turnda vs Waitwhile
Waitwhile has a free plan and a broad feature surface. Its paid tiers are metered by monthly visits, and SMS is charged per message — so both your plan and your messaging bill move with how busy you are.
30-day free trial · card upfront · cancel anytime · works worldwide
A flat-priced queue for service counters
One product, one price — $44 per location per month with unlimited staff, screens and visitors. A free live tracking link is the primary way customers are called back, with WhatsApp and email as extras. Set it up yourself in minutes.
In their own terms
A flexible waitlist and scheduling platform with a genuinely free tier, priced by how many visits you take each month.
Their published pricing: Free (1 location, up to 50 visits/month), Starter from $31/mo (up to 10 locations, 2,500 visits/mo), Business from $55/mo (5,000 visits/mo), Enterprise custom. SMS is charged per message beyond a $2 trial credit on the lower tiers.
turnda vs Waitwhile
Sourced from Waitwhile's own published pages. Where their page did not state something we leave it blank rather than mark it against them.
| turnda | Waitwhile | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $44 per location / month, flat | Free, then from $31/mo and $55/mo |
| Unlimited visitors | Unlimited visitors, staff and screens | 50 / 2,500 / 5,000 visits per month by tier |
| Call-back with no per-message cost | Tracking link — no per-message cost at any volume | Unlimited chat; SMS charged per message |
| WhatsApp updates | 1,000 msgs/location/mo within a US$5/location ceiling | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Free plan | 30-day trial instead — no free tier | 1 location, up to 50 visits/month |
| Multi-stage journeys | Visitors keep their place across stages | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Max-wait safety net | Configurable max-wait safety net in the serving engine | Not stated on the pricing page |
How we sourced this: every Waitwhile claim above comes from their own published page, read on 14 August 2026. A “?” means their page did not state it — we leave it blank rather than guess. Prices and features change; check their site for the current position.
Where each one is the better answer
No product wins everywhere. If Waitwhile is the right call for you, we would rather you found that out here than after a trial.
Where we win
Busy months do not cost more
Waitwhile's tiers cap monthly visits and SMS is charged per message, so a strong month raises your bill twice. turnda is $44 per location, and the tracking link has no per-customer cost.
Predictable rather than “starts at”
Waitwhile's published prices are starting points. turnda has one price, everywhere in the world.
The free channel is the primary one
turnda is designed around a free tracking link with messaging as an extra, rather than around a paid message with a page attached.
Where Waitwhile may fit better
You serve very few people
If you take under 50 visits a month, Waitwhile's free plan costs nothing and turnda costs $44. That is an honest win for them.
You want SMS
SMS is a first-class channel for them and does not exist in turnda at all.
You need broad integrations or an API
Waitwhile has a much wider integration and scheduling surface than turnda, which is deliberately narrow.
Moving over is mostly reprinting a QR code
Run both for a week — visitors have no account to migrate, so the only change is which QR code is on your counter.
Common questions
Waitwhile has a free plan. Why does turnda not?
A free tier means either a fee per message or a product that gets worse as you grow. turnda charges one honest price and puts a genuinely free call-back channel inside it. There is a 30-day trial so you can test that claim before paying.
Which is cheaper?
Under about 50 visits a month, Waitwhile's free plan. Above that, it depends on your SMS volume — turnda's $44 includes call-back at no per-message cost, which is where per-message pricing usually overtakes it.