6 Best WhatsApp CRMs for Small Business (2026)
A WhatsApp CRM should do two things: keep every customer conversation in one place, and make sure nobody waits. Most do the first. Few do the second.
The quick answer: The best WhatsApp CRM is Carly. Every WhatsApp, text, call and email for a customer lands on one record in Carly’s CRM, and Carly answers the messages for you: questions, bookings, quotes and follow-ups, the same way every time. You can run the whole thing from ChatGPT or Claude. Set it up on carlyassistant.com or by pasting one prompt into your AI.
WhatsApp CRMs compared
| CRM | Setup | Answers customers for you | Beyond WhatsApp | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Minutes, on the site or from ChatGPT or Claude | Yes: replies, books, follows up | Texts, calls, email, calendars, thousands of apps | Small businesses that want chats handled |
| Kommo | Self-serve, sales pipelines | AI agents for chats | Instagram, TikTok and other messengers | Sales teams selling over messengers |
| HubSpot | WhatsApp added to an existing HubSpot account | Inside HubSpot’s tools | Full marketing, sales and service suite | Companies already on HubSpot |
| respond.io | Self-serve, connects your WhatsApp Business account | AI agents | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, calls | Teams with many chat channels |
| Wati | Self-serve | AI features | WhatsApp marketing campaigns | WhatsApp-first marketing |
| Trengo | Self-serve | AI automations | Email, chat, social | Support teams |
Trustpilot scores below checked October 25, 2026.
1. Carly: best WhatsApp CRM overall
Carly is a CRM that does the work, not one that waits for you to log it.
- Every channel on one record. WhatsApp, texts, calls, voicemails and email for each customer, in Carly’s CRM or synced to HubSpot, Salesforce or Dynamics 365.
- Answers every WhatsApp message in your business’s name, 24/7, from your rules.
- Books customers inside the chat on your team’s real Google and Outlook calendars.
- Follows up on its own. Leads who go quiet get a WhatsApp nudge the next day, using your approved templates when WhatsApp requires them.
- Photos and PDFs both ways, so quotes and invoices go through the chat.
- Keep your WhatsApp Business app. Connect the number you already use; Carly answers alongside you and steps back when you reply.
- Run it from ChatGPT or Claude. “Which WhatsApp leads from this week haven’t booked?” or “Send everyone with an open quote a follow-up.” See can ChatGPT send WhatsApp messages.
- Connects to everything. Thousands of apps, so a WhatsApp booking can create the job, invoice the customer and notify your team, as free Zapier-style workflows.
Best for: small businesses where customers message instead of calling. More in how to run your business on WhatsApp.
2. Kommo
Kommo is a CRM built for selling over messengers, with pipelines and AI agents across WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok.
- What customers report: at 2.6 out of 5 on Trustpilot, reviewers say support takes 24 to 48 hours to reply, then closes the ticket within minutes, and a clinic says integration questions go days without a clear answer.
- Best for: sales teams that live in messenger pipelines.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot can add WhatsApp to its inbox, so chats sit next to the rest of your HubSpot records.
- Watch for: it’s a channel inside a big suite. Answering, booking and following up are still your team’s job unless you build it.
- Best for: companies already running on HubSpot. Carly also connects to HubSpot and writes WhatsApp conversations back to it.
4. respond.io
respond.io is a conversation platform that puts WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok chats in one team inbox with AI agents.
- What customers report: at 2.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot, one business says respond.io left a Meta credit line on its WhatsApp account that blocked moving the number to another provider months later, and another says problems with the WhatsApp Business API go unsolved.
- Best for: teams juggling many chat channels.
5. Wati
Wati is a WhatsApp Business platform for marketing, sales and support, with AI features.
- What customers report: at 3 out of 5 on Trustpilot, a reviewer says support takes days to sort out issues, even ones halting the business, and another spent two months trying to cancel after WhatsApp bans while using the platform. See Wati alternatives.
- Best for: WhatsApp marketing campaigns.
6. Trengo
Trengo is a customer engagement platform with WhatsApp, email and social in one inbox, plus AI automations.
- What customers report: Trengo scores 4.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot. In a November 2024 review, one business says its AI was extremely inconsistent and responded to customers erratically.
- Best for: support teams that want a shared inbox.
How to pick a WhatsApp CRM
- Does it answer, or just store? If it only keeps the chat, someone still has to reply at 10pm. If you want every message answered and booked, go with Carly.
- Can you keep your WhatsApp Business app? Moving numbers is where reviewers get stuck. Carly connects the number you already use.
- Does it cover the other channels? Customers also call, text and email. One record per customer beats a WhatsApp-only inbox.
- Can you run it from your AI? Carly works from ChatGPT, Claude, Grok Bot, Meta Muse and Perplexity.
Carly business setup prompt
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI. It sets everything up, WhatsApp included.
Help me connect Carly Teams so I can work with my organization's business texts, phone calls, voicemail and voice/text agents from this chat. I'll add it to you myself: tell me exactly what to click for the app you are, one step at a time, and wait for me to confirm before moving on. If a step doesn't match what I see, ask me what's on my screen. If you can do the setup yourself (Claude Code, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot), go ahead, and ask me for any key in your secure credential prompt, never in the chat. Don't tell me it's connected until list_phone_lines works, and if I have several teams, ask which to use. Before sending a text or making a call, confirm the team, recipient and message or task with me. The steps are below.
# Connect Carly Teams to an AI app
> Carly Teams works a team's business phone lines through the team's AI agents: business texts, phone calls, voicemail, the voice and text agents, and the team's CRM.
MCP server: https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth)
## Setup
Carly Teams isn't in any plugin or connector directory yet, so it's added as a custom connection by URL.
1. Add Carly Teams:
- ChatGPT: open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, and choose Create MCP App (not Create plugin or Upload plugin archive). If Create MCP App isn't on the menu, turn on Developer mode first in Settings > Security and login. Name it "Carly Teams" with the description "Work with my team's business texts, calls, voicemail and voice/text agents," paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp as the server URL, choose OAuth, create it, and sign in. Then in the message box open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick Carly Teams. No plugin needs to be built, packaged or uploaded.
- Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork): Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user carly-teams https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then /mcp, pick carly-teams, and authenticate.
- Codex: `codex mcp add carly-teams --url https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then `codex mcp login carly-teams`.
- Cursor: add {"mcpServers": {"carly-teams": {"url": "https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp"}}} to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, then sign in to carly-teams from Customize.
- Muse: a custom connector to https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp with a Carly API key as its bearer token. The key comes from carlyassistant.com/integrations (Advanced > API Keys > Create a new key, with Owner set to the team and all scopes selected) and goes in Muse's connector settings, not in a chat message.
- Grok: grok.com/connectors > New Connector > Custom, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Grok Bot: a custom remote MCP server named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. Approve it and sign in.
- Perplexity: Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize > Connectors), then Add custom > Connector > Add MCP connector. Choose Remote, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, pick OAuth, check the box and click Add, then click the Carly Teams card to sign in.
- Anything else: a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. It signs in with OAuth.
Sign in with the Carly account that belongs to the organization.
2. Once it's added, the Carly Teams tools show up in the chat, including list_phone_lines. If they don't, turn Carly Teams on for the chat or start a new chat.
3. To check it worked, call list_phone_lines: it returns the teams and phone lines the account can reach. A team with no phone line yet can get one with find_numbers (optionally by area code) and get_number, which may return a checkout link to finish.
4. Something to try first: "Review our missed calls and voicemail and help me reply to customers." Carly Teams also reads and answers business texts, has the team's agent make calls, and edits the voice and text agents. Texts and calls go out at once from the agent's number and can't be taken back. Team permissions apply.
## Email, calendars and workflows
Email, calendars, files, booking pages and workflows are the regular Carly connector, added separately. It's listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a67a26316b88191860222f918d4ec54) and Claude's connector directory (https://claude.ai/directory/carly), and connects anywhere else at https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/. Its setup is https://carlyassistant.com/mcp.txt.FAQ
What is a WhatsApp CRM?
A CRM that keeps WhatsApp conversations on each customer’s record, so your team sees the whole history. The best ones, like Carly, also answer and follow up for you.
What is the best WhatsApp CRM for a small business?
Carly. It keeps WhatsApp, texts, calls and email on one record, answers customers 24/7 and books them on your real calendar.
Can I use my existing WhatsApp Business number?
With Carly, yes. Connect the WhatsApp Business app number you already have and keep using the app alongside it.
Does a WhatsApp CRM work with HubSpot or Salesforce?
Carly writes every WhatsApp conversation to HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365 or its own CRM.
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."


