Honest comparison · 2026

Zoko vs RichAutomate

Quick answer

Zoko is a Shopify-first WhatsApp BSP billed in USD, starting around $34.99 per month, with strong storefront sync but no DPDP Act 2023 module, no INR wallet ledger, and no UPI-deep-link template helper. RichAutomate is an India-first BSP with no subscription at all — ₹0 platform fee, ₹0 setup, ₹0 monthly floor — billed usage-only at ₹1.20 per marketing message (or Client-Pay ₹0.10 platform fee + Meta’s carrier rate direct to your card), with DPDP, UPI, wallet, and IST WhatsApp support bundled. As of June 2026.

Zoko built one of the cleanest Shopify-to-WhatsApp integrations in the market and serves global merchants well. For Indian D2C brands the question is different: do you want a Shopify-first product with a fixed USD subscription on top of Meta’s charges, or an India-first product with zero platform fee, zero setup, and zero monthly floor — you pay only for messages sent — plus a DPDP Act 2023 grievance officer module, UPI deep-link templates, a real wallet ledger that itemises every Meta carrier charge, and founder-direct WhatsApp support in IST hours. This page lays out the head-to-head as of June 2026.

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Side-by-side

Where Zoko and RichAutomate differ on what actually matters for Indian D2C brands.

Feature	Zoko	RichAutomate
Billing currency Indian buyers absorb FX + bank conversion on USD billing	USD ($)	INR (₹)
Starting platform fee RichAutomate is usage-only; you pay per message, not a fixed plan	~$34.99/mo (~₹2,950)	₹0/mo — no subscription, no setup, no monthly floor
Per-message rate (SaaS Pay)	Plan fee + Meta passthrough on top	₹1.20/marketing · ₹0.30/utility-auth (Meta passthrough included), itemised in wallet
Per-message rate (Client Pay) Marketing ₹0.8631 · utility/auth ₹0.115 Meta pass-through	n/a	₹0.10 platform fee + Meta billed direct to your card
Shopify deep integration Zoko ships polished UI for Shopify-specific flows	Native · abandoned-cart · order-status · catalog sync	Shopify webhook + REST API · catalog sync · templates
WooCommerce / Magento	Limited	Full REST API · webhook events · catalog import
UPI deep-link in templates	Manual	UPI 2.0-compliant deep-link helper · pre-filled amount + UPI ID
DPDP Act 2023 module	No	Built-in · grievance officer · consent + retention · audit log
Wallet ledger (INR)	No	Real-time · per-message carrier breakdown · CSV export
Meta WhatsApp Cloud API v24.0	Yes	Yes
Visual flow builder	Linear flows + automations	Graph-based · branching · delays · AI nodes · @xyflow/react canvas
Inline AI / GenAI replies	Limited · paid add-ons	OpenAI + Gemini + Sarvam BYOK · Knowledge Base + RAG bundled
CTWA referral capture	Manual	Automatic — Meta referral object stored per conversation
Agency Client-Pay / dual billing	No	Built-in · client invoices in INR · separate wallets per tenant
Razorpay subscription billing	No	One-click · Razorpay Subscriptions API
Public REST API + webhooks	REST API · webhook events	Full REST · scoped API keys · billing + delivery webhooks
Realtime channel	Webhook-based	Laravel WebSockets · Pusher-compatible · realtime delivery + flow progress
Support hours + channel	Global · email + ticket	IST · WhatsApp + phone · founder-direct for paid plans
Free BSP migration	DIY	Migration team rebuilds templates + flows at zero cost
India GST invoicing	USD invoice · GST not embedded	GST-compliant INR invoice · GSTIN captured at signup
Year founded · India footprint	2020 · global, India share modest	2023 · 200+ Indian tenants live

Zoko’s entry plan starts around $34.99 per month with per-conversation Meta passthrough on top — verified against zoko.io/pricing (June 2026). At an FX rate of ~₹84/USD the rupee-equivalent base is roughly ₹2,950 before Meta’s carrier charges. RichAutomate has no subscription to compare against: ₹0 platform fee, ₹0 setup, ₹0 monthly floor. You pay usage only — SaaS Pay at ₹1.20 per marketing message and ₹0.30 per utility/auth message (Meta pass-through included), or Client Pay at ₹0.10 platform fee per message with Meta billed direct to your card (marketing ₹0.8631, utility/auth ₹0.115). Every charge is itemised inside the wallet. Numbers normalised against Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform pricing page (developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing) as of June 2026.

5 reasons Indian D2C brands switch from Zoko to RichAutomate in 2026

INR billing with a wallet ledger that itemises every Meta carrier charge — finance teams stop chasing USD reconciliation across credit-card statements and the wallet doubles as an audit trail for the Meta line-item on your P&L.
DPDP Act 2023 grievance officer + consent + retention module out of the box — Zoko has no India-specific compliance module, which becomes a board-level risk once the DPDP Rules notification window closes.
UPI 2.0 deep-link helper for in-chat checkout — pre-filled amount and UPI ID inside the template, no manual link construction, no broken fallback when a customer taps from Reliance Jio data versus Airtel.
Graph-based flow builder with branching, delays, and AI nodes versus Zoko’s linear automations — large catalogs and conditional logic (size-based, pin-code-based) ship in a day instead of a week.
Founder-direct WhatsApp support in IST hours plus a free migration team that rebuilds your templates and flows at zero cost on switchover — Zoko support is global email-and-ticket which means an overnight gap for IST-day-shift teams.

Our take

When Zoko is the right call — and when it isn't.

Pick Zoko if your business runs on Shopify, you bill internationally in USD, you have global customers and global support expectations, you do not need a DPDP Act 2023 compliance module, and the Shopify-native UI for abandoned cart and order-status is your top priority. Pick RichAutomate if you are an Indian D2C or B2B brand that wants INR billing, a wallet ledger with every Meta carrier charge itemised, a DPDP Act 2023 grievance officer module, UPI 2.0 deep-link template helpers, graph-based branching flows, KB + RAG bundled instead of paid add-ons, and founder-direct WhatsApp support in IST hours. For deeper context, the /pillars/best-whatsapp-business-api-india-2026 pillar walks through evaluation criteria, /pillars/cheapest-whatsapp-business-api-india covers cost modelling, /tools/waba-cost-calculator runs your numbers live, and /tools/bsp-migration-cost-calculator estimates port effort. See also /compare/wati-vs-aisensy-vs-interakt-vs-richautomate, /compare/aisensy-vs-richautomate, and /compare/interakt-vs-richautomate to triangulate. Background reading: /blog/whatsapp-catalog-upi-in-chat-checkout-d2c-india-2026, /blog/whatsapp-cloud-api-vs-on-premise-india-2026, and /blog/whatsapp-msme-cost-cutting-after-meta-rate-hike-india-2026. Migration takes 7 working days — your WhatsApp number stays the same, our team rebuilds templates and flows at zero cost. Grab the BSP Switching Kit at richautomate.in/lead-magnets/bsp-switching-kit for the WABA-port runbook.

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Frequently asked

Is Zoko cheaper than RichAutomate for an Indian Shopify store?+

Headline: Zoko starts around $34.99/mo (~₹2,950 at June 2026 FX) as a fixed platform fee, plus Meta’s per-conversation carrier rates on top. RichAutomate has no platform fee, no setup, and no monthly floor — you pay only for messages sent. Worked example, 1,000 marketing messages a month: Zoko ≈ ₹2,950 platform + ~₹863 Meta carrier (₹0.8631 × 1,000) ≈ ₹3,813. RichAutomate SaaS Pay = ₹1.20 × 1,000 = ₹1,200 all-in (Meta pass-through included) — roughly 65 to 70 percent cheaper, and the gap only widens at lower volume because there is no fixed plan to absorb. Both bill on Meta’s published carrier rates underneath; RichAutomate itemises every charge inside the wallet.

Is Zoko a Shopify app or a standalone BSP?+

Zoko operates as a Meta-approved WhatsApp Business Solution Provider with a Shopify-native integration as its strongest distribution channel. It is not Shopify-only, but the product design priorities (UI for abandoned cart, catalog sync, order status) are Shopify-first. RichAutomate is a standalone India-first BSP with direct Meta WhatsApp Cloud API v24.0 integration and connectors for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and any custom storefront via REST API.

What India-specific features does Zoko not have that RichAutomate does?+

Four features matter for Indian D2C: (1) DPDP Act 2023 grievance officer + consent + retention + audit-log module — RichAutomate built-in, Zoko does not ship it. (2) INR wallet ledger with per-message Meta carrier breakdown — RichAutomate built-in. (3) UPI 2.0 deep-link helper inside templates — RichAutomate built-in. (4) GST-compliant INR invoicing with GSTIN captured at signup — RichAutomate built-in. Confirm Zoko’s current India roadmap on zoko.io.

Does Zoko support UPI checkout inside WhatsApp?+

Zoko supports payment links in templates, but does not ship a dedicated UPI 2.0 deep-link helper that pre-fills amount and UPI ID natively. Builders construct UPI URIs manually. RichAutomate ships a UPI deep-link helper aligned with NPCI’s UPI 2.0 specification (npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/product-overview), so the link works consistently across PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and BHIM without manual URI assembly.

How does migration from Zoko to RichAutomate work?+

Your WhatsApp Business number stays the same. Meta supports WABA number portability between BSPs. Steps: (1) Initiate migration request inside the Meta Business Manager (developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/api/migration). (2) Our migration team re-submits your existing templates under your WABA on RichAutomate, typically 24 to 48 hours per template for approval. (3) Flows are rebuilt one-to-one in the graph-based builder. Typical cutover: 7 working days, zero cost for switchers. The full runbook is in our BSP Switching Kit.

Will I lose Shopify deep links if I switch from Zoko to RichAutomate?+

No. RichAutomate ships a Shopify webhook integration that covers abandoned cart, order status, fulfilment events, and catalog sync. The UX surface is more API-first than Zoko’s embedded Shopify admin UI, but the event coverage is complete. For a hands-on walkthrough see /use-cases/whatsapp-for-d2c-shopify-india-2026 and the in-chat commerce playbook at /blog/whatsapp-catalog-upi-in-chat-checkout-d2c-india-2026.

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