Search for a WhatsApp bulk message sender in India and you will find desktop software, Chrome extensions and "unlimited" packages sold for a few thousand rupees, next to API platforms that charge per message. They are not the same product with different prices. One is inside WhatsApp's rules and one is not, and the difference usually shows up as a banned number in the week before Diwali.
This guide sorts the options Indian businesses actually use, explains which rules apply (and which, like TRAI's DLT, do not), and costs a festival campaign in rupees for each.
The four ways Indian businesses send in bulk
- Broadcast lists in the WhatsApp Business app. Free, up to 256 people per list, sent from the phone. A message only reaches people who have saved your number, which makes it safe and slow: a shop with 3,000 customers needs a dozen lists and still misses everyone who never saved the number.
- Unofficial bulk sender software. Desktop programs and browser extensions that drive WhatsApp or WhatsApp Web automatically, often sold with "anti-ban" claims and number lists. They break WhatsApp's Terms of Service, which forbid bulk and automated messaging outside the Business Platform, and WhatsApp bans the numbers they send from. No setting in the software changes that.
- The WhatsApp Business API, through a platform. The official lane for volume: a verified business number, Meta-approved templates, opt-in customers, and a charge for every template message. Indian platforms such as WATI, Interakt, AiSensy and Gallabox sell it with an inbox and campaign tools.
- A linked-device team tool such as Spun. It connects to your existing number the way WhatsApp Web does and sends at a paced, human rate to people who know you. It is not the API and not a blaster: it suits a business with a few hundred to a few thousand customers who already talk to it.
If a seller promises "unlimited messages with no ban" from a normal number, the number is the thing at risk, not the software. WhatsApp bans the account, and a banned number takes its chat history and saved customer trust with it.
Related: How to send bulk WhatsApp messages without getting banned · WhatsApp broadcast limits explained
Which Indian and Meta rules apply
Businesses moving from bulk SMS often assume WhatsApp works the same way. It does not, and the differences change what you should do.
- TRAI's DLT is for SMS and calls, not WhatsApp. Under the TCCCPR rules (amended again in 2025) promotional SMS needs a registered header and DLT template. WhatsApp messages do not pass through DLT, so there is nothing to register there. That is not a loophole: WhatsApp has its own, stricter rules.
- Meta requires opt-in. The WhatsApp Business Policy allows messages only to people who gave you their number and agreed to receive WhatsApp messages from you. An SMS database or a bought list does not count.
- Meta caps marketing messages per person. Customers who already receive many marketing templates from businesses may not get yours, so a 10,000-number API campaign can deliver fewer than 10,000 messages. Plan on it, rather than resending.
- The DPDP Act covers your list. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and its Rules, notified in November 2025 and coming into force in phases, put consent and the right to withdraw it at the centre of marketing with personal data. Keep a record of where each number came from and act on every "STOP".
- Regional languages cost nothing extra. Meta approves templates in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi and Urdu, among others, at the same price as English. A Diwali greeting in the customer's own language is often the better-performing message.
This is general information, not legal advice. For consent wording and record-keeping under the DPDP Act, speak to your own adviser.
One Diwali campaign, four ways, in rupees
A sweets and dry-fruits shop wants to send a Diwali offer to 5,000 customers who have ordered before and gave their number at the counter or on the website.
| Option | Cost for 5,000 messages | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Broadcast lists | ₹0 | 20 lists of 256, built by hand; only customers who saved your number receive it |
| Unofficial sender software | The software fee | Against WhatsApp's Terms; a sudden blast from one number is what gets numbers banned |
| API through a platform | From ₹4,316 in messages at Meta's ₹0.8631, ₹4,790 at ₹0.958, ₹5,450 at ₹1.09 | Plus the plan fee and 18% GST; approved template, opted-in customers, fast delivery |
| Spun on your own number | ₹1,999 a month flat, plus tax | Paced sending: at the default cap of 8 a minute, 5,000 messages is over 10 hours of sending, so plan for several days |
Meta rate from its INR card effective July 1, 2026; platform rates as published on 25 September 2026 (Interakt Growth ₹0.958, AiSensy ₹1.09). Prices change; verify current pricing before you budget.
Which option fits which business
- 1
Fewer than a few hundred regular customers
Broadcast lists are enough. Ask customers to save your number (a QR code at the counter helps) and keep each list to people who know you.
- 2
Thousands of customers, campaigns every week
The API is the right lane. Budget per message in rupees, keep order updates in the cheaper utility category, and add GST. Compare platforms on your monthly message count, not the plan price.
- 3
A team that mostly answers customers, with the occasional campaign
A paced team tool on your existing number avoids per-message charges. Start the campaign early: pacing turns a morning blast into a few days of steady sending.
- 4
Anyone tempted by "unlimited" sender software
Price the risk, not the software: a banned number means reprinting every bill, board and visiting card, and losing the customers who only know you by that number.
Related: WhatsApp Business API pricing in India, in rupees · WATI pricing in India · Interakt pricing in India · AiSensy pricing in India · Gallabox pricing in India
How Spun sends a campaign, and its limits
Spun is a shared team inbox for the WhatsApp number your customers already have. Its campaigns are built to look like a busy person sending, not a machine, and the limits are part of that.
- A server cap of 8 messages a minute by default, with a random gap between messages, and quiet hours from 22:00 to 08:00 by default so nothing lands at midnight.
- A "Saved contacts only" filter and a daily first-contact budget (50 new people a day while a line is under 30 days old, 150 after), which defers the rest to the next day rather than dropping them.
- Opt-out detection for "stop", "unsubscribe" and their equivalents in 11 languages, a label that blocks further sends, and replies landing in one inbox the whole team can answer.
- AI replies and summaries, and voice-note transcription in Hindi and other Indian languages, so the replies a festival campaign brings are handled quickly.
The limits are real: Spun is not the API, has no green tick and no approved templates, and will not send thousands of messages an hour. It costs ₹1,999 a month plus tax with unlimited team members and no per-message charges. The guards lower the risk; they cannot make an unwanted message wanted.
Related: Spun pricing in India, in rupees · How Spun paces a broadcast campaign · Free WhatsApp link generator · Free WhatsApp QR code generator