Both self-hosted, both on your own number, both with no per-message fees. The question is how much of the stack you want to build and operate yourself.
Evolution API is an open-source, Apache-2.0 WhatsApp API built on Baileys, and the most widely used self-hosted option — it also speaks Meta’s Cloud API, and ships native integrations for n8n, Chatwoot, Typebot, Dify, RabbitMQ, Kafka and S3/MinIO. Running it means Node.js 20+, PostgreSQL or MySQL and (recommended) Redis, which you host, secure, scale and update yourself. It does not ship an anti-ban pacing engine, a GUI, message storage with search, or a scheduling queue — those are yours to build. SocialMate is in the same self-hosted, no-per-message-fee category and deploys the same way (a Docker image or a Linux VPS with a web admin console), but the pacing engine, smart queue, local archive with full-text search, admin GUI, automatic updates and support are already in the box — and the same app also runs on your desktop with no server at all. Evolution API costs nothing but your server and your time; SocialMate costs $10/mo or $99/yr and gives you back the time.
Evolution API is the default answer in most self-hosted WhatsApp tutorials, and deservedly so. It is genuinely open-source (Apache 2.0), actively maintained by the Evolution Foundation, and unusually well connected — native integrations for n8n, Chatwoot, Typebot, Dify and OpenAI, event streaming to RabbitMQ, Kafka, SQS, NATS and Pusher, and media to S3 or MinIO. If you want to own the whole stack and wire it into your own infrastructure, it is an excellent choice and this page will not pretend otherwise.
What it does not do is take care of you. Its own requirements are Node.js 20+, PostgreSQL or MySQL, and Redis for caching. That is three services to run, back up, secure and upgrade before you have sent a message. There is no anti-ban pacing layer — no warm-up schedule, no per-number rate ceiling, no risk score, no quiet hours — so if you point a workflow at it and it sends faster than a person would, nothing in the system will stop you. There is no interface either: no inbox, no message archive you can search, no scheduling queue, no way for a non-developer on your team to see what happened.
SocialMate is not the open-source option, and that is the honest trade. It is a maintained commercial product on a flat license. What you get for it is the layer Evolution deliberately leaves to you: a 6-phase warm-up, per-number minute/hour/day caps, live risk scoring with automatic cooling, human-like typing and jitter, night-mode quiet hours, and per-account device-fingerprint isolation — plus a GUI, a local message archive with full-text search, a smart queue with scheduling and retry, and someone to email when it breaks. It deploys the same ways Evolution does, and one more: your own desktop, with no server at all.
| Feature | SocialMate This is us | Evolution API |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted — desktop (your residential IP) or Docker/VPS | Self-hosted — Docker or Node 20+ |
| Per-message fees | None — flat license | None — open-source (Apache 2.0) |
| Meta approval | Not required | Not required (Baileys mode) |
| Your own number | Yes — link by QR | Yes — link by QR |
| Anti-ban engine | Built-in: warm-up, rate caps, risk scoring · sends from your residential IP (VPS via proxy) | None built-in — you build pacing |
| Data ownership | 100% local (AES-256 sessions) | Your server |
| Message history | Unlimited — stored locally, forever (Pro) | You store (PostgreSQL/MySQL) |
| Media archive | Local archive + thumbnails | Local or S3/MinIO — you wire it |
| Full-text search | Yes — full-text, FTS5 (Pro) | You build it |
| Queue & scheduling | Smart queue: schedule, batch, retry (Pro) | You build it |
| WhatsApp accounts | Unlimited (Pro) | Multi-instance (you scale) |
| Local HTTP API | Yes — local REST + x-api-key | Yes — REST + webhooks |
| Webhooks | 35 events (9 free), HMAC-signed | Yes |
| Stable public URL | Cloudflare named tunnel (Pro) | You configure (reverse proxy) |
| General-purpose AI assistants | Allowed — not the Business Platform; your agent, your number, your machine | n/a in Baileys mode — not the Business Platform |
| In-window / service replies | No per-message meter at all | No per-message meter in Baileys mode |
| Best for | Solo & small-team automation | Developers who want to own the whole stack |
| Starting price | $10/mo or $99/yr | Free + your server (~$5–10/mo) |
SocialMate automates the WhatsApp app on your own machine. It is not the official WhatsApp Business API and is not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta. Provider pricing and terms change — verify current figures with each provider.
Competitor details last checked at source on August 2, 2026.
Evolution API Free, open-source and by far the most widely deployed — native n8n, Chatwoot, Typebot and Dify integrations, event streaming to Kafka/RabbitMQ/SQS, and it speaks Meta’s Cloud API too if you ever need the official route.
Note Requires Node.js 20+, PostgreSQL or MySQL and Redis, all of which you host, secure and update. No anti-ban engine, GUI, searchable archive or scheduling queue.
Choose Evolution API if you are a developer, you want the code to be open, and building your own pacing, storage and interface is work you actually want to do — it is free, it is well integrated, and you will own every part of it. Choose SocialMate if what you want is the outcome rather than the stack: the same self-hosted route and the same absence of per-message fees, with the anti-ban engine, archive, search, queue, GUI, updates and support already built, on a flat $10/mo or $99/yr license. Both automate a real WhatsApp number over the unofficial Web protocol, so both carry ban risk — the difference is whether anything in the system is actively working to reduce it.
Download SocialMate free for Windows, macOS or Linux — or deploy the server on Docker or a VPS. No card, no Meta approval, no per-message fees.