All-in-one customer engagement platform built for mobile-first growth
CleverTap is the dominant customer engagement platform for Indian mobile-first products. Built in Mumbai, used by HDFC Bank, Groww, PhonePe, Swiggy, and hundreds of other Indian apps — it combines push notifications, in-app messaging, email, SMS, WhatsApp, and behavioral analytics in one platform. The depth of segmentation and journey orchestration is genuinely enterprise-grade. If you're running a fintech or consumer app with 100K+ MAUs and need more than basic push notifications, CleverTap is the standard. It is not cheap — but for Series A+ teams it typically pays for itself through improved retention within 90 days.
CleverTap is a customer lifecycle and engagement platform that lets product and growth teams segment users based on behavior and send targeted communications across every channel — push notifications, in-app messages, email, SMS, WhatsApp, web push, and native display. Unlike pure messaging tools, CleverTap includes a robust analytics layer: you can segment users, build behavior-triggered journeys, run A/B tests on messages, and measure downstream impact on revenue and retention — all in one platform.
Founded in 2013 in Mumbai by Sunil Thomas and Anand Jain, CleverTap processes over 100 billion events per month and serves 2,000+ global customers. The platform was purpose-built for mobile-first markets, which makes it particularly well-suited for Indian apps dealing with high volume, low bandwidth, diverse device segments (Android-heavy), and complex vernacular user journeys.
Quick facts: Founded 2013 · HQ: Mumbai + San Jose · 800+ Indian customers · 100B+ events/month · Channels: Push, In-App, Email, SMS, WhatsApp, Web Push · INR billing available · GDPR + RBI compliant · Data residency in India option
Build multi-step automated journeys triggered by user behavior. When a user drops at KYC step 2, trigger push → wait 1hr → in-app → wait 24hr → WhatsApp. Drag-and-drop builder, no code required.
Automatically segments users into Champions, Loyal, At-Risk, and Churned buckets using Recency, Frequency, Monetary analysis. Clever.AI predicts who will churn before they do.
Push, in-app, email, SMS, WhatsApp Business API, web push — all from one platform with frequency caps and channel preferences. Critical for Indian apps managing notification fatigue.
Test message copy, send times, channels, and targeting simultaneously. Statistical significance auto-calculated. Winners can be auto-promoted without data team involvement.
Unlike Braze which is messaging-only, CleverTap includes funnels, retention, cohort analysis, and user profiles. Understand behavior and act on it in one platform without Mixpanel.
Persistent in-app inbox — messages stay until read or dismissed. Critical for transactional notifications (KYC updates, payment receipts) that can't be missed like a swipeable push.
CleverTap pricing is custom — based on MAUs and channels. No public pricing page. INR invoicing available through their Indian entity, simplifying GST handling.
The most common CleverTap failure: teams integrate the SDK, send broadcast pushes, see no results, and give up. Here's the right order.
SDK available for Android, iOS, React Native, Flutter, Web. Before integration, define your top 20 events with consistent naming: kyc_started, kyc_step_1_completed, first_investment_made. Poor event naming makes segmentation impossible later.
Push user properties at login: kyc_status, account_type, city, acquisition_source. For fintech: also send first_transaction_date, portfolio_value_bucket, risk_profile. These power every segment you'll ever create.
Create: User completes signup → Wait 24 hrs → If NOT completed KYC → Push "Complete KYC to start investing" → Wait 2 days → If still not → WhatsApp with KYC link. This one journey typically improves activation by 15–25%.
Set global caps: max 2 push notifications per user per day, max 1 WhatsApp per week unless transactional. DND hours: 10pm–8am for marketing. This improves CTR and prevents users turning off notifications entirely.
Enable RFM segmentation to find "At Risk" users. Target "users active 30 days ago but no app open in 15 days" with a "We miss you + ₹50 cashback" message. This one campaign will immediately prove CleverTap's segmentation power.
The right alternative depends on stage, budget, and channel needs.
Indian competitor with strong AI-powered send-time optimization and more transparent pricing.
Choose when: Series A, budget-conscious, want AI-driven messaging without complex setupStrong Indian player — particularly good for e-commerce and D2C brands. Good funnel analytics.
Choose when: D2C / e-commerce, web-heavy traffic, need journey + email in one toolUS-headquartered enterprise engagement platform — more powerful but significantly more expensive.
Choose when: Series C+, global expansion, need US enterprise compliance certifications