WhatsApp inbox roles and permissions compared: who can see and do what
How WhatsApp inbox tools state their roles and permissions: Gallabox member and admin, Wassenger on Enterprise, WavesFlo five roles plus per-number access.
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- By WavesFlo team
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- Published
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- 2 min read
Roles and permissions are described in very different depth. WavesFlo states five roles enforced on the server plus access set number by number. Periskope states role-based permissions, DoubleTick hierarchical team management with role-based access, Gallabox member, admin and owner on Basic with custom roles on Advanced, and Wassenger fine-grained permissions on Enterprise only. Others do not describe it on their pricing pages. Read as of 27 October 2026.
What does each tool state?
| Tool | What its pages state | From which plan |
|---|---|---|
| WavesFlo | Five roles (Admin, Manager, Team leader, Agent, Viewer) enforced on the server; each number open to everyone or to named teams or people, to view or to operate | Included |
| DoubleTick | Hierarchical team management with role-based access | Not stated |
| Periskope | Role-based permissions, number masking, audit logs | Not tied to a plan |
| Gallabox | Member, admin and owner on Basic; custom roles on Advanced | Custom roles on Advanced |
| Wassenger | Fine-grained permissions | Enterprise |
| WATI | Operators and admins; operators see only the groups they are added to | Business, for groups |
| TimelinesAI | Custom roles are coming soon on Enterprise | Not yet |
| respond.io, Interakt, AiSensy, ChatDaddy | Team inboxes or agent roles mentioned; granularity not stated | Not stated |
What should a permission model cover?
- Which chats a person can see: all, their team's, or only those assigned to them.
- Which numbers they can reach, and at what level: view or operate.
- Who can hand a chat on, assign, export, change settings or connect a CRM.
- Who can read but never reply: a quality or compliance role.
- Whether the rules are enforced by the server or only by what the screen shows.
What should you ask before you commit?
- Show me an Agent's view and a Team leader's view of the same number.
- Can a number be limited to named teams, and can I restrict a person to one number?
- Who can export contacts and chats?
- Is there an audit trail of role and access changes?
- What happens to a leaver's chats?
Where does WavesFlo fit?
In WavesFlo, Admins and Managers reach every conversation, a Team leader their own and their team's, an Agent only what is assigned to them, and a Viewer reads without replying, while the audit trail records each change to roles, members, teams and number access. Number by number, the shared inbox can be opened to everyone or kept to named teams and people.
Questions
Which WhatsApp inbox has the most detailed permissions?
WavesFlo states five server-enforced roles plus per-number access. Wassenger lists fine-grained permissions on Enterprise and Gallabox custom roles on Advanced.
Can I limit a person to one WhatsApp number?
In WavesFlo, yes: each number is open to everyone or to named teams or people. Check the same in any other tool.
What is a Viewer role?
A role that reads conversations and changes nothing, used for quality and compliance review.
Do all tools keep an audit trail?
Periskope lists audit logs and WavesFlo records who changed roles, members, teams and access. Other pages we read did not mention one.