecycle stages.
That means you can track a contact from “New lead” → “Qualified” → “First purchase” → “Loyal customer.” This is a huge upgrade for companies that run sales pipelines or have agents closing deals.
Respond.io also includes many integrations, strong reporting, and advanced automation options. And it works across multiple channels, not just WhatsApp
The main drawback is pricing. Respond.io is more expensive than Wati. And full features only unlock on higher-tier plans. That’s why it’s better suited for medium and larger businesses, not small startups.
Pros
- All-in-one platform: flows, AI agents, live chat & broadcasts
- Omnichannel inbox with lifecycle stages (great for B2B sales teams)
- Many integrations and strong reporting
- Works across multiple channels
- Great for medium to large businesses
Cons
- Too expensive for small businesses
- Automations & integrations only available from $159/month
Pricing
- Paid plans start at $79/month (billed annually)
- 7-day free trial on all plans
Your Next Step
These are the 6 best Wati alternatives. Each one has their own own strengths and weaknesses.
And which you should choose depends on what your needs are.
The next logical step is to create your own WhatsApp chatbot. You can click on this tutorial to learn how:
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best alternatives to Wati?
The best Wati alternatives are:
- Manychat: Best for WhatsApp marketing automation & customer support
- Chatbase: Best for beginners who want fast AI answers on WhatsApp
- Chatling: Best budget option for flows + AI (but no live chat)
- Botpress: Best for advanced AI chatbots and best free plan
- UChat: Best for omnichannel bots and WhatsApp eCommerce
- Respond.io: Best all-in-one platform for medium & larger B2B teams
What is the best Wati alternative for marketing?
The best WhatsApp marketing bot is Manychat. Manychat is super easy to use, to the point that anyone can create a bot with them.
Likewise, they offer various marketing automations tools, like broadcasts, sequences and rules. And you can even set up A/B tests inside your chatbot.
What is the best free Wati alternative?
Here are three of the best Wati alternatives that are free:
- Manychat: Great beginner-friendly platform with a generous free plan. Plus, you can use my free discount code to get started.
- Botpress: Offers a powerful free plan (up to 2000 messages) with advanced AI tools and a pay-as-you-go model.
- UChat: Free up to 200 bot users, with multi-channel support and solid customization features.
Which Wati alternative has the best AI?
Botpress has the most advanced AI of all Wati alternatives. It includes:
- AI Actions (real-time tasks)
- AI knowledge base
- Automatic summarization
- Image interpretation
- Translation
- Personality control
If you need the smartest, most flexible AI chatbot for WhatsApp, Botpress is the clear winner.
