How do you choose a WhatsApp app for your Salla store?

The Salla App Store has more than one app promising to connect your store to WhatsApp. The difference between them doesn't show on each app's front page — it shows in a few specific questions: how does it connect your number? Who pays the message fees? What does it actually do?

This article gives you those questions to ask any app before you install it, and with each question, ATMET Chat's answer, in figures and facts you can check.

Does the app connect you to Meta's official API, or only link your number as a device?

This is the most important question, because everything else follows from it. There are two ways to connect a number to an app:

• The official connection: through the WhatsApp interface Meta provides for businesses (WhatsApp API). Messages the store starts go out with templates Meta reviews and approves, campaigns are sent within the daily sending limits Meta sets, and interactive messages with buttons and lists are supported.
• Linking as a device: the number linked by scanning a QR code, like WhatsApp Web. Easier at first and with no message fees, but it isn't Meta's business interface, so there are no approved templates.

In ATMET Chat: both are available, and we recommend using both. The Official WhatsApp API connection for campaigns and approved templates, and the ATMET Chat channel, which links your number as a device, on every plan with no message fees. For each notification you choose the route that suits it. ATMET Chat is a Meta Business Partner.

Ask the app: do campaigns go out through the official API, or from a number linked as a device?

What's the risk to your number?

Meta watches how customers respond to business messages: a template that gets repeated negative feedback or low read rates can be paused, and one that keeps getting negative feedback can be disabled. And linking a number as a device was never designed for bulk sending, which is why ATMET Chat decided campaigns go through the official connection only. ATMET Chat's own dashboard says of the ATMET Chat channel that its sending speed is limited, that the number needs a warm-up period, and that it doesn't support bulk campaigns.

ATMET Chat's safeguards that protect your number:

• One reminder per abandoned cart, and no reminder for a customer who bought in the last 24 hours or got a reminder in that time.
• Cart reminders and review requests from your linked number don't go out at night: if they fall due between 9 pm and 9 am in the customer's local time, they wait until morning.
• Numbers you add to Excluded numbers get none of your campaigns or automatic notifications, and the AI doesn't reply to them.

Ask the app: what stops my number from sending more messages than it should?

Does the app add a markup on Meta's fees?

On the official connection, Meta is the one charging for template messages, by message type and the customer's country, and that's the same whichever app you use. The real question is whether the app adds its own margin on top of Meta's fees. Ask outright: a cheap plan doesn't mean much if the app takes a cut of every message.

In ATMET Chat: a fixed monthly plan, with message fees paid to Meta directly and no commission from ATMET, and the ATMET Chat channel has no message fees. In Meta's current pricing, with any app, the first 1,000 service replies a month are free per number. Meta's rates by country are on the Meta pricing page.

Ask the app: if I send a thousand marketing messages to customers in Saudi Arabia, how much do I pay, and to whom?

Does the app read your full Salla store data?

An app that doesn't know your orders and products can do little more than send canned replies. Ask: what does it read from Salla, and what does it send based on it?

In ATMET Chat: it reads orders, products, customers, abandoned carts and reviews, and it sends:

• order confirmations and status updates, with the shipping company, tracking number and tracking link;
• abandoned cart reminders with a coupon it creates in your Salla store, usable once;
• review requests with a link to the review page on Salla, and a reply to each review according to its stars.

Your Salla messages can also include the cashback the customer earned and their short national address. And every notification starts switched off until you turn it on and write its message.

Does it have AI, and from which plan?

Ask where the AI answers from: your store's actual data, or generic text? Which plan does it start on? And what happens when it doesn't know the answer?

In ATMET Chat: from the Pro plan, the AI assistant answers on WhatsApp from your products, the customer's orders by order number or phone, Store information, which it fills in from your store, and Store policies, which you write yourself. When a customer needs a person or asks for one outright, it escalates the conversation to your team, and you get an alert in the dashboard, by email, and on WhatsApp if you set an alert number and your ATMET Chat channel is online. From the Pro plan it also works in your store's widget, and on the Ultra plan you can switch on its understanding of images and voice notes in AI settings.

Are campaigns included, and who can you send them to?

Ask: are campaigns in my plan, or a paid add-on? Which number do they go out from? Who can I send to? How do I see the results?

In ATMET Chat: from the Plus plan you send campaigns to your Salla store's customers or to cart abandoners, sorted by their orders, carts and the last campaign they received, and from the Pro plan you can upload your own list from an Excel file. Campaigns go through the official connection with approved marketing templates, and after each one you see how many messages were delivered and read, and the orders and revenue that followed.

Do you keep the WhatsApp Business app on your phone?

Many store owners reply to customers from the WhatsApp Business app and don't want to lose it. Ask: does the official connection force me onto a new number, or off the app?

In ATMET Chat: the official connection accepts your current WhatsApp Business app number, so the app keeps working on your phone while ATMET Chat replies from the same number. The full steps are in the guide Connecting Salla to official WhatsApp.

What is the support like?

Ask: in which language? Through which channel? How long do you wait for a reply? Who helps you connect the first time?

In ATMET Chat: the ATMET team replies in Arabic and English. You can message them on WhatsApp directly, email them and get a reply within 24 hours on working days, or book a live session with a specialist. Existing customers can open a support ticket from the dashboard. And if you hit a problem connecting the first time, you can open a ticket or book a meeting right from the WhatsApp page. Every way to reach the team is on the contact page.

Does the app publish real results?

General percentages are easy to write and hard to check. Ask any app for real figures from real stores, and a clear rule for how they're counted.

In ATMET Chat: the merchant results page shows ATMET Chat's figures, read straight out of the system. On 14 October 2026, from 63 stores on Salla, Zid and Shopify and 1,868 orders since counting began in July 2026:

• more than 789K SAR in sales came after ATMET Chat messages;
• of which 509,132 SAR came after cart reminders, and 274,665 SAR after campaigns.

An order counts when it is placed within 7 days after an ATMET Chat cart reminder, campaign or back-in-stock alert reached the same customer; cancelled orders don't count, and an order is credited to the last message only. Store names on the page appear only with their owners' consent.

What do you actually pay, and can you try before paying?

Ask for the full price: the plan, the tax, the message fees, and whether there's a free trial.

ATMET Chat on Salla: Plus 49 SAR, Pro 99 SAR and Ultra 249 SAR a month, before the 15% VAT that Salla adds at checkout, and a yearly plan gives you 12 months for the price of 11. Every plan has a 7-day free trial with every feature open, paid through Salla. Details are on the ATMET Chat for Salla page and the pricing page.

What's the bottom line?

Before you install any WhatsApp app on Salla, ask these questions: how does it connect your number, where do campaigns go out from, does it add a markup on Meta's fees, what does it read from your store, where does its AI answer from, what is its support like, what are its real results, and what do you actually pay. An app that answers every question clearly is worth trying.

And if you want to start with ATMET Chat, everything it does for stores is on the ATMET Chat for stores page.