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WhatsApp AI chatbot for business: how it works, what it costs and how to launch one.
A WhatsApp AI chatbot is an agent that reads each customer message, answers from your own information, and hands over to a person when it should. It runs on the WhatsApp Business API, so your team keeps one shared number.
The short answer
Use an AI chatbot when customers ask the same questions all day, in different words and sometimes in different languages. Use a simple rule-based bot when the choices are few and fixed. On Unecast, AI replies cost from $0.002 each, and every agent can hand the chat to a human.
Rule-based bot or AI agent
| Rule-based bot | AI agent | |
|---|---|---|
| How it answers | Fixed menus and keywords | Reads the message and writes a reply |
| Good for | Opening hours, simple order status buttons | Product questions, policies, order lookups, mixed languages |
| Setup effort | Draw every path by hand | Load your information, write instructions, test |
| Typical failure | Dead ends when the customer types something unexpected | Wrong answers if the information is thin or the instructions are loose |
| Handover to a person | Often manual | Built in, triggered by rules or by the customer asking |
How a WhatsApp AI chatbot works
- A customer writes to your WhatsApp number.
- The platform passes the message, the chat history and your instructions to a language model.
- The agent looks up what it needs: your knowledge base for policies and prices, or a connected tool for an order number.
- It replies in the customer's language, or hands over to a person with the context attached.
Because the agent answers from your information, it should quote your prices and policies, not guess. Unecast AI Studio lets you pick the model provider and set a fallback model, so one provider outage does not stop your replies.
What it costs
You pay the usual WhatsApp platform fee, Meta's message fees where they apply, and a charge per AI reply.
| Reply level | Price per reply | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Light | $0.002 | Short answers from a clear FAQ |
| Standard | $0.006 | Most support and sales questions |
| Advanced | $0.015 | Long, multi-step or sensitive conversations |
From 1 October 2026, free-form replies inside the 24-hour service window are free for the first 1,000 per number each month, then charged at the utility rate. Our pricing calculator adds these together for your expected volume.
Six steps to launch safely
- Pick three jobs. Start with the questions that fill your inbox, such as order status, opening hours and returns.
- Write your source material. Prices, policies, delivery times and tone of voice, in plain text.
- Define the handover. Hand over when the customer asks for a person, sounds upset, or the topic is billing, legal or medical.
- Test with real questions. Use 30 to 50 messages from your own history, including misspelt and mixed-language ones.
- Go live with your team watching. Keep the shared inbox open for the first week and read every handover.
- Review weekly. Add the missing answers you find, then retest before each change goes live.
What to watch for
- Invented answers. Tell the agent to answer only from your information and to say when it does not know.
- Over-promising. Do not let the agent agree to discounts, refunds or delivery dates it cannot check.
- Personal data. Decide what the agent may see and store, and follow Sri Lanka's Personal Data Protection Act and your own privacy policy.
- Consent. The WhatsApp opt-in rules still apply when the agent starts a conversation with a template.
Frequently asked questions
What is a WhatsApp AI chatbot?
It is an agent that answers customer messages on WhatsApp using a language model and your own information. It runs on the WhatsApp Business API and can hand the chat to a human.
How much does a WhatsApp AI chatbot cost?
On Unecast, AI replies cost $0.002 for light, $0.006 for standard and $0.015 for advanced, on top of the platform fee. Meta charges separately for template messages you start.
Do I need to code to build one?
No. You write instructions, load your information and test in a browser. Developers can also connect order systems and other tools.
Can it reply in Sinhala, Tamil or English?
AI agents reply in the language the customer writes. Test your most common questions in each language before you go live.
Will it replace my team?
It removes the repetitive questions so your team can focus on conversations that need a person. Handover is built in.
Keep reading
See an agent answer from your own information
Book a demo and we will build a sample agent from your FAQ in the call.