Sonar vs Gallabox

Both send WhatsApp messages through Meta's official API. Here is what each costs a South African business, from Gallabox's published prices and Meta's 1 October 2026 rate card.

Prices checked 17 October 2026. Dollar prices converted at today's rate of R16.43 to the dollar*.

At a glance

Sonar and Gallabox at a glance
	Sonar	Gallabox
Cheapest plan that sends broadcasts	Starter, R349 a month	Basic (billed quarterly), $150 a month (≈ R2,465*)
Billed in	Rand	US dollars
Added to Meta's rate per marketing message	Nothing within your plan's messages	≈ R0.09*
Added per update or login-code message	Nothing within your plan's messages	≈ R0.02*
Added per reply after the free 1,000	Nothing within your plan's messages	≈ R0.02*
Team members included	Unlimited	3 users on Basic (a hard cap)
Discount for paying yearly	None	About 25% off when billed yearly
Free option	Free trial: 50 contacts and 250 messages, with replies you type free	Free trial, no card needed
Billing	Monthly, no lock-in	Quarterly or yearly only
Broadcast limit	Your plan's messages: 10,000 a month on Starter	10,000 broadcast contacts a month on Basic
Extra WhatsApp number	R499 a month	$20 a month, Essential plan and up

Meta's own per-message charge is the same on both, and is not included above. In South Africa it is about R0.62 per marketing message and R0.16 per update or login-code message. See WhatsApp pricing in South Africa.

What a month costs

Each total is the cheapest plan that covers the month on each platform, plus Meta's charges, for messages to South African numbers. Gallabox bills quarterly or yearly, so its totals are the monthly price on quarterly billing.

What a month costs on Sonar and Gallabox
Example month	Meta's charges	Sonar total	Gallabox total
Small club or shop1,000 marketing and 200 update messages to 500 people	R654	R1,003Starter	≈ R3,217*Basic (billed quarterly)
Growing retailer4,000 marketing and 1,000 update messages to 2,000 people	R2,647	R2,996Starter	≈ R5,510*Basic (billed quarterly)
Busy online store10,000 marketing and 3,000 update messages to 5,000 people	R6,697	R8,196Plus	≈ R10,168*Basic (billed quarterly)
High volume20,000 marketing and 5,000 update messages to 10,000 people	R13,237	R14,736Plus	≈ R20,666*Essential (billed quarterly)

Sonar costs less in all 4 examples.

Sonar's Starter plan covers up to 10,000 messages a month; above that you need Plus at R1,499 a month.

Where Gallabox is the better choice

AI agents across WhatsApp, Instagram and web chat on the Essential plan and up.
AI voice agents for WhatsApp and phone calls on the Advanced plan.
Two-way CRM integrations, including HubSpot, Zoho and Salesforce.

Where Sonar is the better choice

Sonar's plan is billed in rand, so that part of your bill doesn't move with the dollar.
Unlimited team members on every plan.
POPIA consent tools on every plan: opt-in and opt-out keywords are handled for you, each contact has a consent record, and messages to anyone without consent are blocked.
Scheduled broadcasts, templates and the team inbox from R349 a month.

Switching from Gallabox? We'll move your contacts and templates to Sonar for you, free. How switching works

Start your free trial Work out your monthly cost

More comparisons

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Sources

* Gallabox's prices are in US dollars, so rand figures are estimates at today's exchange rate. Paying for a year up front lowers Gallabox's plan prices (about 25% off when billed yearly); both sides here use monthly billing. Prices change, so check Gallabox's own pricing page before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Email support@whats-hub.co.za and we'll fix it.