Top 5 360Dialog Alternatives for WhatsApp API

If you’re considering using the WhatsApp Business API to send and receive messages at scale, you’ve probably heard of 360Dialog: a Business Solution Provider (BSP) that connects users directly to WhatsApp’s infrastructure.

Although flexible, 360Dialog’s offering is limited to the API itself. It does not include built-in tools for bulk messaging, contact management, workflow automation, campaign tracking, or an inbox to chat with your customers.

This might work for enterprises with in-house development teams, but for SMBs and growing businesses, it can quickly become challenging, given the higher costs and added complexity.

That’s why I’ve put together a list of five 360Dialog alternatives for WhatsApp API  that combine API access with out-of-the-box features. Before diving in, let’s take a closer look at 360Dialog’s core features, pros and cons, and pricing.

360Dialog Overview: Key Features and Pros and Cons

360Dialog is an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) that serves more than 50,000 businesses worldwide. It provides direct access to the WhatsApp Business API, supported by comprehensive documentation and a testing sandbox without restrictions on testing volume.

360Dialog is geared primarily toward enterprises with in-house development teams that want to build custom tools or embed WhatsApp functionality into existing systems.

In terms of pricing, 360Dialog is more accessible than other API providers because it doesn’t add a markup to WhatsApp’s official messaging rates (though it does charge a monthly license fee). 

However, once you factor in the cost of developing custom features or using third-party platforms, the overall expense can climb quickly, especially for SMBs or businesses with limited technical resources. 

Key Features

• Direct access to the WhatsApp API
• Developer documentation (with working examples)
• Testing sandbox
• WhatsApp analytics via 360Pilot (add-on)
• Partner Platform (for agencies and SaaS companies to offer WhatsApp API to their users)
• Performance Messaging service for brands that prefer expert-managed WhatsApp campaigns

Pros

• No markup on WhatsApp’s official messaging rates (they do charge a licensing fee, though)
• Comprehensive documentation (with working examples)
• Testing sandbox without restrictions on testing volume
• Easy integration options (cloud and on-premise APIs)

Cons

• API-only solution; no built-in tools for bulk messaging, contact management, or automation
• Actual costs can be higher once you factor in development and third-party tool fees
• Requires in-house developers or third-party integrations to unlock full functionality
• Scattered product offerings (WhatsApp API, 360 Pilot, Partner Platform, Performance Messaging) can feel disjointed and confusing
• User reviews indicate slow and vague customer support responses
• Strict billing policy; accounts may be suspended or deleted after missed payments
  

Pricing

360Dialog charges a monthly license fee per WhatsApp number, with two tiers to choose from:

• Regular: €25 / $25 per month (default for all new numbers)
• Premium: €49 / $49 per month (includes enhanced SLAs and priority support)

Each license includes:

• Direct WhatsApp Business API access
• Message throughput of up to 80 messages per second
• 24/7 customer support

Although competitively priced, the license only covers API access. Once you factor in the cost of developing custom features or integrating third-party solutions, the total investment can climb quickly, limiting its appeal for growing businesses.

Top 5 360 Dialog Alternatives for WhatsApp

Here’s a quick comparison of the best 360Dialog alternatives based on their features, pricing, and user ratings:

Platform	Key Features	Markup on WhatsApp Messaging Rates	Best For	User Rating (TrustPilot, G2, Capterra)
WANotifier	Ready-to-use features, including bulk broadcasts, chatbots, CRM, drip campaigns, shared inbox, analytics, plus mobile app, WordPress plugin, and REST API	No, 0% markup (with transparent pricing!)	SMBs and growing businesses that want a ready-to-use WhatsApp marketing and automation tool with no overhead costs	Rated Excellent with 4.6 out of 5 stars
Bird (formerly MessageBird)	APIs for WhatsApp, SMS, email, voice; built-in tools (quick replies, chatbots, catalogs, ads); shared inbox; conversion dashboards	Yes ($0.005 per message + markup based on message type and location)	Businesses that need an omnichannel messaging solution and can absorb the higher costs	Rated 3.9 out of 5 stars
Sinch	Conversation API (omnichannel), Sinch Engage with automation, analytics, and third-party integrations	No markup on WhatsApp rates (but plans start from $59/month, and there’s no WhatsApp-only option)	Enterprises and mid-market businesses looking for an omnichannel messaging solution with ready-to-use tools	Rated 3.8 out of 5 stars
Twilio	Omnichannel APIs (WhatsApp, SMS, voice, email); Twilio Flex (contact center); Twilio Segment (customer data platform)	Yes ($0.005 per message + $0.015 per message for click tracking/scheduling (after 1,000 messages) + $0.001 failed message fee)	Enterprises with development teams that need full customization and can manage the overhead costs	Rated 4.2 out of 5 stars
Interakt	Built-in tools for broadcasts, chatbots, and analytics; shared inbox; Click-to-WhatsApp ads; product catalogs; payments; prebuilt notification templates	Yes, 12% markup on official rates	SMBs and D2C brands that want a plug-and-play WhatsApp marketing solution and can manage higher costs	Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

1) WANotifier

We’ve placed WANotifier at the top of this list because it offers something most API-only providers, like 360Dialog, don’t: a ready-to-use WhatsApp marketing platform with a simple, user-friendly interface.

Trusted by brands such as BITS Pilani, Virtus Motors, and ISKCON, WANotifier is an official Meta Tech Partner that makes WhatsApp marketing accessible for growing businesses, by providing everything they need to get their campaigns off the ground, including bulk broadcasts, auto-replies, chatbots, drip sequences, product catalogs, a shared team inbox, and in-depth analytics with ROI and conversion tracking.

The platform also includes an integrated CRM for segmenting contacts and running targeted campaigns, a mobile app to help manage conversations on the go, and a WordPress plugin and REST API to capture more leads from your websites, lead gen forms, and third-party apps.

One of WANotifier’s biggest strengths is its transparent pricing. 

Unlike most API providers, WANotifier adds 0% markup on WhatsApp’s official messaging costs, which means you only pay what Meta actually charges (learn more about it here). 

Additionally, unlike 360Dialog, WANotifier offers a 7-day free trial on its paid plans, as well as a Forever Free plan with 500 contacts and 1,000 broadcasts, providing businesses with a risk-free way to get started with WhatsApp marketing.

Here’s everything you can do with WANotifier:

• Send instant or scheduled broadcasts to thousands of WhatsApp contacts at once
• Trigger transactional messages from your website or app based on user actions like purchases, form submissions, or callback requests
• Capture leads from Facebook and Instagram ads and add them to your contact lists (learn more about it here)
• Build no-code chatbots and automations to answer FAQs and handle support requests
• Run drip campaigns to onboard new users, nurture leads, and re-engage inactive customers
• Use WhatsApp Flows to collect user data within chat
• Integrate WhatsApp with your website, forms, CRM, e-commerce store, and other business tools 
• Track message delivery and open rates, chatbot and drip sequence sessions, Flow, responses, and ad conversions
• Collaborate effortlessly through a shared inbox (assign chats, add members, and view full conversation history)

Pros

• 0% markup on WhatsApp’s official messaging rates
• Free forever plan with up to 500 contacts and 1,000 broadcasts
• Built-in tools for sending bulk broadcasts, creating chatbots, and tracking campaign performance (no coding required)
• Simple, user-friendly interface
• Mobile app to manage conversations on the go
• Live chat and email support for all users
• WhatsApp API onboarding assistance on all plans

Cons

• Advanced features like chatbots, multi-agent inbox, and product catalog templates are limited to paid plans
• Free plan users cannot respond to customer messages from the inbox

Pricing

WANotifier offers five subscription plans, out of which four are paid and available with both monthly and annual billing options:

• Free Forever: Supports up to 500 contacts
• Standard: $69 or ₹2,999/month (up to 5,000 contacts)
• Growth: $149 or ₹5,999/month (up to 25,000 contacts)
• Business: $299 or ₹12,499/month (up to 100,000 contacts)
• Pro: $599 or ₹24,999/month (up to 250,000 contacts)

Need a customized quote? Contact us to learn more about our enterprise offerings

2) Bird (formerly MessageBird)

Bird (formerly known as MessageBird) is a customer communication platform that helps businesses manage conversations across multiple channels.

Unlike 360Dialog, which only offers access to the WhatsApp API, Bird provides developer APIs for WhatsApp, SMS, email, and voice. It also includes built-in tools for setting up quick replies and chatbots, creating product catalogs, running Click-to-WhatsApp ads, collaborating on chats, and tracking sales and conversions.

While it’s extremely versatile, Bird can be overwhelming for businesses looking for a WhatsApp-focused solution. Its pricing can also become a barrier: Bird charges an additional $0.005 per message on top of WhatsApp’s official rates, along with a markup that varies by message type and recipient location.

Key Features

• Developer APIs for WhatsApp, SMS, email, and voice
• Built-in tools (quick replies, chatbots, Click-to-WhatsApp ads, product catalogs)
• Shared team inbox
• Dashboards for tracking sales and conversions

Pros

• Supports messaging across multiple channels
• Provides built-in tools for WhatsApp marketing
• Streamlines WhatsApp inbox management with an intuitive UI
• Connects easily with popular business tools

Cons

• Adds a $0.005 per-message fee on top of WhatsApp’s official rates
• More of an omnichannel platform; it can be overwhelming for WhatsApp-only users
• Onboarding and setup can be difficult for non-technical users
• User reviews indicate that customer support may be slow and unresponsive

Pricing

Bird offers three main pricing options:

• Pay-as-you-go: A usage-based plan where the final cost per message is calculated as: Meta passthrough cost (WhatsApp’s official rate + Bird’s markup) + $0.005 Bird fee per message (for example, a marketing message in India costs ₹0.94 compared to WhatsApp’s official rate of ₹0.78)
• Monthly Targeted Contacts: Plans start at $45/month for up to 3,000 contacts and 30,000 messages.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing available for higher volumes and advanced features.

Although it offers robust built-in tools, Bird’s additional per-message fee and markups on WhatsApp’s official messaging rates make it one of the more expensive 360Dialog alternatives on this list.

3) Sinch

Sinch is an omnichannel communication platform that offers a Conversation API for sending and receiving messages across multiple channels, including WhatsApp.

Unlike 360Dialog, however, Sinch’s offerings go beyond API access. With Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia), the platform provides a plug-and-play solution with advanced automation tools, in-depth analytics, and deeper integrations with popular tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, Netsuite, Shopify, Zapier, and Workato. 

However, much like Bird, Sinch can feel overly complex for businesses that primarily want a WhatsApp-first solution. It may also be more expensive than more specialized alternatives due to its bundled pricing.

Key Features

• Omnichannel messaging (WhatsApp, SMS, RCS, and more)
• Sinch Engage (with built-in automation and analytics features)
• Rich messaging capabilities, including templates, interactive buttons, lists, and product catalogs
• Enterprise-grade security and compliance

Pros

• No markup on WhatsApp’s official messaging costs
• Supports messaging on multiple channels
• Offers a plug-and-play platform with analytics, automations, and third-party integrations

Cons

• Can feel too complicated and expensive for WhatsApp-focused users
• Sinch Engage starts at a relatively high $59/month
• Users often report slow or unresponsive customer support
• Onboarding can be inconsistent, with gaps in SLA adherence

Pricing

As noted earlier, Sinch does not add a markup to WhatsApp’s official messaging costs. However, if you’re only using the API, you’ll need to factor in the additional expense of development or third-party tools to get an accurate estimate of total costs.

Sinch Engage is offered on a subscription basis and includes a 14-day free trial. Here’s a look at its plans:

• Basics: $59/month
• Conversations: $119/month
• Pro: $299/month
• Pro Plus: $540/month
• Advanced: $959/month

4) Twilio

Twilio is one of the most widely used communication platforms in the world, powering customer engagement for over 300,000 businesses.It offers APIs for SMS, voice, email, and chat, enabling companies to connect with customers across multiple channels.

When it comes to WhatsApp, Twilio shares the same limitation as 360Dialog: it only provides API access and lacks built-in tools for bulk broadcasts, automation, or campaign tracking.

Pricing is another concern. On top of Meta’s official WhatsApp charges, Twilio adds a $0.005 fee per inbound and outbound message, $0.015 per message for features like click tracking and scheduling (after the first 1,000 messages), and a $0.001 fee per message for processing failed messages.

That’s multiple layers of overhead, before you even factor in development costs!

Key Features

• Omnichannel APIs (for WhatsApp, SMS, voice, and other channels)
• Twilio Flex (for building contact center capabilities) 
• Twilio Segment (for consolidating customer data from various sources)

Pros

• Enables messaging across multiple channels
• Provides comprehensive documentation for developers
• Highly customizable
• Built to scale for large messaging volumes

Cons

• Adds a $0.005 (₹0.44) fee per inbound and outbound message, even for Free-Entry point conversations that are otherwise free
• Charges $0.001 per message for processing failed messages
• No ready-to-use features; everything requires custom development or configuration
• Onboarding is often lengthy and time-consuming
• Customer support is frequently described as slow and hard to reach

Pricing

Twilio uses a pay-as-you-go model, where the cost per message is calculated as:

Twilio per-message fee ($0.005) + WhatsApp’s official rate (varies by template type)

These charges also apply to messages exchanged during Free-Entry points, which WhatsApp normally provides at no cost.

Twilio also adds a $0.015 per-message fee for click tracking and message scheduling, after the first 1,000 messages.

For many SMBs and growing businesses, these added costs are difficult to justify.

5) Interakt

Interakt is a WhatsApp Business API provider built specifically for SMBs, startups, and D2C brands that want a ready-to-use WhatsApp API solution. 

Interakt includes pre-built dashboards for sending bulk broadcasts, handling customer queries through a shared inbox, and setting up automated replies and chatbot flows. It also supports Click-to-WhatsApp ad integrations, product catalogs, and automated order notifications.

That said, Interakt adds a 12% markup on WhatsApp’s official messaging rates, making it expensive for SMBs and growing businesses looking to scale their outreach on the platform.

Key Features

• Built-in tools for bulk broadcasts, automation, and campaign tracking
• Shared team inbox for handling customer conversations
• Click-to-WhatsApp ad integrations
• Product catalog support
• WhatsApp payments 
• Pre-built notification templates for various use cases

Pros

• Features built-in tools for broadcasts, automation, and analytics
• User-friendly platform with simple setup and campaign creation
• Advanced audience segmentation features
• Integrates easily with Shopify and other popular apps

Cons

• Adds a 12% markup on WhatsApp’s official messaging rates (e.g., ₹0.87 per marketing message vs. the official ₹0.78 in India)
• Requires users to pay for messaging credits in advance
• Customer support response times can be slow
• Automated flow setup may be challenging for non-technical users

Pricing

As mentioned above, Interakt charges a 12% markup on top of WhatsApp’s official messaging rates. These charges are not included in the subscription plans listed below:

• Starter: $12 or ₹999/month 
• Growth: $49 or ₹2,499/month 
• Advanced: $63 or ₹3,499/month
• Enterprise: Available on request

Ready to Pick a 360Dialog Alternative for WhatsApp API?

360Dialog is a highly customizable WhatsApp API solution, but it’s only the right choice if you either have an in-house development team or the budget to integrate third-party solutions. For SMBs and growing businesses, that reality only underscores the need for alternatives.

In this blog, we’ve looked at five popular options: WANotifier, Bird, Sinch, Twilio, and Interakt. Each makes up for 360Dialog’s limitations in different ways, whether through ready-to-use tools, advanced integrations, or broader communication features.

However, most of these either take an omnichannel approach (which can feel excessive for WhatsApp-only users) or add significant markups to WhatsApp’s official messaging costs, making them more expensive to scale.

WANotifier is the only platform that brings the WhatsApp Business API together with a complete set of built-in tools (bulk broadcasts, chatbots flow, analytics, and more)  without any added markups on WhatsApp’s official messaging rates. It also has a Free Forever plan that allows businesses to start using WhatsApp for marketing, sales, and customer support in a risk-free way.

👉 Sign up for WANotifier today and unlock the full potential of the WhatsApp API