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.
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 flow
AI agent
How it answers
Follows a tree you drew: buttons, keywords, conditions
Understands free text and answers from your documents, site and catalog
Best for
Bookings, order status, lead qualification, menus
Wide-ranging product and support questions
Risk
Dead ends when the customer goes off script
Confident wrong answers unless limited to your content
Cost
Included in most plans
Often 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 make an exception for users with European Economic Area or Brazilian phone numbers. 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
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.
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.
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.
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
List the ten questions customers ask most. That list is the bot's scope; resist adding more.
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.
Build a welcome menu with three or four buttons, one flow per button, and an "agent" option in every flow.
Add your opening hours: outside them, the bot collects the question and promises a reply time.
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.io
Best for: A shared team inbox with CRM-style contact records
A team inbox that pulls WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email and web chat into one place, with contact records, assignment rules, workflows and AI agents. It states plainly that it adds nothing to Meta's message fees.
Starts at
Starter $79 a month, billed yearly; 5 users included
Free trial
7 days, no credit card
Message fees
Meta's fees, passed on without a markup (vendor's statement)
Meta status
States it is an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, and supports coexistence with the Business app
Good at
Assignment, internal notes and reporting per agent
Workflows and AI agents from the Growth plan
Users are included in the plan price rather than charged per seat
Check before you pay
The Starter plan has no broadcasts, workflows or AI agents; those start at Growth ($159 a month, billed yearly)
Growth and Advanced are priced on monthly active contacts, with overage per 100 contacts
Prices read on respond.io's own pricing page on 18 September 2026. Vendors change prices often; the vendor's page is the one that counts.
WATI
Best for: Small teams that want inbox, broadcasts and a bot in one WhatsApp-first tool
One of the best-known WhatsApp-first platforms: shared inbox, broadcast campaigns, a no-code chatbot builder and shop integrations, sold as flat plans with users included.
Starts at
Growth $59 a month billed annually, or $69 monthly; 3 users included
Free trial
7 days
Message fees
Extra and prepaid, from WATI's own rate card; WATI does not publish how it compares with Meta's
Meta status
Shows Meta partner badges and offers the official WhatsApp API
Good at
Quick to set up for a first WhatsApp API number
Broadcasts and automation triggers included from the entry plan
Flat plan pricing with several users included
Check before you pay
Ask for the message rate card before you commit; it is only shown after login
The Growth plan has no webhooks and caps broadcasts and automation triggers per month
Prices read on WATI's own pricing page on 18 September 2026. Vendors change prices often; the vendor's page is the one that counts.
ManyChat
Best for: Chatbots and marketing flows across WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
A chat-marketing platform with a visual flow builder, popular with creators and small online businesses. WhatsApp is available from the Pro plan, which is priced on the number of active contacts.
Starts at
Pro $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly; up to 2,500 active contacts
Free trial
14 days on Pro
Message fees
Extra, from a prepaid wallet; ManyChat's published rates were about 15% above Meta's list rates when we compared the two rate cards
Good at
The most approachable flow builder in this list
One bot logic across WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
Low entry price for small contact lists
Check before you pay
The Free and Essential plans do not include WhatsApp
Price rises with active contacts, and extra inbox seats are charged
Built for flows and campaigns; the team inbox is basic
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.