COMPARISON
Do you need a WhatsApp API inbox, or a view of the app your reps already use?
If you are willing to move reps onto the official API and rebuild their workflow, buy one of these. If you are not, that's what we're for. This page exists to help you tell the two purchases apart.
For a sales team on the WhatsApp Business app choosing between an API inbox and WAOversight: WATI, respond.io, Callbell and Trengo are shared inboxes on the official API, so your numbers migrate, reps switch dashboards, and sending is the point. WAOversight links the numbers reps already use, shows who replied and who is waiting, and never sends from them.
WHERE THE CATEGORIES DIFFER
Where do an API inbox and WAOversight differ?
Unlike every other page in this section, the two sides here do not share a mechanism: an API inbox requires the WhatsApp Business API, and we never touch it. A category contrast, not a feature race.
| WAOversight | WhatsApp API inboxes | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens to your numbers | Reps keep WhatsApp as-is; company numbers link as companion devices | Numbers migrate to the WhatsApp Business API and reps move to a new dashboard |
| Sending | No linked number can send. The archive can never be the thing that sends | Built to send: broadcasts, bots and automation, with Meta per-conversation fees on top |
| History and deletions on the app reps use | Preserved from the moment a number is linked, deletions and edits included | Outside the API's scope: only the API number's official traffic exists to these tools |
What do API inbox tools do well?
For outbound at volume, the official API is the right rails and these are the right tools: approved templates, broadcasts, chatbots, routing, SLAs, integrations. WATI's pricing is honest about the shape: Growth at $20 per month on annual billing ($25 monthly) for 3 users, Pro at $80 with $24 per extra user, Business at $240 with $69 per extra user, plus Meta's per-conversation fees. If your team's job is campaigns and inbound service at scale, buy from this category and do it on the API.
What do buyers discover late?
Most people searching "WhatsApp for my sales team" land on these tools first, and only later discover the premise: your number moves to the Business API, and your reps stop using the WhatsApp app for work. The API only carries the official number's traffic. The history on the phones your reps use today, and anything they delete there, is outside its scope entirely.
We are not an alternative to these tools; we are what you buy when you don't want to change how reps work. One QR scan per number links each company-owned number as a companion device, capture starts, and deletions and edits are preserved with both timestamps from that point on. Flat per-number pricing, managers free, no per-message fees to anyone.
Who should buy an API inbox instead of WAOversight?
- You run campaigns, chatbots or a service desk at volume. That is the API's home turf.
- You are ready to migrate numbers and retrain reps onto a shared dashboard.
- Your compliance needs are about outbound content approval, not about what reps say one-to-one.
If what brought you here is oversight of what reps actually say and delete, start from the compare hub. If you are a regulated financial firm, read when you need Smarsh instead, because neither we nor an API inbox is your answer.
Sources
This is a category page. The figures here are WATI's, and the other vendors are named only as part of the category. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
- WATI's pricing page, read September 7, 2026: the Growth, Pro and Business plans at $20 / $80 / $240 a month on annual billing, the included users, the $24 to $69 per extra user, and the note that Meta's per-conversation fees come on top.
- respond.io, Callbell and Trengo: named as part of the same category. No price, feature or limit here comes from their sites.
- Meta's per-conversation fees: see Meta's own pricing page. We do not quote a figure because the rates change by country and by year.
- That an API inbox requires the WhatsApp Business API and a number migration: that is how these tools work, whichever vendor you pick.
API INBOX QUESTIONS
What else do buyers ask about API inboxes?
How much does WATI cost?
Growth is $20 per month on annual billing ($25 paid monthly) with 3 users; Pro is $80 per month annual with 5 users and $24 per extra user; Business is $240 per month annual with $69 per extra user. Meta's per-conversation message fees come on top of every plan.
Do I need the WhatsApp Business API to use WAOversight?
No. We link company-owned numbers as companion devices, one QR scan per number and about a minute each, and your reps keep using WhatsApp exactly as they do today. No number migration, no new dashboard, nothing installed on any phone.
Is WAOversight an alternative to WATI, respond.io, Callbell or Trengo?
Not honestly, no. They are sending tools built on the official API; we are an archive, and no linked number can send through it. If you are willing to move reps onto the API and rebuild their workflow, buy one of them. If you are not, that is what we are for. The two purchases answer different questions.
Keep the reps' WhatsApp. Keep the record.
Fifteen minutes, live, with your data. We will show you what companion-device capture sees that an API inbox cannot.
WAOversight is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by WhatsApp or Meta.