The popularity of WhatsApp as a communication tool has grown immensely, especially among businesses. Its instant messaging capabilities and user-friendly interface have made it a go-to platform for connecting with customers. However, with several WhatsApp Business alternatives available, choosing the right one for your business needs can be a daunting task.
This blog post aims to simplify the decision-making process for businesses by exploring the top 5 LimeChat alternatives, one of the popular WhatsApp Business solution providers. We will delve into each alternative’s features, benefits, and pricing to help you make an informed decision about the best fit for your business.
No matter the size of your business, selecting the right WhatsApp Business API provider is vital for your growth. A reliable provider will not only enhance your customer support but also streamline your marketing strategies and increase sales. So, stay tuned as we provide you with all the relevant information to help you make an informed decision. We will start by taking a closer look at LimeChat’s features, pricing, and limitations.
What is LimeChat?
LimeChat is a communication platform specifically designed for e-commerce businesses to engage with their customers across different channels, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. While the platform is mainly focused on offering live chat, chatbot, and customer support services to Shopify stores, it also serves marketing purposes. This review of LimeChat provides insights into its advantages and disadvantages that businesses should consider before subscribing.
What are the pros and cons of LimeChat?
Pros of LimeChat: One of LimeChat’s advantages is its multichannel customer support, which distinguishes it from competitors like BusinessOnBot. LimeChat’s advanced AI-based WhatsApp chatbots can handle complex inquiries and assist in conversational marketing, such as re-targeting and retention campaigns for D2C brands. Additionally, the platform provides comprehensive reports on WhatsApp broadcasts and cart recovery campaigns, making it easy for businesses to monitor their campaign progress.
Cons of LimeChat: However, LimeChat is not capable of increasing repeat purchases and growing a subscriber base, unlike what the original source claimed. LimeChat lacks essential D2C-specific features like user segmentation for marketing campaigns and the ability to convert Cash On Delivery to prepaid, which are necessary for running successful campaigns across channels. Also, LimeChat does not offer the feature of acquiring new customers; you must provide LimeChat with your existing contact list to run marketing campaigns and resolve tickets. The scope of growing the market segment is negligible.
Furthermore, LimeChat’s pricing includes the team’s installation time and effort to customize and implement the solution, making it more expensive than its competitors.
What is the cost of LimeChat platform?
LimeChat’s subscription plans start at $19 per month for the Starter Plan, $99 for the Growth Plan, $499 per month for the Pro Plan, and customized plans for enterprise businesses. While LimeChat may be a suitable option for businesses seeking a platform for live chat, chatbots, and customer support, it is crucial to take into account its limitations in terms of D2C-specific features and higher pricing compared to competitors before making a final decision.
However, there are other alternatives in the market that offer more advanced features than LimeChat at a more affordable price point.
What are the top 5 LimeChat alternatives for WhatsApp Business?
#1 Interakt
Interakt a Meta verified WhatsApp Business Partner, is one of the top WhatsApp Business solution alternatives that enables businesses to manage customer conversations, increase sales, automate support & acquire more customers via WhatsApp.
Along with your run-of-the-mill WhatsApp features, it also offers a range of AI-powered WhatsApp features such as Smart Ads, AnswerBot, Concierge, etc., making it a one-stop solution for businesses.
With over 25,000+ leading brands onboard, Interakt has established itself as a leading player in the WhatsApp Business Platform space.
Top Interakts’ WhatsApp Business API Features:
Interakt is categorized into three segments: Market, Answer, and Sell.
a. Market:
Acquire new customers and re-engage existing ones with AI-powered Smart Ads and insightful WhatsApp campaigns:
• Click to WhatsApp Ads: Acquire more customers via WhatsApp Ads using Interakt’s CTWA on Facebook and Instagram that have a “WhatsApp” button attached as the call-to-action, leading your customers to your WhatsApp chat.
Interakt now offers AI-powered CTWA ads called – Smart Ads, which can be created right on the Interakt platform with minimum efforts
• WhatsApp Broadcast: Use Interakt’s WhatsApp Notifications campaigns to send bulk WhatsApp messages about offers, discounts, order alerts, etc. to customers & market your products directly on WhatsApp.
• Concierge: Interakt’s AI-powered Concierge recommends the best campaigns and cohorts for maximum returns, with insights on click-through rates (CTR) to optimize your strategies.
b. Answer
• WhatsApp CRM: Use Interakt’s dedicated Shared Team Inbox to respond to all your customer queries in real-time and instantly provide instant resolution with quick replies, notification templates, rich media & more.
• AnswerBot: Streamline customer support with Interakt’s AnswerBot, freeing up human for more complex tasks.
• Unified Platform: Provide seamless support across WhatsApp and Instagram, catering to your customers’ preferred channels.
• Automated Workflows: Effortlessly design conversational flows that guide your customers through various processes like WhatsApp for appointment booking, new student registration, document collection, and more. Or leverage Interakt’s predefined, customizable templates to meet all your business needs, so there is no need to start from scratch!
c. Sell:
• E-store Integration: Automatically integrate your WhatsApp with Shopify, WooCommerce, or Excel to boost conversions.
• Payments on WhatsApp: Accept payments securely through WhatsApp Pay, offering a native and convenient shopping experience.
• WhatsApp Commerce: With your own WhatsApp shop increase your daily orders by sending catalog messages to your customers directly to their WhatsApp chat.
• Commerce Templates: Enhance the shopping experience by incorporating catalogs, Limited Time Offers, and Copy Code into templates, and seamlessly receive comprehensive order details via APIs.
d. Miscellaneous
• WhatsApp Integration with 15+ Platforms: Enable seamless integration of your WhatsApp Business Account with Clevertap, Moengage, Webengage, Pabbly, CRMs, payment gateways, and business apps like Zoho, Google Sheets, Razorpay, PayU, Return Prime, etc., to use Interakt as a full-stack WhatsApp business solution.
• WhatsApp Template Library: Interakt’s WhatsApp Notification Library is your one-stop destination for ready-to-use WhatsApp templates. No more creating content in a frenzy, just copy-paste the ready-to-use, engaging notification templates to send out festive greetings, promotional messages/order updates, and more on WhatsApp!
#2 Aisensy
Aisensy is a no-code platform that offers businesses WhatsApp Business solutions through the official WhatsApp Business API. The platform provides businesses with an array of features, including unlimited WhatsApp broadcasts, automated notifications for payments, abandoned carts, order confirmations, and delivery updates with bot-enabled support. By obtaining approval from WhatsApp, businesses can begin messaging their audience through Aisensy.
Aisensy offers two pricing plans to suit different business needs. The Basic Unlimited Users plan costs Rs. 999 per month, including unlimited messages to users, 10 tags, and 5 attributes. The Pro plan goes for Rs. 2399 per month and provides additional features such as a broadcast scheduler, click-tracking, and up to 100 tags and 20 attributes. Aisensy also offers customized plans to enterprise clients tailored to their specific needs.
However, Aisensy has several limitations. The lack of a mobile app makes it less dependable, and the team is still working on developing automated messaging functionality. Approvals for templates may take a considerable amount of time through their dashboard. At the moment, there are no available apps for merchants on the Shopify App store, with only basic integration possible. Additionally, the user interface requires enhancement to make it more user-friendly for beginners. Lastly, the platform’s WhatsApp commerce feature to send multi-product WhatsApp catalogs multi-product catalogs is not yet available.
#3 Wati
WATI is a platform designed to cater to the customer support needs of B2C businesses with its WhatsApp Business Solutions. The platform offers an array of features, including the option to apply for the WhatsApp Business API, a shared inbox for customer support, and a chatbot builder for automating customer responses, simplifying customer service operations.
One of the major benefits of WATI is its WhatsApp business team management features that facilitate seamless support. The support team handles complete API integration and onboarding, freeing businesses to focus on other essential aspects of their operations.
However, WATI has some drawbacks. It is exclusively compatible with WhatsApp, and businesses that need to support customers on other platforms must purchase an additional CRM tool. The default chatbot provided by WATI is basic, and businesses need to pay an additional monthly fee of $49 to use the more advanced flow builder.
WATI offers two pricing plans, the Standard Plan at INR 2380/- per month, and the Professional Plan at INR 4760/- per month. The flow builder incurs an additional monthly fee. Despite this, WATI’s features and capabilities make it an excellent option for businesses seeking to enhance customer support on WhatsApp.
#4 BusinessOnBot
BusinessonBot is a platform that provides a range of services, including end-to-end bot-enabled support services on WhatsApp, a complete WhatsApp shop, AI-powered customer support, and automatic pings for customer engagement. The platform has gained popularity among D2C brands, with over 300 brands already utilizing its services.
However, businesses should be aware of the platform’s limitations. BusinessonBot heavily relies on automation, which may result in a lack of personalized customer support. While it offers automated support for FAQs and other customer queries, it may not always address unique customer issues. Additionally, complete WhatsApp automation of e-commerce processes may make the platform less flexible in accommodating specific business requirements.
Hence, BusinessonBot’s features may not be suitable for all types of D2C brands. Larger enterprises with more complex operations may require a more customized and scalable solution. Furthermore, businesses must invest in training their staff to manage and optimize the platform effectively, which could incur additional costs.
The costs of subscribing to the BusinessonBot platform exceed the prevailing market standards. The Starter Plan entails a monthly fee of INR 4900/- per month, the Pro Plan costs INR 7800/- per month, and the Business Plan requires a monthly payment of INR 14999/- per month. Despite offering an array of features and benefits, these rates might prove exorbitant for fledgling startups or emerging D2C brands interested in utilizing WhatsApp marketing. It is therefore advisable for businesses to thoroughly assess the platform’s pros and cons prior to committing to its services.
Also, recommended Top 5 BusinessOnBot alternatives in 2023
#5 DelightChat
DelightChat is a versatile software that helps SME brands deliver exceptional customer service with its omnichannel helpdesk and WhatsApp chat solution. The platform stands out for its conversation-first approach, which enables businesses to communicate with customers efficiently. DelightChat provides a unified inbox that supports various communication channels such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Emails, and Live Chat. With this feature, businesses can manage their customer support from one screen and offer seamless customer experiences.
One of DelightChat’s significant advantages is the access it provides to the Official API. This feature allows businesses to send WhatsApp Broadcasts to customer lists, get access to the Official WhatsApp API, and receive automated notifications for abandoned carts, order confirmations, and order delivery updates. Additionally, the platform offers team collaboration features that allow customer support teams to collaborate and respond to queries from one screen, thereby increasing productivity.
However, there are limitations to DelightChat, including the lack of a mobile app for users and no user spamming feature to prevent unsolicited conversations. Furthermore, the platform does not support ongoing notification campaigns or click-to-WhatsApp ads for acquiring new customers. Although DelightChat supports WhatsApp commerce, it is limited to marketing goods and services and resolving customer support tickets. The platform’s features and automation primarily focus on customer support, and customer segmentation is limited to the content of their messages.
Despite its limitations, DelightChat offers businesses a free plan and paid plans starting at $49 per month for the Startup Plan, $99 per month for the Scale Plan, and $299 per month for the Growth Plan. It’s worth noting that DelightChat is exclusive to integrating with Shopify and not compatible with other e-commerce platforms, CRMs, and payment gateways like Woocommerce, Zoho, Instamojo, PayU, RazorPay, etc. Using multiple apps for the same channel can add to a business’s operational costs, so businesses should weigh their options and choose a plan that meets their needs and budget.
Which is a better alternative – LimeChat or Interakt?
Compared to other platforms in the market, Interakt provides a cost-effective solution with powerful automation features for sales, support, and marketing. For a clearer understanding of the differences between Interakt and LimeChat, kindly refer to the comparison table below.
Wrapping Up
After conducting a thorough analysis of various WhatsApp Business platform alternatives, it is evident that Interakt is the ideal choice for businesses. Its affordability, outstanding features, and user-friendly interface make it the perfect solution for managing and automating customer interactions on WhatsApp. Additionally, Interakt’s recognition as a leader and high performer by G2 further reinforces its reliability for D2C brands.
If you’re searching for a comprehensive WhatsApp Business platform that streamlines your business operations, then Interakt is the right solution for you. With its 14-day free trial, you can experience the difference Interakt can make to your business. By optimizing your customer communication processes with Interakt, you can boost your customer support and accelerate business growth.
Don’t delay! Begin your free trial with Interakt today and witness how it can take your business to greater heights.
