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WhatsApp for business

WhatsApp chatbot for business

A WhatsApp chatbot runs on the WhatsApp Business Platform, not in the Business app. You build it in a chatbot platform's visual editor, connect your number, and pay the platform plus Meta's per-message fees.

Published by Airtime Media ยท facts checked

How a WhatsApp chatbot works

Your business number is connected to the Business Platform. When a customer writes, WhatsApp passes the message to your chatbot platform, the bot decides on an answer, and the platform sends it back through WhatsApp. To the customer it is an ordinary chat with your business name, with buttons and lists where you use them.

Because the customer wrote first, the bot answers inside the 24-hour customer service window with ordinary messages. From 1 October 2026 Meta gives each phone number 1,000 of those a month free and charges the utility rate after that; a busy bot will pass that number. Templates, for example a reminder the next day, are always charged.

Rule-based or AI?

Rule-based flowAI agent
How it answersFollows a tree you drew: buttons, keywords, conditionsUnderstands free text and answers from your documents, site and catalog
Best forBookings, order status, lead qualification, menusWide-ranging product and support questions
RiskDead ends when the customer goes off scriptConfident wrong answers unless limited to your content
CostIncluded in most plansOften an add-on or charged per AI reply

Most businesses end up with both: a flow for the predictable 80%, an AI step for open questions, and a person behind it.

What Meta allows

  • Bots for your own customers are fine: support, sales, bookings, notifications.
  • General-purpose AI assistants are not. Since 15 January 2026 the Business Platform terms bar AI providers from offering an assistant over WhatsApp when the AI is the main thing on offer rather than a help to a business's own service. The terms, revised on 23 September 2026, make an exception only for certain countries, which Meta lists in its developer documentation. Using an AI vendor to answer your own customers is explicitly allowed.
  • Offer a way out. WhatsApp's policy expects a clear path to a human agent or another support channel.
  • Opt-in and templates still apply to anything the bot sends first. See the marketing rules.

What it costs

  1. The platform: from a free tier to a few hundred dollars a month, depending on contacts, agents and AI usage. Prices are in the cards below.

  2. Meta's message fees: templates the bot sends outside the 24-hour window, and from 1 October 2026 also replies beyond the 1,000 free ones a month. Rates are on the API pricing section.

  3. AI usage: many platforms charge AI replies separately. Meta's own Business Agent is billed per token, which Meta estimates at about 4 to 5 US cents per message.

  4. Markups: some platforms add their own fee per message or per conversation on top of Meta's. It is the line to look for on a pricing page.

Build a first bot in a day

  1. List the ten questions customers ask most. That list is the bot's scope; resist adding more.

  2. Pick a platform with a free trial and connect a number. Use a new number for testing if your main one is busy in the Business app.

  3. Build a welcome menu with three or four buttons, one flow per button, and an "agent" option in every flow.

  4. Add your opening hours: outside them, the bot collects the question and promises a reply time.

  5. Test from a private phone, read the transcripts after the first week, and fix the places where people got stuck.

A click-to-chat link with a pre-filled message on your website is the simplest way to send customers into the bot.

Platforms for building a WhatsApp chatbot

  • respond.ioA shared team inbox with CRM-style contact records
    Starter $79 a month, billed yearly; 5 users includedFree trial: 7 days, no credit card
    Start 7-day trialDetails
  • WATISmall teams that want inbox, broadcasts and a bot in one WhatsApp-first tool
    Growth $59 a month billed annually, or $69 monthly; 3 users includedFree trial: 7 days
    Start 7-day trialDetails
  • ManyChatChatbots and marketing flows across WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
    Pro $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly; up to 2,500 active contactsFree trial: 14 days on Pro
    Start 14-day Pro trialDetails
  • ChatfuelA first WhatsApp chatbot without a developer
    Business US$18 a month, billed yearly (US$216 a year); the pricing page marks yearly billing as 10% below monthlyFree trial: On every plan, no credit card
    Start free trialDetails
  • AiSensyLow-cost broadcasts, especially for businesses messaging India
    Basic $45 a month; owner plus 5 agents includedFree trial: 14 days, and a free plan without broadcasts
    Start 14-day trialDetails

All platforms side by side: Best WhatsApp Business software.

What changed, and when

  1. Replies inside the 24-hour window stop being free without limit

    Meta starts charging service messages at the utility rate, after a free allowance of 1,000 per phone number per month. Utility templates sent inside an open window are charged from the same day. Source

  2. The Business Platform terms are revised and renamed

    The WhatsApp Business Solution Terms become the Meta Terms for WhatsApp Business Platform. The ban on general-purpose AI assistants stays, but its exception no longer names the European Economic Area and Brazil: it now applies in certain countries that Meta lists in its developer documentation. Source

  3. Meta's own Business Agent is billed per token

    Meta's AI agent for businesses on the Platform is charged at $2.00 per million tokens, which Meta estimates at about 4 to 5 US cents per message. Source

  4. General-purpose AI assistants are barred from the Business Platform

    The Business Solution Terms exclude AI providers whose assistant is the product itself, with an exception for users with EEA or Brazilian numbers. Bots that serve a business's own customers remain allowed. Source

Every dated change we track: What's new in WhatsApp Web.

Questions people ask

Can I add a chatbot to the normal WhatsApp Business app?

No. The Business app only has greeting and away messages. A chatbot needs the WhatsApp Business Platform (API), which you reach through a chatbot or inbox platform.

Is a WhatsApp chatbot free?

Building one can be: several platforms have a free plan or trial. Running one has two costs: the platform subscription, and Meta's per-message fees. A bot that only replies to customers who wrote first sends service messages: free until the end of September 2026, and from 1 October 2026 free for the first 1,000 a month per number, then charged at the utility rate.

Are AI chatbots allowed on WhatsApp?

Yes, when the bot serves your own business: answering customer questions, taking bookings, tracking orders. Since 15 January 2026 Meta does not allow general-purpose AI assistants, where the AI itself is the product, on the Business Platform.

Do I need to code to build a WhatsApp chatbot?

No. The platforms below have visual flow builders: you draw the conversation as boxes and arrows. Code is only needed for custom integrations, and most tools connect to shops, calendars and CRMs out of the box.

Can the bot hand over to a person?

Yes, and it should. Every serious platform can route a chat to a human agent in the shared inbox when the customer asks for one or the bot does not understand.

Related guides

Sources

Checked against WhatsApp's own help pages in , and re-checked every month. WhatsApp changes its apps often; if a menu has moved, the official Help Center has the last word.