Before we start the comparison, I'll explain in the video what a good agency setup looks like at its best.*
We rate every agency across three dimensions:
- Professionalism & Trustworthiness — How do they work? How do they communicate? How transparent are they?
- Track Record & References — What results have they achieved for which brands?
Value for Money — What do you get for your investment?
This results in an overall verdict of up to 5 points.
We deliberately excluded performance agencies with a pure WhatsApp ads focus. That's a different playing field.
We know that agencies like Jakob Strehlow achieve strong results with Click-to-WhatsApp ads. Brands like waterdrop® are successfully experimenting with routing ad traffic directly into WhatsApp channels. But that's a topic of its own — more on it in our WhatsApp Ads guide.
This is what a strong WhatsApp marketing setup looks like: before we dive into the individual agencies, here's the context. Chatarmin's Shopify integration and Klaviyo connection form the technical foundation — the agency builds the strategy and the flows on top of it.
Felix Ehold was one of the first to take WhatsApp marketing seriously in the DACH region. His clients include wholey®, Tierseelen, and holy s*hocolate — all brands we've worked with directly via the Chatarmin Slack Connect channel.
Right now, Felix's focus is shifting back toward his main agency, Ecom Offensive, which scales paid media for e-commerce clients. The retention service continues, but with less capacity than before.
Pricing model: Retainer from roughly €1,500–€2,500 per month plus a percentage-based ROAS share. That's fair as long as you cap the share or set clear attribution rules. Otherwise, costs can run away with success.
Pros
- WhatsApp marketing pioneer with plenty of hands-on experience
- Low fixed costs thanks to the retainer model
- Short lines of communication, hands-on mentality
Cons
- WhatsApp and email are no longer the primary focus
- Variable compensation can get expensive
- Potential conflicts of interest with short-term sales pushes
Our score: 3.5/5
Source: Ecom Retention
Jakob Gerzen and his twelve-person team are among the most established names in DACH retention marketing. The track record reads like a who's who of the D2C scene: Athletic Greens, Rosental, livefresh, SNOCKS.
More Conversions thinks retention across all channels: email, SMS, WhatsApp, direct mail. The technical level is high, and the results speak for themselves. There's nothing to fault about the competence.
But — and this is why they don't rank higher here: this is premium terrain. Pricing sits at the upper end, and a migration to Klaviyo is effectively a prerequisite. For brands below seven-figure annual revenue — the majority of DACH e-commerce — that's hard to justify.
Pros
- Excellent references with well-known D2C brands
- Retention thought through across all channels (email, WhatsApp, SMS, direct mail)
- Proprietary data analytics solution (DataX)
- In-house development for custom solutions
Cons
- Premium pricing, built for seven-figure brands and up
- Migration to Klaviyo effectively required
- Less suitable for smaller or early-stage shops
My take: Strong agency, no question. But if you're not at seven figures yet, the setup and budget are probably overkill for where you stand.
Our score: 3.5/5
Source: Jakob Gerzen
Marco Endres is what you might call a "retention craftsman." He operates as a one-man agency with a small freelancer network — which makes him direct, personal, and sharply focused on Shopify/Klaviyo setups.
His clients include Lotuscrafts and Papasplatz — both seven- to eight-figure shops that Marco manages hands-on. He knows hello-charles and Chatarmin from practical experience and can advise objectively. For products that need explaining and complex setups, he's a good choice.
Pros
- Direct collaboration with the founder, no intermediate layers
- Deep focus on the Shopify/Klaviyo/Omnisend ecosystem
- Experience with email, WhatsApp, direct mail, and reputation management
- Account audits starting at a few hundred euros
Cons
- Very limited capacity
- Waiting list for new clients
- Can't keep pace with rapid growth
Recommendation: Ideal for smaller D2C brands looking for a personal partner. If you want to work with Marco, reach out early.
Our score: 4/5
Source: Onlinegen
Justin Burkert positions deineshopmails.de as a "retention agency" — and lives it, too. The team manages brands like Vaditim and Elevate with a clear focus on sustainable results instead of short-lived hype.
What sets Justin apart: flexibility. Monthly cancellable contracts, no long lock-ins. He thinks from the client's perspective, not from his own revenue.
Pros
- Flexible terms, no lock-in contracts
- Solid track record with seven- to eight-figure D2C brands
- Understands WhatsApp as part of the retention mix, not as a silo
- Objective tool advice without exclusivity deals
Cons
- Few new references in the past year
- Some clients would prefer more formal communication
Our score: 4/5
Source: Justin Burkert
ondevi offers three services: SEO, performance marketing, and retention marketing. Our recommendation refers exclusively to Tobias Pawlik's retention division.
Over the past two years, Tobi has built ondevi (Retention) into one of the leading names in the DACH region. The track record is strong: his clients include Smilodox — a brand that generated €261,000 in revenue with a single WhatsApp campaign via Chatarmin. Add sirplus and other eight-figure D2C brands. The reputation is spotless.
What sets ondevi apart: Tobi works in the accounts himself. No delegating to juniors, no black box. On top of that, fair, tiered pricing and the ability to solve T-Mobile blocking issues for Klaviyo clients — a technical detail many other agencies lack.
Pros
- Excellent references with Smilodox, sirplus, and other eight-figure brands
- Founder works operationally in the accounts himself
- Fair, tiered pricing with no hidden costs
- Top results with email and WhatsApp
- T-Mobile "unblocking" for Klaviyo clients
Cons
- No in-house development for custom solutions
- The agency is split three ways (SEO, performance, retention) — no 100% focus on retention
Our score: 4.5/5
Source: ondevi.de
mailjestic from Frankfurt calls it "retention marketing that performs" — and backs it with a clear logic: your customers' CLTV decides whether you scale profitably despite rising acquisition costs. That's exactly the lever founder duo Morsches & Reul work on.
By its own account, the agency has managed over 100 e-commerce brands and thinks retention beyond email: WhatsApp marketing and direct mail are as much a part of the offering as zero-party data strategies — the ingredient that makes personalization actually work. Their client cases show numbers like +130% email revenue (food brand) and +200% (health brand) — with average open rates above 50% thanks to consistent deliverability work.
What sets mailjestic apart: testing discipline. A/B tests, documented learnings, continuous optimization — the basics many brands struggle with in day-to-day operations. Plus, you talk directly to the founders here, not to an account manager.
Pros
- Founder-led: direct communication, no delegating to junior staff
- Thinks retention broadly: email, WhatsApp, direct mail, and zero-party data
- Concrete case results: +130% and +200% email revenue, open rates above 50%
- Free account analysis in the first call
Cons
- Boutique setup: with very rapid growth, capacity can become a topic
- Client cases anonymized so far — you'll get specific references in the first call
Recommendation: If you're looking for a direct, data-driven partner who thinks retention beyond email, mailjestic belongs on your shortlist.
Our score: 4.5/5
Source: mailjestic
Florian Kaiser is a programmer. You can tell. Inbox-Marketing delivers technical solutions other agencies can't pull off — hyper-personalization, AI segmentation, deep Klaviyo integrations.
Even I was impressed in the first call with his team. So was Saskia Dörr (Head of CRM at Oatsome) after Florian and his team around Lasse and Joel gave her an introduction.
By its own account, Inbox-Marketing manages around ten brands in WhatsApp marketing, including bedrop and RIBEME. Thanks to experience with various WhatsApp marketing tools — from hello-charles and Zoko to Chatarmin — they advise objectively.
Pros
- Technological top class with custom solutions
- Strong references with bedrop (€163,983 in 4 days), wowtamins, mellowNOIR
- Deep Klaviyo integration for advanced segmentation
- Experience with multiple WhatsApp tools, objective advice
Cons
- Premium pricing, better suited to established brands
- Percentage-based revenue share can get expensive
- Florian himself is no longer operationally involved in every account
Our score: 4.5/5
Source: Florian Kaiser
Invisible Brands calls itself "the #1 for retention in the DACH region." A bold claim — but there's real substance behind it: the 18-person team around Maurice Prüßner and Simon Ghebremicael has, by its own account, generated over €300 million in revenue for more than 100 brands.
The track record speaks for itself: T1TAN, Olakala, Petromax, Blume Ideal, and GotYu — email setups across more than 10 countries. On top of that, they claim a proprietary reporting software ("Invisible Data") that delivers clients automated weekly performance reports — instead of manually assembled screenshots.
WhatsApp is the younger discipline at Invisible Brands — the clear focus is on email marketing. On the WhatsApp side, the agency is one of our Chatarmin partners. Why #2 anyway? Because a strong email and retention foundation is half the battle for successful WhatsApp marketing — and that's exactly what Invisible brings. You'll (still) find fewer pure WhatsApp case studies here than at ondevi or Inbox-Marketing.
Pros
- 18-person team with a clear retention focus — no capacity bottlenecks like with one-man agencies
- Over €300 million in generated client revenue (by their own account), references like T1TAN, Olakala, and Petromax
- Proprietary reporting software ("Invisible Data") for weekly performance reports
- Individual design and copywriting instead of a template kit
- Chatarmin partner on the WhatsApp side
Cons
- Email-first DNA: WhatsApp is the younger discipline in the portfolio
- Confident marketing — have them back up their promises with concrete numbers in the audit
Recommendation: If you want a well-oiled team instead of a solo operator, and email plus WhatsApp from a single source, Invisible Brands belongs on your shortlist.
Our score: 4.5/5
Source: Invisible Brands
Full transparency first: amail specializes in our tool. So yes, we're biased here. They still rank #1 for a clear reason — and we'll explain it.
Anton Mörike and Noah Rietdorf founded the amail agency in August 2025. That doesn't make them rookies: they helped build the WhatsApp service line at several German agencies and bring years of CRM experience — with brands like Sheko and Rosental.
What makes amail special: Anton is one of the first Chatarmin-certified "Master Experts." That's not a marketing title — it stands for deep product know-how and the tight interlinking of email (Klaviyo) and WhatsApp (Chatarmin) via webhooks — the "amail system." Exactly this interlinking decides whether WhatsApp generates revenue for you or just costs.
What that means for you: if you use Chatarmin or plan to, nobody knows the system better. The founders work in the accounts themselves — no delegating to junior staff.
Pros
- One of the first certified "Chatarmin Master Experts"
- Strong references like Sheko and Rosental with measurable results
- Founders work in the accounts themselves
- Deep interlinking of email and WhatsApp marketing (webhook setups)
- Flexible scope of services, from consulting to done-for-you
Cons
- Focus on Klaviyo and Chatarmin — if you run a different tool, this isn't the place for you
- Recently founded (2025): a growing client base, but not yet the breadth of the established players
Recommendation: If you use Chatarmin as your tool — or plan to — and want a partner who knows the system inside out, amail is the first choice.
Our score: 4.5/5
Source: amail agency
Beyond the big DACH agencies, there are local players that are the better choice for specific use cases.
For companies in Austria, agencies like Rittler & Co (Graz) or BüroJETZT (Vienna) can be interesting. They know the local market conditions, often have shorter paths to regional decision-makers, and understand the nuances of the Austrian market.
For Switzerland, this applies even more: the Swiss Data Protection Act (FADP) has its own requirements that go beyond the GDPR. If you primarily target Swiss customers, you'll benefit from a partner who knows these regulations inside out.
We have no direct project experience with these local agencies. But we can confirm that local expertise brings real advantages on compliance questions and market knowledge. If you're active in AT or CH, a conversation is worth it.
We can recommend all 9 agencies — the differences lie in the details, the budget, and the use case. In short: if you use Chatarmin, there's no way around amail. If you're looking for a well-oiled team with a retention focus, Invisible Brands and mailjestic are strong picks. If you want neutral advice on tool selection, ondevi, Inbox-Marketing, or deineshopmails are strong. If you're looking for a personal partner for a smaller shop, Onlinegen is a good address.
Want to see how Chatarmin works as a tool? Book a demo and we'll show you how to take WhatsApp marketing to the next level with the right agency.
Depends on your use case. If you use Chatarmin, amail (certified Chatarmin Master Expert) is the most obvious choice; you'll find a well-oiled retention team at Invisible Brands or mailjestic; for tool-neutral advice, ondevi and Inbox-Marketing are strong.
Yes. With open rates of often 80–90% compared to 20–30% for email, and significantly higher click rates, WhatsApp remains one of the strongest retention channels in e-commerce.
It depends. Entry-level retainers often start at around €1,500 per month, while performance models and enterprise agencies with revenue share sit significantly higher.
It depends. The private WhatsApp Business app is risky; via the WhatsApp Business API and a provider like Chatarmin, WhatsApp marketing can be implemented in a GDPR-compliant way — with servers in the EU, a DPA, and legally compliant opt-ins.
A classic chatbot follows rigid rules. An AI sales agent understands context thanks to generative AI, actively recommends products, and advises customers individually all the way to checkout.
Yes. Tools like Chatarmin offer native integrations with Shopify and Klaviyo to sync customer data and trigger automations like abandoned checkout flows.
Yes. Since Meta's pricing change, service replies within the 24-hour window (initiated by the customer) are generally free.
What are "Free Entry Points" on WhatsApp?
When a customer starts a chat via a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook page button, a 72-hour window opens in which all messages are free for you.
Yes. For the WhatsApp Business API (e.g., via Chatarmin), you need a dedicated phone number that isn't linked to a private WhatsApp account.
The green tick verifies your company, builds trust with customers, and lowers the risk of being flagged as spam.
A good agency knows the technical pitfalls of the API, optimizes costs through intelligent routing (waterfall strategy), and builds high-converting campaign flows.
