The free WhatsApp Business app from Meta is enough for many small businesses. A WhatsApp CRM, which runs on Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform, helps when a team shares one number and needs customer records, deals and follow-ups. Repli is one such CRM; it works with WhatsApp and does not replace it.
The app is usually enough when one or two people answer chats, everyone can see every conversation, and labels plus quick replies keep things organised. It is free to download, and Meta also offers paid extras inside it, such as business broadcasts in some countries.
A CRM becomes useful when several people share one number and you need to know who owns each chat, keep notes and deal stages per customer, assign follow-up tasks, and see per-person reports. Those features come from software connected through Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform, not from the app itself.
If your team already shares one number, start with how the WhatsApp shared inbox handles assignment.
Checked 4 October 2026 against the Meta sources listed below. “Platform” means a feature comes from Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform; “Repli” means Repli builds it on top.
| WhatsApp Business app (Meta) | WhatsApp CRM via Repli Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free to download; some paid extras (e.g. business broadcasts, where available) | ₹999/month Repli plan, plus Meta’s charges for Platform messages; agent seats billed per agent |
| Customer organisation | Labels to sort and filter chats | Repli: contact profiles with stage, tags, notes and history; saved segments |
| Sales pipeline and tasks | Not listed among Meta’s app features | Repli: deals pipeline and follow-up tasks with due dates and owners |
| Team access | One phone plus linked devices on a single account | Repli: a separate login per agent, online/offline status |
| Chat ownership | Shared view on linked devices; Meta offers extra multi-agent tools on some paid plans | Repli: automatic assignment to online agents, manual assign and unassign |
| Automatic messages | Greeting and away messages, quick replies | Repli: keyword automations and quick replies; AI replies need separately bought AI credit on Growth |
| Starting conversations | Chats, broadcast lists, business broadcasts where available | Platform: Meta-approved templates to opted-in contacts |
| Reports | Broadcast insights, where business broadcasts are available | Repli: per-agent open chats, takeovers, messages sent, reply and handling time |
| Same number in both | — | Platform: coexistence keeps the app working on the same number |
Business profile, catalogue, greeting and away messages, quick replies and labels. Business broadcasts, which can reach people who have not saved your number, are offered in select countries.
Connecting your number to outside software, approved message templates for starting conversations, and higher messaging volume. Meta charges for some Platform messages; see Meta’s pricing page.
Separate logins per agent, automatic and manual chat assignment, contact profiles with notes and tags, a deals pipeline, follow-up tasks, saved segments and per-person reports.
Meta lets an existing Business app number connect to the Platform while you keep using the app one-to-one, with history kept in sync. Repli’s WhatsApp connection offers this option.
You answer every chat yourself and nothing is being missed. Labels and quick replies cover it, at no software cost.
Two or more people reply from one number, customers get duplicate or missed answers, or follow-ups live in someone’s head.
Connect the same number with Meta’s coexistence option and keep using the app while the team tries the shared inbox.
If you are the only person replying, the Business app is probably the right tool. Use labels for stages like “new enquiry” or “paid”, quick replies for common answers, and greeting and away messages for off-hours.
Signs you may have outgrown it: you keep a separate spreadsheet of customers, you forget follow-ups, or you want to send approved template messages to opted-in customers at volume.
Linked devices let several people use one account, but everyone sees the same chats. When two people answer the same customer, or nobody answers, a shared inbox with assignment helps.
A CRM also keeps notes, deal stages and tasks attached to the customer, so a teammate can pick up a conversation without asking around. Per-person reports show who is handling what.
Growth includes WhatsApp CRM (contacts, deals, tasks and segments), WhatsApp Marketing (broadcasts, templates and automations), Email Automation, the WhatsApp CRM with seats billed per agent, and everything in Pro for Instagram. It covers one Instagram account and one WhatsApp number.
Growth includes no AI credit; AI replies need credit bought separately or a higher plan (Pro+ or Commerce). Meta’s own message charges are separate from the Repli plan.
A Meta business account, a phone number for WhatsApp, and Meta’s approval of your business details. You connect the number inside Repli through Meta’s sign-up window, either as a new number or by keeping your existing Business app number with coexistence.
Meta notes some limits on the Platform side of coexistence; read the coexistence documentation before switching your main number. Team members then join with their own logins.
The Business app is Meta’s free app for small businesses, with labels, quick replies, a catalogue and automatic greeting and away messages. A WhatsApp CRM is separate software connected through Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform that adds team logins, chat assignment, customer records, deals and tasks.
It is free to download and use, with some optional paid features from Meta. A CRM like Repli has its own plan fee, and Meta charges for some Platform messages.
Yes, if you connect with Meta’s coexistence option. Meta says you can keep sending one-to-one messages in the app, and history stays in sync between the app and the connected software.
Growth at ₹999 per month. Pro+ and Commerce include it too. Creator and Pro do not include WhatsApp.
Growth includes no AI credit. You can buy AI credit separately, or choose Pro+ or Commerce, which add monthly AI credit.
No. Messages still go through WhatsApp, and your number is registered with Meta. Repli is the software your team works in.
When one person handles every chat, nothing is being missed, and labels and quick replies are enough to keep track of customers.
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