WhatsApp ordering system cost in India ranges from zero, if you use the free WhatsApp Business app and type orders by hand, to somewhere between ₹1,000 and ₹5,000 a month for a platform that runs an ordering bot on the WhatsApp Business API. On top of the subscription, you should expect a per-order fee or a commission, Meta's own message charges, and payment gateway charges on online payments.
The subscription is the number vendors advertise. The other three lines decide what you actually pay. This post breaks each one down and then works through what a typical month costs for a restaurant doing 300 direct orders, so you can judge any quote you receive.
The four cost lines in any WhatsApp ordering system
Whatever product you look at, the bill is made of the same four parts. Ask for each one by name.
- Platform subscription. A fixed monthly or yearly fee for the software: the bot, the menu, the dashboard, the store page. Sometimes tiered by features or outlets.
- Per-order fee or commission. Either a flat amount per order (₹5 to ₹15 is common) or a percentage of the order value. A percentage looks small on a ₹200 order and large on a ₹2,000 catering order.
- Meta message charges. Meta bills for certain WhatsApp Business API messages, mainly marketing broadcasts and some utility messages sent outside the 24-hour customer service window. Your platform either passes these through at cost, adds a markup, or bundles a quota.
- Payment gateway charges. Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree and others charge a percentage on card and some UPI transactions. Some platforms add their own platform fee on top of the gateway charge; some let you connect your own gateway account so no platform fee applies.
Setup fees, custom domain charges, extra staff seats and extra outlets are the usual add-ons. They are not always listed on the pricing page.
Pricing models compared
Products that take WhatsApp orders use four distinct pricing models. The table shows what each one looks like and who it suits.
| Model | How you pay | Typical fit | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free WhatsApp Business app | Nothing for software; staff time | Under 20 to 30 orders a day, one phone | Manual payment collection, no dashboard, broadcast list capped at 256 |
| Chat tool with per-message pricing | Subscription plus a charge per message or conversation | Businesses that mostly send campaigns and support replies | Ordering has to be built as a custom flow; costs rise with chat volume, not orders |
| Commission-based ordering platform | A percentage of every order, often with a low or zero subscription | Very low volume, where a fixed fee feels heavy | Cost scales with revenue; a ₹1,000 order pays ten times what a ₹100 order pays |
| Subscription plus flat per-order fee | Fixed monthly fee plus a few rupees per order | Restaurants doing steady direct volume | Fixed fee is paid even in a slow month; check whether orders are capped |
The deeper comparison of platform fee vs commission vs per-order fee shows how the same restaurant pays very different amounts under each model as it grows.
What a month really costs at 300 orders
Take a restaurant with an average direct order of ₹350 doing 300 WhatsApp orders a month, which is ₹1,05,000 of direct revenue. Here is what each model costs, using round numbers you can swap for your own.
- Free app: ₹0 for software. Realistically, half a staff member's day on the phone, which at ₹12,000 a month salary is around ₹6,000 of labour, plus missed orders during the rush.
- Commission platform at 10 percent: ₹10,500 a month, rising every time your ticket size or volume rises.
- Subscription ₹1,999 plus ₹10 per order: ₹1,999 plus ₹3,000, which is ₹4,999, or about 4.8 percent of direct revenue. At 600 orders it becomes ₹7,999, which is 3.8 percent, because the fixed part is spread across more orders.
Compare any of these with the aggregator channel, where commission is commonly 18 to 30 percent of the order value. On the same ₹1,05,000, that is roughly ₹19,000 to ₹31,500 before discounts and ads. That gap is why the subscription on a direct channel is rarely the real question. The question is how many orders you can move to it.
Meta charges: the line most quotes leave out
Meta's charges depend on message category. Service conversations, where a customer messages you and you reply within 24 hours, are currently free of Meta charges. Order confirmations and status updates sent as utility templates are priced low. Marketing broadcasts are the expensive category. The post on WhatsApp Business API pricing in India explains the categories and the 24-hour window.
For a restaurant, order traffic is mostly within the service window and therefore cheap. Campaigns are what move the number. A monthly offer to 2,000 customers costs real money on every platform, so ask how campaign messages are billed: at Meta's rate, with a markup, or from a prepaid wallet you top up.
Hidden costs to ask about before you sign
Ask these questions on the sales call. The answers change the price more than the headline plan does.
- Is there a one-time setup or onboarding fee?
- Is the order count capped per plan? What happens on order 1,001?
- What is the platform fee on online payments, over and above the gateway's charge? Can I connect my own Razorpay account to avoid it?
- Are campaign messages billed at Meta's rate or marked up?
- Does a second outlet or a second staff login cost extra?
- Is a custom domain included, or a paid add-on?
- What is the yearly price, and is there a discount for paying upfront?
If a vendor cannot give you a per-order number and a per-campaign number in writing, the quote is incomplete. The same logic applies when you compare a bot to simply typing orders, which the WhatsApp order bot explainer covers in detail.
A rule of thumb for what you should pay
Add up subscription plus per-order fees plus platform payment fees for your expected volume, and divide by your expected direct revenue. For a direct channel that you also control (your number, your customer list, your data), a total cost under 5 percent of direct revenue is reasonable, and under 3 percent at scale is good. Anything that approaches 10 percent is a commission model wearing a subscription label.
Then weigh what the fee buys. A bot that collects the address, applies the right delivery charge and takes payment removes the staff time that made the free app expensive in the first place. The broader WhatsApp ordering system guide lists the features worth paying for and the ones that are nice to have.
What this looks like on Tezzu
Tezzu uses the subscription plus flat per-order model. Plans in India are Starter at ₹999 a month, Growth at ₹1,999 a month and Enterprise at ₹3,999 a month, with ₹100 a month off on yearly billing. Every plan includes unlimited orders, a flat ₹10 per order and zero commission. Each plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
Online payments run through Razorpay with UPI and cards. If you connect your own Razorpay account, Tezzu charges no platform fee on those payments; you pay only Razorpay's own charges. Cash on delivery is supported on every plan. WhatsApp campaigns are paid from a prepaid wallet you top up, so marketing spend is visible and separate from the subscription.
Every plan includes the ordering bot on your own number, a free store page at tezzu.in/store/your-name, the live dashboard and the staff app. The full pricing explainer lists what each plan adds and what is free.
See the full price list
Three plans, unlimited orders, ₹10 per order and no commission. Compare them side by side and start a 7-day trial on any one.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is there a free WhatsApp ordering system in India?
The WhatsApp Business app is free and includes a catalog, greeting and away messages and quick replies, so you can take orders by hand at no software cost. Some platforms offer free tiers with order caps or commission instead of a subscription. The real cost of free is staff time and manual payment collection, which is why most restaurants move to a paid system once volume grows.
Why do platforms charge per order on top of a subscription?
The per-order fee covers costs that scale with volume, such as message delivery, payment processing and support, and lets the subscription stay low for small restaurants. A flat per-order fee is predictable: ₹10 on a ₹150 order and ₹10 on a ₹1,500 order. A percentage commission on the same two orders would charge ten times more on the second.
Does the WhatsApp Business API itself cost money for a restaurant?
Meta does not charge a subscription for the API. It charges per message for templated messages such as marketing broadcasts, and for utility messages sent outside the 24-hour customer service window. Customer-initiated conversations that you reply to within 24 hours are currently free of Meta charges. Your platform may add its own markup or bundle a quota.
What is a reasonable WhatsApp ordering system price for a small cafe?
For a cafe doing 100 to 150 direct orders a month, a total of ₹2,000 to ₹3,500 a month including per-order fees is typical for a full ordering bot with payments and a store page. Below that, the free app with a catalog and quick replies is a sensible starting point until orders arrive faster than one person can type them.