An MSG91 WhatsApp alternative built for selling, not just sending

MSG91 is an Indian CPaaS best known for SMS and OTP delivery, with WhatsApp offered on a low platform fee, its Titan plan lists at ₹500/month with per-message rates like ₹0.8631 for marketing and ₹0.115 for utility messages in India. Growcord is an MSG91 WhatsApp alternative for teams whose main job is marketing and customer conversations: broadcasts, no-code bots, a shared inbox, sales pipelines and ecommerce automations are all included, from ₹299/month (₹99/month billed yearly). Keep MSG91 if your workload is OTPs across SMS and WhatsApp; pick a WhatsApp-first platform if campaigns and chats are the point.

Official WhatsApp Business API0% markup on Meta's fees7-day money-back guarantee
An MSG91 WhatsApp alternative built for selling, not just sending. A WhatsApp conversation running on the Growcord platform

MSG91 pricing for WhatsApp, in plain terms

As published on msg91.com in August 2026: the Titan plan is ₹500/month (listed at ₹0 for the first two months), and WhatsApp messages in India are billed per message by category, marketing at ₹0.8631, utility at ₹0.115 and authentication at ₹0.115, all exclusive of 18% GST.

That's a clean, low-commitment way to put WhatsApp next to the SMS and email channels MSG91 already runs, and for transactional traffic it's priced sensibly.

Where buyers start comparing MSG91 competitors is the software around the messages. MSG91's WhatsApp product covers bulk sends from CSV with scheduling, two-way replies through its Hello inbox product, segmentation, click-to-WhatsApp ads support and delivery analytics.

It's a capable toolkit, but it's assembled from a suite of separate products grown around SMS, and marketing teams often want the WhatsApp pieces designed together: audience tags feeding campaigns, campaign replies landing in the same inbox the bot hands over to, cart-recovery flows wired to the store.

What MSG91 genuinely does well

Credit where due: MSG91 is one of India's most established communication APIs. If your traffic is OTPs and alerts, its multi-channel routing, SMS with DLT handled, email, voice and WhatsApp behind one account, is a real operational advantage, and the low platform fee means WhatsApp costs almost nothing to keep switched on.

Developers get solid APIs, and the per-message rate card is transparent. None of that changes when you add a marketing platform; plenty of businesses run OTPs and authentication on one provider and marketing on another.

MSG91 vs Growcord for WhatsApp

MSG91Growcord

Platform fee

₹500/mo (Titan; listed free for first 2 months)

₹299/mo, or ₹99/mo billed yearly

Marketing message, India

₹0.8631 + GST per message

Meta's own rate, roughly ₹0.78–0.88, with nothing added

Utility message, India

₹0.115 + GST per message

Meta's published utility rate, passed through unchanged

Bulk campaigns & scheduling

CSV-based sends with schedulingCampaigns with tags, segments and per-campaign reports

Two-way inbox

Via its Hello product (unified with Instagram, email, webchat)

Shared WhatsApp team inbox included, with roles

Chatbot flows

Chatbot support offered

No-code flow builder included on every plan

Ecommerce automations

Not listed on its WhatsApp pages

Abandoned cart, COD confirmation, order updates, back-in-stock, review requests

Sales pipelines

Not listed on its WhatsApp pages

Included

Also does SMS / email / voice

Core strength, DLT handledWhatsApp only

Free option

Platform fee waived for first 2 months

Free tier, 1 number, 50 conversations/month, no end date

Competitor pricing and features as published on their website, checked August 2026.

Why marketing teams pick a WhatsApp-first platform

The practical difference shows up in the daily loop. In Growcord, a jewellery store tags walk-in enquiries, schedules a festival campaign to exactly those tags, watches delivered/read/replied per campaign, and every reply lands in the shared inbox where a bot answers price questions until a person takes over.

A D2C brand connects Shopify or WooCommerce once and the abandoned-cart, COD-confirmation and order-update flows run themselves. Templates are written, submitted and synced with Meta approval from the same screen.

That loop, audience, campaign, conversation, automation, is one product in Growcord rather than a set of adjacent tools. And the developer surface is still there: REST API, API keys and webhooks on every plan, so order events flow in from your backend the same way they would with a CPaaS.

On cost: Growcord Basic at ₹99/month billed yearly undercuts MSG91's ₹500/month platform fee, and yearly Startup at ₹399/month includes 1,000 conversations. Meta's fees exist on both sides: MSG91 publishes its own per-message rates, while Growcord passes Meta's rate through untouched and shows the campaign estimate before you press send.

Growcord earns on the subscription alone, which is also why a 7-day money-back guarantee costs it nothing to offer. Compare complete plans on the pricing page.

MSG91 vs Growcord for WhatsApp: feature and pricing table

Switching from MSG91 to Growcord

  1. Open a free account

    The free tier, 1 number, 50 conversations a month, lets you trial campaigns, the inbox and bot flows before moving anything that matters.

  2. Reconnect your WhatsApp number

    Release the number from MSG91, then link it to Growcord through Meta's embedded signup. Display name, verification and messaging tier stay with the number; chat history does not move, so export it first.

  3. Import contacts and templates

    Upload your contact CSV with tags, and re-submit your templates from inside Growcord, Meta approval usually lands within minutes to a few hours.

  4. Keep MSG91 for what it's best at, if you like

    Many teams leave SMS and OTP traffic on MSG91 and run WhatsApp marketing and support on Growcord. Nothing forces a single vendor.

Run WhatsApp marketing like a product, not a rate card

Free tier with 1 number and 50 conversations a month. Plans from ₹99/month billed yearly, GST invoice included.

Start free, no card needed

Why Growcord

What you get here that you don't get elsewhere

0% markupOn every message you send

Meta's rate is what you pay. We earn on the plan, never on your traffic.

₹99/monthEntry plan, billed yearly

The names you know start at ₹1,500–₹2,499 for the same channel.

CRM includedNot a paid add-on

Contacts, tags, pipelines and tickets on every plan, including the free one.

AI + botsAnswering at 2am

Drag-and-drop flows for the routine asks, AI for everything they miss.

Frequently asked questions

What does MSG91 charge for WhatsApp messages?

As listed on msg91.com in August 2026: the Titan plan is ₹500/month (free for the first two months), with India rates of ₹0.8631 per marketing message and ₹0.115 for utility and authentication messages, all exclusive of 18% GST. Rates vary by destination country on their published dialplan table.

Is MSG91 good for WhatsApp marketing?

It covers the basics, bulk sends from CSV, scheduling, segmentation and analytics, and it's a strong choice if you already run SMS and OTPs there. Teams that live in WhatsApp all day usually want more: bot flows handing to a shared inbox, sales pipelines, and store-connected automations like cart recovery, which is where a WhatsApp-first platform such as Growcord fits better.

Can I move my WhatsApp number from MSG91 to Growcord?

Yes. The number belongs to your business under Meta's rules, not to the provider. Release it from MSG91, reconnect through Growcord's embedded signup, and the display name, green tick and messaging tier come along. Re-submit your templates from Growcord and export chat history beforehand, since conversations don't transfer.

Is Growcord cheaper than MSG91 for WhatsApp?

On the platform fee, yes. Growcord Basic is ₹299/month, or ₹99/month billed yearly, against MSG91's listed ₹500/month once its two free months end, a gap of roughly ₹4,800 over a year. Meta's per-conversation charges apply either way; MSG91 publishes its own per-message rates, Growcord passes Meta's through untouched. Whether that saving matters depends on whether you also need the campaign and inbox tooling.

Should I keep MSG91 for SMS and OTPs?

If it's working, there's a fair case for it. MSG91's SMS delivery, DLT handling and OTP routing are core strengths, and splitting channels across vendors is common: transactional SMS and OTPs on MSG91, WhatsApp marketing, support and commerce automations on Growcord. Growcord is WhatsApp-only by design, so it doesn't replace your SMS stack.

Why businesses pick Growcord

Official WhatsApp Business API

Built on Meta's Cloud API, the sanctioned channel, not a modded app. No number-ban roulette.

Indian pricing, GST invoice

Plans from ₹99/month billed yearly. Paid in ₹ via Razorpay, with a proper GST invoice every time.

Free tier, no card needed

1 number and 50 conversations a month to prove it on real customers before paying anything.

Support from New Delhi, in IST

A real team on email and WhatsApp, Monday to Saturday 10:00–19:00 IST, not a ticket void.

Talk to us

Get set up on WhatsApp this week

Tell us what you sell and how many customers you message. We'll reply on WhatsApp with the plan that fits and, if you want it, walk you through the Meta approval step.

  • No sales call unless you ask for one
  • Answers from the team that builds it, in IST hours
  • Free tier available. You can start before you decide

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