CleverTap vs WebEngage - Which is better for you in 2025?

If you run marketing or product today, you are probably under pressure to do three things at once: track users across devices, send smarter campaigns, and cut tool costs. CleverTap and WebEngage both promise to be your “do it all” engagement stack, but they approach the problem in slightly different ways. In 2025, those differences matter a lot, especially if WhatsApp is a major channel for you.

Below is a clear breakdown so you can decide when CleverTap makes more sense, when WebEngage is stronger, and where a focused WhatsApp partner like Heltar fits in.

Quick summary: CleverTap vs WebEngage in 2025

If you only have a few minutes, here are the key takeaways:

• CleverTap is a mobile first engagement and retention platform with strong in–product analytics, lifecycle campaigns, and its own WhatsApp BSP option for Essentials customers.

• WebEngage is a full stack retention and customer data platform that focuses heavily on unifying data, omnichannel campaigns, and security compliance for mid and large brands.

• Pricing

  • CleverTap has a public entry plan: Essentials starts at around 75 USD per month for up to 5,000 monthly active users, with larger Advanced and Cutting Edge tiers on request.

  • WebEngage does not list fixed prices on its main site; you typically book a demo and get a quote, though selected startup programs offer free credits for a limited time.

• WhatsApp

  • Both support WhatsApp campaigns, but CleverTap can even act as a WhatsApp BSP itself through its WhatsApp Direct add on, while WebEngage relies on external BSPs or private WSP setups.

• Heltar fits in as a focused WhatsApp API and automation layer that can sit alongside either tool and handle bulk messaging, AI agents, shared inbox, and voice agents without you managing Meta complexity directly.

Now let us go deeper.

What CleverTap and WebEngage actually do?

CleverTap in 2025

CleverTap positions itself as an all in one customer engagement and retention platform. It combines:

• Customer data and analytics to track user actions and build segments

• Experimentation and optimization for A/B tests and lifecycle experiments

• Personalization across channels based on user profile and behavior

• Campaign orchestration across push, email, in app, SMS, and more

On top of this, newer product updates highlight CleverAI and other AI features that help with predictions, recommendations, and decisioning for campaigns.

For WhatsApp, CleverTap supports it as a native channel and even offers CleverTap BSP plus a WhatsApp Direct add on, which gives Essentials customers direct access to a WhatsApp BSP from within CleverTap.

WebEngage in 2025

WebEngage presents itself as a full stack retention platform that brings together:

• A Customer Data Platform (CDP) to build 360 degree customer profiles

• An omnichannel campaign manager

• A personalization engine for web and app

The platform focuses strongly on:

• Real time data refresh and unified profiles

• Rich segmentation and lists

• Product and revenue analytics

• A growing WebEngage AI and security stack, with a dedicated Trust Centre and detailed compliance focus.

For WhatsApp, WebEngage supports campaigns through integrations with WhatsApp Service Providers like Gupshup, ValueFirst, Infobip, ACL and also supports private WSP setups that keep phone numbers hashed on your side for extra privacy.

Pricing and plans in 2025

CleverTap pricing

From CleverTap’s own comparison and competitor pages, we get a clear public entry point: 

• Essentials Plan

  • Starting around 75 USD per month

  • Ideal for startups with up to about 5,000 MAU

  • Supports larger MAU tiers (up to 100k MAU) and includes about a year of user history

  • Often comes with a 30 day free trial for apps below a certain MAU

  • You can add paid add ons, including WhatsApp Direct

• Advanced Plan

  • Pricing on request

  • Adds hyper personalization, automated segmentation, advanced analytics, and premium channels

• Cutting Edge or similar higher tier plan

  • Pricing on request

  • Focuses on AI driven predictions, real time recommendations, and advanced campaign intelligence

This structure is attractive if you are an early stage product team and want a transparent starting number, then scale into bigger tiers later.

WebEngage pricing

WebEngage does not publish a public price list for tiers like “Starter” or “Pro” on its main product pages. Instead, the usual path is to book a demo and get a quote based on your use case, volume, and integration needs.

What you can see from the site:

• WebEngage pushes a consultative, quote based motion where teams compare features, pricing, and onboarding with their sales team.

• For selected early stage companies, the WebEngage REV program offers free access to the full retention stack for six months plus platform credits worth around 25,000 USD, along with dedicated success managers.

If you are a mid market or enterprise team that prefers custom contracts and expects to commit for the long term, this style may fit you. If you are very price sensitive at low scale and want a simple monthly card swipe, the lack of public pricing is a trade off.

Feature comparison: how they work for growth teams

1. Data and analytics

• CleverTap

  • Strong app and web analytics, event tracking, funnels, and cohorts built in.

  • Focus on understanding how users move through your product and tying that to campaigns.

• WebEngage

  • CDP focus: unified profiles, advanced segmentation, and event analytics for product and revenue data.

  • Good fit if you have multiple data sources and care about a central source of truth for marketing and product.

2. Channels and automation

Both platforms cover the usual channels: push, in app, email, SMS, web messages, and WhatsApp.

• CleverTap leans into campaign orchestration and lifecycle optimization within its own canvas, with clear flows around acquisition, activation, retention, and re activation.

• WebEngage calls this an omnichannel campaign manager, where you design flows, rules, and triggers across channels at scale.

For most growth teams, both are “enough” on channels. The more important question is how deeply you need CDP level control versus lighter built in analytics.

3. WhatsApp capabilities

If WhatsApp is one of your top channels, this part matters.

• CleverTap

  • Lets you treat WhatsApp as a first class channel for engagement, not just an add on.

  • Offers a WhatsApp Direct add on for Essentials so you can use CleverTap as a BSP, without needing a separate provider.

• WebEngage

  • Works by integrating with external WhatsApp Service Providers like Gupshup, Infobip, ValueFirst, ACL and more.

  • Has a Private WSP option where you keep phone numbers hashed on your systems, and WebEngage passes encrypted data to your own WSP proxy for extra control. 

In simple terms:

• CleverTap is slightly more plug and play for smaller teams that want WhatsApp inside the same tool and are fine with CleverTap itself or a simple BSP setup.

• WebEngage is better if your legal or data teams insist on very tight control around customer data and integrating your own WSP infrastructure.

4. Security and compliance

WebEngage talks heavily about its Trust Centre, security certifications, and CDP level data controls, which is attractive to regulated industries or global brands.

CleverTap also emphasizes enterprise grade architecture and compliance, but if your top concern is data residency, private WSP, and strict governance at the CDP layer, WebEngage has a stronger story on its site.

5. Onboarding and support

Both vendors stress the importance of onboarding and implementation through their content and guides. WebEngage, in particular, has detailed documentation on events, relays, collections, and Shopify integration, which helps complex teams go live.

CleverTap has a broad developer docs section and a buyer’s guide that talks through integration, pricing structure, and evaluation questions.

Which one is better for you in 2025?

A simple way to decide:

Pick CleverTap if:

• You are a consumer app or D2C brand with strong mobile usage and want deep in app analytics tied closely to campaigns.

• You like the idea of a public starter price around 75 USD per month and want to test quickly without a long sales cycle.

• You want WhatsApp built into the same tool with the option of using CleverTap as your BSP for a simpler stack.

Pick WebEngage if:

• You are a mid market or enterprise brand that cares a lot about a strong CDP layer, unified profiles, and long term retention strategy. 

• You want deep control over data flows, private WSP options, and strict security and compliance, especially across multiple regions.

• You are comfortable with a demo plus quote flow and possibly multi year contracts rather than a simple self serve card payment.

CleverTap vs WebEngage - Comparison

Where Heltar fits into this choice?

Whether you choose CleverTap or WebEngage, you still need to handle a very specific problem well: WhatsApp itself.Meta’s pricing has shifted to per template billing from April and July 2025 changes, so your WhatsApp cost control now relies on the right WhatsApp API provider and a sensible automation layer.

Heltar focuses only on this side of the stack:

• Official WhatsApp Business API with bulk messaging at scale, AI agents, workflow automation, team inbox, and voice agents across WhatsApp.

• No code chatbot builder that lets your ops or product team build flows without developers.

• Clear guidance on WhatsApp pricing country by country so you know what you will actually spend.

Heltar’s role here is very clear - Heltar is a WhatsApp Business API provider built for these needs.

• Shared inbox, roles, and assignments so sales can work from one place.

• Automation inside the inbox, plus quick setup for keywords, menus, and forms. You can create a WhatsApp chatbot using a drag-and-drop, no-code chatbot builder. Just one AI prompt, and you have your automation ready to be deployed. You can't get this luxury on Zapier.

• Template workflows for approval, variables, and safe bulk sends. You create templates and get them approved within seconds, ready to be launched as part of bulk messaging campaigns.

• Campaigns and segments with schedules and rate control. Schedule and Fire any campaign in less than a minute, marketing made simple!

• Live reports for delivery, reads, failures, leads, and outcomes.