The best apps to sell on WhatsApp in 2026

• Best free start: the WhatsApp Business app and its built-in catalog, for a handful of products and orders.
• Best for a full store with orders in WhatsApp and cash on delivery: Whatsell.
• Best for simple order forms and menus in many countries: Take App.
• Best for an established brand with card checkout: Shopify plus a WhatsApp app.
• Best for cash on delivery businesses run from a dashboard in MENA and Africa: YouCan or Storeino.
• Best for messaging thousands of customers automatically: a WhatsApp API platform.

Full disclosure: this guide is written by Whatsell. We have tried to be fair, say what each tool is genuinely best at, and say plainly when you should pick something other than us.

Most “best WhatsApp apps” lists are really lists of Shopify plugins for marketing messages. That is useful if you already run a Shopify store, and useless if you sell from your phone. We looked at the questions a chat seller actually has:

• How does the order reach you? A written-out message in your chat, a dashboard, or a pile of photos to piece together?
• Can customers browse, pick sizes and colours, and order several items on their own?
• Which payments does it handle, including cash on delivery, which most chat sellers in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia rely on?
• What does it cost in shape: free, a per-order fee, a monthly subscription, or charges per message?
• Does it work on the free WhatsApp Business app, or does it need the WhatsApp API and a separate number?
• How long from sign-up to the first order?

1. 1

   Inside WhatsApp

   The WhatsApp Business app with its catalog. Free and already on your phone, but the order is still worked out by hand in the chat.

2. 2

   A store on a link

   A shop page customers browse on their own, which sends the finished order to your WhatsApp. Whatsell and Take App work this way, on the normal WhatsApp Business app.

3. 3

   Automation on the WhatsApp API

   Tools that send order updates, cart reminders and campaigns automatically. Powerful at volume, but they need the WhatsApp Business API, and WhatsApp charges for many business-initiated messages.

Meta's free app for small businesses: a business profile, quick replies, labels, greeting messages and a catalog of products inside WhatsApp.

• Best for: your first products and first orders, with no cost and nothing to set up.
• Watch out for: no real checkout, no stock tracking and no order record. Every order is pieced together in the chat, which gets painful past a few a day.
• Cost: free.

Our guide to the WhatsApp Business catalog shows how to get the most out of it, and when it stops being enough.

A full online store on one link, built for sellers who find customers on social media and close the sale in WhatsApp. Customers browse, choose variants, fill in their delivery details and check out; you receive the order in your WhatsApp already written out, with the items, address and total, ready to confirm in one reply.

• Best for: sellers who post on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, deliver locally and get paid in cash at the door.
• Strengths: cash on delivery as the default, delivery zones and fees, a drag-and-drop store builder, stock and variants, and an Android app. Whatsell+ adds your own domain, ad pixels and cross-sell.
• Payment limitation: Whatsell does not accept or process customer payments and has no online payment gateway. You or your courier collect the money directly, outside Whatsell. The platform records orders and the payment status you set.
• Cost: a free plan that stays free, with a small fee per order. Whatsell+ is $4.99 a month with a lower fee. See pricing.

A light ordering link: a catalog customers pick from, with the order sent to your WhatsApp. It works in a very wide range of countries, languages and local payment methods.

• Best for: food, groceries and small menus, where the order is a list rather than a browse.
• Watch out for: the free plan caps how many orders a month are saved, and it is deliberately lighter than a full storefront.
• Cost: a free plan, then monthly subscriptions.

See our side-by-side Take App comparison.

Shopify is the most complete e-commerce platform there is. On its own it does not send orders to WhatsApp, but its app store has many WhatsApp apps for chat buttons, order updates, cart recovery and campaigns.

• Best for: an established brand with card checkout, international shipping and a budget for apps.
• Watch out for: a monthly subscription after a trial, plus a separate fee for each WhatsApp app, plus WhatsApp's own message charges for automated campaigns.
• Cost: monthly subscription, with add-ons on top.

If Shopify feels like more than you need, read our Shopify alternatives guide or the Shopify comparison.

Two store platforms built for cash on delivery in MENA and Africa, with shipping companies connected and plenty of tools for sellers who run ads to product pages.

• Best for: cash on delivery and dropshipping businesses that send parcels every day and manage orders from a dashboard.
• Watch out for: WhatsApp is a notification or confirmation channel rather than where the order is written for you, and both are paid platforms.
• Cost: monthly subscriptions, and on YouCan a small fee per order as well.

Compare them with Whatsell: YouCan and Storeino.

Tools such as WATI, Interakt or AiSensy connect to the WhatsApp Business API to send order confirmations, delivery updates, abandoned cart reminders and broadcast campaigns automatically, with a shared inbox for a team.

• Best for: brands with thousands of customers and a team answering chats.
• Watch out for: they are messaging tools, not stores, so you still need a shop. They usually need a number moved to the API, and WhatsApp charges for many business-initiated messages on top of the subscription.
• Cost: monthly subscription plus message charges.

Not sure you need the API at all? Our guide on the WhatsApp Business app vs the API explains the difference.

A link-in-bio page holds several links behind one address, including a WhatsApp chat button. It is handy, but it is not a selling app: there is no cart, no checkout and no order. If most of your bio links exist so people can buy, put the store itself behind the link. See our Linktree comparison and Whatsell's link in bio.

• Under five orders a week, a few products: start with the free WhatsApp Business catalog.
• Selling from social media with cash on delivery, and tired of retyping orders: a store link that writes the order into WhatsApp, such as Whatsell.
• A restaurant, bakery or grocery taking list-style orders in many countries: Take App fits well.
• A card-paying, international brand: Shopify, with a WhatsApp app if your customers like chat.
• A daily cash on delivery operation with shipping integrations and a team: YouCan or Storeino.
• Thousands of customers to message automatically: add an API platform on top of your store.

Whatever you choose, keep your chats on a WhatsApp Business number you will keep, and read how to sell on WhatsApp for the habits that matter more than any app.