Which channel really earns more: WhatsApp, SMS or email?

What ROI means for a message campaign

Return on investment, or ROI, answers a simple question: for every rupee, dollar or pound I spend on this campaign, how much do I get back after the cost? A campaign with a 100% return has paid for itself and made the same amount again. A campaign with a return below zero has lost money.

People use the word loosely, so it helps to separate the numbers that sit close together. This calculator shows four of them, and each says something different.

How the calculator reaches its answer

There is no hidden model here and no data about other businesses. Each channel follows the same short chain of steps, using only the numbers you enter. You can check every line with a pencil.

1. Messages sent = people in each campaign × campaigns a month.
2. Delivered = messages sent × the share that are delivered.
3. Responses = delivered × the share that click or reply.
4. Orders = responses × the share of responders who buy.
5. Revenue = orders × your average order value.
6. Profit before messaging cost = revenue × your profit margin.
7. Messaging cost = price per message × messages (sent or delivered, as you choose) + any fixed monthly cost.
8. Net profit = profit before messaging cost − messaging cost.
9. Return on cost = net profit ÷ messaging cost.

The same people, the same offer and the same order value go through all three channels. Only the price, the delivery rate, the response rate and the buying rate differ. That is deliberate. If you changed the offer between channels, you could not tell whether the channel or the offer made the difference.

Why a response can be a click or a reply

On email and SMS, a response is usually a click on a link. On WhatsApp it can be a tap on a button, a click on a link, or a reply. The calculator treats all of them as one step so that the three channels can sit in the same table. Use whichever action leads to a sale in your own business.

A worked example, step by step

Take the online store example that loads when you open the page. A shop messages 5,000 past buyers four times a month. The average order is ₹1,500 and 30% of that is profit. These figures are examples chosen to show the method, not results you should expect.

Read the last two rows together. Email returns the most for every rupee spent, at 249%, because it costs so little to send. WhatsApp leaves the shop with by far the most profit, ₹17,860 against ₹2,492, because far more people respond and buy. Neither answer is wrong. They answer different questions, and the next section explains why that matters.

Highest return or highest profit?

It is easy to chase the channel with the highest percentage and miss the one that earns the most money. A small, cheap channel can show a spectacular return because the cost underneath it is tiny. A larger channel can show a more modest percentage while delivering many times the profit.

The calculator shows both and tells you plainly when they point in different directions. Which one to follow depends on what limits your business.

In practice the best answer is often a mix. A cheap channel handles the broad, regular messages, and a more engaging one handles the offers where a quick reply turns into a sale. The calculator is a way to see where that line sits for your business.

Where to find your own numbers

The calculator is only as good as what you put in. Most of the numbers are already in tools you use. If you do not have a number yet, make a careful estimate and say so to yourself, then replace it once you have real results.

If you have never run a campaign on one of the channels, leave its numbers as examples, and treat the answer as a question to test rather than a forecast. A small first campaign gives you real figures to replace them with.

How WhatsApp campaigns are priced

WhatsApp Business messages that you start, such as offers and reminders, are sent as approved templates. Meta, the company that runs WhatsApp, charges for these template messages, and it currently does so for each message delivered. The price depends on the category of the template and on the country of the person receiving it.

Charged on delivery, not on sending

Because WhatsApp bills for messages that are delivered, a message to a number that cannot receive it does not cost you. That is why the calculator lets you choose whether each channel charges on messages sent or on messages delivered. SMS and email providers usually bill for what you send.

Fees from your provider

Most businesses reach WhatsApp through a provider that connects them to the official WhatsApp Business API. Some providers charge a monthly fee, some add a small amount to each message, and some do both. Put a monthly fee in the fixed cost box, and add any per-message charge to the price.

What SMS and email really cost

The price on an SMS provider’s home page is rarely the whole cost. Depending on your country there may be sender registration, message template approval, different prices for promotional and transactional routes, and a minimum top-up. Spread those over the messages you send, and use the real figure.

Email is usually priced as a monthly plan, based on how many contacts you hold or how many emails you send. Divide the monthly price by the number of emails you actually send to get a cost per email, or put the plan in the fixed cost box and leave the per-email price low. Either approach gives the same answer, as long as you do not count the plan twice.

• Count what you pay for in total. Subscriptions, registration fees and top-ups all belong in the cost.
• Do not forget time. Designing an email or an image takes hours that a short text message does not. The calculator leaves this out, so remember it when the results are close.
• Check the delivery rate. Messages that land in spam folders or are blocked by an operator do not reach anyone, however cheap they were to send.

Break-even: the number to beat

The last row of the results table is the break-even conversion. It is the share of people who respond that must go on to buy before the channel covers its own cost. Below that rate the channel loses money. Above it, every extra sale is profit.

In the store example, WhatsApp needs about 2.4% of responders to buy to cover its costs. The example assumes 5%, so it clears the line comfortably. Email needs only about 0.6%, because it costs so little. SMS needs about 2.5% and assumes 3%, a thin margin that a small drop would erase.

That is the real use of the number. Ask yourself honestly whether your own buying rate is likely to be above it. If it sits close to break-even, a small change in price or response can turn a profit into a loss, and the channel needs watching. If it is far above, you have room to test, to offer a discount, or to spend more on getting responses.

How to raise your return

Once you can see the chain of steps, you can see where to push. Each step multiplies the next, so a small gain early in the chain carries all the way to the profit.

• Message people who want to hear from you. A smaller list of opted-in contacts who respond beats a larger list of people who ignore or block you. It is also what WhatsApp expects.
• Segment your list. An offer sent to the people who bought a similar thing before will do better than the same offer sent to everyone.
• Write for the response you want. A clear first line and one obvious button raise the share who respond. See how templates are approved in the message template generator.
• Make replying easy. Put a click-to-chat link or a QR code wherever a customer might want to start a conversation.
• Answer quickly. A reply that arrives in minutes closes sales that a reply the next day loses. This lifts the share of responders who buy.
• Send at a sensible time. Avoid late nights, and test mornings against evenings with your own audience.
• Raise the order value. Bundles and minimum-order offers lift revenue for the same messaging cost.
• Follow up once. A short reminder to people who did not respond often adds orders at little extra cost.
• Trim what does not earn. If a channel sits below break-even after a fair test, send less on it or stop.

Change one thing at a time. If you change the offer, the audience and the wording together, you will not know which one made the difference.

What each channel is good at

The three channels are not rivals so much as tools. Each suits certain messages, and the numbers in the calculator will show where each one earns its place in your mix.

Which one wins in the calculator depends entirely on your prices and your results. A channel that is strong for one business can be weak for another, so test with your own audience instead of relying on a general rule.

Common mistakes when working out ROI

• Using revenue as profit. Always take off your margin. A 1,00,000 sale at 30% margin is 30,000 of profit, before costs.
• Giving the campaign credit for every sale. Some of those buyers would have bought anyway. A small group you do not message, kept aside as a comparison, shows how many.
• Leaving out fixed costs. Subscriptions and number rentals count, even in a month when you send little.
• Mixing up margin and markup. A product bought for 70 and sold for 100 has a 30% margin, but a 43% markup.
• Judging on one campaign. A single send is noisy. Average a few before you decide.
• Comparing different offers. If WhatsApp got a discount and email did not, the channel is not the only difference.
• Ignoring repeat value. A first order from a new customer may lead to more. The calculator counts one order only, so it can understate channels that bring loyal customers.
• Forgetting that numbers change. Rates move with season, offer and list age. Re-run the calculator every few months.

Tracking results channel by channel

To feed real numbers into the calculator you need to know which orders came from which channel. A few simple habits are enough.

1. Give each channel its own link. Add a source tag to the web address in each message, so your analytics can separate WhatsApp, SMS and email visitors.
2. Use a code per channel. A coupon such as WA10, SMS10 or MAIL10 shows in your orders. People who enter it have told you where they came from.
3. Count replies as orders when they lead to one. For conversational sales, note which chats ended in a sale. A shared inbox with tags makes this easy.
4. Keep a holdout group. Leave a small random share of your list out of a campaign. Compare their buying with the group you messaged.
5. Write it down each month. A simple sheet with the inputs from this calculator and the real results shows how your numbers move.

After one or two months you will have your own delivery, response and buying rates, and the calculator stops being an estimate and becomes a plan.

What a calculator cannot tell you

A tool like this makes your assumptions visible. It does not make them true. Be aware of what it leaves out.

• It assumes every channel reaches the same people. In real life the people who read email and the people who open WhatsApp overlap, but are not identical.
• It does not model opt-outs or complaints. Messaging people too often has a cost that does not appear in the table.
• It does not include your time. Setup, design and replying are real work.
• It counts one month. Customers who come back later add value that the first order does not show.
• It cannot see your market. Prices, rules and habits differ by country and industry.

Use the result to decide what to test next, not to promise anyone a figure. When you have real campaign results, they will always be a better guide than any calculator.