The right replacement for a chat-first CRM depends on whether chat is your main sales route or just one of several. If most deals start in WhatsApp or Instagram, stay with a messaging-first platform. If they start on the phone, by email or from referrals, a CRM built around the deal record with chat added will usually fit better.
Kommo is built for teams whose leads turn up in WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok before they ever reach a pipeline. That's a clear design choice, and it's also why moving away from it takes more thought than swapping one CRM for another. Below are eight alternatives, in no particular order, sorted by where each one starts: the conversation, an open-source inbox, or the deal.
Is chat your main sales route, or one of several?
The product you're leaving puts chat channels first and the pipeline second. Conversations come in, get answered, and then turn into deals. If that's how your week looks, you'll miss that order the moment you move to a tool that does it the other way round.
Plenty of small teams don't sell that way, though. Leads arrive from a website form, a phone call, a trade show or a friend's recommendation, and WhatsApp is just where the follow-up happens. For those teams, a CRM that starts from the deal record and treats chat as one more channel can feel calmer, because the pipeline is the thing everyone looks at first.
So before you compare features, count where your last twenty deals started. If most of them began in a chat window, shortlist messaging-first platforms. If chat was a minority, look at the CRMs. And if you mainly need a shared inbox that your support team can run without a sales pipeline at all, the open-source option is worth a look.
Three starting points: messaging, open source or the deal record
Messaging-first platforms. respond.io, Wati and SleekFlow all start from the conversation. They differ in reach and focus: one pulls WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook into a team inbox with AI agents, one is built around selling and marketing on WhatsApp with broadcasts and chatbots, and one adds SMS and campaign automation to the mix. If your team lives in chat all day, start here.
An open-source inbox. Chatwoot is a customer support platform for live chat, email, WhatsApp and social that you can host yourself or use in the vendor's cloud. It isn't a sales CRM in the same sense, so it suits teams where chat is mostly about answering customers, or where keeping conversation data on your own server matters.
CRM-first tools with chat added. Pipedrive, Freshsales, Bitrix24 and Salesmate all start from the deal or the contact. Two are focused sales CRMs, one wraps a CRM in a wider workspace with tasks, projects and documents, and one adds marketing automation and customer support on the same customer data. They'll feel more familiar to anyone who's used a traditional CRM.
The eight options side by side
| Tool | Starts from | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Bitrix24 | CRM plus team workspace | CRM, tasks, projects and documents in one workspace |
| Chatwoot | Open-source support inbox | Self-hosting one inbox for chat, email and WhatsApp |
| Freshsales | AI sales CRM | Capturing leads and moving deals with AI help |
| Pipedrive | Pipeline-first sales CRM | Visual deal stages with sales automation |
| respond.io | Messaging-first inbox | One team inbox for WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook |
| Salesmate | CRM with support and marketing | CRM, marketing automation and support on shared data |
| SleekFlow | Omnichannel messaging suite | Campaigns, leads and support across WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS |
| Wati | WhatsApp business platform | Broadcasts and chatbots on WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok |
Every option, A to Z
Listed alphabetically, in no particular order of preference.
Bitrix24
Best for: Teams that want the CRM to sit inside a wider workspace with tasks, projects, online documents and a website builder, which the vendor pitches as all-in-one.
Chatwoot
Best for: Support-led teams who want an open-source inbox for live chat, email, WhatsApp and social, run on their own server or in the vendor's cloud.
Freshsales
Best for: Sales teams wanting an AI-powered CRM for capturing leads and closing deals, which the vendor describes as easy to use.
Pipedrive
Best for: Salespeople who think in stages and want to track a pipeline, manage deals with AI and automate the repetitive steps of the sales process.
respond.io
Best for: Businesses handling customer conversations across WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook in one team inbox, where the vendor says chats, calls and emails share a thread.
Salesmate
Best for: Companies that want CRM, marketing automation, customer support and workflows on one platform, which the vendor says goes beyond a standard CRM.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
SleekFlow
Best for: Brands automating campaigns, leads and support across WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS, with AI agents the vendor says can sell to and support customers.
Wati
Best for: Small businesses selling, supporting and marketing on WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok with broadcasts, chatbots and AI agents that follow rules you set, per the vendor.
My advice for chat-led sales teams
Don't let a long feature list make the decision for you. Every tool here can send and receive messages in some form, but how a chat lead becomes a deal is what changes your day. Connect one real WhatsApp or Instagram number in each trial, send yourself a message as if you were a new customer, and watch where it lands. If you have to copy details across by hand, that's a warning sign.
If your team is small and chat is everything, a messaging-first platform will save you the most clicks. If you're growing a sales team that works from phone, email and chat equally, go CRM-first and check the chat channels you need are covered. For more context, see my guide to WhatsApp business tools and my list of CRMs for startups.
Questions to put to every chat trial
- Which messaging channels connect directly, and which need a separate add-on or a partner?
- When a new chat arrives, does it create a contact and a deal automatically, or only a conversation?
- Can two people see the same chat at once without replying over each other?
- What happens to chat history if you leave: can you export every message with the contact it belongs to?
- Where do AI agents get their answers from, and can you stop them replying on topics you'd rather handle yourself?
Do you make a chat-first CRM or messaging platform? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between a messaging platform and a CRM?
A messaging platform starts from the conversation and helps a team answer chats across channels. A CRM starts from the contact or deal and tracks where each sale stands. Many tools now do a bit of both, so check which side is built first.
Can I sell through WhatsApp without a CRM?
You can, but it gets messy once more than one person replies to customers. A shared inbox or a CRM with chat built in keeps track of who said what and which leads still need a follow-up.
Is an open-source inbox a good choice for a small sales team?
It can be if someone on the team is happy to host and update it, or if you use the vendor's cloud version. It's built for support conversations, so check how well it tracks sales before you rely on it.
Should I choose a messaging tool or a CRM first?
Look at where your recent deals started. If most began in a chat app, pick a messaging-first tool. If chat is one channel among several, a CRM with chat added will usually suit you better.
Are AI agents safe to let loose on customer chats?
Treat them like a new hire. Start with simple questions, read their replies for the first few weeks, and keep a person in the loop for anything about orders, refunds or complaints.
Do I need customer consent to message people on WhatsApp?
Messaging platforms and privacy laws both have rules about who you can message and how. Requirements vary, so check the platform's own business policy and the regulator where you operate.
