Spaces vs Gupshup
Gupshup is a conversational AI and messaging platform for marketing, commerce and support: template campaigns, journeys and its own AI agents on WhatsApp (official Business API), RCS, SMS, Truecaller and voice, with Instagram and Messenger listed on its Enterprise plan. Spaces is messaging infrastructure for AI agents: one REST API and one MCP server that let the agent you already use — in Claude, Grok, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own code — read and answer customer chats on Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger.
In one line: Gupshup sells the campaigns and the AI; Spaces is the channel layer for the AI you already run. Here is how they differ, and when each is the better choice. On WhatsApp volume alone, Gupshup is likely cheaper — we show that below.
| Spaces | Gupshup | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Messaging API + MCP server for AI agents | Conversational AI and CPaaS platform for marketing, commerce and support |
| Built for | Developers and agent builders whose agent must answer customers on chat apps | Marketing, commerce and support teams, up to enterprise programmes |
| Channels | Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger (inbox). TikTok posts and comments are live. Facebook Pages coming soon. | WhatsApp, RCS, SMS, Truecaller and voice; Instagram and Messenger listed on Enterprise. LinkedIn is not listed. |
| Whose AI | Yours — no AI model included | Gupshup's own AI agents, voice AI and avatar agents on its ACE LLM; 1,000 AI messages a month free, then charged |
| The number you already use, linked by QR code, and it keeps working on your phone. No templates and no Meta message fees. New chats only to people who wrote before or opted in; no broadcasts. | Official WhatsApp Business API with a Meta Business account; templates start conversations. Its FAQ says a number on the WhatsApp app must be removed from the app first; its docs also offer Coexistence for WhatsApp Business App numbers (QR scan, app account at least 3 months old). | |
| Broadcasts | No — template broadcasts belong on the official platform | Yes — template campaigns, segments, journeys, click-to-WhatsApp ads |
| MCP | Included on every plan, including Free. Built for conversations: read, reply, schedule, routines, approvals, pause. | Docs MCP and Console Docs MCP; Enterprise MCP and Voice AI MCP with Gupshup credentials |
| Scale and controls | Per-account daily limits, pacing, four-week warm-up, read-only keys, pause, optional human approval | Enterprise: up to 10,000 messages a second, SSO, audit logs, SOC 2 Type 2, regional hosting, SLA |
| Price | Free: $0, 1 account, 50 actions a day, no card. Pay as you go: $9 per connected account a month, with 1,000 actions a month per account (pooled), then $5 per 1,000 (less at high volume). Reading messages is always free. No seats, no yearly option. | $0.001 per WhatsApp message (Gupshup fee) + Meta's fees, on its self-serve WhatsApp page. Gupshup's pricing pages disagree on a monthly platform fee, so we don't quote one. Enterprise is a custom rate card. |
| 1 WhatsApp number, 5,000 replies a month | $29 a month ($9 + 4,000 extra actions × $5 per 1,000) | About $5 in Gupshup fees + Meta's service-message fees (+ any monthly platform fee) |
Example assumes one WhatsApp number sending 5,000 replies a month, because Gupshup does not sell LinkedIn or a per-account bundle. On WhatsApp alone, Gupshup's published per-message fee is a fifth of Spaces' overage rate, so Gupshup is likely cheaper for WhatsApp-only volume. Meta's fees vary by country and category and are not estimated; Gupshup adds 18% GST in India. Spaces fits better when one agent needs several inboxes, including LinkedIn, at modest volume. The Spaces price does not include what your own AI agent costs to run; Gupshup's AI messages are billed after the free 1,000.
Choose Gupshup if
- You run template campaigns on WhatsApp, RCS, SMS or Truecaller, with segments, journeys and click-to-WhatsApp ads — Spaces deliberately does not.
- You want Gupshup's own AI agents, voice bots or avatar agents, built and supported by its team.
- Your volume is mostly WhatsApp, where a $0.001 per-message fee beats per-action pricing.
- You need enterprise controls: SSO, audit logs, SOC 2, regional hosting, an SLA and very high throughput.
Choose Spaces if
- You already run an AI agent and want it to answer customers on Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger through one API and MCP server.
- You need LinkedIn messages in the same agent — Gupshup does not list LinkedIn.
- You want to link an existing WhatsApp number by QR code rather than move it onto the Business API.
- Your work is replies and follow-ups at small-team volume, priced per connected account.
About how WhatsApp connects
For up to 24 hours after a WhatsApp account connects, reconnects, or is disconnected and connected again, Spaces does not start new chats or outreach. Replies in chats that already exist still go out. Other channels have no reply-only window: the warm-up limits apply from the first day, and replies to people who wrote in go out immediately.
Gupshup runs on the official WhatsApp Business API. Its pricing FAQ says a number active on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app must be removed from the app before it moves to the API, and chat history does not carry over. Its developer docs also describe Coexistence, which keeps a WhatsApp Business App number on the phone while it joins the Cloud API, with some known Meta issues. Check with Gupshup which applies to you.
Spaces links the number you already use by QR code, so there is no approval to wait for and no template to write. That number stays under WhatsApp's own automation rules: Spaces keeps every account inside limits, which lowers the risk without removing it. For large template broadcasts, the official platform — Gupshup's home ground — is the right tool. Sending limits · How Spaces keeps accounts safe · WhatsApp Business Platform vs QR code
Looking at other options too? See the best Gupshup alternatives.
Facts about Gupshup were checked on 11 November 2026 from Gupshup pricing, Gupshup WhatsApp self-serve pricing, Gupshup Coexistence docs and Gupshup llms.txt. Spaces facts are from spacesos.com/pricing, WhatsApp API and llms.txt. Prices and features change; their sites have the current version. Gupshup is a trademark of its owner.