A WhatsApp AI chatbot is a program connected to WhatsApp's official API (the Cloud API) that reads your customers' messages, looks up your business data and replies using a language model. Meta allows it as long as the AI serves your business and you offer a quick way to talk to a person. You pay for three things: Meta's messages, the AI model's usage, and the build plus its upkeep.
The WhatsApp Business app and the platform are not the same thing
Meta has two products for businesses, and only one of them lets you connect your own bot.
| WhatsApp Business app | WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Small businesses that serve customers from a phone | Businesses that connect WhatsApp to their software |
| Price | Free download | Per delivered message |
| Automation | Greeting and away messages, quick replies and labels | Whatever you program: your own bot, your CRM, your calendar |
| Devices | The phone plus up to four linked devices | Your server and your software |
| Sending to many customers | Broadcast lists and marketing messages from the app | From your software, with approved templates |
The Cloud API is the route Meta documents for sending and receiving messages programmatically. Every message a customer sends you reaches your server as an automatic notification (a webhook), and your server replies by calling the API. On the same page, Meta warns that using unauthorised third-party tools is prohibited. Don't rely on extensions that automate the normal app: they are not an official route.
A number registered on the API can't be used at the same time in WhatsApp Messenger. If you want to keep the app and the API on the same number, there is coexistence, which a Meta partner switches on. It has limits: for example, the app's broadcast lists become read-only.
What an AI chatbot can do on WhatsApp
Inside the conversation, the bot can:
- Answer questions with your information: opening hours, the documents someone needs to bring, your published terms.
- Collect the details of a request, such as a repair report or a viewing, and create the record in your system.
- Check the status of an order or a case file in your software and tell the customer.
- Suggest appointments and confirm them.
- Send documents, images, option lists, up to three reply buttons or a WhatsApp Flows form.
- Hand the conversation to a person when it should.
What the AI adds is that the customer can write however they like, without rigid menus. The model understands the question, searches your data and drafts the reply. Whatever it doesn't know, it should say so and hand over.
What it can't or shouldn't do
These are the Meta rules that shape a bot the most:
- It can't open a conversation with free text. Free-form replies are only allowed inside the 24-hour window that each customer message opens. Outside it, only approved templates work, and their review can take up to 24 hours.
- It can't message people who haven't agreed to it. You need the customer's prior opt-in, with your business name made clear, and you have to respect any opt-out.
- It shouldn't ask for sensitive data. The Business Messaging Policy forbids asking for full payment card numbers, financial account numbers or identity document numbers.
- Be careful with health. The same policy forbids using WhatsApp for telemedicine, or to ask for health information, where the applicable law prohibits it. On top of that, the GDPR treats health data as a special category (article 9).
- It shouldn't make things up. A language model can get things wrong. Limit it to your data and make it hand over when it doesn't have the answer.
What Meta allows with AI in 2026
Since 15 January 2026, Meta's terms have restricted "AI providers". Section 4.7 of the Meta Terms for WhatsApp Business Platform prohibits using the platform to offer general-purpose language models or assistants when they are the main function of what is being offered, rather than an "incidental or ancillary" one. The rule is aimed at companies that offer a general AI assistant through WhatsApp.
Even so, Meta makes an exception by country. According to its page on AI Providers, in markets where it is legally required to allow them, those providers can operate. Spain has been on that list since 11 March 2026, along with almost all of the European Economic Area (Italy since 16 February). Meta charged for those messages until 12 May 2026 and has not charged for them since 13 May.
For an ordinary business, AI is a tool that serves its customer service. Meta's own pricing page defines service messages as replies that can be "powered by a 3rd-party AI solution or people".
Two more conditions:
- Handover to a person. The Business Messaging Policy allows automated replies inside the 24-hour window, but requires escalation paths that are "prompt, clear, and direct": handover to a live agent in the chat, phone, email, web support, a visit to the shop or a form.
- Model training. If the integration provider you hire is an AI company, section 4.7 prohibits WhatsApp data from being used to train AI models, except for fine-tuning for your exclusive use.
Meta also offers its own agent, Meta Business Agent. It is only available to businesses based in authorised countries, and it excludes sectors such as finance, government and health.
Handing over to a person, done properly
A good handover has five parts:
- Clear triggers. The customer asks for it, the bot can't find the answer in your data, or the subject is sensitive: a complaint, a payment, personal data.
- An alert to the team in the tool they already use: a shared inbox, email or Teams.
- The bot goes quiet in that conversation until the person closes it.
- Context. The person gets a summary and doesn't have to ask everything again.
- Hours. Out of hours, the bot says so and offers another route, such as the phone or a form.
Keep the 24-hour window in mind: if your team takes more than a day to reply, they can only pick the conversation back up with a template.
Typical uses by sector
| Sector | What the bot handles | When it hands over to a person |
|---|---|---|
| Property managers | Logging repair reports with a photo and address, giving status updates | Complaints, arrears, disputes between neighbours |
| Advisory firms | Chasing missing paperwork, reporting the status of a filing | Any specific tax or employment question |
| Estate agents | Screening enquiries, suggesting viewings, sending property details | Negotiation and offers |
| Shops | Opening hours, availability, order status, returns | Payment problems |
| Clinics | Booking, changing or reminding appointments | Any question about health |
| Transport | Shipment status, changing a delivery slot | Damage and claims |
A note for property managers: a WhatsApp message doesn't replace the formal notice of an owners' meeting. It is explained in calling an owners' meeting by WhatsApp or email.
What it costs
The cost has four parts:
| Part | How it is paid | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Meta's messages | Per delivered message | In Spain, since 1 October 2026: €0.0585 per marketing message and €0.0166 per utility, authentication or service message (Meta's rate cards). The first 1,000 service messages each month, per number, are free |
| AI model | Per input and output tokens (chunks of text) | Claude Haiku 5.5: $0.10 / $0.50 per million; Claude Sonnet 5.5: $2 / $10 (Anthropic). gpt-6-luna: $0.10 / $0.50; gpt-6.1-sol: $2 / $10 (OpenAI) |
| Build | Per project | Depends on the scope |
| Maintenance | Hours or a fee | Tuning replies and templates, keeping up with Meta's changes |
Meta's full breakdown, with a sample monthly bill, is in WhatsApp Business API pricing in Spain. To work it out with your own volumes, use our WhatsApp Business API cost calculator.
What the model costs per 1,000 replies
The tokens a reply uses depend on how much text you give the model: instructions, your business data and the conversation history. These two scenarios are assumptions made for the calculation, using the official prices in US dollars:
| Scenario | Small model (Haiku 5.5 or gpt-6-luna) | Mid-range model (Sonnet 5.5 or gpt-6.1-sol) |
|---|---|---|
| Simple reply: 4,000 input tokens and 300 output | $0.55 | $11 |
| Reply with history and lookups: 20,000 input tokens and 500 output | $2.25 | $45 |
For comparison, Meta estimates that each message from its Meta Business Agent costs about 4 to 5 US cents, which works out at roughly $40 to $50 per 1,000. In that case you don't pay for the service message on top, because each message has only one category.
Two caveats. Anthropic warns that the tokenizer in its models since Claude 4.7 produces around 30% more tokens for the same text than the previous one, so measure with the model you are actually going to use. And if you need the model to process data in Europe, check the options and the surcharge. OpenAI has a European endpoint and charges 10% more on its regional endpoints for models launched since 5 March 2026. Anthropic's direct API currently offers only global or US processing; Claude's regional endpoints on Amazon Bedrock and Google Cloud carry a 10% surcharge.
For the build, our published prices, excluding VAT, are €1,500 to €6,000 for one automation workflow, €5,000 to €20,000 for several workflows and €4,000 to €12,000 for a first AI product, always at a fixed price after a free assessment that takes 2 to 5 days.
Personal data and telling people it's an AI
A chatbot processes personal data from the first message. Check these points:
- Inform the customer. Article 13 of the GDPR requires you to explain, when you collect the data, who the controller is, what you use the data for and who receives it, such as Meta or the model provider. The WhatsApp policy also requires you to have a published privacy policy.
- Sign processing agreements. Anyone who processes data on your behalf (the developer, the hosting company, the model provider) needs a contract under article 28 of the GDPR.
- Say it's an AI. Article 50.1 of the AI Act requires the system to be designed so that people know they are talking to an AI, unless that is obvious. Article 50.5 requires this to be done clearly, at the latest at the first interaction. It applies from 2 August 2026 (article 113). The Digital Omnibus on AI, published on 24 July 2026, did not delay this obligation: it only gave until 2 December 2026 for the marking of generated content under article 50.2, for systems placed on the market before 2 August. The obligation falls on the "provider", which under article 3 includes anyone who has a system developed and puts it into service under their own name or trademark.
- Choose where the data is stored. The Cloud API lets you switch on local storage for message content, and one of the regions is the EU, in Germany. During processing, content may sit for up to 60 minutes in data centres in other countries.
- Check that the model provider doesn't train on your data. OpenAI states that data sent to its API is not used for training unless you allow it, and Anthropic that the data it retains is never used for training without your express permission.
A simple first message covers the basics: "Hi, I'm the estate agency's virtual assistant. I'm an AI and I can help you with viewings and property details. If you'd rather talk to a person, type PERSON. Here's how we handle your data: (link to your privacy policy)".
Where to start
- Pick two or three specific tasks that come up again and again today.
- Count how many messages you get a month, so you can estimate the cost.
- Decide when the bot hands over to a person, and during which hours.
- Gather the information it should use: frequently asked questions, terms, prices.
- Run the first tests with the test number Meta creates when you start, and with your team.
- Open the bot to a small group of customers and review the conversations every week.
The technical steps, with the pieces and the usual mistakes, are in how to build a WhatsApp AI agent. If you would rather we designed and built it for you, connected to the tools you already use, see our AI solutions service: a typical automation is up and running in 2 to 4 weeks, with data hosted in the EU and no subcontracting.
Sources
- Meta, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform and its EUR rate card, "effective October 1, 2026".
- Meta, Meta Terms for WhatsApp Business Platform (last modified 23 September 2026), section 4.7.
- Meta, New pricing policy for AI Providers.
- WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy (updated 23 September 2026).
- WhatsApp, About WhatsApp Business.
- Meta, About the WhatsApp Business Platform, Service messages, Template fundamentals and Get opt-in.
- Meta, Business phone numbers, Onboard WhatsApp Business app users, Local storage and Register a business phone number.
- Meta, Meta Business Agent.
- Anthropic, Pricing, Data residency and API and data retention.
- OpenAI, API Pricing and Data controls in the OpenAI platform.
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act), articles 3, 50 and 113 (also in the BOE).
- Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, Digital Omnibus on AI.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679, GDPR (BOE), articles 9, 13 and 28.