The Wati alternative
that doesn't charge per contact or user.
Wati charges a monthly plan with limited users and active contacts. 008 Engage has no fee and no seats: you pay for the AI you use and you pay Meta directly, at its rates.
No monthly fee
No license and no seats: top up your balance and pay for what you use.
No contact limits
You pay for usage, not for how many contacts are active each month.
Your whole team
Your human agents work from the dashboard with no per-seat fee.
From $0.002 per reply
AI is billed per generated reply, by model: with a low-cost model, each message costs very little.
Message our agent: it runs on WhatsApp with 008 Engage.
008 Engage vs Wati, point by point.
Wati is a very complete WhatsApp inbox for SMBs. What changes is how it bills and what the AI does.
| Criterion |  |  008 Engage |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan | From MX$829 a month (annual) or MX$1,049 (monthly) | None: pay as you go |
| Contacts | 500 active on Growth; 250 more for MX$370 | No plan limit |
| Team users | 3 on Growth, no add-ons; MX$449 per extra user on Pro | No per-seat fee |
| Meta messages | At its own rate card | Straight to Meta, no markup |
| AI agent | Astra, with AI credits per plan | From $0.002 per reply, on the model you choose |
| Inbox and broadcasts | Very mature team inbox, broadcasts and Shopify | Inbox, template campaigns and CRM |
| To try it | 7-day free trial | Free account with $5 in credit |
Wati data taken from its public pages in October 2026; sources are listed at the bottom of the page. Prices exclude tax and may change.
What you pay every month, however much you use.
With Wati, the plan sets your users and active contacts, and messages go at its rate card. 008 Engage has no plan: you pay for the AI you use and pay Meta directly.
- Growth planMX$829/month (annual)
- Active contacts500 included
- 250 more contactsMX$370Extra
- Meta messagesAt Wati's rate cardExtra
008 Engage- Monthly feeNone
- Team seatsNo feeIncluded
- AI replyFrom $0.002, by model
- Meta messagesPaid to Meta directly, no markupExtra
Wati prices from its Mexico pricing page, in pesos. Since October 1, 2026, Meta also bills service messages, after 1,000 free per number each month. 008 Engage is a Tech Provider: the WhatsApp account is yours and Meta bills you directly.
Where Wati still wins.
Wati is one of the easiest ways to get started on WhatsApp.
Self-serve in pesos
You sign up on your own, with MXN pricing and no setup fee.
Inbox and broadcasts
A well-worn team inbox, broadcasts and Shopify integration.
AI included in the plan
Astra and its AI credits come with every plan.
If you want a WhatsApp inbox with broadcasts for a small team, Wati fits. If you want AI agents that resolve on their own and to pay only for what you use, look at 008 Engage.
Every message counts. And since October 1, every message is billed.
WhatsApp now charges every service message your business sends. A bot that greets, repeats itself and asks “anything else?” multiplies the bill. 008 Engage agents reply only when it's needed and stop once the conversation is resolved.
Only the replies that matter
It puts in one message what others send in three.
100% goal-oriented
Every reply moves the conversation toward the sale or the resolution.
Mutes the conversation
An “ok” or a “thanks” doesn't trigger another paid message.
Multimodal from the first message
It understands voice notes and images without asking customers to type.
No asking twice
It remembers every customer and never asks for the same details again.
Cost in plain sight
Cost analytics per agent, model and campaign.
008 EngageIt handles and closes on WhatsApp.
An autonomous agent runs the whole conversation end to end: it understands intent, answers questions, recommends, handles objections and closes the sale or case. Fully multi-turn with no human in the loop, leaving an internal summary of every chat for your team.
Voice and image, not just text.
Customers don't always type — they send a voice note or a photo. Your agent transcribes and understands the audio, and reads what's in the image — a product, a receipt, a document — to reply with the right context, just like a person would.
Voice notes
It transcribes them and gets the intent, even when they're long.
Photos and documents
It reads receipts, invoices, products and screenshots.
First time right
It answers with the full context in a single message.
0:18“The sneakers arrived but they're too small. Can I swap them for a 43?”
From Wati to 008 Engage, without downtime.
- 01
Migrate your number
Your number moves to your own WhatsApp Business account, connected to 008 Engage: it stays yours.
- 02
Bring your knowledge
Your catalog, FAQs and documents train the agent.
- 03
Test with real cases
Try it on your usual conversations before opening it to all your customers.
- 04
Open the channel
Once you're convinced, let it take over. No lock-in.
Wati bills messages at its own rate card: on the one linked from its Latin America pricing page, prices sit above Meta's list rates. With 008 Engage you pay Meta directly.
Pay as you go with a prepaid balance: no license, no per-seat fee and no minimums. AI is billed per generated reply, from $0.002 with the lowest-cost models, and you pay Meta for the messages.
Your new account comes with $5 in credit to try it.
Yes. Your number moves to your own WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) connected to 008 Engage. Because we're a Tech Provider, the account is yours and Meta bills you.
Since October 1, 2026, Meta also bills replies inside the 24-hour window, after 1,000 free per number each month.
That's why the number of messages your agent sends matters: 008 Engage groups replies and doesn't answer a «thanks».
Compare 008 with other platforms.
Put an agent to the test.
Request a demo or talk to our agent on WhatsApp right now.
Sources
- Wati · Pricing
- Wati · Wati AI (Astra)
- Meta · WhatsApp Business Platform pricing
- 008 Engage · How it's billed
Wati and its logo are trademarks of their owner. 008 is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wati; we name it only for comparison, using public information.