We build ExceliaBOT, so read this the way you would read any comparison written by one of the two sides: with the numbers checked. Every Wati figure below comes from Wati's own pricing page or its help center as they stood in October 2026, with links; Wati changes its plans often, so check the page before you decide.
In short
- Wati's paid plans start at $69 a month and its AI agent at $149; ExceliaBOT's start at $9.99 with 1,000 AI replies included, and Growth gives 10,000 for $34.8.
- ExceliaBOT adds no margin to Meta's per-message price; Wati does not publish its margin, and independent comparisons report around 20%.
- Shopify is included on ExceliaBOT and a $4.99 add-on on Wati; ExceliaBOT's assistant understands photos and voice notes and works in Arabic and English.
- ExceliaBOT has a free plan with no card and no end date; Wati offers a 7-day trial.
The short version
| Wati | ExceliaBOT | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan, billed monthly | Growth, $69 ($59 on an annual plan) | Starter, $9.99 |
| Mid plan | Pro, $149 ($119 annual) | Growth, $34.8 |
| Top plan | Business, $349 ($279 annual) | Business, tailored per account |
| Free option | 7-day trial, no card | Free plan, no card, no time limit |
| AI replies to customers included | AI agents from Pro; ~250 on Pro, ~1,000 on Business | 1,000 on Starter, 10,000 on Growth, 50 on Free |
| Team users | 3 on Growth (fixed); 5 on Pro, +$24 each; 5 on Business, +$69 each | 1 on Starter; 5 on Growth; more on Business |
| Markup on Meta's per-message price | Not published; independent comparisons report around 20% | None — Meta's rate, on your own Meta account |
| Shopify | Add-on, $4.99 a month | Included in every plan |
| Understands photos and voice notes | — | Yes, the assistant answers what it sees and hears |
| Arabic | English product | Arabic dashboard, help center, emails and support; prices in EGP for Egypt |
Price
Wati's cheapest plan costs seven times ExceliaBOT's, and its middle plan four times ours — for the same five seats. That is not an accident of exchange rates: Wati sells to the whole world in dollars and has a large team and a large partner network to pay for. ExceliaBOT is priced for businesses in Egypt and the Gulf, and shows Egyptian customers prices in Egyptian pounds. And on Wati the price is where the spending starts: extra users are $24 to $69 each a month, the Shopify app is another $4.99, and the AI agent only begins on the $149 plan.
AI replies: the biggest difference
Wati's product grew out of a team inbox; its AI agent is a feature added on top, available from the Pro plan, with an allowance of replies to customers that independent breakdowns put at about 250 a month on Pro and 1,000 on Business (Wati's page lists "AI co-pilot credits" of 250, 500 and 1,500 for the agent-assist side). ExceliaBOT started from the assistant: the Starter plan includes 1,000 AI replies a month for $9.99, and Growth includes 10,000 for $34.8.
The assistant is also where our clients see the difference day to day: it understands the photos and voice notes customers send, remembers each customer between visits, captures leads into the Goal page, and hands over to a person when the conversation needs one. On the numbers alone, though, the table above is the fair summary: if AI replies are what you buy, the gap is roughly a hundred to one per dollar.
Campaigns: the message price is Meta's, with nothing on top
Every message on WhatsApp is billed by Meta at a rate that depends on its category and the customer's country — for Egypt, about $0.0644 for a marketing message and $0.0036 for a service or utility message, before VAT. That is the real cost of a campaign, and it is the part that grows with your list.
Wati does not publish whether it adds a margin to that rate; several independent comparisons of WhatsApp providers report a markup of around 20% on template messages. ExceliaBOT adds nothing: the message is billed to your own Meta account at Meta's rate, and the pricing page says so in writing. Over 10,000 marketing messages in Egypt, a 20% markup would be about $129 a month — more than three months of the Growth plan.
Campaigns themselves work the same way on both: an approved template, a list, a send, and a report of who received what. On ExceliaBOT every plan carries a monthly campaign allowance sized to it, and an account that sends more gets a bigger allowance on the campaigns-only plan or a tailored Business plan; there is no limit on the number of campaigns you run, and the campaign reports show delivery per recipient, in Arabic or English.
Integrations that do the WhatsApp job
ExceliaBOT's integrations are built around what a business actually does on WhatsApp. The Shopify app is included in every plan — on Wati it is a $4.99-a-month add-on — and turns orders and abandoned checkouts into WhatsApp messages, lets the customer confirm or cancel an order from the chat, and feeds the store's catalogue to the assistant so it recommends real products with prices and links. A connector lets you run the account from Claude: read conversations, capture leads, prepare and send campaigns by talking to it. Webhooks take orders from any store, and restaurants get an ordering system inside the chat with a live kitchen board. Messenger and Instagram join WhatsApp in the same inbox on the Business plan.
Language and support
Wati's product, help and support are in English. ExceliaBOT's dashboard switches between Arabic and English with one button, the help center and every email exist in both languages, support is in Arabic and English, and Egyptian accounts are priced in pounds. For a team in Cairo or Riyadh that does not work in English all day, this is not a small point.
Both connect your number through Meta's official embedded signup. Both let you keep the WhatsApp Business app on your phone alongside the platform (coexistence). Wati's free trial is seven days; ExceliaBOT's free plan has no end date and no card.
Who ExceliaBOT is built for
- A business whose customers write on WhatsApp, and that wants an assistant that answers well, understands photos and voice notes, and remembers each customer — at a price a small business can pay.
- A team that wants to try on its own number without a card or a deadline.
- A team and customers who work in Arabic.
- A store on Shopify, a restaurant, or anyone who wants the message price with no margin on top.
Whichever you pick, the WhatsApp side is the same: Meta's rules, Meta's prices, Meta's approval of templates. The platform is what sits on top — and that is what this comparison is about.
Sources: Wati pricing; Wati help center on multiple WhatsApp numbers; Chatarmin's breakdown of Wati's 2026 pricing (plan prices, AI allowances and the reported markup); ExceliaBOT pricing. All figures as of October 2026.
